Researchers are busy turning Ossabaw Island, the lush barrier island off the Georgia coast, into what they hope will become a living lab.

Mike Sullivan, spokesman for Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, said scientists recently received a $100,000 grant from the Georgia Research Alliance.

Scientists are using a series of sensors, wells and a weather station to monitor the island and are planning to expand the project to one day allow students around the state check out the stats from their classrooms.

The Skidaway Institute is a multidisciplinary research institution within the University System of Georgia. Its campus is on Skidaway Island just southeast of Savannah. It was established in 1967 to pursue research in oceanography and marine sciences.