The University of West Florida and Gulf Islands National Seashore are teaming up to create a center dedicated to conservation, research and education of the environmental issues of the Northern Gulf of Mexico.

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The launch of the Gulf Islands Research and Education Center will be at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, April 14, at the Naval Live Oaks Visitor Center, located at 1801 Gulf Breeze Parkway, Gulf Breeze.

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UWF President Judy Bense, Gulf Islands Superintendent Dan Brown and Sherri Fields from the Washington office of the National Park Service will sign the official agreement to launch the Gulf Islands Research and Education Center with a ceremony at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, April 14, at the Naval Live Oaks Visitor Center in Gulf Breeze.

“We established this partnership to provide students with more opportunities to access high-quality, hands-on science education,” Bense said in a news release. “We want to see students taking part in environmental stewardship through new academic achievements and research that will influence and enhance the region.”

Brown also welcomed the joint effort.

“We’re excited about opportunities the (Center) and the partnership with UWF will provide for cooperative research and education projects among regional agencies, educational institutions and nonprofit organizations to support improved understanding of natural and cultural resources of the Gulf Coast,” Brown said.

The new center is a National Park Service Research Learning Center, according to Megan Gonzalez, spokeswoman for UWF.

“(It) joins a network of 19 National Park Service Research Learning Centers that are working cooperatively to address regional and national environmental issues,” Gonzalez said. “Each year, Research Learning Centers, working with partner institutions, involve thousands of scientists and tens of thousands of students in park-based research and educational programs.”

She said the center will:

• — Enhance and promote conservation, research and science education by directing research to high-priority resource management issues.
• — Promote greater interaction between students, scientists and resource managers.
• — Provide high-impact science technology engineering and math – or STEM – educational opportunities for local students.

“Conservation efforts will be made through fisheries and wildlife conservation,” Gonzalez said. “Through this partnership, (the center) will work to provide the basic science needed to support the restoration of Gulf Coast ecosystems impacted by the Deepwater Horizon spill.”

Research at the center will focus on the management needs and resources of the National Seashore, as well as address regional concerns such as declining water quality, fisheries and wildlife conservation and reducing the impact from high-intensity storms.

Education efforts at the center will focus on the natural and cultural resources of the National Seashore and northern gulf.

The center will be promoted nationally to encourage research and workshops related to Gulf Coast resource management, K-12 teacher training, citizen science and service learning, Gonzalez said.

Facility plans for the center have not been set.

For now, the Center will use existing facilities at UWF and the National Seashore. Jeff Eble, a research associate for the UWF Center for Environmental Diagnostics and Bioremediation, has been hired as the research coordinator for the center through UWF.

The National Seashore is reviewing candidates for the education coordinator’s job.