gulf of mexico research initiative

An important monitoring tool implemented by the GMT was the site visit, which included administrative and RB participation. GoMRI funding brought together diverse interdisciplinary groups and focused their efforts to a common goal, fostering cross-discipline collaborations that yielded advances and impacts otherwise unattainable. At the end of the 10-year program, the GoMRI grant administration team had successfully executed and managed more than 100 research grants, varying in size from ~$41,000 to ~$21 million, awarded under six RFPs. Coastal Response Research Center. Halanych. Oceanography 29(3):3337, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2016.59. Based on audience requests, Sea Grant team members expanded their scope of work by creating publications in English, Vietnamese, and Spanish; short videos; and a Science-on-a-Sphere module (https://sos.noaa.gov/What_is_SOS/, in partnership with GRIIDC); and by organizing targeted regional workshops and events that expanded their audience beyond the GOM to the national level. The shift in focus to synthesis was reflected in RFP-VI, the final large funding opportunity of the 10-year initiative. Resources were made available to prioritize education and training of approximately 1,200 graduate students, 1,000 undergraduates, and nearly 400 early career professionals. From its initiation, GoMRI, the RB, and BP placed high importance on disseminating research results and discoveries to a wide variety of audiences. GoMRI insights into microbial genomics and hydrocarbon bioremediation response in marine ecosystems. Zimmermann, L.A., M.G. The TransOcean drilling rig operated on the BP-owned Macondo lease in the Mississippi Canyon, where the water was ~1,500 m (~5,000 ft) deep. 2021. There are many benefits in sharing data, because data from previous oil spills can be reanalyzed and verified, preventing duplication of effort and maximizing resources (Tenopir etal., 2011), as well as providing for transparency and reproducibility (Campbell etal., 2018). The team presented science firsthand at events and convened science seminars for non-scientific audiences, allowing researchers to explain topics in layman terms. Overton, and U. Passow. Aydinoglu, L. Wu, E. Read, M. Manoff, and M. Frame. A management team was established to support RB operations and assist in developing and managing the program. The GoMRI model provides important guidance for future efforts seeking to foster interdisciplinary research by bringing together ocean scientists from physical, chemical, biological, and geological backgrounds and chemists, microbiologists, ecologists, fisheries scientists, engineers, numerical modelers, and other experts to collectively and comprehensively address global threats to ocean ecosystemscertainly an imperative for the immediate future. These calls provided research and administrative updates and encouraged cooperation and sharing of best practices. Project PIs and outreach coordinators highlighted activities, shared best practices, and identified partnership opportunities with other GoMRI programs. Kostka, K.M. GoMRI outreach professionals established regular communication with research teams in order to understand ongoing research and entrain members of research teams in outreach activities. This partnership allowed GoMRI to reach a very large public audience, using unique and high-profile events and an established digital resource with an existing national audience. 2011. For GoMRI, the massive scale of the research program made scientific synthesis at the end of the program an immense task. The six RFPs varied slightly, based on specific goals and requirements of each RFP. Benoit, M.J. Carron, N.M. Dannreuther, K.H. It was designed to serve as a resource for program management, information dissemination, and administrative oversight. gomri gulf mexico research oil initiative dropps ocean atlantic horizon spill deepwater currents acer seminar coincides gcrl 5th anniversary series 1 rov

BP engaged Rita Colwell to form and lead an independent board of experts to oversee an unprecedented program of scientific research on the effects of the spill. Recommendations for science outreach program development: Perspectives from Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative Consortia. To be considered, proposals were required to address one or more of the five GoMRI research themes, with emphasis on interdisciplinary science encouraged. This distribution was made before the Master Research Agreement was finalized and prior to identification of GoMRI research themes (described below). Workshop held in Baton Rouge, LA, March 2224, 2011, 19 pp. While quarterly and annual reports kept the RB and GMT apprised of ongoing activities, GoMRI was designed to be collaborative. While the larger RFP-I and RFP-II were being prepared for release, RFP-III was the first major RFP funding awarded by the program (Figure 2). Sempier, N.M. Dannreuther, J.B. Ritchie, and K.M. GRIIDC published guidance documents, organized workshops, and held training webinars on best practices for a range of data topics: categorizing, compression, organization, and submission. These individuals assisted in coordination and in building a collaborative spirit within consortia. GoMRI researchers were required to submit all data within one year of data collection/generation or at the time of publication, which was not common practice at the time GoMRI was launched. A central premise of the program was that neither BP nor the Gulf state governors would influence selection of the research to be funded or the resulting publications. It was not until 87 days later that the well could be capped. corals GoMRI had the great benefit of sustained funding for 10 years, and this was particularly empowering. The site is continuously updated and provides a structured presentation of GoMRI-funded projects. NCBPDHOSOD (National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling). Darnell, M.M. This site provides program and project background information that integrates the RIS with content throughout the GoMRI main site. GRIIDC joined the Data Observation Network for Earth (DataONE) (https://search.dataone.org/data) as a node and deployed an Environmental Research Division Data Access Program (ERDDAP) server (https://erddap.griidc.org/erddap) to provide user selected subsets of oceanographic data. To minimize the administrative burden for the PIs, standardized templates were created for the reports and were pre-populated with relevant information for each project. Training and communication provided to the research community were key to successful data submission and implementation of data sharing policies. Rather than having the PI solely responsible, GoMRI encouraged delegation of specific roles, for example, appointment of a program or data manager and an outreach coordinator, and provided funding explicitly for these positions and their tasks. To meet these two objectives, GoMRI created one system for housing scientific data and a second system for administrative tracking and information collection. In addition to GoMRI data, GRIIDC houses data generated by the Florida RESTORE Act Centers of Excellence Program; the Mississippi Based Center of Excellence; the Texas OneGulf Center of Excellence; the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicines Gulf Research Program; and the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies.

As a new and uniquely funded organization, GoMRI quickly developed and implemented a set of management processes, policies, and frameworks while simultaneously building an interconnected research community that eventually grew to nearly 4,500 individuals. View Issue TOC Knapp, P.A. The Smithsonian Ocean Portal was launched in 2010 as an online complement to the Sant Ocean Hall at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. In July 2015, five years after the wellhead was capped, GoMRI reached its halfway point. On April 20, 2010, the TransOcean Deepwater Horizon (DWH) drilling rig lost control of a well, resulting in a catastrophic explosion approximately 66 km (41 miles) off the Louisiana coast. The program achieved this objective using a three-pronged approach: outreach activities led by the GoMRI-funded researchers along with outreach professionals; GMT activities at the program level; and partnerships with the Smithsonian Ocean Portal, Screenscope Inc., and four regional Sea Grant programs. The National Academies Press, Washington, DC, 200 pp., https://doi.org/10.17226/12949. Colwell. The Research Information System (RIS) was created and is managed by the Northern Gulf Institute at Mississippi State University as a relational database framework for tracking and collecting information for GoMRI.

Fillingham, S.H. Another important aspect of GoMRI community building was cross-consortia collaboration facilitated by regular internal communication among researchers. But these community efforts represented only a part of the synthesis goal. Nosek, A.M. Ellison, and J.L. GRIIDC employed several strategies to ensure the research database was discoverable, accessible, and useful, not just for scientists but also for the public. GoMRI required all publications to acknowledge GoMRI funding and provide the data set DOI, thus linking GRIIDC data sets to an associated publication. RFPs were developed by committees of the RB, with logistical support provided by the Chief Scientific Officer and the GMT staff. Sumaya, C.V., B. A biweekly e-newsletter provided aggregations of new web content highlighting the GoMRI community, as well as recent publications, data sets, and program announcements.

A natural connection existed among the organizations, as Sea Grant programs were already based in communities that GoMRI wanted to reach, and GoMRI research was answering questions Sea Grant was being asked. June 2013, 1 p., https://gulfresearchinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/GoMRI_PublicHealth_OnePager_Final.pdf. 2019. Participants identified science challenges associated with the spill: determining its magnitude, tracking the fate and transport of oil, and evaluating ecological and human impacts. Investigations by the Natural Resource Damage Assessment1 and associated legal processes concluded BP was responsible for the discharge of 3.19 million barrels (134 million gallons) of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, although the scientific consensus was that the overall input was closer to 5 million barrels (210 million gallons), indicating this to be the most significant accidental oil spill in history (DHNRDAT, 2016). Sea Grant programs rely on building relationships and receiving feedback from audiences they serve (https://seagrant.noaa.gov/). Rigorous peer review was conducted by outside experts who provided recommendations, based on predefined scoring and weighting, to the RFP committee and the RB. Many of the students were recognized for their excellent contributions through the establishment of a GoMRI Scholars Program. King. Benoit, D.S., L.A. Zimmermann, K.H. These short-term grants were to enable early sample collection for research on the oil spill until GoMRI was fully organized to begin operations. Multiple search tools are integrated into the website, providing access to personnel, subject matter, keywords, and thematic search. Conference calls with PIs, outreach coordinators, RB members, and GMT staff provided opportunities to share and coordinate outreach. 2021. Oceanography 29(3):3845, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2016.60. Recognizing traditional challenges encountered in funding data repositories, the program provided advanced funding to support GRIIDCs work through 2030, ensuring a GoMRI data legacy. The consistency and collective memory of the RB became an asset as the program progressed. They have progressed into professional careers and represent an important legacy of the program. Oceanography 34(1):7697, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2021.118. Each project has an information page cataloguing publications, presentations, and personnel. Serious concerns or findings of note proved to be rare, but the site visit was an opportunity for researchers and administrators to forge working relationships and gain context on the science behind each project, enhancing effective and less intrusive grant management. Joye, J.E. The Master Research Agreement was signed on December 1, 2011, and thereafter provided a blueprint for GoMRI operations, with only small adjustments in subsequent amendments as the program evolved. Jones, and M.P. The Master Research Agreement explicitly stated that the program would create and manage a research database to maintain full records of all funded projects, personnel, and publications and ensure resulting scientific data were fully accessible. Through a solicitation process, GoMRI partnered with the documentary film production company Screenscope Inc. to produce three films, Dispatches from the Gulf 1, 2, and 3. The GoMRI RB played a critical role in ensuring scientific independence of this industry-funded research program. Before defining the scope of the synthesis, guiding principles were established to ensure the synthesis efforts would be driven by the best available science and that any conclusions reached would be based on peer-reviewed publications. In 2013, GoMRI partnered with Ocean Portal to continue sharing oil spill research and results of the work of GoMRI-funded scientists with the public. As with any large research effort, there are lessons learned that would benefit the GoMRI program should it be starting today. Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Scientific Symposium Meeting Summary. With an annual attendance of 800 to 1,000 members of the research and resource management community, GoMOSES evolved into a preeminent event for Gulf of Mexico science and oil spill researchers. Within weeks, early discussions were being held regarding establishment of a scientific study of the DWH region; this study would become GoMRI. 2021. 63 pp., https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-OILCOMMISSION/pdf/GPO-OILCOMMISSION-1.pdf. GMT outreach activities were guided by an annual work plan approved by the RB and focused on dissemination of GoMRI research widely; this helped to keep members of the GoMRI community engaged in each others research. A complete bibliography of GoMRI-funded manuscripts, books, and book chapters is included. Workshop Report. Oceanography 19(2):3739, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2006.61. Beyond sharing the latest research, the conferences provided opportunities for attendees to interact, resulting in collaborations across sectors, disciplines, research teams, and consortia. Tragically, 11 individuals lost their lives and 17 were injured. GoMRI did not prescribe outreach programs or activities, allowing each project the flexibility to explore outreach activities suited to their research. Tenopir, C., S. Allard, K. Douglass, A.U. Oil spills and human health: Contributions of the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative. By then, millions of barrels of oil and gas had been released into the Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative Information and Data Cooperative (GRIIDC) was established at the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi to serve as the data repository for all GoMRI research. Using the five GoMRI research themes as a framework, the group identified critical gaps, raised key questions, and grouped subject areas into eight core areas (Box 1). Activity reports were submitted in two parts. GRIIDC provided training on data management, submission, and curation, as well as information about the benefits of data sharing. Leadership and guidance provided by the GRIIDC advisory committee proved instrumental in developing best practices. In 2014, as GoMRI expanded and refined its outreach strategies, the RB created a vision for a documentary to explain how research is done and to tell the GoMRI research story. The Gulf of Mexico: An overview. Hydrocarbons have always been a component of the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem, strongly influencing its ecology. In addition to research consortia, the RB also chose to support smaller groups of researchers and individual investigators. RIS allowed GoMRI staff to track metrics of research productivity, including nearly 5,500 conference presentations and more than 1,500 peer-reviewed publications. In short, GoMRI represents a unique multi-sector partnership and a community of researchers that will advance science in the Gulf of Mexico and elsewhere for decades to come. 2013. Each RFP was unique; RFP-I and RFP-IV funded research consortia, RFP-III funded data collection, RFP-II and RFP-V funded individual investigators and small research teams, and the final call for proposals, RFP-VI, funded both consortia and small investigator teams. The GoMRI model also offers a path to more powerful and impactful science by utilizing diverse funding and innovative and transformative strategies to advance basic and applied research to meet common national and international needs. The GoMRI Research Board and Management Team successfully produced and operated a system for requests for proposals, grants management, scientific and programmatic data management, and outreach and education, and assembled a scientific synthesis of results to create a lasting legacy 10 years after the disaster. The RB established a conflict-of-interest policy for all RB members, GoMRI Management Team (GMT) staff, and GoMRI-funded Principal Investigators (PIs) and co-PIs. The list also included analysis of the human dimension related to spill response, seafood safety, information management, and dialogue among researchers and responders to ensure transfer of research results to effective practices (Institute of Medicine, 2010; Coastal Response Research Center, 2011; Sumaya etal., 2013). Two days later, on April 22, 2010, the rig sank, and oil began to flow from the broken wellhead into the surrounding water (NCBPDHOSOD, 2011). This allowed smooth execution of the contracts, with the process becoming more streamlined with each new RFP, as institutions became increasingly familiar with the GoMRI contract. The team used this initial information to develop extension products and services explaining the science surrounding topics of greatest interest. Coordinating R&D on Oil Spill Response in the Wake of Deepwater Horizon. For each award, the grant administrator organized a site visit to review and discuss institution policies for pre- and post-award management. The GoMRI RB incorporated the recommendations from these meetings and the collective expertise of the research scientists to establish five themes to guide GoMRI research: The fundamental goal of the RB was to fund the best science using a solicitation and review process of the highest integrity. The RB prepared a second request for proposals (RFP-II) designed to direct funding to individuals and small groups who proposed research that would address the GoMRI research themes (described below) and complement consortia research. Side meetings and informal gatherings at GoMOSES enhanced collaboration and cooperation among the community. Reichman, O.J., M.B. Integrating research communities that transcend traditional academic departmental structures proved challenging, even with the emphasis that GoMRI had placed on interdisciplinary and collaborative research. The enhanced capacity across the Gulf states and expanded collaborations, networking, and integration of the US and global scientific community are GoMRI legacies. Several outreach activities were designed specifically to engage the GoMRI research community. Open data, no longer a foreign concept, is now a commonplace activity for researchers, with journals and funding agencies increasingly requiring data to be publicly available. The elements and submission compliance expectations were developed for each RFP solicitation and were clearly defined. Innovations and newly developed best practices helped position GoMRI and GRIIDC at the forefront of the data sharing movement (Gibeaut, 2016). These internal webinars provided a unique forum for sharing research not yet published and provided another opportunity to engage the GoMRI research community. Consortia were required to plan and budget for outreach and education to complement their research. Whereas NSF tracks semi-annual or annual progress, the GoMRI RB opted to require quarterly financial and research progress reports and an annual summary of activities. A report of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Oil in the Sea III (Transportation Research Board and National Research Council, 2003), estimated that approximately 600 natural seeps in the Gulf of Mexico annually release more than a million barrels (42 million gallons) of oil into Gulf waters. The framework for a 10-year, $500 million, independent research program to study the impacts and effects of the oil spill was developed voluntarily by BP and initiated with a single phone call from BP Chief Scientist Ellen Williams to Rita Colwell, former director of the US National Science Foundation. 2016. RB motivators facilitated coordination between synthesis efforts to avoid duplication and ensure comprehensive coverage. Colwell.

Best practices and lessons learned from the GoMRI experience in grant execution and monitoring during the 10 years the program was in operation are highlighted below. In June 2010, while GoMRI was in its early stage of development, BP distributed $45 million of the designated $500 million for rapid response research and sample collection to academic institutes in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, and to the National Institutes of Health. Because it was a novel and uniquely funded organization, GoMRI, out of necessity, had to develop and implement a set of management processes, policies, and frameworks to ensure each research grant was efficiently and effectively administered and monitored. Sandifer, R.C. The RB and GMT shared updates on GMT-led outreach activities, providing a key dissemination channel for these activities to the GoMRI community. In addition, the activity report narrative provided information on plans for the next quarter and an opportunity for the PI to highlight problems and/or obstacles. The GoMRI Master Research Agreement was purposely designed to enhance the research capacity of the Gulf of Mexico region. Oceanography 34(1):1629, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2021.114. 2021. Quarterly financial reports allowed comparison of actual expenditures with the approved budget to determine expenditures (i.e.,the burn rate) for each project. Colwell. On the advice of the RB committee focused on ship time, the RB allocated ship-time funding within a project rather than following the NSF model of separate funding for ship time. Prior to creating the Sea Grant oil spill outreach team, a social network analysis was conducted to identify individuals who were sharing oil spill science information. Communication was strengthened among these various groups, illustrated by industry representatives who served in advisory roles to provide guidance on research objectives. Farrington, J.W., E.B. GoMRI grant administration practices were essentially stable for the lifetime of the program, with only a few changes needed. For these reasons, GoMRI moved to establish GRIIDC as the data repository for the program. Liberating field science samples and data. From disaster to understanding: Formation and accomplishments of the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative. Petitt, J.B. Ritchie, R.R. It proved especially useful at the height of GoMRI grant activities when RFPs I and II were winding down and RFPs IV, V, and VI were either in full operation or just beginning. Wiesenburg, D.A., B. Shipp, F.J. Fodrie, S. Powers, J. Lartigue, K.M. Although previous oil spills involved significant research, not all data resulting from those events are publicly available (Reichman etal., 2011). They represent a critical aspect of GoMRI synthesis, each designed as working sessions with specific open access outputs. Synthesis was incorporated into the final research RFP but, given how critical this effort proved to be in providing scientific value for the public, it probably should have been built into RFPs from the start. Entering properly documented and complete sets of data into the GRIIDC repository was the first step in effective data sharing. Additionally, publications were monitored by the RIS, helping to ensure that all GoMRI attribution and data sharing requirements were met. Subsequent workshops further refined the list of research and development topics, including dispersant efficacy and effects, spill trajectory modeling, and detection of surface and subsurface oil. Operations were in progress to temporarily abandon the well, a process involving filling a portion of the well hole with a cement plug. Data sharing by scientists: Practices and perceptions. Shortly after the DWH oil spill, the Ocean Portal began to post stories on a Gulf Oil Spill page. Science 331(6018):703705, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1197962. Project outreach efforts were extremely effective in promoting GoMRI research results, with individual projects creating programs that directly impacted students, educators, and the public in their local communities. 2021. Swanseen, C.A. GeoHealth 3(12):391406, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GH000217. Gibeaut, J. Concurrent with the establishment of GoMRI, the research community was convened to inform a scientific response to the ongoing spill, and more than 200 scientists assembled on June 3, 2010, at Louisiana State University to discuss the urgent need to respond (Consortium for Ocean Leadership, 2010).