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Published Science Highlights
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GoMRI Scholars Archive
The GoMRI Scholars Program recognizes outstanding graduate students and the vital research they contribute to improve understanding about the damage, response, and recovery following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The Scholars Program honors and builds community for these next generation of ocean science professionals.
These students serve as essential team members for much of the research underway and bring creativity, curiosity, and energy to the GoMRI scientific program. They represent the successful manifestation of the second GoMRI Legacy Goals, building scientific and intellectual capacity for response and mitigation strategies for future oil spill events.
Candidates for this program must be graduate students who have participated in a GoMRI-funded project for at least one year, whose work is primarily funded by GoMRI, and who are working on a dissertation or thesis based on GoMRI-funded science. On a semi-annual basis, the lead Principal Investigators of GoMRI-funded projects nominate students who meet these criteria.
Following confirmation, each scholar will receive a letter of congratulations declaring the title GoMRI Scholar along with a certificate from Dr. Rita Colwell, GoMRI Research Board Chair. GoMRI will collect information about these scholars and their careers and accomplishments for longitudinal studies and program impacts.
Below are GoMRI Scholars Highlight Stories that have been featured on the web site. For a complete list of scholars, click on the 'People' tab for any funded projects to view the list of GoMRI Scholars with affiliation for that project.
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Grad Student Schwaab Investigates How Tuna and Billfish Respond to Oil
Posted on April 16, 2020Marine ecosystems provide many valuable resources for humans, including seafood and petroleum. Conservation policies that protect marine ecosystems, especially pollution and petroleum-related policies, depend on accurate scientific data about the ways different marine species experience pollution. -
Grad Student Tarpley Is Cracking the Code Between Oil Transport and Mud Flocs
Posted on March 31, 2020Oil that enters a marine environment can attach to particulate matter suspended in the water and form oil particle aggregates, which then sink to the seafloor. -
Grad Student Bickham Helps Capture A Clearer Picture of How Corals Respond to Oil
Posted on March 18, 2020Coral reefs provide food, shelter, and habitat to thousands of organisms living in the Gulf of Mexico. However, their vulnerability to physical and toxicological damage increases corals’ risk during environmental disturbances, particularly in shallow water where dangers from coastline proximity include wastewater pollution, moving sediment, salinity and nutrient changes, scavengers, and boating and fishing activities. -
Grad Student Wigren Shows It Takes Guts to Explore How Oil Affects Fish’s Microbiomes
Posted on February 19, 2020The microbial community living in fish’s gastrointestinal tracts, also called the gut microbiome, are vital to their developing immune systems and can influence behaviors such as foraging. -
Grad Student Slayden Knows Age is More Than a Number for Oil-Exposed Deep-Sea Fishes
Posted on January 28, 2020The ocean’s deep-pelagic ecosystem is the largest and least understood habitat on Earth. In the Gulf of Mexico, it was the largest ecosystem affected by the Deepwater Horizon incident. -
Why Grad Student Keller’s Marriage of Polymers and Nanoparticles Causes Oil to Break Up
Posted on December 5, 2019Because oil and water don’t mix easily, oil droplets in the ocean environment tend to aggregate into larger masses, which hinders microbial degradation. -
Grad Student Ji Helps Improve Tool to Locate Oil Beneath the Ocean Surface
Posted on November 26, 2019When a marine oil spill occurs, it is vital to quickly determine where and when to dispatch response operations. -
Grad Student Bonatesta Examines How Oil Exposure Affects Fish Kidneys
Posted on October 31, 2019Following Deepwater Horizon, there was concern about how the oil spill might affect marine life. Since then, scientists have learned more about how polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) affect marine organisms, especially commercially and recreationally important fisheries. -
Grad Student Montas Assesses Oil Spill Health Risks to Children During Beach Play
Posted on October 24, 2019The Deepwater Horizon incident affected more than 1,700 km of Gulf of Mexico coastline. Chemical compounds from the oil spill posed a risk to human health, especially children whose play behaviors often bring them in direct contact with sand and water. -
Grad Student Rayle Examines Changing Meiofauna Biodiversity in Oiled Marshes Using Bioinformatics
Posted on October 15, 2019Shearing typically occurs along coastal marshes when strong storms rip away the plants at the marsh edge. Because oiled shoreline sediment is in a weakened state and less able to securely hold plants in place, some Louisiana marshes that were heavily oiled following Deepwater Horizon are experiencing more shearing than usual.
