Gulf Blue Navigator - Making Waves!

The University of Southern Mississippi's Gulf Blue Navigator (https://www.gulfbluenavigator.org/) is a formal 4-month cohort program for innovation driven later-stage (scaling) startups working in various blue economy industry sectors. While we recently completed our second cohort with a Demo Day event this past June, we continue to actively engage with all our cohort members. The 4-month cohort part of the Navigator program is just the beginning of what we view as a long term partnership with each cohort member. The following posts are recent examples of our continued engagement with a couple of last year's Pilot Cohort members:

• Improving hypoxia zone monitoring with SeaTrac Systems, Inc. : https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/joegraben_usm-and-blue-technology-company-seatrac-test-activity-7227632901264175104-k6b-?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop
• Improving tropical weather intensity forecasting with SEATREC : https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/jason-mckenna-6969b164_usm-testing-float-device-for-gathering-ocean-activity-7206709725747458049-xnfm?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

Since the end of the recently completed Cohort - 1, where our cohort members were recognized at our Demo Day event this past June (https://www.gulfbluenavigator.org/meet-the-cohort/), we continue to actively work with each cohort member on projects and other efforts we identified to pursue during the 4-month cohort program. A couple examples of these are:

• Improving ocean surveying and exploration via high resolution magnetometers integrated on a Lightfish, a highly capable USV platform developed and manufactured by Cohort-1 member Seasats : https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/joegraben_usv-uncrewed-magnetics-activity-7228884472379678730-Ownc?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop
• Improving marine mammal and ocean vessel traffic monitoring with BLUEiQ : https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/joegraben_openear-gulfofmexico-oceanacoustics-activity-7225476702259269633-SrKr?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

There are many more example I could list and have posted about. However, what these post do not directly discuss are the greater significance these efforts have and the real purpose of the Gulf Blue Navigator. As each of these cohort members work and expand operations in our region, they will help diversify our knowledge-based blue economy, strengthen our traditional blue economy sectors of fisheries, port & harbor operations, defense, coastal restoration, and others, and create higher wage good jobs. They each add to the density of innovation driven blue-tech companies in the region that is necessary for a robust innovation ecosystem that promotes better and more diverse and inclusive working waterfront communities.

This fall Gulf Blue Navigator will be announcing the opening of our Cohort - 2 for applications. Cohort - 2 will be focused on later-stage startups working in the areas of Marine Aquaculture, Fisheries, and the interrelated Coastal Restoration and Resilience industry sectors. Food security and resilience are not only critical to the Navigator's region but to the nation. Since the late 1980's we have globally reached the limit of what wild fisheries can produce. Since then, the growing demand for seafood has had to be met by an increase in marine aquaculture which now surpasses wild fisheries as the source of our seafood. Over 80% of the seafood consumed in the U.S. is imported with over half of that coming from foreign aquaculture. Meeting the nations growing demand for seafood is not only a food security issue (healthier more nutritious food) but a national security issue and... also an opportunity.

The Gulf Blue Navigator is paid for in part with federal funding from the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality under RESTORE.