HRI’s “Beachcombing” Series is Going on the Air!
“Beachcombing” is a public outreach program led by Jace Tunnell, Director for Community Engagement at the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies (HRI) at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. The program’s mission is to connect the public, social media followers, and educators to the ecology and sustainability of Gulf of Mexico beaches. The popular program is featured on HRI’s social media channels, through YouTube videos posted each Monday and photos posted each Friday on Facebook and Instagram. The engaging videos and photos of items found on the beach focus on the science related to these items and processes occurring in the Gulf and surrounding bays and estuaries. “Beachcombing” has had a great impact throughout the state of Texas and has been featured nationwide on several occasions.
To further expand the popular program, Tunnell will now be doing a weekly “Beachcombing Beach Report” in partnership with KEDT-FM 90.3 radio in South Texas, airing every Thursday afternoon at 4:04pmCST and 5:04pmCST. The segments will give beach conditions for the upcoming weekend as well as give interesting facts about things present on Texas beaches at that time.
“I’m really excited to get to talk on the radio about all the wild things we see washing up each week along our local beaches. My hope is that we can reach a new audience of listeners to spread the word about how interesting the Gulf is, let folks know what important research goes on here at HRI, and overall connect with the community in a deeper way.” Tunnell states.
Longstanding partners of HRI and TAMU-CC, KEDT is a staple of the south Texas community. Senior Executive Director of HRI Dr. Greg Stunz states, “We are so thankful for KEDT’s long-time support and their constant collaboration for promoting, inspiring, and expanding a voice for conservation across south Texas. Partnering with KEDT on programs such as this one help share the work done at HRI with their audience, so together we can promote a healthy environment.”
HRI has long sponsored the television program Nature on KEDT-TV and has previously supported special program airings in the south Texas viewing area and state-wide such as the 2022 Texas wildlife documentary, Deep in the Heart. KEDT’s President and General Manager Don Dunlap says “Collaborating with HRI on the distribution of their important environmental research has been an ideal partnership for KEDT and a perfect match for our audience. KEDT shares and supports Ed Harte’s vision of “making a difference” when he created the Harte Research Institute at TAMU-CC.”
“Beachcombing Beach Report” segments will start airing on March 7th, 2024.