UGA researchers among recipients of GoMRI grants

Of the $38 million recently awarded to study the effects of oil on the Gulf of Mexico, two marine sciences faculty members had seperate projects funded by the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative research board:

“The Research Board was impressed with the quality of the 288 applications received,” said Dr. Rita Colwell, Chairman of the GoMRI Research Board. “As is our practice, all proposals underwent a rigorous merit review process like that used by the National Science Foundation. This process has served us well, as demonstrated by the impressive array of research findings published in scientific journals by those researchers GoMRI has already funded. We are gaining an important understanding of how the Gulf of Mexico functions as an ecosystem and responds to large-scale environmental stresses like that caused by the tragic Macondo wellhead blowout.”

The researchers funded today submitted research proposals in response to GoMRI’s fifth request for proposals (RFP-V). This program was designed to support research by individual investigators or by collaborative teams during 2016-2018. GoMRI also supports research by large, multi-institutional consortia that are funded under another GoMRI program.

The UGA faculty are department head and professor Daniela Di Iorio for her team's project studying Vertical Upwelling and Bottom-boundary Layer Dispersal at a Natural Seep Site; and associate professor Adrian Burd for his investigations of Oil-Marine Snow-Mineral Aggregate Interactions and Sedimentation during the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.

Expertise in marine sciences and oceanography is leading to greater international stature for the University of Georgia in these areas thanks to the sustained efforts of these and other colleagues. Congratulations on this new support and continued good luck in helping us understand the Gulf ecosystem and its vulnerabilities.