In the News - Deep-C Consortium

In The News...

Study Informs Oil Spill Forensics with Petroleum Biomarkers Degradation Data
(Source: GoMRI, July 14, 2015)
An international science team investigated the effects of weathering of petroleum biomarkers on the reliability of these compounds for fingerprinting Macondo oil. They identified individual biomarkers that were resistant to weathering processes and others that were depleted by these processes. Most biomarkers were suitable to identify Macondo oil up to 28 months post spill. Read the article...

Study Estimates Carbon, Likely from Deepwater Horizon Spill, in Gulf Sediment
(Source: GoMRI, July 9, 2015)
Scientists measured the natural abundance of radiocarbon (14C) in sediments near the Deepwater Horizon spill site and estimated the location and amount of carbon derived from crude oil or gas. Read the article...

Study Reveals Oil Spill Changed Oxygen Conditions in Gulf Sediment
(Source: GoMRI, May 26, 2015)
A team of scientists from Eckerd College and University of South Florida conducted a time-series sediment study to better understand impacts from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Three years post-spill, they found a continued state of altered geochemical conditions in sediment near the spill site. Read the article...

Underwater Robots Compete in Mobile, AL
(Source: GoMRI, April 21 2015)
Scientists measured the natural abundance of radiocarbon (14C) in sediments near the Deepwater Horizon spill site and estimated the location and amount of carbon derived from crude oil or gas. Read the article...

Offshore oil drilling has been off Florida’s table since Deepwater Horizon
(Source: Florida Politics, April 20, 2015)
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010 likely shut the door politically on oil drilling in Florida waters, a Florida State University oceanography professor said Monday on the five-year anniversary of the spill. Read the article...

Secrecy shrouds decade-old oil spill in Gulf of Mexico
(Source: USA Today, April 16, 2015)
More than a decade after crude started leaking at the site formerly operated by Taylor Energy Company, few people even know of its existence. Read the article...

Dispatches from the Gulf (Trailer)
(Source: Screen Scope, March 19, 2015)
"Dispatches from the Gulf" is a new Journey to Planet Earth episode showing how scientists confront the challenges of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The documentary also investigates the impact of the event on the ecosystems and communities along the Gulf of Mexico. Watch the video trailer...

Millions of gallons of BP oil rests on Gulf floor
(Source: USA Today, February 4, 2015)
A team of researchers led by Florida State oceanography professor Jeff Chanton have found an answer to the question "where did the oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill go?" A new study by Dr. Jeff Chanton and his fellow scientists published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology shows six to 10 million gallons are buried in the sediment on the Gulf floor about 60 miles south east of the Mississippi Delta.. Read the article...

How Methane Fueled a Food Web after the Gulf Oil Spill
(Source: Smithsonian Ocean Portal, February 4, 2015)
The results of this unintentional experiment—what happens when millions of barrels of methane spew into the deep ocean?—was a surprise for everyone, and shows how little we know about the deep sea and its microbial denizens. The methane neither bubbled up to the surface, entering the atmosphere as a greenhouse gas, nor was it entirely consumed by microbes. But it changed the Gulf ecosystem by providing a food source for rare methanotrophs and other organisms higher up the food web, at least temporarily. Read the article...

Where Did the Missing Oil Go? New study says some is sitting on the Gulf floor.
(Source: Lab Manager Magazine, January 31, 2015)
After 200 million gallons of crude oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico in April 2010, the government and BP cleanup crews mysteriously had trouble locating all of it. Now, a new study led by Florida State University Professor of Oceanography Jeff Chanton finds that some 6 million to 10 million gallons are buried in the sediment on the Gulf floor, about 62 miles southeast of the Mississippi Delta. Read the article...

Millions of gallons of BP oil found resting on the Gulf floor
(Source: Salon Magazine, January 30, 2015)
Another study has identified a massive amount of oil resting on the Gulf of Mexico’s floor, contradicting BP’s claims that everything is totally better now and raising questions about the lasting impact of the 2010 spill. Read the article...

BP oil spill: Study traces almost 10 million gallons to Gulf sea floor
(Source: International Business Times UK, January 30, 2015)
The mystery of the missing gallons of oil after the BP oil spill in 2010 has been solved by scientists who have traced the oil to the sea floor in the Gulf of Mexico. A study led by FSU Professor of Oceanography Jeff Chanton has found around 6 million to 10 million gallons buried in the sediment on the Gulf floor, about 62 miles southeast of the Mississippi Delta. Read the article...

A frightening tool to fight oil spills?
(Source: CNN, December 27, 2014)
A rash of recent oil spills around the globe -- Bangladesh, Israel, Peru and New Zealand -- serve as reminders of the damage such spills can cause and of the important role responders can play in limiting such damage. Spill responders have several tools at their disposal, including chemical dispersants. However, the legacy of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico includes a public backlash against dispersants that stands to exacerbate environmental damage from future spills. Read the article...

Escambia students passionate about waterways, marine science
(Source: Pensacola News Journal, November 1, 2014)
An enthusiastic student participating in the Escambia Marine Science Education program informed passersby about the effects of the BP oil spill, which still are being discovered. Last spring, students working with Gulf Oil Observers and other organizations, collected 40 tar patties in the Gulf of Mexico and sent them to a lab where they were tested against samples taken from the BP oil well. Read the article...

Deep-C Fish Ecology Cruise Possibly Finds A New Species
(Source: FSU Coastal and Marine Lab Website, October 22, 2014)
Dr. Dean Grubbs, Dr. Chip Cotton, and crew recently returned from a 10-day Deep-C fish ecology cruise in the Gulf of Mexico, where they caught their third specimen (since 2012) of a skate believed to be a new species. Multiple taxonomic experts have examined this skate (or pictures of it) and determined that it is likely new to science! Read the article...

Unmanned SailBuoy vessel shows mettle in two-month Gulf of Mexico journey
(Source: Environmental Monitor, October 1, 2014)
From two months in 2013, an unmanned ocean vessel developed among the fjords and sounds of Norway sailed among the oil rigs and open water of the Gulf of Mexico. A recently published study details the SailBuoy’s 2,400-kilometer journey. Read the article...

Deep Sea Sharks: Cuban Dogfish
(Source: Changing Seas TV, September 19, 2014)
Dr. Chip Cotton studies Cuban Dogfish to better understand the life history of the animals. To learn more about the research conducted on this particular cruise, check out "Changing Seas" episode "Creatures of the Deep" now. Watch the YouTube video...

Deep Sea Snack
(Source: Changing Seas TV, September 19, 2014)
Dr. Chip Cotton from Florida State University reconstructs a fish that was found in the stomach of a shark they captured during a deep sea research expedition in the Gulf of Mexico. To watch the episode in which he's featured, check out "Changing Seas" episode "Creatures of the Deep" now. Watch the YouTube video...

Under Pressure: The effect of depth on styrofoam
(Source: Changing Seas TV, September 19, 2014)
Have you ever wondered about the force of pressure in the deep sea? Here scientists are having some fun while conducting otherwise serious research at sea. To learn more about this research cruise in the Gulf of Mexico, check out the "Changing Seas" episode "Creatures of the Deep" now. Watch the YouTube video...

Hagfish Show and Tell
(Source: Changing Seas TV, September 19, 2014)
Dr. Chip Cotton conducts a Show and Tell with a deep sea hagfish caught during a research expedition in the Gulf of Mexico. To see more of the scientists in action, check out the "Changing Seas" episode "Creatures of the Deep" now. Watch the YouTube video...

Hagfish Dissection
(Source: Changing Seas TV, September 19, 2014)
On an expedition in the Gulf of Mexico, Dr. Dean Grubbs from Florida State University, dissects a deep sea hagfish. To watch his team from FSU's Coastal Marine Lab in action, check out the "Changing Seas" episode "Creatures of the Deep" now. Watch the YouTube video...

Study Identifies Highly-Efficient Methane-Eating Microbe Present after Oil Spill
(Source: GoMRI Website, September 16, 2014)
From March-December 2010 during ten research cruises covering over 105,000 square kilometers, scientists documented the fate and dynamics of Deepwater Horizon methane emissions around the blowout site. They found that methane concentrations in deepwater plumes peaked in May and early June coincident with a rapid rise in the abundance of methane-oxidizing microbes and in their activity, but then oxidation activity dropped sharply in late June. Read the article...

Reddy Demystifies Oil Degradation and Fingerprinting in Educational Videos
(Source: GoMRI Website, September 10, 2014)
Biodegradation? Chromatography? While scientists toss these terms around with no problem, they can sound like a foreign language to others. In two educational videos, marine chemist Chris Reddy translates these terms and explains their significance to Deepwater Horizon oil identification and research. Read more and watch the videos...

The Mud & Blood Cruise of 2014
(Source: C-IMAGE Blog, September 5, 2014)
C-IMAGE PI Steven Murawski and Chief Science Officer David Hollander wrapped up their 3rd and final Mud and Blood Cruise on August 29, 2014. They were joined on the RV Weatherbird by other C-IMAGE scientists from USF, Eckerd College, Pennsylvania State University, The University of West Florida and Mote Marine Laboratory. Deep-C consortium members from Florida State University and Georgia Tech were also along to collect water and sediment samples from The Gulf of Mexico. In all, fish and sediment samples from over 30 sites were collected and prepared for analysis. Read the Blog...

High School Student Gets SLIMED
(Source: Deep-C Website, September 3, 2014)
Madison Fish, a 15-year-old International Baccalaureate student at Rutherford High School in Panama City, Florida, has spent a significant amount of time dealing with slime. Hagfish slime that is. Read the article...

Oil spills and marine snow: Changing microbial dynamics in the wake of the Macondo blowout
(Source: Science Daily, September 2, 2014)
In an article in the September issue of BioScience, Samantha Joye and colleagues describe Gulf of Mexico microbial communities in the aftermath of the 2010 Macondo blowout. The authors describe revealing population-level responses of hydrocarbon-degrading microbes to the unprecedented deepwater oil plume. Read more...

Research News: Lasting effects
(Source: UGA Research website, September 2, 2014)
In an article in the September issue of BioScience, Samantha Joye, Athletic Association Professor of Arts and Sciences at the University of Georgia, and colleagues, Joel Kostka (Professor of Biology at Georgia Institute of Technology) and Andreas Teske (Professor of Marine Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), describe Gulf of Mexico microbial communities in the aftermath of the 2010 Macondo blowout. The authors describe revealing population-level responses of hydrocarbon-degrading microbes to the unprecedented deepwater oil plume. Read more...

Deep-C Research News
(Source: Deep-C, Summer 2014)
Articles: Technology Provides Scientists a Bird's Eye View; Deep-C Scientists Make Rare Discovery in the Gulf; The Immediate Aftermath of an Oil Spill; The Ocean in Motion: Modelling Surface Waves; Deep-C Sponsors Two NOAA-NGI Interns; Read more...

Study Uncovers Spectrum of Fate for Weathered Oil
(Source: GoMRI website, August 19, 2014)
U.S. and Swiss chemists used comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GCxGC) to more accurately understand oil fate from the Deepwater Horizon spill. Read more...

High School Student Gets SLIMED
(Source: FSU Coastal and Marine Lab, August 15, 2014)
Madison Fish, a 15-year-old International Baccalaureate student at Rutherford High School in Panama City, Florida, has spent a significant amount of time dealing with slime. Hagfish slime that is. Read the article...

How to make energy from oil-eating microbes
(Source: The Naked Scientists, August 9, 2014)
Today, there’s more understanding of how microbes exist in oil which could lead to new technologies for extracting energy from oil deposits deep underground. Professor Joel Kostka from the Georgia Institute of Technology explains the research. Listen to the radio interview...

The immediate aftermath of an oil spill
(Source: Phys.org, August 8, 2014)
The fate of oil during the first day after an accidental oil spill is still poorly understood, with researchers often arriving on the scene only after several days. New findings from a field experiment carried out in the North Sea provide valuable insight that could help shape the emergency response in the immediate wake of disasters.” Read more...

FSU's undergraduate research program discovers talented, passionate students.
(Source: FSU Alumni News, August 2014)
Joseph Guerrera is studying currents at the bottom of the DeSoto Canyon in the northern Gulf of Mexico. He is working with Dr. Nico Wienders, a physical oceanographer and Deep-C researcher at Florida State University. In April, Guerrera was one of more than 200 students who presented at FSU’s 14th Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium. Read more...

Sea Lab Hosts Session on Using ROVs as a STEM activity at National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) Meeting
(Source: Deep-C, August 6, 2014)
Drs. Tina Miller-Way and Greg Graeber of the Discovery Hall Program at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab hosted a session at the recent NSTA Meeting in Boston. The session focused on ROVs as a STEM activity, entitled "Remotely Operated Vehicles: An engaging way to combine marine biology, engineering, and physical science.” Read more...

Grad Student Harper Seeks to Improve Marine and Human Health with Science-Informed Policy
(Source: GoMRI, July 23, 2014)
Alexandra Harper, a passionate environmental advocate, is using her oceanography expertise to help “society better balance human need with ecological health.” Read more...

Dispersant from Deepwater Horizon Spill Found to Persist in the Environment
(Source: Ocean E-News, July 22, 2014)
A new study by scientists at Haverford College and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) has found that the dispersant compound DOSS, which decreases the size of oil droplets and hampers the formation of large oil slicks, remains associated with oil and can persist in the environment for up to four years. Read the article...

Smithsonian Features Blog by Patrick Schwing on Benthic Forams
(Source: GoMRI, July 3, 2014)
The Smithsonian Ocean Portal posted a guest blog by Patrick Schwing about GoMRI-funded research. Schwing is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of South Florida, College of Marine Science, and member of the C-IMAGE and Deep-C consortia. His blog explains the importance of forams – tiny single-cell organisms that live in environments with little oxygen – in understanding impacts from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Schwing is using his research to learn about human impacts on coastal and marine sedimentary depositional environments. Read more...

Study Finds Clams are Oil Indicator Species for Gulf of Mexico Surf Zones
(Source: GoMRI, July 1, 2014)
Deep-C scientists from the University of West Florida found that Coquina clams could be used to detect biologically available oil in Florida surf zones. They found that these small surf-zone clams retained polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) levels at higher concentrations and longer than surrounding sand particles did, indicating the species could help monitor pollutants along shorelines. They published their findings in the June 2014 Marine Pollution Bulletin: PAH concentrations in Coquina (Donax spp.) on a sandy beach shoreline impacted by a marine oil spill. Read more...

College notebook: Eckerd students on oil disaster research trip
(Source: Tampa Bay Times, June 25, 2014)
Current and former Eckerd College students are nearing the end of a 10-day research trip in the Gulf of Mexico as part of an ongoing study of the impact of the BP oil disaster. The students are working with Eckerd marine science professor Gregg Brooks and are traveling aboard the RV Weatherbird II under the supervision of Stan Locker, a research scientist in marine geology and geophysics at the University of South Florida College of Marine Science. Read more...

Scientists identify Deepwater Horizon Oil on shore even years later, after most has degraded
(Source: Bigelow Laboratory, June 12, 2014)
Scientists from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences have developed a unique way to fingerprint oil, even after most of it has degraded, and to assess how it changes over time. Read more...

In research pacts with industry, scientists guided by principle
(Source: Boston Globe, June 1, 2014)
Editorial response by Deep-C scientist, Chris Reddy. Read more...

Unexpected Sink for Deepwater Horizon Oil May Influence Future Spill Response
(Source: EOS Magazine, May 27, 2014)
A working group has been created to answer some key questions about the formation and fate of flocculant material observed in the northern Gulf of Mexico during and after the Deepwater Horizon event. Read more...

How to Set Fire to Frozen Oil
(Source: Science Magazine, May 23, 2014) One common method for cleaning up oil spills is called in situ burning, in which technicians set the fuel slick on fire to vaporize its components. This works reasonably well in warm environments like the Gulf of Mexico, where the spilled oil can be corralled inside inflatable booms before being set alight. But would it work in the Arctic? Read more...

Managing oil spills with bacteria
(Source: The Naked Scientists, May 19, 2014)
Dr. Joel Kostka, Georgia Tech University, is interviewed for a University of Cambridge radio show. He is asked about his investigations into how microorganisms played a role in cleaning up the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in 2010. Listen to the interview...

The Impact of the BP Oil Spill 4 Years Later
(Source: Katie Couric Show, May 18, 2014)
It has been four years since the BP oil spill tragedy, and we're only beginning to understand the true toll it has taken. A recent report says the ripple effect could be greater than we ever imagined. Deep-C researcher is a guest on this episode of the Katie show to discuss the oil spill and what we have learned so far. Watch the video...

Santa Rosa Christian School dominates ROV competition
(Source: Santa Rosa's Press Gazette, May 12, 2014)
For the second year in a row, students at Santa Rosa Christian School won the Deep-C/Remote Operated Vehicle Competition at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab in Alabama April 25 through 27. Read more...

Gulf Oil Spill Research
(Source: UWF Argo News, April 25, 2014)
Video report on oil spill research being conducted at the University of West Florida as part of the Deep-C Consortium. Watch report...

Student competition under way at Dauphin Island
(Source: AP, April 25, 2014)
High school students from Alabama and the Florida Panhandle are participating in an underwater engineering competition at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab. Read more...

The Asphalt Ecosystem of the Gulf of Mexico
(Source: Okeanos Explorer Blog, April 24, 2014)
Sidescan sonar showed a cluster of really big structures at a depth of 1,900 meters in the Gulf of Mexico. NOAA explorers steered their remotely operated vehicle, Deep Discoverer (D2), to the bottom thinking that they would be approaching the wreck of a sunken ship. Read more...

GoMRI Science Teams among First Responders to Galveston Bay Oil Spill
(Source: GoMRI website, April 22, 2014)
On March 22, a cargo ship collided with a barge carrying approximately 4,000 barrels of bunker fuel oil in Galveston Bay, Texas. An estimated 168,000 gallons spilled into the Houston Ship Channel, prompting officials to shut it down for cleanup. Within days scientists from two research consortia funded by the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI) were on site alongside government and industry workers, collecting baseline information to assess impacts. Read more...

FSU scientists invite student inventors to test their underwater robotics skills
(Source: Dothan First, April 22, 2014)
Nine teams from Florida and Alabama will test homemade robotic creations and their own mettle in the second annual Deep-C ROV competition. The event is sponsored by the Deep-C Consortium, a group of 10 universities and research institutions that received a $20 million grant from the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative to conduct research on the impact of the oil spill and do educational outreach. Read more...

GoMRI Advances Science Four Years after Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
(Source: GoMRI website, April 18, 2014)
Since August 2011, eight research consortia funded by the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI) have been working hard to understand impacts from and responses to the Deepwater Horizon incident. Their work represents the efforts of over 1,000 people, including 400 scientists and 275 graduate students, from over 100 national and international institutions. Read more...

GOOies Descend on Florida Beaches to Continue Oil Spill Research
(Source: GoMRI website, April 7, 2014)
In late February, a team of 25 future scientists went on a beachcombing expedition like no other. They searched and found oil patties that potentially came out of a well hundreds of miles away, four years ago. The group is part of Project GOO, an initiative of the Deep-C consortium funded by the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI). Project GOO trains citizen scientists to assist researchers studying long-term environmental impacts from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Read more...

Where People Meet the Sea: Q&A with oceanographer Christopher Reddy
(Source: Odyssey Magazine, April 2014)
Dr. Christopher Reddy encourages budding scientists to "Get out there and get your hands dirty." Read more...

GCOOS Meeting Highlights
(Source: IOOS Z-Gram, March 21, 2014)
Being able to overlay the models and observations is the next challenge and GCOOS is evaluating work done through the DEEPC project as a possible solution. Read more...

Scientists: Gulf able to absorb methane from oil spill
(Source: Tallahassee Democrat, March 24, 2014)
A team of scientists from Florida A&M and Florida State universities, joined by graduate students at each school, has been examining the methane released during the oil spill Read more...

Florida State University: Researchers Finds Methane from Oil Spill has Entered Food Web
(Source: Ocean E-News, March 19, 2014)
When millions of gallons of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico four years ago, so did large volumes of methane, or natural gas. Now, researchers from Florida State University and Florida A&M University have confirmed that methane-derived carbon has entered the Gulf's food web through tiny organic particles floating in the Gulf. Read more...

Modeling Study Adds Evidence that Oil Compounds Traveled to West Florida Shelf
(Source: GoMRI, March 17, 2014)
Scientists from the University of South Florida used circulation models to conduct a tracer simulation and compared output patterns with ecological analyses to determine the possibility that hydrocarbons from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill could have moved onto the West Florida Shelf (WFS). Read more...

Researcher finds methane from oil spill has entered food web
(Source: Phys.org, March 13, 2014)
Dr. Jeff Chanton, a researcher at Florida State University, reports that 28 percent to 43 percent of the carbon found in the tiny floating particles which are ubiquitous in the Gulf is related to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and derived from the uptake of spill-methane by bacteria. Read more...

If Not From the Missing Malaysia Airlines Plane, Why Were There Oil Slicks in the South China Sea?
(Source: The Weather Channel - Environment, March 12, 2014)
News that search and rescue teams had spotted two large oil slicks in the South China Sea stimulated hope that signs of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 might soon follow. But lab analysis of samples taken from the scene revealed that jet fuel wasn't a part of oil slicks, ruling out the site as a potential location of the missing jet. According to Deep-C researcher Ian MacDonald, a professor of oceanography at Florida State University who specializes in oil spills, it doesn't take much oil to create a sizeable slick. Learn more...

Researcher finds methane from oil spill has entered food web
(Source: FSU News, March 11, 2014)
When millions of gallons of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico four years ago, so did large volumes of methane, or natural gas. Now, Deep-C scientists at Florida State University and researchers at Florida A&M University have confirmed that methane-derived carbon has entered the Gulf’s food web through tiny organic particles floating in the Gulf. Learn more...

Florida still in grip of 2010 BP oil spill
(Source: Bradenton Herald, March 11, 2014)
A new study by Deep-C researchers found that dissolved oil from the millions of gallons that spewed from BP's Macondo well sickened fish and diminished their immune systems past Manatee County further south. Learn more...

High schoolers get a taste for science research
(Source: FSView/FAMU Flambeau, March 3, 2014)
Oil spills can be devastating to the oceans, and about four years ago, an oil spill occurred in the Gulf of Mexico, which threatened life in the water. Eric Chassignet, Florida State University’s director of the Deep-C Consortium and the Center for Ocean-Atmospheric Prediction Studies at FSU, has decided to enlist the help of 25 high school students from the Pensacola area to aid him in searching for ‘oil patties.’ Learn more...

USF study: Diseased fish show dissolved oil from BP spill as far south as Sanibel
(Source: Tampa Bay Times, February 26, 2014)
Dissolved oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill off Louisiana wafted underwater all the way down to Florida's Sanibel Island, sickening fish along the way, according to a new study from Deep-C scientists. Learn more...

Scientists Train Next Generation on Oil Spill Research
(Source: Spill International, February 26, 2014)
As part of ongoing research nearly four years after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI, USA) have joined forces with a group of high-school students in Florida to collect remnants of oil from Gulf Coast beaches. Marine chemist Chris Reddy studies how the many compounds that compose petroleum hydrocarbon, or oil, behave and change over time after an oil spill. On 28 February 2014, students worked alongside Reddy and his colleagues from the Florida State University in a living laboratory at a Pensacola shore. Learn more...

Scientists Train Students on Oil Spill Research
(Source: MarineLink.com, February 26, 2014)
On Feb. 28, the group of students will work alongside Reddy’s team and colleagues from the Florida State University in a living laboratory at a Pensacola, Fla. beach. This field expedition is part of a new education initiative called the Gulf Oil Observers (GOO). Learn more...

West Florida Students To Research Gulf Oil Patties
(Source: NorthEscambia.com, February 25, 2014)
West Florida High School’s Marine Science students have been given an opportunity to engage in hands-on research that is as meaningful as it is fun thanks to a new initiative called Project Gulf Oil Observations (GOO). The research consortium Deep Sea to Coast Connectivity in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico (Deep-C) developed Project GOO which trains teachers and students to be effective citizen scientists and puts their new-found knowledge to use during visits to Gulf beaches in search of oil patties. Learn more...

Scientists Train the Next Generation on Oil Spill Research
(Source: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, February 25, 2014)
As part of on-going research nearly four years after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) will team up with a group of high school students in Florida to collect remnants of oil from Gulf Coast beaches this week. Learn more...

MagLab open house inspires, entertains
(Source: Tallahassee Democrat, February 23, 2014)
Hundreds of people and one hammerhead shark turned out for the 19th annual open house at the MagLab on Saturday, February 24. Read more...

Student Drifter Competition for Coastal Oil Experiment has Cascading Wins
(Source: GoMRI Website, February 21, 2014)
It was a tall order, but high school students rose to the challenge: they integrated physics, engineering, and scientific curiosity and created functional data-gathering drifters. They also became part of a scientific effort to improve predictions of how oil moves through coastal waters and onto shores.Read more...

Tackling the Big Spill: Chromatography and the Deepwater Horizon Project
(Source: ChromatographyOnline, February 19, 2014)
Chris Reddy from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) spoke to Alasdair Matheson of The Column about the role of chromatography in the ongoing environmental analysis of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, how GC×GC works in practice, and why this oil spill led to the return of thin layer chromatography (TLC) to his laboratory. Read more...

Radio Interview: Dr. Amy McKenna Discusses "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" Science Cafe Lecture
(Source: WFSU.org, January 4, 2014)
WFSU radio's Tom Flanigan interviews physical oceanographer and Deep-C researcher Amy McKenna about her upcoming Science Cafe lecture "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly: Molecules of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. Listen to the radio interview...

Local Scientist Teaches Public About Crude Oil
(Source: WCTV.tv, February 4, 2014)
Local scientists met with the community Tuesday to talk a little bit about oil. Residents all along Florida's Coast are still feeling the affects from the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in the Gulf. Mag Lab chemist Amy McKenna met with dozens of big bend residents tonight in Tallahassee with a presentation about crude oil and its impact. She has been studying oil since the spill, and hopes her presentation left a mark. Read and hear more.

Ich bin viele Jahre auf Australien
(Source: UmweltWissen, January 25, 2014)
gefahren , war auch im Busch , war auch an der Beach zu Schwimmen , lebe aber immer noch sehr vergnügt , viel Schlimmer sind die Temparaturen wenn der Wind aus Norden kommt mit über 50 ° C im Schatten , oder man kann einen Schlag fürs Leben kriegen , von hinten sah sie toll aus , wie ein Teenager , wie sie sich rumdreht , hatte sie ein Gesicht wie eine 80 jahrige und war voll wie die Hacken Read more.

The nature of oil & the BP spill: The good, the bad and the ugly
(Source: Tallahassee Democrat, January 24, 2014)
For nearly a decade, chemist Amy McKenna has studied the Earth’s most complex chemical substance: crude oil. On Feb. 4, at the Mag Lab’s first 2014 Science Café, she’ll discuss the nature of oil and the 2010 BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Read more.

Study Confirms Methane-Eating Bacteria Contributed to Carbon Entering Food Web
(Source: GoMRI website, January 14, 2014)
The 2010 Gulf oil spill released large volumes of both oil and methane. Above water measurements at the time indicated that little of this methane went into the atmosphere, suggesting that the majority of it remained in the water column. Summarizing findings from his 2012 study, Deep-C researcher Dr. Jeff Chanton said they found “approximately 5-15% of the carbon-composing plankton collected in 2010 and 2011 could be attributed to carbon released by the oil spill” with “smaller size plankton appearing to have more petro-carbon in it” and that “methane (rather than oil) seemed a more likely avenue for the intrusion of petro-carbon into the food web.” Read more.

"Methane Eaters" Feasted During 2010 Oil Spill
(Source: Deep-C Chronicles and Deep-C website, January 2014)
The 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill released large volumes of natural gas into the Gulf of Mexico — oil and methane. While much of the discussions centered around the oil, approximately a third of the carbon released during the spill was methane. Read more.