TITLE:
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill as a Case Study for Interdisciplinary Cooperation within Developmental Biology, Environmental Sciences and Physiology
AUTHORS:
Warren Burggren, Benjamin Dubansky, Aaron Roberts, Matthew Alloy
KEYWORDS:
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, Gulf of Mexico, Interdisciplinarity, Research Consortium
JOURNAL NAME:
World Journal of Engineering and Technology,
Vol.3 No.4C,
December
17,
2015
ABSTRACT: The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in the
USA’s Gulf of Mexico created a high degree of exposure of marine organisms to
toxic polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) present in crude oil. To determine the
ecological and physiological effects of crude oil on the Gulf of Mexico
ecosystem, the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative created several research
consortia to address overreaching questions concerning the biological impacts
of the ecology of the Gulf of Mexico that would otherwise be beyond the
capabilities of an individual investigator or a small group. One of these consortia, highlighted in this article, is the RECOVER
Consortium, which brings together physiologists, developmental biologists,
toxicologists and other life scientists to focus on the multifaceted physiological
effects of PAHs, especially as they pertain to cardiovascular and metabolic
physiology of economically important fish species. Using the Recover
Consortium’s interdisciplinary approach to revealing the biological impacts of
the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill as a case study, we make the argument for
interdisciplinary teams that bring together scientists with different
specialties as an efficient way—and perhaps the only way—to unravel
highly complex biological effects of marine oil spills.