Written by Sean Beckwith, PhD student
ST. PETERSBURG, FL – As the accomplishments and personal stories of Jack Davis were shared by long-time friend, Melissa Seixas, vice president of government and community relations for the evening’s sponsor, Duke Energy, the crowd that had gathered in the pre-event room quieted, and an air of respect for Dr. Davis’ accomplishments began to settle in. The environmental history professor and award-winning author most recently received the 2018 Pulitzer Prize in history for his book The Gulf: The Making of an American Sea.
At the inaugural event of the Joint Institute for the Gulf of Mexico Studies on Monday evening, October 8th, Dr. Davis mingled with invited guests, gave a public seminar in which he shared stories from his book, and sat down for a book signing as a very long line of admirers formed in front of the stage in the main ballroom of the USF Saint Petersburg Student Center.
Taking part in the pre-event activities, members of the USF College of Marine Science and the CMS Ocean Technology Group manned tables outside of the Student Center ballrooms and displayed some advanced ocean-sensing equipment: an underwater robotic glider, which can autonomously sample physical and biological oceanographic parameters, and C-BASS, a device that is towed by ship to visually record and analyze fish as well as seafloor habitat.
In the side ballroom, guests shared hors d’oeuvres, drinks, and a bit of scientific research as they perused posters and talked with CMS students and graduates Susan Snyder, Jing Chen, Dr. Shaojie Sun, Dr. Shuangling Chen, Kyle Amergian and Sean Beckwith. The posters, and a few others on display from USFSP students, were selected based on the relevance of their research to the Gulf of Mexico. The wide-ranging professional backgrounds of the guests in attendance presented the perfect venue for the CMS researchers to relay the importance of their science in common, everyday terms.
The Gulf: The Making of an American Sea narrates the natural and sociopolitical history of the Gulf of Mexico and the importance of this body of water to the lives of all generations of American inhabitants, past, present and future. For the seminar, Dr. Davis was tasked with sharing in 20 minutes the millions of years of geological history and the thousands of years of human history that have shaped the Gulf into what we see now. Pulling stories from his book, he touched on a number of scientific breakthroughs in Gulf research as well as misconceptions, and throughout his talk he highlighted the passion of individuals with a love for the Gulf and a determination to preserve it, or even improve it, for future generations.
Making the event even more enduring were the evening’s guests. Sitting side-by-side in attendance was Jeff Brandes, a Republican member of the Florida Senate, and Ben Diamond, a Democratic member of the Florida House of Representatives. As one of the speakers chosen to introduce Dr. Davis to the anxiously awaiting crowd seated in the main ballroom, Senator Brandes spoke very friendly of his colleague, Representative Diamond, extoling his wisdom and highlighting the valuable resource that he is for elected officials in Tallahassee.
Martin Tadlock, Regional Chancellor of USF St. Petersburg, introduced the program and shared his excitement for the new Joint Institute for the Gulf of Mexico Studies as well his eagerness to read Dr. Davis’ book. Florida House Representative Chris Sprowls joined Senator Brandes in making remarks and Dr. Mark Walters, of USFSP, introduced Dr. Davis and facilitated the Question & Answer session that followed his talk.
Dr. Davis showed that being a good writer comes from being a good listener as he patiently fielded questions from the audience. A great variety of people stepped up to the microphone to ask Dr. Davis his thoughts on everything Gulf related, from scientific policy to the individual role of organizations, such as USF, to operate in an environmentally conscious way that will sustain harbors, bays, and the Gulf itself far into the future.