Gulf Specimen Catalog Introduction

Catalog Introduction

GSML'S Participation in Scientific Research

For over 40 years, GSML has supplied live marine animals to thousands of the foremost research laboratories and universities in the United States, Canada, Europe, Israel and Japan. Although it is no longer feasible for us to ship overseas, today we serve some 1,500 laboratories in the US and Canada. We guarantee live arrival of our animals and will work closely with you to insure that your specimens arrive exactly when you want them. We can supply living, custom collected marine species for use in university research and teaching that are not listed in our catalog. We can often meet specialized research requests as well. Call and let us help you in your research and teaching. Visitors from overseas are invited to visit our lab and work on the specimens at our facilities. The Florida State University's Edward Ball Marine Laboratory at Turkey Bayou has accommodations for visiting scientists.

Gulf Specimen Marine Laboratories, Inc., is a non-profit tax exempt organization engaged in marine education, research, and coastal conservation. There is no substitute for living animals to awaken your students' interest in biology. We make every effort to keep your service accessible by keeping our charges as low as possible.

We also provide an extensive program of coastal environmental education and teacher workshops for regional schools. We conduct research on non-breeding habitat requirement of the critically endangered Atlantic ridley sea turtle and we are aggressive and effective activists for the preservation of Florida's natural environments. While GSML's scientific supply provides revenue that subsidizes our on-site educational activities, it is also an integral part of our non-profit mission. Because of the highly customized nature of the service and the close collaboration of our staff with researchers it allows researchers at inland locations to conduct research that would be impossible otherwise. Our animals have flown in space, contributed a new drug in the fight against cancer, and been used in pollution research. They are the basis of thousands of published research papers in basic science.

If you are ever in north Florida (near Tallahassee), we cordially invite you to visit and tour our facilities.

The following comments from university users illustrate this point:

University of Georgia	"an invaluable resource, an essential resource"
Louisiana State University	"absolutely dependent on GSML . . . no other institution has done more"
Georgia Institute of Technology	". . . important to our national science infrastructure . . . "
John Carroll University	"most ethical and helpful lab I have ever dealt with . . . "
Duke University	"grants from NASA and NSF that absolutely require the use of marine specimens. GSML is the only source for some . . . "
University of Miami	"very important contribution to my research program . . . funded by NSF and NIH"
Wright State University	"important and integral part of our educational program . . . a life changing experience"
College of the Mainland	"we use GSML because they are also an educational institution"
University of Maryland	". . . biological and medical research is completely dependent on receiving marine animal supplies from GSML"
York College	"GSML's impact is national . . . critical exercises and research projects would be virtually impossible"
North Carolina State University	"hands on learning is what inspires students"
Perimeter College	"a very valuable and exciting lab for students . . . the only reliable source"
University of Alabama at Birmingham	"essential to my research program"
University of Illinois at Chicago	"vitally dependent on getting marine specimens from GSML . . ."
Grinnell College	"Urchins from Florida often the only ones available for use"
University of Oklahoma	". . . relied completely on GSML for our supply of research organisms . . . if we did not have GSML . . . we would not be able to do our reseach"
Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory	"few organizations are as critical to my teaching . . . "
Clemson University	"without their assistance, our research and educational programs would have suffered immensely . . . totally dependent on the GSMl . . . has led to a number of students embarking on careers in cancer research . . . GSML . . . should be honored . . . encourage and assist them, not hinder them"