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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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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. -
How Grad Student Kurpiel Uses Radium to Monitor Spilled Oil
Posted on October 3, 2019Scientists can use radium isotopes, which are released from oil in seawater and decay at a specific rate, as geochemical tracers to investigate marine processes involved in oil degradation. -
![Oil-water interfaces, such as those formed by marine oil spills or natural ocean oil seeps, are teeming with bacterial activity. Some bacterial species in those interfaces form biofilms that help […]](https://gulfresearchinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/DROPPS_Scholar_Deng1_slider-125x125.jpg "Grad Student Deng Investigates How Marine Microbes Move When Oil is Present")
Grad Student Deng Investigates How Marine Microbes Move When Oil is Present
Posted on September 19, 2019Oil-water interfaces, such as those formed by marine oil spills or natural ocean oil seeps, are teeming with bacterial activity. Some bacterial species in those interfaces form biofilms that help […] -
How Grad Student Bodner Uses Theoretical Math to Add Turbulence to Transport Predictions
Posted on September 10, 2019Predicting where oil will go can be one of the most challenging aspects of marine oil spill response. -
Grad Student Sevigny Improves Meiofauna Genomic Analysis to Inform Oil Spill Recovery
Posted on September 3, 2019Meiofauna are microscopic marine organisms that live between grains of sand in ocean, coastal, river, and stream sediments and provide important services such as recycling organic material in the sediment that contribute to healthy marine ecosystems. -
How Grad Student Lu Uses Statistics to Monitor Reef Fish Populations
Posted on August 13, 2019Authorities closed large portions of the Gulf of Mexico following Deepwater Horizon to minimize oil contamination of fish and seafood products.
