The Deepwater Horizon oil spill thrust the Florida Institute of Oceanography and the research vessels Weatherbird II and Bellows into the national media spotlight and rarely do the vessels set out on a mission now that isn’t highlighted in the evening news. Please click on the stories below to learn more about the work of the crews and scientists aboard the Weatherbird II and Bellows.
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FIO Council Approves $9M in Spill Research Grants
August 12, 2010
Projects will examine wide-ranging impacts on Gulf, develop spill tracking system
ST. PETERSBURG (Aug. 12, 2010) – The Florida Institute of Oceanography Council has selected 27 research projects examining the vast impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on the Gulf of Mexico for funding from $10 million provided by oil company BP.
The projects were selected from 233 proposals submitted by researchers at the 20 FIO member institutions and reviewed by top scientists from around Florida. The proposals were formally approved by the FIO Council at their meeting Thursday at the USF College of Marine Science.
The FIO is a consortium of public and private marine science centers and institutes in Florida who have worked cooperatively for more than four decades on scientific projects in Florida’s waters and along its more than 1,200 miles of coastline.
Researchers will examine the full-scope of the spill, from investigating the effect of Deepwater Horizon oil and dispersants on reefs, corals and salt marshes to examining how coastal and marine food webs, from plankton to sharks, have fared in the disaster.
Other research efforts will focus on oyster habitats, the impact on the bottlenose dolphin population in Panhandle waters and the status of diatoms and nanoplankton which make up the base of the Gulf food web. One joint project by the University of South Florida, Florida State University and the University of Miami will seek to establish a coordinated approach to oil spill tracking.
The 27 projects total more than $9 million.
The council did not identify funding levels for each project but instead opted to ask researchers to revisit their individual cost estimates and consider ways to lower expenses sharing limited resources, such as vessel time, in an effort to further stretch research dollars. Those negotiations will begin immediately, said William Hogarth, acting director of the FIO and Dean of USF’s College of Marine Science.
State University System Chancellor Frank Brogan thanked the panel for its hard work and said he was encouraged that the first phase of grant funds were released through a competitive grant process on an aggressive timeline.
"We will be good stewards of these funds so that we can leverage the research capacity of the experts and assets amid our universities," Brogan said. "I look forward to the collaboration that will be necessary to assist the needs of the State and its agencies, which are depending on this scientific data as stakeholders in the state's response efforts."
In addition to the research awards, about $2 million is needed to fund ship time on the FIO-operated vessels, the R/V Weatherbird II and the R/V Bellows, and vessels operated by member institutions.
All data gathered in the projects will be made available through a centralized and public database now being planned. BP is not involved in any of the actual research projects.
FIO Selected Projects
Vickie Chachere
