Distinguished Lecture Series in Environmental Science, Technology, and Policy

Searching for subsurface plumes following the Deepwater Horizon
Disaster

Christopher Reddy, Thursday, February 10, 2011

4:30 pm, Porter Hall 100 (Gregg  Hall)

Following the Deepwater Horizon Disaster there were numerous lines of evidence that subsurface plumes had formed. To provide concrete evidence on whether these plumes existed, I will present results from a research cruise in late June that used basic oceanographic tools as well as the underwater vehicle,Sentry. We found a continuous, coherent plume flowing southwest at 1100 meters depth. The size, shape, and chemical content of the plume as well as how these results were presented by media will be discussed.

Christopher M. Reddy is a scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (Woods Hole, Massachusetts) in the Department of Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry and the Director of the Institution’s Coastal Ocean Institute. He studies oil spills, other areas of marine pollution, and biofuels. He has a BS in chemistry from Rhode Island College (1992) and a PhD in chemical oceanography from the Graduate School of Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island (1997). After finishing his BS, Reddy worked as an environmental chemist before attending graduate school.

Reddy has travelled around the world for his research, including collection of samples with the research submarine Alvin. He has held visiting and adjunct professorships at Boston University, the University of California at San Diego, and California Institute of Technology.

Co-sponsored by The Steinbrenner Institute for Environmental Education & Research