Arts and Sciences

Center for Archaeological Studies	Center for Generational Studies	Center for Hurricane Intensity and Landfall Investigation	Center for Public Policy
Coastal Weather Research Center	Center for Environmental Resiliency	Gulf Coast Behavioral Health and Resiliency Center	Pheromone Center
Stokes Center for Creative Writing	USA Center for the Study of War and Memory	USA Polling Group

Center for Archaeological Studies

https://www.southalabama.edu/org/archaeology

The University of South Alabama established the Center for Archaeological Studies in 1992 to conduct archaeological research, teaching, and public service in the north-central Gulf Coast region. The Center (1) promotes the archaeological study and appreciation of the region's prehistoric and historic past; (2) disseminates to the public information about the region's archaeology; and (3) preserves archaeological evidence of the region's past for future study, use, and enjoyment.

Center for Generational Studies

https://www.southalabama.edu/colleges/artsandsci/syansw/CenterforGenerationalStudies.html

The Center for Generational Studies is a partnership between the University of South Alabama and Via, Mobile’s Center for Healthy Aging. The Center for Generational Studies seeks to improve the quality of life for Gulf Coast residents across the lifespan.

Center for Hurricane Intensity and Landfall Investigation

http://chiliweb.southalabama.edu/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/South-Alabama-Mesonet/140015933698

Mission

CHILI hopes to improve forecasts of wind and flooding conditions during landfalling hurricanes through numerical weather modeling and by using meteorological observations. CHILI operates and maintains the University of South Alabama Mesonet.

CHILI Overview

The University of South Alabama (USA) Center for Hurricane Intensity and Landfall Investigation (CHILI) performs research on hurricanes at landfall. This is done by running computer models of past landfalling Tropical Cyclones of the north-central Gulf Coast and by analyzing data from the University of South Alabama Mesonet.

The University of South Alabama Mesonet is a network of 24 weather stations that collect meteorological and soil measurements every minute of the day, every day of the year. Besides hurricane research, Mesonet data are used in the Meteorology curriculum at USA and for a wide variety of research projects of local weather phenomena including sea breezes, nocturnal cooling, and a local wind climatology. Forecasters at the Mobile office of the National Weather Service use USA Mesonet data to issue severe weather and flash flood warnings. The Mesonet has the potential to serve the wider Gulf Coast community in an even broader range of applications including agriculture, ecosystem monitoring, recreation, renewable energy, air quality, and climate change. The Mesonet is entirely funded through donations and grants.

Center for Public Policy

https://www.southalabama.edu/colleges/artsandsci/pscj/cpp.html

The Center for Public Policy is a self-sustaining, nonprofit entity that seeks to provide training, research, and consulting services to organizations that engage in the pursuit of topics related to social, political and criminal justice issues. The Center is part of the Department of Political Science and Criminal Justice and works toward furtherance of the University of South Alabama’s teaching and research mission.

Coastal Weather Research Center

https://www.southalabama.edu/departments/cwrc/aboutcwrc.html

The mission of Coastal Weather Research Center is to protect Gulf Coast residents and the business community from loss of life, injuries and financial disaster due to adverse weather.

The Coastal Weather Research Center, a self-supporting operation of the Department of Earth Sciences of the University of South Alabama, began operation on January 1, 1988. Located in the Mitchell Center on the main campus, the Weather Center consists of a meteorological laboratory, information center, and archive.

The Weather Center's information service is a unique operation for a university. Utilizing the latest in radar and satellite data, the Weather Center provides forecasts, warnings, and special weather information to businesses, industries and municipal governments in Alabama, Mississippi, and northwest Florida. Participants pay an annual fee based on the type of service.

Weather information is disseminated by direct telephone, computer, and facsimile. The Weather Center's computer network operates 24 hours a day providing an array of forecasts, warnings, special statements, and climatological data through direct modem access or the World Wide Web. Forecasts and discussions are transmitted on weekdays to many industries by facsimile. The Weather Center's "Stormcheck" service began on August 1, 1989.

The Coastal Weather Research Center also supports the meteorology academic program at the University of South Alabama. The Center has become a focal point of the program by allowing students to utilize map products and data systems while receiving training in industrial meteorology. Through the efforts of the Weather Center and its staff, meteorology students are being prepared to work for private weather forecasting companies across the nation.

Center for Environmental Resiliency

https://www.southalabama.edu/trustees/mar13boardbinder13a.pdf

The Environmental Resiliency Center is a unique resource on the Gulf Coast that provides a broad interdisciplinary approach to develop solutions for pressing environmental concerns and promotes resilient and sustainable coastal communities and ecosystems. The Center is a source of knowledge to guide responsible policy-making and business development that will accrue toward a prosperous and healthy future for all residents of the Gulf Coast region.

Gulf Coast Behavioral Health and Resiliency Center

The mission of the Gulf Coast Behavioral Health and Resiliency Center (GCBHRC) is to facilitate wellness, integrated healthcare, and improved quality of life for coastal inhabitants. The Center provides best practice training and educational programs and mental and behavioral health services for communities along the Northern Gulf of Mexico. The GCBHRC also engages in workforce development, capacity building, and resiliency enhancing therapeutic programs. Additionally, the GCBHRC is tasked with conducting and disseminating up-to-date research and engaging in scholarly endeavors regarding these activities.

Pheromone Center

The mission of the USA Pheromone Center is to develop analytical methods for determining the quality of traps and lures for invasive insect pests; to develop analytical methods for determining the presence of pesticide residues in fruits, nuts and vegetables and to develop the synthesis of attractants of invasive insect species.

Stokes Center for Creative Writing

https://www.southalabama.edu/colleges/artsandsci/english/stokes.html

The Stokes Center for Creative Writing advances the discipline of creative writing in fiction, poetry, creative non-fiction, and screen-writing. With its sponsorship of readings, lectures, workshops, and interdisciplinary events the Center for Creative Writing in the Arts promotes a vital writers' network in the area, one committed to providing programs of appeal to a great variety of audiences. The beginning wordsmith and the established word master, the student and the professional alike will find in the Center a place from which to draw strength, encouragement and support in producing their work and in finding the opportunity to share it with others.

USA Center for the Study of War and Memory

https://www.southalabama.edu/departments/research/warandmemory

The USA Center for the Study of War and Memory studies how communities, institutions, and nations make sense of past military events through public monuments, remembrance rituals, re-enactments, works of literature, movies, popular history programming, and the internet. The Center is an interdisciplinary initiative with faculty from the English, history, communication, psychology, and sociology department involved and is the only center in the world to focus on military memorialization.

USA Polling Group

https://www.southalabama.edu/usapg/

Mission

The Polling Group provides quality survey research services to University faculty and administration, as well as a variety of outside clients. The mission of the Polling Group complements the mission of the College of Arts and Sciences and the University in the areas of:

Teaching--The Polling Group is committed to providing students with important curricular and co-curricular opportunities and experiences in the area of survey research.
Research--The Polling Group serves as a resource for survey research services for faculty from around the University. We are available to consult directly with faculty members on all phases of the survey research process from grant preparation to report writing. Our institutional standing and reputation can be used to enhance faculty efforts to obtain funding for research activities. The dissemination of research findings contributes to the stature of the University as an important regional research institution.
Service--Keeping citizens, opinion leaders, government officials, and policy-makers informed of the mass public's attitudes, perceptions, and behavior is a critical ingredient for successful democracy. The Polling Group makes a significant contribution in this area through public opinion polls and survey research services for a variety of clients locally, statewide, and nationally.