- Success Stories
- Environmental Resource Assessment & Management
Studying Mesophotic Coral Health

Mesophotic coral can live at depths of 500 feet below the ocean surface. Even at this depth, some of the mesophotic corals in the Gulf of Mexico were affected by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010. Our coral scientists supporting NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science are studying the extent of this impact.
Three of our employee owners participated in a mission to extract the corals from the Gulf of America (formerly Gulf of Mexico) that were then transported to laboratories in Galveston, Texas, Gainesville, Florida, and Charleston, South Carolina. Once the Charleston specimens were housed in custom-made tanks, our scientists began studying and caring for the corals. They feed the colony multiple times daily, and study their growth and reproduction. In an effort to restore the damaged coral colonies in the Gulf of Mexico, the team is studying how to maximize growth and outplanting at a larger scale.
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CSS Employee Owners Receive NOAA Award
NOAA’s National Environmental Satellite and Data Information Service (NESDIS) recognizes the National Centers for Environmental Information Cloud Archive Team with 2026 NESDIS Outstanding Information Technology and Engineering Team Award! This award recognizes the team’s efforts to develop and deploy the Open Information Stewardship System (OISS) and create a large language model (L-OISS) that automates the generation and testing of complex archive workflows. CSS Employee Owners…
Going Above and Beyond During Difficult Circumstances
Congratulations to our Senior Program Analyst for receiving the Program Manager’s Spotlight Award, one of the highest levels of awards our company offers. She was nominated by her federal deputy director with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Coral Reef Conservation Program for quickly taking action upon the departure of the federal grants coordinator. She…
Planning, Preparing for, and Participating in a Major Partner Workshop
The Mesophotic and Deep Benthic Communities (MDBC) team with NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science attended a team meeting at the Wicker Center in Gulfport, Mississippi. CSS employee owners supporting this team (as part of our joint venture with RPI) participated in the meeting January 26-29. The objective of this workshop was for project managers, advisors, and partners to discuss 2025 accomplishments and plan next steps for 2026 and…
