My Ocean Springs: 2007 in Pictures

Situated on fifty acres of waterfront property in the middle of Ocean Springs, The University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast Research Laboratory is home to approximately two-hundred students, faculty, scientists, and support staff who conduct groundbreaking marine-related research while providing educational opportunities to untold numbers of people. Jim Franks first came to Ocean Springs in 1963 as a student at the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory where he completed his graduate studies in 1968. He is a senior research scientist with the Laboratory’s Center for Fisheries Research and Development and is adjunct faculty with the University of Southern Mississippi’s Department of Coastal Sciences. His primary research involves studies of life history aspects and habitat requirements of coastal and large pelagic fish, such as cobia, tripletail, billfish, tuna, and dolphinfish, in the northern Gulf of Mexico. His current research also includes investigations of pelagic fish species as potential aquaculture candidates. He has conducted studies on barrier island fish ecology, co-authored a plan of response to protect Mississippi coastal habitats and fishery resources during oil spills, and worked with colleagues and fishers to establish angler-based cooperative tag-and-release programs in the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic Ocean regions. He has authored numerous scientific papers and serves on fisheries advisory committees and boards. He is on the board of directors of the Mississippi Wildlife Federation and several sport fishing tournaments, and is a member of the American Fisheries Society, Billfish Foundation, and Coastal Conservation Association.