CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas– A database developed by researchers at the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies (HRI) has earned first place in the Bi-National category of the 2006 Gulf Guardian Awards.
           
The annual awards honoring outstanding projects in six categories related to the conservation of the Gulf of Mexico are sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). First, second and third-place winners will be recognized during the EPA’s 3rd annual Conference on Estuarine and Habitat Restoration Wednesday, Dec. 13 in New Orleans.

“GulfBase” is a Web Site www.gulfbase.org of resources within the Gulf of Mexico. It is designed to regroup, synthesize, and make research information freely available in one place.

“This is the kind of project that HRI is becoming known for,” said Dr. Wes Tunnell, “GulfBase” editor and HRI associate director and research scientist. “Its purpose is to get people working together for the long-term sustainability and conservation of the Gulf, which is our mission.”

The “GulfBase” database contains information on more than 1,600 people and 400 institutions and organizations working on issues related to the Gulf and information on the Gulf’s reefs, banks, bays/estuaries, and lagoons. It is accessed several thousand times each day by people wanting to know more about the Gulf or to contact people doing research or conservation there. 

“GulfBase” was launched in 2002 to promote a tri-national view of ongoing research conducted by the United States, Gulf of Mexico and Cuba. The other members of the “GulfBase” team are Marion Nipper, managing editor and associate editor for the United States; Patrick R. Michaud, Web site developer; Professor Julio A. Sanchez Chavez, associate editor of science for Mexico and Cuba; and Anne Evans, master’s student and HRI research assistant.

The EPA’s Gulf of Mexico Program developed the Gulf Guardian awards in 1998 as a method of recognizing and honoring the businesses, community groups, individuals, and agencies in the Gulf states of Alabama, Louisiana, Florida, Mississippi, and Texas that are taking positive steps to keep the Gulf healthy, beautiful and productive.

Each year, first, second and third place winners are named in each of six categories: business, government, civic/nonprofit organizations, youth/education, partnerships, and individual. This is the first year an award is being presented in the
Bi-national category.