Nearly 100 scientists and researchers, including taxonomic and bioinformatics specialists, representing forty academic and research institutions, participated in genomics workshops held at the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies, Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi.
Meiofauna are invertebrate organisms that live in seafloor sediments. These marine creatures perform ecosystem functions such as trophic transfer, biogeochemical cycles, pollution removal, and sediment transport stability.
Three organizations with ties to Louisiana are among 12 research groups sharing $140 million in grants to conduct scientific studies on the effects of oil, dispersed oil and dispersants on the Gulf of Mexico’s ecosystem and on public health.
At Texas A&M University, a new interactive exhibit “Offshore Drilling: The Promise of Discovery” opened to the public in March and features, among many examples of equipment and history from the industry, the oil spill research of the Gulf of Mexico Integrated Spill Response (GISR) consortium, a GoMRI funded project.