Pre-teen earns GoM ‘Guardian’ award

A St. Petersburg, Fla., elementary school student, working to raise money to buy acoustic tags for marine animals, was named a "Gulf Guardian" at an EPA awards ceremony July 30. Nine-year-old Cory Diaz learned about a new effort to place an array of acoustic receivers in the Gulf of Mexico from her mom, Dr. Chris Simoniello, Director of Outreach and Education for the Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Observing System Regional Association. She decided to raise money for animal tags for her school community service project. She created the uTAG for iTAG campaign through CrowdRise, an online fundraising site. Tracking animals is the science of using tags to learn about species movement and behavior and gather habitat information. Research scientists and resource managers have been tagging animal species throughout the GoM for years. Now, six groups are coming together to try to expand the number of underwater receivers in the GoM and develop arrays in key areas to provide a better regional view, share tracking data and work on habitat and species restoration, especially following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Cory and Renee Hale, her teacher at Bay Point Elementary school, were recognized as first place winners in the youth environmental education category. (Source: Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Observing System 08/03/15) Gulf Coast Maritime Note: The partnership includes, among others, Florida's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Southeast Coastal Ocean Observing Regional Association and the University of South Alabama.