Contact: Diane Godwin

STARKVILLE, Miss.—A coastal-based research cooperative led by Mississippi State is extending its memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The Northern Gulf Institute provides the Gulf of Mexico region with diverse, science-based services to help protect the ecosystem while continuing to ensure healthy communities situated along its borders.

University officials recently were notified of the institute’s five-year renewal by counterparts with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

While the original NGI-EPA collaboration that began in 2013 covered areas around Florida’s Tampa Bay, this latest agreement covers the entire gulf region.

Along with NOAA and other regional partners, both agencies are working to maintain and enhance a wide range of activities focused on restoration and management activities. Their ultimate goal: to provide coastal communities with equitable, efficient and effective solutions that safeguard the natural environment and human well-being.

In addition to MSU, the Northern Gulf Institute includes the universities of Alabama-Huntsville and Southern Mississippi, Florida State and Louisiana State universities, and the Dauphin Island Sea Laboratory near Mobile.

For more information about the MOU renewal, contact Steve Ashby, at sashby@gri.msstate.edu or Jim Harvey at harvey.jim@epa.gov.

MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.