The Gulf Research Program of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine announced today the recipients of nine data synthesis grants, totaling more than $4.4 million, including a $504,000 grant awarded to the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science’s Horn Point Laboratory to improve understanding of the responses of zooplankton and fish to stressers such as oil spills and low oxygen in the northern Gulf of Mexico.
These two-year grants are designed to support activities that synthesize existing data to inform efforts to restore and maintain the Gulf of Mexico’s ecosystem services or to enhance understanding of the Deep Gulf or its physical and biological connectivity to coastal communities. The research will increase understanding of the Gulf of Mexico region as a dynamic system, lead to better-informed decision making, translate into human benefits, and foster other actionable outcomes.
“These projects will add value to earlier investments in monitoring while improving our understanding of Gulf of Mexico ecosystems and communities,” said Gulf Research Program senior program officer Evonne Tang. The proposals were selected after an external peer-review process.
The project led by Mike Roman of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science’s Horn Point Laboratory is titled “Improved understanding of the northern Gulf of Mexico pelagic ecosystem: Integration, synthesis, and modeling of high-resolution zooplankton and fish data” and includes reserachers James Pierson of the Horn Point Laboratory and Stephan Brandt of Oregon State University.
Zooplankton and small fish provide the foundation for commercially and recreationally important fish species in the Gulf of Mexico, but their limited mobility makes them particularly vulnerable to impaired environmental conditions. Project researchers will build upon a variety of models to assess potential responses of zooplankton and fish to stressors such as oil spills and events limiting oxygen supply in the northern Gulf of Mexico. The synthesis of historic data with a broad range of new information will identify new, cost-effective ways of monitoring critical living marine resources in the Gulf.
The Gulf Research Program was established by agreements arising from the settlement of the U.S. government’s criminal complaints following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion. The Program seeks to improve understanding of the interconnecting human, environmental, and energy systems of the Gulf of Mexico and other U.S. outer continental shelf areas, and foster application of these insights to benefit Gulf communities, ecosystems, and the nation. The Program funds studies, projects, and other activities using three broad approaches: research and development, education and training, and environmental monitoring.
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine are private, nonprofit institutions that provide independent, objective analysis and advice to the nation to solve complex problems and inform public policy decisions related to science, technology, and medicine. The Academies operate under an 1863 congressional charter to the National Academy of Sciences, signed by President Lincoln. For more information, visit http://national-academies.org.
