JACKSON — Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, who will oversee the Gulf Coast's recovery and restoration from the BP oil spill, stopped in Mississippi on Friday to meet with university officials about current and future projects developed in response to the disaster.

Mabus said the university research and job-training programs provided by community colleges will be key to the region's recovery.

Mabus has been touring the Gulf states in recent weeks, talking to locals about how they've been affected by the spill and gathering ideas about the long-term restoration.

His visit in Jackson came the same day BP officials were monitoring a cap that had been fitted over the well off the coast of Louisiana. For more than two months, the well had spewed oil into Gulf of Mexico waters.

"One of the things that have come out of this is the need for good science," Mabus said during a news conference at the state College Board.

Mabus said research could help move the region "from being so dependent on oil and gas" and more toward new technologies. He said some residents, including those who earned their living in the fishing industry, could be retrained for other jobs.

For instance, an oyster fisherman could be retrained to work in environmental remediation "to restore the land that he loves," Mabus said.

David Shaw, vice president for research and economic development at Mississippi State University, said his school is working on several projects, including hurricane maps to track where oil might go if a storm hits the coast.

He also said MSU's extension service is collaborating with other gulf states to coordinate a family stress program to deal with the emotional, mental and economic toll the spill has taken on residents. Shaw added that educational materials being developed for that program would be translated in Spanish and Vietnamese.

The school is also looking at the impact the oil has on wildlife species, as well as the long-term and immediate impact the disaster has had on the ecosystem.

"Even if the oil stopped today, there's going to be some years, if not decades, of impacts that we need to be developing a research plan on how to address those impacts," Shaw said.