On April 20, 2010 BP’s Deepwater Horizon offshore oil rig exploded, killing 11 workers and setting off the largest oil spill in U.S. history. Crude oil gushed from the seafloor for 87 days, releasing more than 200 million gallons into the Gulf of Mexico in all. One of the things that came out of the disaster was the creation of the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative, which was funded by BP for $500 million dollars over ten years. Its mission was to improve society’s ability to understand the impacts of the oil on the ecosystem, learn new ways to mitigate oil in the environment, and understand how to be better prepared if a similar event happens in the future. More than 1,400 peer-reviewed publications have been published through its efforts.
To mark the end of its 10 year mission the regional Sea Grant Oil Spill Outreach Team, which is part of GoMRI, is hosting a free webinar this Friday, October 16 at 1:00 p.m.to break down the mission’s results, and the understanding that has been gained about the Gulf of Mexico thanks to all the research. We get a bit of a preview, and a bit of a history lesson about the spill, with Dr. Monica Wilson, Oil Spill Research Extension Specialist with the Florida Sea Grant College Program at UF/IFAS.
You can get details on the webinar and register HERE. You can learn more about the study that found hydrocarbons in fish in the gulf that was discussed in this episode HERE.
