Supercomputer to help in ocean modeling

WASHINGTON - IBM says the federal government has purchased a supercomputer to provide improved data for the nation’s military and commercial ocean-going vessels. The Department of Defense will use the Power 575 Hydro-Cluster supercomputer to provide detailed models of ocean waves, currents and temperature to predict ocean behavior. While the primary user will be the Navy, models will be publicly accessible through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The models will also be used by the Coast Guard to improve search and rescue. IBM said the supercomputer at Mississippi’s Stennis Space Center will also be used as a platform for R&D in ocean science. (Source: UPI, 07/10/08)

Lab gets NOAA aquaculture grant

OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. - Gulf Coast Research Laboratory’s Cedar Point Marine Aquaculture Center has received $6.7 million that will go toward increasing seafood production in South Mississippi. U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran announced the funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to enable the center to further develop its University of Southern Mississippi campus into a state-of-the-art marine aquaculture research and demonstration facility. Cochran said it will lead to improved aquaculture technologies that help alleviate harmful impacts on natural fish stocks while providing consumers with high-demand fish products. Programs like the one at Ocean Springs are searching for ways to mass-produce marine seafood onshore in confined offshore farms. (Source: The Sun Herald, 06/14/08)

A different kind of CSI

OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. - The J.L. Scott Marine Education Center is offering a new summer career camp for teens ages 15-18. The CSI, which stands for Coastal Sciences Investigation Camp, will be at the J.L. Scott Marine Education Center, located at The University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast Research Laboratory in Ocean Springs. It’s an opportunity for high school students to get hands-on career orientation in the field of marine science. The camp will be offered June 2-6 and July 28-Aug. 1. For more information call 228.818.8890, or e-mail marine.education@usm.edu. (Source: University of Southern Mississippi, 04/07/08)