Five research projects related to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and led by Florida State University faculty members have been selected for funding by the Florida Institute of Oceanography’s governing council.

The five were among a total of 27 research projects aimed at examining the vast impacts of the Gulf oil spill that were chosen for funding; between them, they received $9 million provided by oil company BP. The projects were selected from 233 proposals submitted by researchers at the 20 Florida Institute of Oceanography member institutions and reviewed by top scientists from around Florida. The institute’s governing council approved the grants on Aug. 12.

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 costs by 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 Florida Institute of Oceanography and dean of the University of South Florida’s College of Marine Science.

The institute is a consortium of public and private marine science centers and institutes in Florida that have worked cooperatively for more that four decades on scientific projects on Florida’s waters and along its 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 planktons to sharks, have fared in the disaster.

The research projects that are led by Florida State faculty members are as follows:

• “Tracing the intrusion of the GOM-2010 oil spill on coastal and marine food webs radiocarbon and stable isotope,” led by Jeffrey P. Chanton, the John Widmer Winchester Professor of Oceanography in the Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science. (Researchers from Florida A&M University and the U.S. Geological Survey will also participate in the project.)
• “Assessment of deepwater fish assemblages associated with DeSoto Canyons and continental slope waters in the eastern GOM,” led by Ralph Dean Grubbs, an assistant scholar scientist at the Florida State University Coastal and Marine Laboratory.
• “Penetration, accumulation and degradation of BP DWH oil in Florida sandy beaches,” led by Markus Huettel, a professor of biological oceanography in the Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science. (Researchers from Eckerd College will also participate in the project.)
• “Coast watch: Remote sensing and verification sampling of oil spill impact on Florida coast,” led by Ian MacDonald, a professor of oceanography in the Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science. (Researchers from the University of West Florida will also participate in the project.)
• “Effects of the BP oil spill on diatoms, nanoplankton and related protists at the base of the food chain in the NE Gulf of Mexico,” led by Sherwood W. Wise Jr., a professor of paleontology in the Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science. (Researchers from Mississippi State University will also participate in the project.)

Florida State researchers are also participating in three additional research projects funded by the Florida Institute of Oceanography:

• "The Deepwater Horizon oil spill: Assessing impacts on a critical habitat, oyster reefs and associated species in Florida Gulf estuaries," in collaboration with researchers from Florida Atlantic University, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute at FAU and Florida Gulf Coast University; and
• “A coordinated modeling approach in support of oil spill tracking,” in collaboration with researchers from the University of South Florida and the University of Miami; and
• “Integrative biodiversity assessment of coral sponge communities of W. Florida shelf: establishing a baseline for a sensitive ecosystem,” in collaboration with researchers from the University of Florida, the Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce and Nova Southeastern University.

A complete list of funded research projects is posted on the Florida Institute of Oceanography website.