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Suggested Citation:"2015 Investments." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2016. The Gulf Research Program Annual Report 2015. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/23643.

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2015 Investments

SCIENTIFIC LEADERSHIP AND CAPACITY BUILDING

In September 2015, the GRP’s two new fellowship programs—Science Policy Fellowships and Early-Career Research Fellowships—welcomed their first cohorts of fellows at an orientation in New Orleans, Louisiana. The talented group of scientists selected for these fellowships reflects the GRP’s commitment to supporting the development of future generations of scientists, engineers, and health professionals prepared to work at the intersections of oil system safety, human health and well-being, and environmental resources. Four Science Policy Fellows and eight Early-Career Research Fellows received a total of $818,000 of funding in stipends and research monies, for 1 year (Policy Fellows) or 2 years (Research Fellows).

Science Policy Fellowships

Science Policy Fellows spend 1 year on the staff of a state environmental, natural resources, oil and gas, or public health agency, or in regional offices of relevant federal agencies in the Gulf region. These fellowships provide an immersive policy experience for early-career scientists, by which they gain first-hand knowledge of the regulatory and policy-making organizations that work to address challenges particular to coastal regions. Additional funds (up to $5,000 per fellow) are available for professional development activities and travel.

In 2015, fellows were placed in host offices at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection; the Gulf of Mexico Office of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM); the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities, and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States Act (RESTORE Act) Science Program; and the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council (RESTORE Council). According to the GRP’s first cohort of fellows and host offices, this fellowship is a mutually beneficial experience; the fellows gained significant experience working at the science–policy interface, while also bringing valuable new perspectives to their host offices. See 2015 Science Policy Fellows to learn more about the fellows and their experiences.

Early-Career Research Fellowships

The GRP offers Early-Career Research Fellowships for assistant professors (or equivalent) at colleges, universities, and research institutions to recognize professionals at the critical pre-tenure phase of their careers for exceptional leadership, past performance, and potential for future contributions to improving oil system safety, human health and well-being, or environmental protection.

In 2015, eight individuals—five from Gulf institutions and three located elsewhere across the nation working on Gulf-relevant topics—received the GRP’s first Early-Career Research Fellowships. These fellows have wide-ranging expertise that spans chemical engineering, public health, and coastal geology. The 2 years of funding and mentorship provided by the fellowship program allows researchers to pilot new and potentially risky research, broaden the disciplinary scope of their work, support trainees, and travel to build networks with new collaborators. See 2015 Early-Career Research Fellows to learn more about the GRP’s first Early-Career Research Fellows and how GRP support is affecting their research.

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Suggested Citation:"2015 Investments." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2016. The Gulf Research Program Annual Report 2015. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/23643.

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2015 Science Policy Fellows

Diana Del Angel holds an M.S. in environmental science from Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi, where she studied beach and dune dynamics on South Padre Island, Texas. As a GRP Science Policy Fellow, she worked in the Florida Department of Environmental Protection in Tallahassee, Florida.

On the type of work a fellow might encounter: “Over the last year, I had the opportunity to work with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP). The FDEP’s Florida Coastal Office manages over 2 million acres of submerged lands and select coastal uplands within 41 aquatic preserves, with the goal of maintaining their natural conditions for the propagation of fish and wildlife and public recreation. One of the biggest values of my fellowship is collaborating with a great group of individuals from the main office in Tallahassee, in the field offices throughout the state, as well as other partners outside the FDEP who work to maintain, restore, monitor, and educate the public about these areas. It has been a privilege to work with a number of outstanding professionals who are passionate about their work.”

Elizabeth Gomez holds an M.S. in marine science from Stony Brook University in New York, where she studied the impacts of oyster restoration on fish communities. She worked at the NOAA RESTORE Act Science Program Office in Stennis, Mississippi.

On broadening networks and perspectives: “Some of the biggest benefits [of the fellowship] have been the ability to start building a great network of professionals in the Gulf region and the amount of information I have learned from these individuals. I have gained an incredible perspective on science and management issues in the Gulf from conversations with scientists and managers, something that cannot be gained in any book, journal article, or classroom.”

Jessica Henkel holds a Ph.D. in ecology and evolutionary biology from Tulane University, where she examined how environmental change and habitat degradation are impacting migratory bird populations in the Gulf of Mexico region. Her host office was the RESTORE Council in New Orleans, Louisiana.

On the professional development benefits: “I really could not recommend this fellowship strongly enough. If you are interested in a career in science policy, the opportunities to interact with decision makers and advise on science through this fellowship are fantastic. If you are planning to return to academia, this fellowship will provide a better understanding of funding opportunities and the research needs in the Gulf of Mexico. In addition, the funding provided to attend conferences, training, etc., can improve your skills whether you are planning to return to academia or stay working in science policy.”

Cholena Ren is a doctoral candidate in chemistry at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, where her research focuses on particulates generated from combustion processes. She worked at BOEM’s Gulf of Mexico Office located in New Orleans, Louisiana.

On the rapid accumulation of knowledge: “I was surprised at how the employees at [BOEM] were so welcoming and helpful. Every time I had a question or needed help someone was there and this made my fellowship experience even more valuable. All the knowledge I have gained should have taken years to learn, but only took 1 year.”

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Suggested Citation:"2015 Investments." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2016. The Gulf Research Program Annual Report 2015. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/23643.

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2015 Early-Career Research Fellows

Julie Albert, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. Her laboratory studies polymers, which are large molecules composed of many repeating smaller molecules or subunits. Wood, plastic, and rubber are common examples of polymers. With support provided by the GRP’s Early-Career Research Fellowship, they are working on creating a thin plastic membrane with tiny nanopores that can perform oil–water separations. Used in combination with existing oil spill cleanup technologies, this product could provide an economical, nontoxic, and practical solution to removing oil from the environment and recovering the oil so that it can be sold to fund remediation efforts.

On the broad scientific environment: “The [Early-Career Research Fellowship] program is broad scientifically, which is one of the attributes I like best about it—at our meetings, I get to hear from ecologists, biologists, medical doctors, and policy makers about their perspectives on preserving and interacting with the Gulf environment.”

Alberto Caban-Martinez, D.O., Ph.D., M.P.H., C.P.H., is an assistant professor of public health sciences and director of the Musculoskeletal Disorders and Occupational Health Lab at the University of Miami’s Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine. He focuses on finding ways to promote safe work practices, healthy behaviors, and healthy work environments. Dr. Caban-Martinez is especially concerned about redressing disparities in musculoskeletal disorder risk, whether by race/ethnicity, gender, or occupation. By exploring occupational and environmental health surveillance activities, he provides rigorous scientific evidence about effective ways to reduce musculoskeletal disorders and improve the well-being of worker populations.

On new interdisciplinary thinking: “My research world is centered around human health and population-level sciences that often do not take into account the broader ecosystem and community environment that can impact human health. The fellowship has allowed me to explore via networks and mentorships the dyads of human health and environmental health, ecology, and marine biology.”

Zack Darnell, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, Louisiana. He is interested in how marine invertebrates respond to and cope with changing environmental conditions. Much of his research focuses on reproduction and migration in the context of climate change and fisheries.

On new research opportunities: “[The fellowship] has allowed me to pursue new research directions and conduct high-risk research that many funding agencies would have been hesitant to fund without preliminary data. The data we are currently generating will be leveraged to pursue additional funding now that we have established the feasibility and the method.”

Kelly Dorgan, Ph.D., is a senior marine scientist at Dauphin Island Sea Lab and an assistant professor in the Department of Marine Sciences at the University of South Alabama. Her research examines how animals that live in sediments (mostly worms) interact with their environment. Much like earthworms in a garden, marine worms burrow through and feed on sediments, mixing sediment grains, regenerating nutrients, and pumping water down into sediments to oxygenate them. In her research, she applies engineering theory to understand how worms burrow through and feed on sediments, which will help improve understanding of how sediments are mixed.

On expanding the network of peers: “It’s been great meeting and getting to know the other fellows and having a cohort of peers who are at the same stage in their careers. It’s easy to meet scientists working in my field, but meeting experts in very different fields doesn’t happen as often.”

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Suggested Citation:"2015 Investments." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2016. The Gulf Research Program Annual Report 2015. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/23643.

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Joel Fodrie, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of fisheries oceanography and ecology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His research lab studies the population ecology of estuarine fishes; in particular, he explores their movements and how those movements affect patterns of habitat use.

On broadened research opportunities: “There are lots of projects we’d like to tackle that often don’t fit within the scope of a ‘normal’ funded grant. For instance, the fellowship is going to help pay for a survey study this fall across the northern rim of the Gulf of Mexico. We’ll be collecting fishes from Louisiana to Florida, with an eye toward extending our studies on the impacts of the 2010 Macondo Oil Spill as well as the consequence of long-term warming in the Gulf of Mexico.”

Anna Michel, Ph.D., is an assistant scientist in the Department of Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. In her lab, she designs and builds instruments that can measure chemicals in the environment. They use these chemical measurements to learn about natural processes and human-induced impacts. They focus primarily on measuring two greenhouse gases: methane and carbon dioxide. They work in a variety of environments from the Arctic to the Gulf of Mexico.

On professional travel benefits: “The fellowship has allowed me to recently attend a Gordon Conference on Methane Hydrates at which I was an invited speaker. I also used funds to help cover my travel to a workshop on rivers. I am interested in learning about how we can use sensors to enable studies of rivers and river–marine interactions such as where the Mississippi River meets the Gulf of Mexico. From these activities, I now have several new research collaborations starting!”

Davin Wallace, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of Marine Science at the University of Southern Mississippi. He studies the response of coastal environments to sea-level rise, storm impacts, and sediment supply variations. This type of research can expand understanding of how coastlines might evolve in the future by examining periods in the geological past that might have had similar rates of change.

On enhanced research flexibility: “Science is often difficult to plan in terms of a pre-budgeted spreadsheet. Therefore, having the flexibility to examine research problems as they come up has been incredibly valuable to move my research program forward.”

Helen White, Ph.D., is an associate professor of chemistry at Haverford College in Haverford, Pennsylvania. Her research examines human-derived chemicals that are released into the marine environment and persist there for extended periods of time, often as long as decades after the initial release. She is particularly interested in chemicals that are derived from oil as well as pesticides and plastics. Her work aims to understand how natural processes that occur in the environment interact with these compounds and whether the compounds pose a threat to human and environmental systems.

On enriched professional assessment: “I greatly value the space for reflection this fellowship offers. It is often difficult to make time to ask for professional feedback from mentors both in and outside of the college, but this fellowship creates a structure for me to take stock of my accomplishments, seek out constructive criticism, and plot the next crucial steps.”

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Suggested Citation:"2015 Investments." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2016. The Gulf Research Program Annual Report 2015. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/23643.

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SCIENCE TO ADVANCE UNDERSTANDING AND SERVE COMMUNITY NEEDS

In 2015, the GRP opened competitions for its first two research grant opportunities: Exploratory Grants and Synthesis Grants to spark innovative and cross-disciplinary research on topics identified in the GRP’s 2014 opportunity analysis workshops. After a rigorous peer-review process, 21 projects were selected to receive GRP funding totaling $5.9 million for award year 2015 grants.

Exploratory Grants

2015 Exploratory Grants were made for two themes: (1) how to effectively educate and train offshore oil and gas and health professionals, and (2) how to improve understanding of links between human well-being and ecosystem services related to oil and gas production. Twelve projects—with personnel from 15 institutions in the Gulf states and 9 from elsewhere in the United States—received a total of $1.5 million of grant funds.

Exploratory grants are intended to catalyze innovative thinking by providing seed money to advance research in its early conceptual phase, accelerate progress from concept to testing, and foster the development of novel approaches. The Summary of Grantees lists grantee projects, which span research on virtual offshore disaster training, environmental health leadership development, and management decision support tools.

Synthesis Grants

2015 Synthesis Grants were made for two themes: (1) to use existing monitoring data to inform efforts to restore and maintain the Gulf of Mexico’s ecosystem services, and (2) to enhance understanding of

**2015 Grant and Fellowship Recipients**

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Suggested Citation:"2015 Investments." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2016. The Gulf Research Program Annual Report 2015. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/23643.

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the Deep Gulf or its physical and biological connectivity to coastal communities. Nine research teams, bringing together expertise from 20 institutions from across the nation, received a total of $4.4 million of grant funds.

Synthesis grants seek to extend the usefulness of existing monitoring data by encouraging applicants to synthesize and integrate data derived from different sources or collected for different purposes to obtain novel insights or to increase the applicability of scientific research. The Summary of Grantees lists grantee projects, which include integration of visual and acoustic data to develop cetacean habitat models, using medical claims and other data to conduct large-scale evaluations of disaster effects, and combining historical observation data with contemporary models to understand circulation in the Deep Gulf.

Planning for Award Year 2016 Grants

To complement the RFA opportunities offered in 2015, the GRP developed new topics for a second round of Exploratory and Synthesis Grant competitions in 2016. These topics emphasize community resilience, protecting human health and well-being, and the role of human and organizational factors for creating a culture of safety in offshore oil and gas operations. The GRP also created a third grant type—Capacity-Building Grants—for community-focused organizations. The 2015 and 2016 topics reflect the GRP’s broad mission to enhance oil system safety and the protection of human health and the environment (see 2015 and 2016 Grant Topics below).

As the program develops, our portfolio of funding opportunities and activities will continue to evolve and span the social, health, environmental, and physical sciences, and offer new opportunities that seek to engage the variety of perspectives—including research, governmental, industry, and community organizations—needed to address complex, cross-boundary challenges.

2015 AND 2016 GRANT TOPICS

EXPLORATORY GRANTS

2015: Approaches for effective education and training of workers in the offshore oil and gas industry and health professions

2015: Linking ecosystem services related to and influenced by oil and gas production to human health and well-being

2016: Scenario planning to advance safety culture and minimize risk in offshore oil and gas operations

2016: Informing coastal community planning and response to environmental change in regions with offshore oil and gas operations

SYNTHESIS GRANTS

2015: Data synthesis to address one of two themes:

– Inform plans and efforts to restore and maintain the services provided by Gulf coastal ecosystems

– Enhance understanding of the Deep Gulf or the connectivity of the Deep Gulf to the coast, including physical and biological connectivity to coastal communities

2016: Scientific synthesis connecting environmental with social and/or health data to address one of two themes:

– Improve understanding of impacts of offshore oil and gas production on coastal communities

– Improve understanding of human exposure to environmental contaminants

CAPACITY-BUILDING GRANTS

2016: Enhancing community networks that improve coastal environments, health, and well-being

Page 12 Cite

Suggested Citation:"2015 Investments." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2016. The Gulf Research Program Annual Report 2015. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/23643.

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Activities at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

The GRP also supports projects that take advantage of the consensus-building and convening power of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. In 2015, the GRP funded one consensus report and two report dissemination activities relevant to the Gulf region.

Report on Effective Monitoring to Evaluate Ecological Restoration in the Gulf of Mexico: In 2015, an Academies’ study committee convened by the Division on Earth and Life Studies’ Ocean Studies Board and Water Science and Technology Board began its work to develop a report that will provide guidance on effective approaches for monitoring and assessing Gulf restoration. The study concept was developed with help from other Deepwater Horizon–related funders and agencies, including the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation; the RESTORE Council; NOAA; and a number of other federal and state agencies with restoration responsibilities. The report was released in July 2016.

Community Discussion Toolkit for Health in Post-Disaster Recovery Planning: The GRP provided funds to the Board on Health Sciences Policy to partner with a Gulf Region community to conduct a pilot test of a discussion toolkit designed to help communities identify and implement recovery planning and strategies that optimize community health. The toolkit is based on the 2015 report Healthy, Resilient, and Sustainable Communities After Disasters: Strategies, Opportunities, and Planning for Recovery. The pilot will take place in September 2016.

Planning Meeting for a Community Engagement Activity About Coastal Risk Reduction: The GRP provided funds to the Academies’ Koshland Science Museum, the Water Science and Technology Board, and the Ocean Studies Board to follow up on the 2014 report Reducing Coastal Risk on the East and Gulf Coasts. The museum and boards convened a planning meeting to discuss a tool for engaging communities in decision making about the challenges of and solutions for responsible coastal development. Coastal risk experts from the Gulf region and beyond met to outline a framework for an interactive tool that could be used by communities and decision makers.