INFINITY's Role in Post-Deepwater Horizion Oil Spill

   The Infinity Science Center is a new, state-of-the-art science and interpretive center currently under construction at the NASA Stennis Space Center. The center will provide onsite or nearby public scenic viewing opportunities of coastal wetland habitats and their native flora and fauna. The project includes, but is not limited to, development of viewing platforms, boardwalks, nature trails, and 43 miles of scenic byways in Hancock County. Visitors will learn through hands-on experience about wetland plant seed extraction and germination. From spending time in greenhouse plant nurseries to actually placing restoration plants in the nearby Pearl River watershed they will gain first-hand experience in the process of restoring wetlands. The Infinity Science Center will also include an interpretive center that will contain exhibits, audio-visual programs, artifacts, and history programs on coastal resources and restoration.

   INFINITY has already invested $32 million in the facility and is poised to be a key resource for restoring, rehabilitating and replacing natural resources and services injured as a result of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. Mississippi’s Gulf of Mexico Commission, convened by Governor Barbour, recommended the INFINITY project in its “Vision for Gulf Coast Recovery, Restoration, and Protection.”

   One of the key ways that visitors interact with the content at INFINITY is to go on a “mission”. In a mission called, “A Walk on the Wetland Side!”, we engage visitors inside the INFINTY building as well as outdoors in the nearby wetlands. Visitors will have multiple ways to journey to the nearby wetlands including an electric-powered shuttle, bicycles, walking and personal mobility vehicles. The entire outdoor experience is accessible via a fully ADA compliant path. After interacting with the various exhibits listed below they will embark on a hands-on, minds-on exploration of the area wetlands. Before they leave the building, they will stop by the Black Needlegrass (Juncus roemerianus) seed collection and cleaning labs. Here they will help the staff plant the seeds in petri dishes and observe newly sprouted seedlings. Once through the seed lab, they will depart from in front of INFINITY and the first stop will be the greenhouses. Here they will see rows upon rows of trays of seedlings to plants in 4 inch pots ready for transport to restoration sites. They will also help transfer seedlings from petri dishes to the peat pellets and/or into the pots. After the greenhouse tour is complete, they work their way on through the various wetland areas they will encounter culminating at the Pearl Rive and a walk (on a boardwalk) out into the vast marsh grassland just south of the high rise I-10 bridge. All along the way, they will encounter interpretive stations that help visitors understand the importance of the various flora and fauna encountered along the way.

   We will create a “mission version” of the outdoor tour and a non-mission version for those who come just to participate in the outdoor experience. Visitors, many of whom will be birders, will also have the option to go unguided into the wetlands areas.

   The Earth Gallery within INFINTY will provide critical background understanding for the visitor’s explorations in the surrounding wetlands. Proposed indoor exhibits include:

   Wetlands Pachinko - a playful ball machine that demonstrates the importance of wetlands in preventing pollutants form contaminating the water system.

   3-D Immersive Theatre – A computer aided visualization environment (CAVE) in which visitors don polarized glasses to experience the media in 3D. This is a signature experience and offers spectacular examples of the kind of 3D modeling used as a tool to understand scientific phenomena. Zooming in from the vantage of geo-synchronous orbit, our Blue Marble unfolds to reveal its oceans, land masses and atmosphere. Visitors “fly” through a terrain model of the Pearl River and view its watershed and marshes in whole before embarking on an actual visit to those areas.

   Global Observation Lab – A large fiberglass sphere becomes a three dimensional screen for animations created from satellite data about Planet Earth. Programs projected on the globe recreate the various cycles and patterns that characterize Earth as a system. Emphasis is placed on understanding the Gulf of Mexico and in particular the Loop Current and the Loop Current Paths.

   Remote Sensing Lab – Visitors learn how to interpret remote sensing images by comparing them to a real-world habitat in INFINITY’s backyard. Visitor learn how various sensors are used to view vegetation. Switching from near infrared to thermal infrared offer whole new insights into plant stress, water surface temperatures, etc. Environmental Monitoring – Helps visitors understand the enormous amount of data that is continually being collected around the country. Particular emphasis is place on data collected in the Gulf of Mexico. Visitors can look at all the locations of data bouys in the Gulf and select one or more for data download. The data includes wind speed and direction water and air temperature and wave height. They can also interact with air quality data and river conditions. All of these are important data sources for understanding impacts and stressors to the area wetlands and to monitor restoration efforts.

   Watershed Test Lab – Visitors observe how small amounts of non-point pollutants add up to a problem as serious as point source pollutant. Docents will lead small groups in activities that demonstrate the functioning of wetlands and flood control systems—this demonstration will often serve as a starting point for a walk in the surrounding wetlands.

   A continuously looping three-minute video emphasizes the environmental issues facing the Gulf Coast community. This video presents wetlands as the link between land and nearby water and describes the pressures wetlands face from expanding human developments, capricious weather fluctuations and environmental disasters such as oil spills.

   Hurricane Prediction Lab – This is a team activity in which visitors learn the importance of different climatic variables and about the models scientists use to accurately predict the path of a storm. The activity describes a process that requires a mix of numerical modeling, data collection, and careful human interpretation. Focus is placed on understanding the role of wetlands and how restoration of native wetland plants well adapted to local environment conditions are critical in providing a natural defense against future hurricanes and tidal surges common to the Gulf Coast.

   Ocean Exploration Lab – Visitors learn how physical oceanographers map the ocean floor using survey ships that scan with sonar. Understanding seafloor bathymetry is important for understanding how the Gulf of Mexico sea bottom is an important sink for oil from spills and how we use these tools to monitor these deposits and their degradation or sequestration over time.

   Satellite Stations – Visitors control sensors and cameras mounted to suspended satellite models to explore the Earth Gallery below and learn by analogy how satellites collect information about our planet.

   Proposed outdoor exhibits include the following:

1. Coastal wetland habitats (Juncus roemerianus nursery and viewing opportunity on the Pearl River and in nearby surrounding wetland habitats).
2. Coastal birds (includes a bird identification station and viewing opportunities on the Pearl River and in nearby surrounding wetland habitats).
3. Gulf sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus identification station and viewing opportunities on the Pearl River.
4. Diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin identification station and viewing opportunities on the Pearl River and in nearby surrounding wetland habitats).

INFINITY Nature Trail

    The Mississippi Department of Marine Resources and the Mississippi Secretary of State acquired the 1130 acre Wachovia tract (east of the Pearl River and south of Interstate 10) in early 2001 for inclusion into the Mississippi Coastal Preserves Program. Lands acquired for the Coastal Preserves Program are managed as natural areas to perpetuate their ecological functions and natural aesthetics. Public access and use of preserve properties is encouraged as long as these activities do not impair the functions or natural character of the habitats.

    The Coastal Preserves Program fully supports and has worked in partnership with NASA Stennis Space Center and Hancock County for the past several years on developing a nature/educational trail that would link the Infinity Center with the Mississippi Coastal Preserves. The Wachovia tract mentioned above is contiguous with several NASA tracts and together span from the Infinity Center all the way to the Pearl River to the west and all the way to historic Logtown to the south. This trail will provide visitors with a wealth of opportunities to learn about the history, ecology and geography of the area.

Northern Gulf Institute Support

    The Northern Gulf Institute (NGI), a National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Cooperative Institute, develops, operates, and maintains an increasingly integrated research and transition program focused on filling priority gaps and reducing limitations in current Northern Gulf of Mexico awareness, understanding and decision support.

    The Northern Gulf Institute supports the use of Early Resoration funds to support the INFINITY Science Center as INFINITY will contribute to restoration efforts with increased understanding of the complex issues associated with the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and response Read More