Monthly Archives: June 2016

CARTHECitizen ScienceDROPPSPeopleTeachers and Students CARTHE and DROPPS Scientists Team Up for UT Summer Science Program 3163

The Dispersion Research on Oil: Physics and Plankton Studies (DROPPS) Consortium had another successful collaboration with the Consortium for Advanced Research on Transport of Hydrocarbon in the Environment (CARTHE) for the UT Summer Science program! We taught 3rd-4th graders about how oil spill scientists sometimes use drift cards to study oil spills to see where Read More

Audio-VideoRECOVERShort Clips (<15 Minutes) Video: What Happens to Fish When There’s an Oil Spill RECOVER

The video briefly describes how oil exposure can affect a fish’s heart, senses, and swimming ability and what that could mean for its survival.   Visit RECOVER’s Social Media pages!

CONCORDEGoMRI ScientistsGoMRI StudentsPeople CONCORDE’s Mission to Mentor Young Scientists Apparent in Spring Campaign and Beyond 3141

Two postdocs, Ali Deary and Adam Greer, took turns as Chief Scientist aboard the R/V Point Sur during the Consortium for oil spill exposure pathways in Coastal River-Dominated Ecosystems (CONCORDE)’s recent Spring Campaign, while three others—Kemal Cambazoglu, Sabrina Parra, and Inia Soto-Ramos—devised the cruise plan for the R/V Pelican. Earlier in the year PhD student Read More

GoMRI Science GoMRI One-Pager Now Available on Website GoMRI One Pager

GoMRI has developed a new one-page information brochure about the research program. Use it at your next open-house, meeting, or conference.

GoMRI ScienceResearch Stories Digging Up the Mechanisms of Buried Oil Degradation 3114a

Spilled oil buried in nearshore sediment can persist for many years and act as a long-term source of episodic hydrocarbon contamination in the environment. Although we have a basic understanding of how fast crude oil degrades in soils, we still do not fully understand what influences the degradation process or the microbial community responsible for Read More

Classroom MaterialsFact SheetsSea Grant Fact Sheet: Sea Grant Brochure on Oil Spill Impacts on Fisheries 3133

The Sea Grant oil spill science outreach team released an informational brochure about the Deepwater Horizon oil spill’s impacts on fisheries. This brochure synthesizes peer-reviewed oil spill science for a broad range of general audiences, particularly those who live and work across the Gulf Coast.The brochure Impacts From the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill on Gulf Read More

DEEPENDPeopleTeachers and Students Teacher-At-Sea Chronicles DEEPEND Cruise 3086

Christia Hewlett was the official Teacher-At-Sea during the consortium’s most recent research cruise. She documented the equipment, experiences, and even the researchers on board for the DEEPEND blog. You can find all of her posts about the cruise here. “I hope that I will be able to take back what I have learned and share Read More

GoMRI StudentsLADC-GEMMPeople Grad Student Tang Studies Whale Populations’ Oil Spill Recovery 3019a

When disaster strikes, responders look at how creatures in its path may be impacted to mitigate damage. Tingting Tang takes the process one step further, using mathematical models to predict how long recovery may take. The creatures that Tingting focuses on are some of the Gulf of Mexico’s largest predators and most charismatic animals, beaked Read More

GoMRI ScienceResearch Stories Unraveling the Mystery of Oil Compounds, Weathering, and Toxicity 3071a

Responders to the Deepwater Horizon spill used large quantities of dispersant to facilitate oil biodegradation, but could a different method be safer for the environment? Oil compounds take on additional oxygen atoms as physical and chemical processes weather them. However, the classical methods that scientists use to analyze and describe these molecular compositional changes cannot Read More

GoMRI ScienceResearch Stories Using Luminescent Radiation to Describe “Forgotten” PAHs 3049a

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons with high molecular weights (HMW-PAHs) are potentially toxic compounds that can cause genetic mutations. However, current environmental monitoring and analyses of human health risks only focus on the sixteen PAHs that the Environmental Protection Agency considers priority pollutants. The Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative awarded Dr. Andres D. Campiglia a grant to Read More

CWCGoMRI ScientistsPeople Meet the Scientists of the Coastal Waters Consortium (CWC-I and CWC-II) CWC small logo

The first three years of Coastal Waters Consortium (CWC-I) began September 2011 and ended December 2015. The second three years of Costal Waters Consortium (CWC-II) began January 1, 2015 and extends until the end of December 2017. Meet some of the many researchers up-close and personal in the following links: CWC-I Scientist Spotlights CWC-II Scients Read More