Category Archives: ADDOMEx

ADDOMEx • GoMRI Students • People • Grad Student Setta Studies Microbial Interactions to Inform Oil Spill Response Strategies 6456

Phytoplankton and bacteria in the northern Gulf of Mexico interact closely at the food web base and provide vital food and nutrients to marine life at higher trophic levels. During the Deepwater Horizon incident, these pervasive organisms played an important role in oil bioremediation before and after the application of chemical dispersants, which broke up Read More

ADDOMEx • DEEPEND • DROPPS • GoMRI Science • RECOVER • Research Stories • Research Teams Show Hurricane Readiness and Resilience 6268

The 2017 hurricane season was one of the most active and destructive on record and included two major storms that affected the U.S. Gulf Coast – Harvey and Irma. Scientists who lead consortia funded by the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative are based in this area, and they shared how they and their teams prepared Read More

ADDOMEx • GoMRI Students • People • Grad Student Shi Uses Chemical Fingerprinting to Investigate Oil in the Water Column David uses mesocosms to simulate conditions in the natural ocean environment. (Photo credit: ADDOMEx)

Crude oil contains tens of thousands of hydrocarbons, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) that create unique chemical fingerprints for different types of oil. Dawei “David” Shi uses geochemical analysis techniques in mesocosm studies to track these fingerprints, observe how they change over time, and investigate how dispersant affects PAH concentrations in the water column. David Read More

ADDOMEx • GoMRI Students • People • Grad Student Morales-McDevitt Explores How Nutrients Influence Marine Snow Formation Maya presents her preliminary findings at the 2016 Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill and Ecosystem Science Conference. (Provided by Maya Morales-McDevitt)

Marine oil snow is the largest commuter of carbon to the seafloor and occurs when oil and marine particles aggregate and sink through the water column. Previous studies show that oil and dispersant significantly increased marine microorganisms’ production of exopolymeric substances (EPS), an extremely sticky goo that holds marine snow together. Maya Morales-McDevitt conducts mesocosm experiments investigating how certain Read More

ADDOMEx • GoMRI Students • People • Meet Undergraduate Students Cameron and Oscar! Undergrads at work

Cameron Jackson, a sophomore, is studying marine biology Texas A&M University at Galveston (TAMUG) and Oscar Agueda is a senior who will be getting his degree in marine science (TAMUG); both students are minoring in chemistry. When asked about career aspirations they stated that they hoped to go on to graduate school. “I want to Read More

ADDOMEx • People • Teachers and Students • ADDOMEx Researcher Helps Introduce Teachers to Engineering James_Chiu_1579

James Chiu presented theAggregation and Degradation of Dispersants and Oil by Microbial Exopolymers (ADDOMEx) Consortium’s research to nearly seventy teachers participating in a program called Team-E Science, which will help them better understand engineering concepts. The program is part of a three-year endeavor to implement engineering curriculum in Merced and Mariposa county schools. Underrepresented minority groups Read More

ADDOMEx • ECOGIG • GoMRI Science • GoMRI Scientists • People • Research Stories • Smithsonian Ocean Portal • Smithsonian’s Five Questions with Biological Oceanographer Uta Passow Uta Passow hopes to better understand the movement of carbon in the Gulf of Mexico. (Photo Credit: ECOGIG)

Phytoplankton are active organic carbon producers and help drive the processes that move carbon from the ocean surface to the sea floor. Scientists are investigating impacts from the sudden large input of carbon from the Deepwater Horizon spill on this important biological cycle. The Smithsonian Ocean Portal recently featured Uta Passow with the University of Read More