Researchers respond to Gulf spill

In the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion on April 20, several university professors have contributed technology and research hours to help alleviate the spill's effects.

Matt Oliver, an oceanography professor in the College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment, used the CEOC's ocean glider to provide data to government officials and oil spill responders.

The Slocum Electric Glider, which CEOC Dean Nancy Targett describes as a "torpedo with wings" was deployed north of Key West, Fla. for two 26-day missions. Each mission cost approximately $10,000—a small amount compared to the cost of sending out a research boat on a similar assignment.

"[The glider] doesn't get seasick. It samples all the time. It doesn't complain. If rough weather comes in, it doesn't have to go into port," Oliver said. "There are all these advantages. They're cost effective."

The glider took water temperature samples, tested for the presence of oil and collected other types of data over hundreds of miles to determine if the spill was spreading down the west coast of Florida, Oliver said. The glider found no evidence of oil in the waters it sampled.

"The response isn't necessarily we all put on our waders and went down," Oliver said. "We tried to get as much real time information to the responders and to the government as possible, and I think in that sense we were very successful."

Scientists operated the glider from the university's Lewes campus.

"It was controlled by the Internet—that's sort of the new chapter in oceanography," Oliver said. "You don't have to be there anymore. The technology has progressed to the point where we had a better view of the oil spill here than they did in the Gulf."

While the glider does not have the capability to remove oil from the water, the real-time data it feeds to Google Earth is invaluable, he said.

"It's not actually helping with cleanup, but it's providing the right sorts of information to people who will help with the cleanup," Oliver said.

On June 22, Targett, along with four other scientists, met with members of Vice President Joe Biden's Domestic Policy Advisory Committee to brief them on the spill.

Targett and the scientists, all of whom represented Ocean Leadership, an organization that includes 95 academic and research institutions, made recommendations that they hoped would trickle down to federal agencies, Targett said.

"What we need to be thinking about now that the spill has been capped is where [the oil] is, how it's degrading, what happens to the oil that's washed up on shore, what's the impact of that," she said.

The research community's response to the spill has largely been a collaborative effort. Targett took part in the June 3 meeting of the Consortium for Ocean Leadership at Louisiana State University. Targett, who is chair of Ocean Leadership's board of trustees, said the purpose of the Consortium was to advance research and learning with regard to the spill.

The university's response has mirrored that of the larger academic community. The university is part of Integrated Ocean Observing Systems, a research partnership that contributed satellite support in the Gulf region.

"Our other partners down in the Gulf were Mote Marine in Sarasota and Rutgers; those are the two we were working with the most with the gliders," Oliver said.

James Corbett, professor of marine policy, is studying the relationship between the spill and human energy consumption. At Coast Day, which will take place Oct. 3 at the university's Lewes campus, Corbett will give a public lecture about Delaware's connection to the oil spill.

Corbett said he wants people to be able to easily understand the impacts of the spill and the importance of oil for Americans.

He created a page on the CEOE website, featuring an interactive map showing how long the cars in different American cities could be powered with the oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill. Corbett has also developed educational and course materials aimed at exploring the decisions to search for new resources and the supply and demand that Americans have for petroleum.

"Every day in the U.S., Americans consume about 20 million barrels of petroleum," Corbett said. "What we lost represents about four million barrels, which is about six hours of one day of use."