Partnering with five academic institutions and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), this institute is a collaboration led by Mississippi State University (MSU) and includes the University of Southern Mississippi (USM), Louisiana State University (LSU), Florida State University (FSU) and the Dauphin Island Sea Lab (DISL). The signature component of this three-story steel framed facility is the NOAA Exploration Command Center, which leads research in the areas of Ecosystem Management, Geo-spatial Data Integration and Visualization in Environmental Science, Climate Change and Climate Variability Effects on Regional Ecosystems, and Coastal Hazards. This LEED Silver certified building has a stucco exterior on a steel stud backup. The roof is a low-slope membrane with a metal screen wall to hide rooftop mechanical equipment. The interior finishes are typical of a Class A office building.