USF Student Awarded $5000 Florida Sea Grant/Royal Caribbean Scholarship
Florida Sea Grant, June 7, 2007

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Jennifer DuPont, a graduate student in the College of Marine Science at the University of South Florida, has been awarded the $5000 Royal Caribbean Mariner of the Seas scholarship by the Florida Sea Grant Program to support red tide research in the Gulf of Mexico.

DuPont, of St. Petersburg, earned the award over 18 other applicants from eight Florida universities. She is investigating the effectiveness of using artificial reefs to help important fish populations recover from red tide events. The research will give managers of coastal resources useful information for managing and conserving fisheries whenever red tides and harmful algal blooms occur.

Funding for the one-time scholarship was donated to Sea Grant by the Port Canaveral-based cruise ship Mariner of the Seas, which earned the $5000 as recipient of Royal Caribbean International’s Environmental Ship of the Year and Innovative Ship of the Year.

Florida Sea Grant and Royal Caribbean both have a history and tradition of supporting research and scholarship related to marine and coastal environments. Florida Sea Grant awards numerous fellowships, scholarships and research assistantships each year through both public and private funds to broaden the experiences of graduate and undergraduate students in marine and coastal sciences. Royal Caribbean International’s Ocean Fund recently awarded $796,000 in grants to 15 organizations supporting marine conservation efforts.

Florida Atlantic, Harbor Branch Oceanographic to Merge
Noah Bierman
Miami Herald, June 5, 2007
Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute is merging this summer with Florida Atlantic University. Harbor Branch will get $44.7 million to repair and rebuild damaged buildings and another $8.5 million a year to operate. The acquisition helps turn FAU into a more serious research university, adding $16 million a year in grant money and expertise in a field where Florida is a natural player.


Sea Grant Graduate Scholar Serves as Lead Author on New Shark DNA Research
Science Daily, April 23, 2007
Jennifer Magnussen, a Florida Sea Grant funded graduate student at Nova Southeastern University's Guy Harvey Research Institute, has published research documenting further declines in basking shark populations worldwide.


Ceremoney Dedicates Scripps Florida Campus
Scripps Research Institute, March 9, 2007
The Scripps Research Institute officially dedicated its Scripps Florida campus to "increasing human knowledge, advancing biomedical science, educating the researchers of the future, and improving the health of humanity." At a ceremony before some 400 Scripps Florida employees and guests at the construction site on Florida Atlantic University's Jupiter campus, Scripps Research President Richard A. Lerner thanked the people and leaders of Palm Beach County and the State of Florida for their contribution toward the establishment of Scripps Florida.