Scientists Reflect on a Decade of Oil Spill Research following Deepwater Horizon
– APRIL 20, 2020
April 20, 2020 is the 10th anniversary of Deepwater Horizon, and scientists funded by the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI) have been studying the oil spill’s impacts since then and providing knowledge that will help us be better prepared for future spills.
Several GoMRI-funded scientists reflected on what has been learned during their decade of oil spill research and shared their insights in the articles and videos listed below.
- Scientist Lori Schwacke at the National Marine Mammal Foundation and Teri Rowles at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program explain how the oil spill affected Gulf of Mexico dolphins as learned from assessments of dolphin immune and cardiovascular systems and reproductive health described in this article Dolphin Discoveries in the Decade Since Deepwater Horizon.
- Scientists at Texas A&M University Piers Chapman and Steven DiMarco and at Texas A&M University-Galveston Antonietta Quigg describe how natural processes helped mitigate the oil spill’s impacts and express their concerns for future spills in this article: A Decade After BP Oil Spill, Texas A&M Experts Say It Could Happen Again.
- Scientist Joel Fodrie (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) describes what he and his colleagues have learned about how coastal fish populations are faring a decade after Deepwater Horizon in The Conversion’s article: Coastal fish populations didn’t crash after the Deepwater Horizon spill – why not?
- Scientists at the University of South Florida Steven Murawski, David Hollander, and Isabel Romero explain what they learned from analyzing more than 15,000 fish and 2,500 sediment samples in this article and video: USF Marine Scientists Conclude 10 Years of Unprecedented Studies on the Impacts of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
- Scientists Joel Kostka (Georgia Institute of Technology), Samantha Joye (University of Georgia), and the Chair of the GoMRI Research Board Rita Colwell (University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins University) describe breakthroughs in microbial genomics in their article titled “Deepwater Horizon and the Rise of OMICS” featured in the Eos magazine’s special edition: Science from the Spill.
By Nilde Maggie Dannreuther. Contact maggied@ngi.msstate.edu with questions or comments.
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This research was made possible in part by grants from the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI) to:
- The Consortium for Advanced Research on Marine Mammal Health Assessment CARMMHA (Schwacke and Rowles);
- The Gulf of Mexico Integrated Spill Response (GISR) consortium (Chapman and DiMarco);
- The Ecosystem Impacts of Oil and Gas Inputs to the Gulf consortia ECOGIG and ECOGIG-2 (Joye)
- The Aggregation and Degradation of Dispersants and Oil by Microbial Exopolymers consortia ADDOMEx and ADDOMEx-2 (Quigg);
- The Coastal Waters Consortium CWC, CWC II, and CWC III (Joel Fodrie)
- The Center for the Integrated Modeling and Analysis of Gulf Ecosystems consortia C-IMAGE, C-IMAGE II, and C-IMAGE III (Murawski, Hollander, Romero, Kostka);
- The Deep-Pelagic Nekton Dynamics of the Gulf of Mexico (DEEPEND) consortium (Romero);
- The Deepsea to Coast Connectivity in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico (DEEP-C) consortium (Hollander, Romero, Kostka);
- The University of Mississippi for the project NIUST Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Multi-Task Research Proposal (Joye)
- The Texas A&M University for the projects Synthesis of the Physical Processes in Subsea Bubble Plume to Connect Natural Seeps and Oil Spills and Understanding How the Complex Topography of the Deepwater Gulf of Mexico Influences Water-column Mixing Processes and the Vertical and Horizontal Distribution of Oil and Gas after a Blowout (DiMarco);
- The University of Southern Mississippi for the project Resuspension, Redistribution and Deposition of Deep Water Horizon (DwH) Recalcitrant Hydrocarbons to offshore Depocenters (Romero);
- The University of South Florida for the projects Assessing the Concentration and the Molecular and Isotropic Composition of Deep sea Submerged Oils in the Northern Gulf of Mexico (Hollander, Romero) and Assessing the Impact of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill on Sediments and Benthic Communities on the West Florida Shelf and Slope (Hollander, Kostka);
- The Florida State University for the projects A systems approach to improve predictions of biodegradation and ecosystem recovery in coastal marine sediments impacted by oil spill and Expanding Contaminated Sediment Sampling In Gulf Coast Beaches and Penetration, Accumulation and Degradation of BP DWH Oil in Florida Sandy Beaches and Deepwater Horizon Oil Deposition in Gulf of Mexico Beaches Phase 2: Recovery of the Beach Sedimentary Environment and Impact of Crude Oil on Coastal and Ocean Environments of the West Florida Shelf and Big Bend Region from the Shoreline to the Continental Shelf Edge (Kostka)
The Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI) is a 10-year independent research program established to study the effect, and the potential associated impact, of hydrocarbon releases on the environment and public health, as well as to develop improved spill mitigation, oil detection, characterization and remediation technologies. An independent and academic 20-member Research Board makes the funding and research direction decisions to ensure the intellectual quality, effectiveness and academic independence of the GoMRI research. All research data, findings and publications will be made publicly available. The program was established through a $500 million financial commitment from BP. For more information, visit https://gulfresearchinitiative.org/.
© Copyright 2010-2020 Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI) – All Rights Reserved. Redistribution is encouraged with acknowledgement to the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI). Please credit images and/or videos as done in each article. Questions? Contact web-content editor Nilde “Maggie” Dannreuther, Northern Gulf Institute, Mississippi State University (maggied@ngi.msstate.edu).