Howard Trough named for researcher

An undersea feature in the Flower Garden Banks’ National Marine Sanctuary has been named in memory of Dr. Matthew K. Howard, founding staff member and Data Manager for the Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Observing System (GCOOS) and a research scientist in Oceanography at Texas A&M University. Howard, 65, died unexpectedly while attending a scientific conference in 2018. “Much of Matt’s research was conducted in the Flower Garden Banks Sanctuary and we’re pleased that his name will be used by oceanographers in the future when planning research cruises,” said Dr. Barbara Kirkpatrick, Executive Director of GCOOS. The undersea feature - named Howard Trough - is about 2.2 km north of the main West Flower Garden Bank Plateau in the Flower Garden Banks’ National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS). The sanctuary is 70 to 115 miles off the coasts of Texas and Louisiana and is the only national marine sanctuary in the Gulf of Mexico. The name was recently approved by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, federal body created in 1890 and established in its present form by Public Law in 1947 to maintain uniform geographic name usage throughout the Federal Government. (Source: GCOOS 08/08/19)