Fragments of orange coral with white tentacles on small cement anchors in a tank.

Mesophotic coral can live at depths of 500 feet below the ocean surface. Even at this depth, some of the mesophotic corals in the Gulf of Mexico were affected by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010. Our coral scientists supporting NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science are studying the extent of this impact.

Three of our employee owners participated in a mission to extract the corals from the Gulf of Mexico that were then transported to laboratories in Galveston, Texas, Gainesville, Florida, and Charleston, South Carolina. Once the Charleston specimens were housed in custom-made tanks, our scientists began studying and caring for the corals. They feed the colony multiple times daily, and study their growth and reproduction. In an effort to restore the damaged coral colonies in the Gulf of Mexico, the team is studying how to maximize growth and outplanting at a larger scale.

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Supporting Safety In Higher Education Laboratories

In the past two years we’ve expanded our safety portfolio to supporting colleges and universities, ensuring their laboratories meet industrial hygiene and safety standards. Our staff member leading the effort is a Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH) and Certified Safety Professional (CSP), and member of the Remote Industrial Hygiene and Safety Support Team. Our short-term projects…

Safety Support To First Responders

First responders put their lives on the line to help others, and our team helps safeguard their protection.  Our team on contract with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Respiratory Protection Program works with staff to test respirators and establish secure fits. Similarly, they provide these fit tests for fire department personnel on a regular…

Merit Award Nomination

Congratulations to Steven Brecher, our program manager on our National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) contract. Steven recently served on a validation team, which was responsible for operational testing following a major software installation. The installment is a fully integrated Windows-based database for non-clinical evaluation studies. The validation team’s operational testing helped ensure the database functioned properly prior to…