NCCOS-supported University of Central Florida graduate student, Matthew Bilskie,won the Engineering, Computer Science, Modeling and Simulation category at the 2013 University of Central Florida Graduate Research Forum in April. Bilskie is currently working on the NCCOS sea-level rise project in the northern Gulf of Mexico.

Bilskie's award-winning poster described his large-scale, high-resolution model, which combines winds, waves, tides, and hurricane storm surges for the northern Gulf of Mexico from Apalachicola, Florida to Mississippi. The model will be a useful tool for emergency management officials and researchers studying the combined impacts of storm surges and sea level changes in the region.