GoMRI Newsletter: Summer Issue 2016

Download Full Issue (PDF)

Above the Fold

“CRGC Helps to Build Resiliency Among Gulf Coast Communities”
“GoMRI Attends 2016 National Marine Educators Association Conference in Orlando”
Frequently Asked Questions with Dave Westerholm
Note from the Research Board Chair
Education Spotlight
GoMRI Researcher Interview with Dr. Frank Hernandez

 

 

 

 

 

 

Community Happenings

GoMRI Shares Annual Press Release in Honor of World Oceans Day

To celebrate World Oceans Day on June 8, 2016, GoMRI announced a press release titled “An Ocean Oil Spill Science Legacy,” sharing how the GoMRI program has built a community of scientists who are ready and able to help respond to oil spills. Visit the GoMRI website to read the press release here.

Science Corner

Published science highlights from the GoMRI program

Study Models Oil Aerobic Biodegradation Rates in Tidal Beaches
X.Geng, M.C. Boufadel, K. Lee, S. Abrams, M. Suidan
Water Resources Research, 2015, Vol. 51(5), pgs. 3193-3218

Study Estimates Beaked Whale Populations in Gulf of Mexico
J.A. Hildebrand, S. Baumann-Pickering, K.E. Frasier, J.S. Trickey, K.P. Merkens, S.M. Wiggins, M.A. McDonald, L.P. Garrison, D. Harris, T.A. Marques, L. Thomas
Scientific Reports, 2015, 5, Article Number: 16343

Study Improves Knowledge about Dispersants’ Net Effect on Oil Fate
M. Zeinstra-Helfrich, W. Koops, A.J. Murk
Marine Pollution Bulletin, 2015, Vol. 100(1), pgs. 102-111

Study Shows Oiling Has Multiple Subtle Negative Effects on Submerged Vegetation
C.W. Martin, L.O. Hollis, R.E. Turner
PLoS ONE, 2015, 10(10): e0138797

Study Links Recovery of Oiled Marsh with Return of Salt Marsh Vegetation
J.W. Fleeger, K.R. Carman, M.R. Riggio, I.A. Mendelssohn, Q.X. Lin, A. Hou, D.R. Deis, S. Zengel
Marine Ecology Progress Series, 2015, Vol 536, pgs. 39-54

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

Video Clip of the Quarter

CARTHE has shared several short videos and images from their recent LASER experiment on their Facebook page. Check out the video clips here and the photos here. The University of Delaware also shared an interview with CARTHE Co-PI Dr. Helga Huntley, in which she provides an excellent overview of the experiment.

RECOVER recently posted two new videos on satellite tagging mahi and what happens to a fish in the event of an oil spill. Check them out on their YouTube channel here.

C-IMAGE has released new podcast episodes. Check them out here!

GoMRI Newsmakers

In recognition of the sixth anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, some GoMRI Principal Investigators participated in interviews highlighting the knowledge that has been gained in the past six years through the GoMRI program on the Gulf of Mexico, recovery from the oil spill, and what comes next.

ACER Co-PI Ken Heck was interviewed by WBUR, Boston’s local NPR station, about his work with GoMRI at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab; read the article here.

C-IMAGE Co-PI and Chief Scientist David Hollander spoke with WMNF, a local Tampa, FL radio station, on ecosystem recovery since the spill; read the article here.

C-IMAGE Principal Investigator Steve Murawski spoke with Science Magazine about his involvement with the GoMRI program and also with the Dispatches from the Gulf documentary; read the full interview here.

Congratulations Dr. Ardekani! The GoMRI community congratulates Dr. Arezoo Ardekani on receiving the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). Dr. Ardekani is an assistant professor at Purdue University’s School of Mechanical Engineering and is Co-PI on the RFP-V project Role of Microbial Motility for Degradation of Dispersed Oil. The PECASE is given by the United States government to early career scientists who are innovators in their field and are also dedicated to giving back to their communities. This year’s awardees spent two days in Washington, D.C. receiving their awards, sharing their research, and meeting with President Barack Obama.

GoMRI Scholars in Action

The Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI) is recognizing the graduate students whose vital research contribute to improving understanding about the damage, response, and recovery of 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 work 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 team hosted two seminars in April and one in June. The seminar called Chilling with your chums: How did the oil spill impact Gulf fisheries featured scientists discussing how the oil spill impacted fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico following the oil spill. A summary of that seminar can be found here. The seminar called Where did the oil go? featured scientists discussing the fate and transport of oil following the spill. A summary of that seminar can be found here. The seminar called Sharing Gulf Science Discoveries for Management featured the latest oil spill discoveries applicable for resource managers. A summary of that presentation can be found here. For more information on seminar dates, topics, and registration information, and for summaries from previous seminars, please visit the Gulf Sea Grant presentations page on their website.

The Gulf Sea Grant team released a new publication on Impacts From the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill on Gulf of Mexico Fisheries, highlighting how oil impacts fishes and how scientists are working to understand these impacts. The publication can be found here, and all other publications can be found here.

The Gulf Sea Grant Program’s colleagues at the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Legal Program recently published a bulletin on the current rules governing the use of dispersants. The publication also includes some changes proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency following Deepwater Horizon on the use of dispersants. The bulletin is available here.

Ocean Portal

Smithsonian Ocean Portal recently published an amazing slide show called 15 Creatures in the Gulf of Mexico that are Stranger Than Fiction, featuring images and research findings by the DEEPEND Consortium.

Check out the article and incredible images here!

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