Smithsonian Brings Sandy Beach Scientists to Texas A&M Galveston
Leading researchers from U.S., South America will meet Aug. 18-21 to develop protocols to advance university instruction and research opportunities.
Tuesday, Aug. 18, through Friday, Aug. 21, 15 professors and marine science professionals from the United States, Brazil, Peru, and Urugay will co-design a sandy beaches monitoring protocol and associated course modules. CREDIT: TAMUG Division of Marketing and Communications
Scientists from the U.S. and South America are workshopping at Texas A&M University at Galveston (TAMUG) this week to expand sandy beach research and broaden collegiate learning opportunities.
The Tides of Opportunity Project, co-led by the Smithsonian’s Marine Global Earth Observatory (MarineGEO) Program, TAMUG, the Smithsonian Marine Station, the Smithsonian National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, and the University of Miami, is a collaborative monitoring project with marine science professors and their students.
Tuesday, Aug. 18, through Friday, Aug. 21, 15 professors and marine science professionals from the United States, Brazil, Peru, and Urugay will co-design a sandy beaches monitoring protocol and associated course modules and test the protocol in the field.
The goal is to incorporate sandy beach monitoring protocols into marine science courses, which college faculty and students can use to achieve learning goals while providing essential data that can help researchers diagnose the health of an understudied critical coastal habitat.
Dr. Guilherme Corte, an assistant professor of marine biology in the College of Marine Sciences and Maritime Studies at TAMUG, is a principal investigator for MarineGEO.
“One third of the world’s ice-free coastlines are made of sandy beaches, and they go from pole to pole,” Corte said.
However, despite their abundance and place as one of the most accessible coastal ecosystems for college-level education and research, they remain critically understudied.
The Tides of Opportunity Project recognized that accessibility makes sandy beaches uniquely suited for engaging professors and students, including those with limited resources.
“Any students can do sandy beach research,” Corte said, encouraging instructors to help students take a break from typing questions into artificial intelligence tools and embrace opportunities to do real science. “Providing this hands-on experience is something unique.”
Tides of Opportunity Project goals include:
- Training a cohort of professors from across the Americas in standardized sandy beach monitoring methods;
- Equipping participating faculty with classroom modules, field tools, and multilingual teaching materials;
- Expanding MarineGEO with new monitoring sites focused on the implementation of long-term sandy beach monitoring;
- Strengthening hands-on, college-level learning experiences;
- And cultivating interest, learning, and efficacy in science among college-level students.
By the end of this week, workshop participants plan to have a final version of the protocol and associated course modules that we can share with professors shortly after the workshop ends to then test with their students in courses that take place between September 2026 and February 2027.
The schedule
Day 1: Tuesday, Aug. 18
Location: Aggie Special Events Center (ASEC), Rooms 102 B and C, Texas A&M University at Galveston
8:30 – 9 a.m. Breakfast
9 – 9:30 am Welcome and brief group introductions
9:30 – 10 a.m. Introduction to Tides of Opportunity Project, Design Workshop, MarineGEO, and the Connecting Coastlines to Campuses Program (presentation)
10 a.m. – 1 p.m. Introduction to workshop participants and project coordination team (presentations by each participant)
• Brief lunch break from 12-12:30 p.m.
1 – 3 p.m. Discussion about why collaborative science matters (presentation and interactive group discussion)
3 – 4:15 p.m. Introduction to sandy beaches (presentation and group discussion)
Day 2: Wednesday, Aug.19
Location:
• Morning sessions: ASEC Rooms 102 B and C, Texas A&M University at Galveston
• Afternoon sessions: Corte’s field site (location available upon request)
8:30 – 9 a.m. Breakfast
9 a.m. – noon Prep for fieldwork (presentation and interactive group discussion)
• Finish conversation about importance of studying sandy beaches
• Go through sandy beaches monitoring protocol and field sheets
Noon – 12:45 p.m. Lunch
12:45 – 1:30 p.m Prep for field (including driving to the field site)
1:30 – 5:30 p.m. Fieldwork & bring samples back to TAMUG
Day 3: Thursday, Aug. 20
Location:
• Breakfast: ASEC Rooms 102 B and C, Texas A&M University at Galveston
• Fieldwork: Guilherme’s field site (location available upon request)
• Lab/afternoon sessions: TAMUG lab (location available upon request) and ASEC Rooms 102 B and C
8:30 – 9 a.m . Breakfast
9 – 11 a.m. Return to field
• Shorter field trip – recovering samples left out overnight
11 a.m. – noon Lab work
12 – 12:45 p.m. Lunch
12:45 – 2:45 p.m. Continue lab work
3 – 5 p.m. Discuss with professors the feasibility of implementing protocol in their courses and where might need to make changes (discussion)
Day 4: Friday, Aug. 21
Location: ASEC Rooms 102 B and C, Texas A&M University at Galveston
8:30 – 9 a.m. Breakfast
9 a.m. – noon Group Discussion
• How to evaluate student learning and engagement
• Course modules
• Next steps
