Advanced Training

The Best Job Ever! he modern history of the Flower Garden Banks is a series of transitions--a Mystery Era that lasted for nearly 30 years, the Discovery Era in the 1960s, the Enlightenment Era in the 1970s and early 1980s, then the Sanctuary Era. Steve Gittings was fortunate to be part of the last two, working on... Read More →

This month we will continue discussion of Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation That Starts in Your Yard by Douglas W. Tallamy. Contact Cheryl Barajas for more information. The Heritage Book Study Group meets the first Monday of the month at 1 pm. Opportunity: AT: Heritage Book Study Group

Reconstructing the Flower Garden Banks from the Inside Out Who knew, that hidden beneath the beautiful reefs we know and love, lay ancient reefs of a different nature? In 2006-2007, while conducting annual long-term monitoring activities at the Flower Garden Banks, researchers discovered remnants of a fossil reef comprised of elkhorn and staghorn corals, species... Read More →

Contact Maureen Nolan-Wilde for more information. Opportunity:  AT: GBAC Sponsored

On the Second Tuesday of each month at the noon hour (12PM Central Standard Time), the TMN State Office will offer an hour-long virtual advanced training event. Visit https://txmn.tamu.edu/tmntuesdays/ for more information GBAC Opportunity: AT: TMN Tuesday – 1 hour

Exploring a Future Sanctuary For three decades, between 1960 and 1990, researchers explored the reefs and fishing banks off Texas and Louisiana using scuba tanks and submarines. They even contemplated installing an underwater habitat that would allow them to live and work underwater for extended periods of time. All this was done largely to satisfy... Read More →

Back by popular demand is our "Raptors of the Galveston Bay" advanced training. This training prepares us for our hawk watch activities. Come join us via zoom and learn about our diurnal raptors! Tuesday, Feb. 21, at 6pm via Zoom; 1.5 hours AT Presenter: Lynn and John Wright Opportunity: AT:GBAC Sponsored

Coral Forensics in the Deep Flower Garden Banks Like all marine animals, corals leave behind genetic traces in their environment. Scientists refer to these genetic traces as environmental DNA or eDNA. Similar to forensics, marine biologists can sequence this eDNA to determine what animals have passed through an area or are nearby but not easily... Read More →