Fisheries biologist Alonzo Hamilton has worked on various aspects of the Gulf of Mexico groundfish survey since his grad student days. The survey has run twice a year, every year, since the early eighties. This continuity is important because scientists can only understand changes in the ocean ecosystem by holding up today's findings against the light of a long-term dataset. When measuring the impact of storms, oil spills, and other events, this type of baseline data is essential.