Carmichael To Help Lead DISL Initiative

The Dauphin Island Sea Lab (DISL) has announced that Dr. Ruth H. Carmichael, its senior marine scientist and professor of marine and environmental sciences at the University of South Alabama, has been appointed as a special advisor to DISL Executive Director Dr. John Valentine on research and ocean health initiatives. In the newly established role, Carmichael will work closely with Valentine to explore options for developing an Alabama-based Center for Coastal Ocean and Human Health at DISL, following a “One Health” concept that recognizes the reciprocal links between environmental and public health. The goal of the initiative will be to identify opportunities for regionally relevant discovery, innovation, education and workforce development in the area of “Ocean and Human Health.” It will include collaboration with a range of community partners to set priorities for research and education to support public health. A central driver of the initiative is the awareness that a degraded ocean ecosystem can convey microbes, toxins and other pollutants that lead to harm or loss of fisheries and wildlife, human illness through direct contact with water and sediments or consumption of contaminated seafoods, and economic loss through loss of commercial and recreational fishing and tourism income.