Gulf of Mexico Region

Who are we?

The Gulf of Mexico Region includes Teacher at Sea alumni from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas.

The goals for alumni regions are to build an understanding of physical and marine oceanography among alumni and their students, to establish strong relationships among alumni that emphasize collective participation of groups of teachers, and to develop relationships with NOAA scientists and broaden their connection to NOAA beyond the Teacher at Sea program.

Since the beginning of the Teacher at Sea Alumni Association, educators from this region have met in person in 2017, virtually in 2021, and in a virtual book club in 2022. You can learn more about these activities in the sections below.

  • Twelve adults pose for photo on the beach.
  • A man holding a shark jaw with his face in the middle.
  • Woman peeking out of turtle hurdle tunnel used for demonstration
  • Woman holding a book and 3 women looking at photo in book
  • A group of people bending over a pile of fish and other marine organisms to sort them.
  • A boat in the water seen from a distance. People on board are photographing marine life.

Regional Meetings and Alumni Map

2021

Due to challenges and restrictions from the pandemic, in 2021, the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Region Alumni were convened virtually on May 5th, 2021 for a 2.5 hour meeting in which alumni were able to reconnect, share stories about their Teacher at Sea experiences, share resources, and bond during a team-building virtual science museum scavenger hunt with Watson Adventures.

All GOM alumni attending the meeting received a copy of the book The Gulf: The Making of an American Sea by Jack E. Davis, and in the Spring of 2022, alumni from the region met again virtually for several book club discussions about the book. The goal of the book club was to create another opportunity for alumni to get to know each other and to share how they might use the regionally-specific content from the book in their classrooms.

  • Twenty-five people in a Zoom meeting holding up the book The Gulf.
  • Zoom screen with six participants wearing yellow bandanas
  • A straw hat with a golden color octopus made out of bandanas on it.
  • A group of four people in a Zoom meeting
  • Twenty-five people in a Zoom meeting.
  • A group of five people and a baby in a Zoom meeting.
  • A group of five people and a baby in a Zoom meeting.
  • A group of three people in a Zoom meeting.
  • Twenty-five people in a Zoom meeting making funny faces and holding up their hands.

2017

NOAA’s Gulf of Mexico Region Teacher at Sea Alumni (GOM TASA) Workshop was held on May 5-7, 2017 in Pascagoula, Mississippi at NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC). Seventeen Teacher at Sea Alumni (TASA) from the region (AL, AR, FL, KS, MO, MS, OK, TN, and TX) attended this two and a half day professional development workshop in order to strengthen oceanographic content knowledge, create relationships with NOAA scientists, gain knowledge about NOAA resources, and build an alumni network in their region.

Workshop Goals

The goals of the workshop are aligned with selected NOAA Teacher at Sea Program’s goals.

  • Increase teachers’ understanding of earth system science.
  • Build working relationships among teachers, emphasizing collective participation of groups of teachers.
  • Build relationships between NOAA scientists and teachers in the Pacific Northwest region.
  • Use NOAA data and resources in classroom activities.
  • Use NOAA-related career information in classroom activities, when mentoring students and when working with colleagues.

Read the full workshop report here.

Gulf of Mexico Region Meeting Video, 2017

Gulf of Mexico Alumni Spotlights