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Educating students and the community about the importance of protecting and conserving the Gulf of Mexico as a resource is vital in meeting the long-term goals of the Harte Research Institute. Through conferences, education, seminars, the HRI Speaker Series, State of the Gulf of Mexico Summit and periodic workshops we bring together committed individuals interested in helping to build a healthy Gulf and a healthy economy.
Conferences
Covering a wide range of topics including Freshwater Inflows, Sea Level Rise, Law of the Sea, and many others, our conferences attract talented professionals from a broad range of science, business, and NGOs. Freshwater Inflows: 2010 and Beyond www.freshwaterinflows2010.orgSea Level Rise
State of the Gulf of Mexico Summit 2011
Workshops
Adaptive Planning for Sea-Level Rise: Legal Issues for Local Government
January 23, 2012
1:00 - 5:30 pm
This free half-day workshop focused on law and planning related to adaptation to sea-level rise. The workshop began with a brief overview of the science of sea-level rise and then discussed ideas for local adaptations as background for examining legal and planning issues associated with adaptation options. Discussion topics included potential impacts of sea level rise on the Texas coast, aspects of takings juriprudence under the U.S. Constitution, the importance of presenting information to purchasers of coastal property, crucial on-going legal cases, including Severance v. Patterson, that may dramatically impact adaptation options, and results of a survey on the role takings may play in coastal decision-making. For more information download this PDF.
Download presentations from the workshop
Integrating Ecosystem Services into Restoration Decisions for the Gulf of Mexico
January 24-26, 2012
The Socio-Economics Group hosted the Integrating Ecosystem Services into Restoration Decisions for the Gulf of Mexico workshop at HRI from January 24-26. The goals of the workshop were to identify (1) appropriate mechanisms for incorporating ES in restoration decisions and (2) a more comprehensive decision making framework that includes ES. The goal of this workshop was to initiate the exploration of a more consistent process for the integration of ES into natural resource decision making at all levels, e.g., local, state, regional. Integrating ES into habitat restoration decisions will strengthen the resulting management process by making it more complete and defensible.
Read the workshop proceedings
Environmental Panels
The Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi Environmental Panels are a series of programs to address environmental issues of interest to coastal bend citizens. Our goal is to assure that our citizens have the best available information on the science and engineering basis upon which many of these issues revolve. If through these panels we reduce or eliminate misinformation, translate technical and scientific information for easier understanding by our citizens and raise the level of possible policy debates by creating a common ground of scientific and technical knowledge - we will have succeeded in what we envision for the panels.
Seminar Series
Each week, a noted expert brings contemporary perspective to Gulf of Mexico issues. These interactive opportunities place some of the most interesting experts within reach of Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi students and the entire Coastal Bend community.
Seminars are held every Friday at 3:30 pm in the HRI 127 Conference Room, unless otherwise noted.
Our last seminar speaker for this semester is S&E Distinguished Lecturer, Dr. David Caron with the University of Southern California. His talk titled "The Role of Ocean Observing in Understanding Marine Animals Deaths, Algal Blooms and other Harmful Events in Southern Californian Waters" will be held on Friday, April 26th in the HRI conference room 127. His talk will be available to view online live and after the seminar.
David Caron, Ph.D.
Or use the link below for a list of past seminar speakers
For more information, contact Allison Knight:
(361) 825-2066,
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
State of the Gulf of Mexico Summit
Launched in 2006, the State of the Gulf of Mexico Summit serves as a platform for the diverse interests in the Gulf of Mexico to come together in one place for a candid discussion of what’s working and where we need to go. The next Summit, slated for 2011, will again bring together top governmental leaders from the United States and Mexico; CEOs of business and industry; local, state and federal government directors; NGOs; and interested members of the public.
Resources
White Papers
A Chance to Reboot the Gulf - Larry McKinney
Out of Sight - Out of Mind: The Unseen Disaster of the BP Blowout - Paul Montagna and Larry McKinney
The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill - Putting a Price on the Priceless - Larry McKinney and David Yoskowitz
The Importance of US Membership in the Law of the Sea Convention to the Gulf of Mexico - Richard McLaughlin
Public Access to Beaches Has Been Severely Weakened by the Texas Supreme Court's Severance Decision - Richard McLaughlin
Interactive Mosaic Mural
Title: Mosaic Mural of Texas and the Gulf of Mexico – Homage to Mother Nature
Artist: Dixie Smith, HRI’s Former Senior Executive Assistant, created the mosaic during 2008-2009.
About the Mural:
This stylized map of Texas and the Gulf of Mexico is a mosaic comprised of a data base of over 10,000 photographs portraying various subjects from South Texas and the Gulf of Mexico, such as a shell, a sunset or a bird. The mural was 100 percent computer generated via a blending of four software programs: Google Earth, Microsoft Paint, Adobe Photoshop, and Andrea Mosaic.
How to View:
Click on the image above to access the interactive mural. When the viewer hovers a computer mouse over any part of the mural, the individual photo used to create the mosaic at that point pops up. Click on one of those smaller photos and a larger version of the image pops up in a new window. In this way, all 5,000+ photos used to build the mosaic are individually viewable.
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