The team is continuing to plan the trip to the University of Florida to work with Dr. Gustav Paulay and his team. Good news, the ARMS protocol has been reviewed and revised by Dr. Paulay and will be finalized very soon. The team members are preparing for their end of semester presentation on what they have done in regards to NaGISA.

The NaGISA team is currently working on analyzing the many protocols to ensure updated accuracy. Specialized members are working on creating official written protocols for both ARMS Unit Analysis and Specimen Photography. These Protocols will be helpful to the future members of NaGISA and ensure that the program remains consistent and organized.

Since school began, the Externs have been working tirelessly to create teams for the upcoming Fall 2015 NaGISA Collection and Analysis. The Collection will be held on September 29th at Henderson State Park Beach, and the Analysis will be held on September 30th in the Niceville High School Lab Complex.
With the collection in nine days, the first year NHS Gifted students have been studying very hard, and have been tested on the Sandy Beach Protocol numerous times. Returning members have taken on the responsibility of being team leaders; and are prepared to train the new members in a specialization, such as photography, specimen photography, and preservation. The Externs are proud to announce that local Middle and Elementary schools will be participating in this year's Fall Collection. The highlight of the NaGISA 2015 Fall Collection and Analysis will be the continuation of the ARMs project.

Check back soon for information on our latest international project, Spain and Portugal, which was held in the Summer of 2015.

School is back in session and the Externs are back to planning for the fall collection.  NaGISA beach and dive collections will be held on September 30th at Henderson Beach and lab analysis will come the following day on October 1st. 

We are also planning to involve the students in the monthly Choctaw Basin Alliance collections to monitor Swift Creek with the advanced equipment we have at our disposal.  Only a small number of students can go to each collection, and new students will be chosen off of the sign up sheet for each collection.  It will be a great opportunity to help out the community and reinforce the collection and analysis procedures for the students who sign up. 

The externs are busy at work preparing for the NaGISA Spring 2014 Collection and Analysis.  The collection is planned for April 29th at Henderson Beach State Park. Early in the morning, the NaGISA team will split up into dive groups and beach groups.  The dive groups will head out on the dive boats while the beach groups will set up on the beach.  After a few practice runs, the team will perform the official collection.  The beach groups will also run an educational program for the local middle and elementary schools at the beach.  The samples will sit overnight in the laboratory until analysis the following day.

The NaGISA Extern team is hard at work preparing for the 2014 Spring Collection which is scheduled for April 29th at Henderson Beach Park.

In other news, we are very excited about our new website.  Our webmaster, Brayton Miles, has been diligently creating a professional site to represent our research program. 

The leadership team is beginning to work with the Choctaw Basin Alliance.  Our next Swift Creek monitoring session is scheduled for February 12th.  We are hoping to include other NaGISA members starting next month.

The Gifted Program recently gave a presentation to the upcoming Niceville High School freshmen.  We are looking forward to seeing them in the NaGISA program next year.

Stay tuned for more updates!