Mississippi State University’s Gulf Coast Aquatic Health Lab and its work to protect aquatic animal health and the Mississippi Sound are featured in the latest issue of MSU’s Alumnus magazine.
The feature, “Coastal State of Mind,” highlights Mississippi State’s growing presence along the Gulf Coast and the university’s efforts to protect natural resources, strengthen coastal communities and support industries that depend on a healthy Gulf. The Gulf Coast Aquatic Health Lab part of the Global Center for Aquatic Health and Food Security, is featured prominently as an example of how MSU combines research, veterinary medicine, education, and partnerships to address challenges facing the Mississippi Sound.
Based in Gautier and Starkville, the Gulf Coast Aquatic Health Lab works to protect aquatic animals and their environment through veterinary care, research and sustainable solutions. Its team responds to stranded sea turtles and marine mammals, conducts cause-of-death investigations, studies environmental pathogens, and supports broader monitoring of fish and shellfish health.
The Alumnus feature also highlights the important role students play in these efforts. Community college, undergraduate, graduate and veterinary students participate in sea turtle rehabilitation, laboratory activities and field research.
The lab's work extends beyond individual animals. Bottlenose dolphins and sea turtles can serve as important indicators of the health of the broader Mississippi Sound ecosystem. By combining veterinary medicine with environmental and ecological research, GCAHFS researchers are generating information that can support coastal resource management, fishing and aquaculture industries, and long-term ecosystem health.
As GCAHFS Associate Director Stephen Reichley noted in the feature, the challenges facing coastal ecosystems require multidisciplinary solutions, and lessons learned in Mississippi can help inform aquatic health efforts elsewhere in the United States and around the world.
Read the full Alumnus magazine feature: https://alumnusmagazine.com/2026/08/coastal-state-of-mind
Learn more about the Gulf Coast Aquatic Health Lab: www.gcahfs.msstate.edu/projects/gulf-coast-aquatic-health-lab