GoMRI Newsletter: Spring Issue 2018

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Above the Fold

– “Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative Synthesis & Legacy”
– “Dispatches From the Gulf”
– Guest Frequently Asked Questions with Dr. Peter Brewer
– Note from the Research Board Chair
– Education Spotlight
– GoMRI Researcher Interview with Dr. Andres Campiglia

 

 

 

 

 

 

Community Happenings

Science Corner

Published Science Highlights from the GoMRI Program

Study Gives Post-Oil Spill Baseline for Particle Fluxes in the Northern Gulf of Mexico
S.L.C. Giering, B. Yan, J. Sweet, V. Asper, A. Diercks, J.P. Chanton, M. Pitiranggon, U. Passow
Elementa Science of the Anthropocene, 2018, Vol. 6(1):6

Study Finds Oil, UV Radiation, and Temperature Affect Mahi Survival Processes
C. Pasparakis, L.E. Sweet, J.D. Stieglitz, D. Benetti, C.T. Casente, A.P. Roberts, M. Grosell
Aquatic Toxicology, 2017, Vol. 191, pgs. 113-121

Study Finds Small Scale Ocean Currents Cause Clustering of Floating Material
E.A. D’Asaro, A.Y. Shcherbina, J.M. Klymak, J. Molemaker, G. Novelli, C.M. Guigand, A.C. Haza, B.K. Haus, E.H. Ryan, G.A. Jacobs, H.S. Huntley, N.J.M. Laxague, S. Chen, F. Judt, J.C. McWilliams, R. Barkan, A.D. Kirwan Jr., A.C. Poje, T.M. Ozgokmen
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2018, Vol. 115(6), pgs. 1163-1167

Study Assesses Fish Otoliths for Metal Exposure after Deepwater Horizon
J.E. Granneman, D.L. Jones, E.B. Peebles
Marine Pollution Bulletin, 2017, Vol. 117(1-2), pgs. 462-477

Study Reveals New Mechanism for Particle Attachment to Oil Droplets
L. Zhao, M.C. Boufadel, J. Katz, G. Haspel, K. Lee, T. King, B. Robinson
Environmental Science and Technology, 2017, Vol. 51(19), pgs. 11020- 11028

Study Uses Big-Data Approach to Identify Distinct Dolphin “Clicks” in Acoustic Recordings
K.E. Frasier, M.A. Roch, M.S. Soldevilla, S.M. Wiggins, L.P. Garrison, J.A. Hildebrand
PLoS Computational Biology, 2017, 13(12): e1005823

Study Characterizes Dissolved Organic Carbon Cycling in the Northern Gulf of Mexico
B.D. Walker, E.R.M. Druffel, J. Kolasinski, B.J. Roberts, X. Xu, B.E. Rosenheim
Geophysical Research Letters, 2017, Vol. 44(16), pgs. 8424-8434

To see all GoMRI publications, please visit the GoMRI Publication Database.

Video Clip of the Quarter

The Relationships of Effects of Cardiac Outcomes in Fish for Validation of Ecological Risk (RECOVER) consortium recently released several new videos. The first two videos, The Next Step in Mahi-Mahi Satellite Tagging: Mini Mahi Tags – Part 1 and Tunnels and Tags: Mini Mahi Tags – Part 2, are a part of a three-part series highlighting RECOVER’s preparations for their upcoming research cruise in the Gulf of Mexico. Part 1 discusses the methods RECOVER will use to “assess metabolic cost and behavioral changes in captive mahi that are carrying the satellite tags,” and Part 2 discusses the experiments that will be conducted to assess these changes. Check them out here and here, and stay tuned for Part 3 coming soon.

RECOVER also released a 16-minute film highlighting their research cruise from June 2017 to catch, tag, and release wild mahi to collect information about their spawning, feeding, and migratory habits. Be sure to check it out here.

Don’t forget to check out GoMRI’s YouTube Channel here.

GoMRI Newsmakers

GoMRI Research Board Chair Dr. Rita Colwell was the distinguished lecturer at the University of Miami’s (UM) Rosenstiel School for Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS) Career and Leadership event in April 2018. Dr. Colwell was invited by GoMRI researcher Dr. Villy Kourafalou, Director of UM’s A Seed for Success (SEEDS) program and Chair of the UM RSMAS Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. During the two-day event, Dr. Colwell spoke about her research and her experiences as a woman in the sciences, facing hurdles and breaking through barriers during her more than 60-year career. Participants praised Dr. Colwell for her inspiration and enthusiasm. GoMRI congratulates Dr. Colwell on being invited to be the distinguished lecturer during this event!

The Consortium for Advanced Research on Transport of Hydrocarbon in the Environment’s (CARTHE) video Drifting in the Gulf won first place in the professional category in the 2018 Ocean 180 Video Challenge. The goal of the competition is “to engage non-scientists and students in timely and relevant ocean science research while inspiring scientists to effectively share their discoveries and excitement for research with the public.” It is organized by the Centers for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence (COSEE) Florida and sponsored by COSEE, the National Science Foundation, and Bootcamps for Scientists. Ten videos were selected as finalists this year, which were judged by more than 25,000 middle school students from around the country. Visit the Ocean 180 Video Challenge website for the full list of winners. GoMRI congratulates all the finalists and winners, as well as the CARTHE team for having their video selected as a winner in this year’s competition!

GoMRI Scholars in Action

GoMRI recognizes the graduate students whose vital research contributes to improving understanding about the damage, response, and recovery from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Candidates for this program must be graduate students who have participated in a GoMRI-funded project for at least one year, whose research is primarily funded by GoMRI, and who are working on a dissertation or thesis based on GoMRI-funded science.

Learn more about the scholars’ research and career paths on the GoMRI website:

Sea Grant

The Gulf Sea Grant Oil Spill Science Outreach Team recently released three new publications. The one- page fact sheet Where Did the Oil Go? shares information on where oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill went and what ultimately happened to it. Some of the oil accumulated at the sea surface; some traveled to the coasts of Gulf states including Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida; and some made it to the sea floor. The fact sheet includes a graphic depicting how much of each state’s coastlines were impacted by the spill. Much of the oil was burned, skimmed, dispersed, or evaporated, and some accumulated in sea floor sediments; 11-25 percent of the oil from the spill remains unaccounted for. A second one-page fact sheet, Helping Oiled Animals Recover: Gulf of Mexico, highlights what to do to help an animal that has been injured in an oil spill. The fact sheet includes contact information for experts who can help in the event of an emergency, listed both by state and by the type of animal. It also includes a summary of how several species of marine animals fared during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Microbes and Oil: What’s the Connection? discusses the role microbes play in degrading oil in the environment, from both natural seeps and oil spills such as the Deepwater Horizon. The publication describes the types of microbes that degrade oil and the chemical processes by which they break it down. It also discusses marine snow and how dispersants impact microbial degradation. To see all of the Gulf Sea Grant Oil Spill Science Outreach Team’s publications, including reports and translated publications, visit their website here.

Emily Maung-Douglass from the Sea Grant Oil Spill Science Outreach Team led a breakout session at the Mid-Atlantic Sea Grant Programs’ Regional Meeting on March 28 called Break Glass in Case of Emergency. The goal of the session was to share resources and response efforts by organizations (such as the U.S. Coast Guard and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) with Sea Grant Programs in the mid-Atlantic region to foster preparedness in the event of future oil spills. More information, including speaker biographies and an agenda, is available on the Gulf Sea Grant website here.

Ocean Portal

The Smithsonian Ocean Portal recently released a story map titled, Where Did the Oil Go In the Gulf of Mexico? The story map combines text, images, and maps to visually depict where the oil went following the Deepwater Horizon spill and what happened to it once it got there. Data to generate the maps was provided by the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative Information and Data Cooperative (GRIIDC), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Environmental Response Management Application (ERMA), the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), and others. The story map links to GoMRI-funded studies, and Ocean Portal articles throughout the text provide additional information. The article also references the Sea Grant Oil Spill Science Outreach Program’s publication Where Did the Oil Go? Check it out here!

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