Media Contact: Lisa Young
251/861-7509
The Dauphin Island Sea Lab is pleased to
announce that Lee Yokel has been selected as the Environmental Education
Network Coordinator for the Gulf of Mexico Alliance. Ms. Yokel will
serve as staff to the developing Gulf-wide network, facilitate Alliance
communications, and coordinate regional education and outreach
activities. The position is funded by NOAA’s Office of Education,
structured through the Mississippi Alabama Sea Grant Consortium and
hosted by the Dauphin Island Sea Lab.
Initiated in 2004, the Gulf of Mexico Alliance is a partnership of the
states of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, intent on
significantly increasing regional collaboration to enhance the
ecological and economic health of the Gulf of Mexico.
The Bush Administration’s U.S. Ocean Action Plan (USOAP) recognizes the
leadership that the five Gulf States have demonstrated in forming the
Alliance and calls for the increased integration of resources, knowledge
and expertise to address regional priorities. The Alliance has
identified five issues that are regionally significant which include:
Water quality for healthy beaches and shellfish beds; wetland and
coastal conservation and restoration; environmental education;
identification and characterization of Gulf habitats; and reductions in
nutrient inputs to coastal ecosystems.
In addition, the Gulf of Mexico Alliance can potentially serve as a
forum for effective bi-national regional collaboration with the six
Mexican Gulf States.
To read the Governors’ Action Plan for Healthy and Resilient Coasts
and learn more about the Alliance, log on to
http://www.dep.state.fl.us/gulf/default.htm. |
