LSU Participates in Congressional Briefing on the Gulf of Mexico
May 2017
In early March, Christopher D’Elia, Dean of LSU College of the Coast & Environment,
participated in a Gulf of Mexico congressional briefing on the importance of sustained
observations for the Gulf of Mexico and the role that the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing
System, or IOOS, plays in supporting the economy, public health and safety. IOOS
is a mechanism for filling critical information gaps in observations and data in the
Gulf of Mexico.
The briefing, titled “Are we better informed today than before Hurricane Katrina
and the Deepwater Horizon Disaster? A discussion on the state of coastal observing
in the Gulf of Mexico,” was sponsored by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Sen. Roger Wicker
(R-MS) and organized by the IOOS Association and the Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean
Observing System.
D’Elia participated on behalf of LSU and GOMURC, the Gulf of Mexico Research Collaborative,
for which he serves as the 2016-2017 chair. GOMURC is a consortium of 80 research
universities located in five Gulf states, each dedicated to educating the next generation
and a future healthy Gulf environment and economy.
As it now stands, the current IOOS infrastructure is incomplete, and the Gulf is
not adequately prepared for future disasters that may occur. The ultimate goal of
the briefing was to build awareness of the importance of these programs at the national,
regional and state level.
D’Elia presented on the economic importance of the Gulf, which provides diverse resources
and opportunities with its natural ecosystem for maritime commerce and energy infrastructure.
He spoke on the benefits of ocean observing – physical, geological, chemical and biological
observations – which help measure changes over time and relative to specific events,
such as oil spills.
“Ocean observing can help make predictions that inform decision makers about commerce,
environmental management and public health,” D’Elia said. “High frequency radars,
in particular, provide decision makers with valuable observations in the Gulf. It’s
imperative that we continue to support and expand their operation.”
In addition to D’Elia, other presenters included Russell Callender, NOAA assistant
administrator for the National Ocean Service; Vice Admiral Paul Gaffney, U.S. Navy
(Ret.) and National Academies of Sciences: Gulf Research Program Advisory Board; Larry
McKinney, Director, Harte Research Institute, Texas; Ruth Perry, oceanographer, Shell
Oil; and Monty Graham, University of Southern Mississippi.
This article is adapted from a press release by LSU’s Alison Satake. For the original article, please visit: http://www.lsu.edu/mediacenter/news/2017/03/08cce_oceanobserving.php