Grant funds specimen catalogue

OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. - The Gulf Coast Research Laboratory's Natural History Museum has received a $190,000 rapid response grant from the National Science Foundation to catalogue thousands of invertebrate specimens from the northern Gulf of Mexico. About 15,000 lots of specimens are involved in the project, said museum curator Sara LeCroy. She said the lab has a large collection taken about 15 years ago from the same places where more recent samples were taken. It will allow for a pre-spill and post-spill comparison. (Sources: University of Southern Mississippi, Mississippi Press, 09/13/10)