Monthly Archives: March 2016

DEEPENDGoMRI StudentsPeople Grad Student Timm Tracks Crustacean’s Oil Spill Recovery 2657a

Laura Timm examines connections among shellfish ecology and evolution to help scientists understand how the Deepwater Horizon oil spill affected certain Gulf of Mexico species: “My work focuses on establishing pre-spill baselines and comparing them to samples taken 3-7 years after the oil spill, providing a timeline of crustacean recovery.” Pursuing a Ph.D. in biology Read More

GoMRI ScienceSmithsonian Ocean Portal Smithsonian Features Blog about Sharing Gulf of Mexico Big Data 2632

The Smithsonian Ocean Portal posted a blog that describes the needs and challenges of sharing scientific data, especially unique data collected after a disaster such as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Featured are insights from Marcia McNutt, Editor-in-Chief of Science Magazine, and Chuck Wilson, Chief Scientist for the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative. The blog Read More

Audio-VideoShort Clips (<15 Minutes) Trailer: Dispatches from the Gulf (2016) Dispatches From The Gulf (Credit: Screenscope)

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill initiated an unprecedented response effort and mobilized the largest, coordinated scientific research endeavor around an ocean-related event in history; the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI). The Screenscope film production company is developing “Dispatches from the Gulf” to help tell the story about the scientists involved and their research to Read More

Citizen ScienceECOGIGPeople Researchers Inspire Future Oceanographers! 2621

The Spring Boy Scouts Advance-A-Rama (AAR) program has been conducted for over 25 years by volunteers from the Northeast Georgia Council’s Cherokee District. The AAR is hosted by the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources at the University of Georgia. In recent years, over 200 scouts from troops in Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and Read More

Audio-VideoSea GrantWebinars Sea Grant to Host Two Oil Spill Seminars in April 2016 seagrant_logo

Click to view Information on Sea Grant Oil Spill Seminars in April 2016 These seminars will be streaming live so you can participate remotely. April 6 in Austin, TX:  Chilling with your chums: How did the oil spill impact Gulf fisheries? Register here. More info here. April 14 in Mobile, AL:  Where did the oil go? Register here.  More info here.

ECOGIGGoMRI StudentsPeople Grad Student Rogers Traces Gulf Oil as Scientific CSI 2573a

Kelsey Rogers looks for evidence of oil and methane intrusion into Gulf of Mexico water and sediment, but finding these hydrocarbons is only the beginning of her work. Like a scientific crime scene investigator, Kelsey analyzes the chemical fingerprints of oil and gas and uses them to identify their source, such as from an oil Read More

GoMRI ScienceGoMRI ScientistsResearch Stories Creating Improved Dispersants and Delivery Systems for Oil Spill Mitigation 2592a300

Research about commercial dispersant safety has seen increased efforts to identify benign alternatives and improve current dispersant systems since the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Preliminary research suggests that dispersants formulated as gels may be a viable alternative to liquid dispersants and may address certain problems and concerns about Corexit 9500 use and application. The Gulf Read More

Citizen SciencePeopleSea Grant Sharing Oil Spill Science with Non-Scientists: Effectively Communicating Complex Research Results Through Outreach and Education Programs Outreach_Workshop_GOMOSES_300

The four Sea Grant Programs in the Gulf of Mexico region, the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative, and the Consortium for Ocean Leadership jointly co-hosted an outreach workshop at the 2016 Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill and Ecosystem Science conference on February 1 in Tampa, FL, called Sharing Oil Spill Science with Non-Scientists: Effectively Communicating Read More

Citizen ScienceCONCORDEGoMRI ScientistsPeople CONCORDE Begins Fisher Outreach Program During Fall Campaign Heather Dippold (left- CONCORDE Education & Outreach) meets with Peter Nguyen ( right close- Mississippi State University Coastal Research and Extension Center) and Captain Nguyen (far right) to discuss data collection and the community meeting. Photo credit: Jessica Kastler

While Consortium for oil spill exposure pathways in Coastal River-Dominated Ecosystems (CONCORDE) researchers sampled the northern Gulf to determine the paths and impacts of river outflow, a pair of citizen scientists, also commercial fishers, assisted from their own vessels. Hoang Nguyen Van of D’Iberville, Mississippi, and George Barisich of Ycloskey, Louisiana—Captain Nguyen and Captain George—took Read More

GoMRI StudentsPeople Grad Student Pinales Designs “Smart” Oil-Spill Detection Tool 2534_a

Juan Pinales is working on a computational modelling system that will aid oil spill monitoring efforts. He combines Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data and oceanographic conditions recorded during the Deepwater Horizon incident to improve surface oil detection using a semi-automated machine learning method known as artificial neural networking. This method will help the system’s computations Read More

Classroom MaterialsFact SheetsSea Grant Fact Sheets: Sea Grant Releases Educational Brochures on Dispersants 2491

The Sea Grant oil spill outreach team released three new informational brochures about the dispersants used to treat the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. These brochures synthesize peer-reviewed oil spill science for a broad range of general audiences, particularly those who live and work across the Gulf Coast. Chemical Dispersants and Their Role in Oil Spill Read More