Felimon “Nonong” Gayanilo, CCS systems architect (pictured at right), has accepted the position of systems architect for the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative Information and Data Cooperative (GRIIDC) at the Harte Research Institute (HRI) at Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi. There, he will lead a technical team to develop a comprehensive research database for the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative that promotes continual scientific discovery and public awareness of the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem.

Born in the Philippines, Gayanilo has been developing software packages for commercial and research institutions for more than 25 years. He has decades of experience working in the field of fisheries and ecological science, essentially translating scientific concepts to scientific software tools that can be used to validate the concept and publication. Gayanilo is the System Architect of the Gulf of Mexico Coastal and Ocean Observing System (GCOOS) Data Portal, which is based at Texas A&M University, College Station, and supported by the U.S. IOOS (Integrated Ocean Observing System) Program. The HRI and the GCOOS Regional Association reached an agreement to enable Mr. Gayanilo to continue his services with GCOOS when he moves to his new post

“I have worked with ecological, biological, socioeconomics, ocean observing, chemical and many other data types but never at this magnitude. This job presents new challenges, and I look forward to the realization of the research database,” said Gayanilo, who was already providing technical consulting to the organization. Gayanilo will start work at HRI in July, 2012.