Oil Spill Experts
Texas A&M University and the Texas A&M University System have numerous faculty members with expertise in oil spills, how these might affect the environment and projections of where ocean currents may carry oil spills.
Oil Spills, Oil Cleanup
Dr. Robert Moore, associate director of TEEX (Texas Engineering Extension Service), can discuss oil spill controls and ways to respond to oil spills once they happen. His group has worked closely with several major oil companies, including BP, on basic safety and training procedures for workers and responders.
Phone: (979) 862-4469 or robert.moore@teexmail.com
Dr. Ayal Anis, a physical oceanographer at Texas A&M-Galveston, can discuss physical actions of oil spills taking place in the water.
Phone: (409) 740-4897 or anisa@tamug.edu
Dr. Drew Vastano, professor of oceanography at Texas A&M, has done research with modeling surface currents. He can also speak about winds that might move oil spills around.
Phone: (979) 845-9826 or drewv@tamu.edu
Dr. Norm Guinasso Jr. is director of the Geochemical Environmental Research Group (GERG) at Texas A&M and is very familiar with oil spills, movement of oil spills and containment procedures. He has years of experience working in the Gulf of Mexico.
Phone: (979) 862-2323 or guinasso@tamu.edu
Effect of Oil Spills on the Environment
Dr. Chuck Kennicutt, a member of the Geochemical and Environmental Research (GERG) group at Texas A&M, can talk about environmental monitoring and oil spills. He worked as part of the team that assessed the damage done by the Exxon Valdez spill.
Phone: (979) 458-4345 or m-kennicutt@tamu.edu.
Dr. John Tunnell Jr. is associate director of the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. He can discuss effects of oil spills on coral reefs, marine life and estuarine systems, and the long-term effects of oil spills. Phone: (361): 825-2000 or wes.tunnell@tamucc.edu
Effect of Oil Spills on Marine Life
Dr. John Wormuth is a biological oceanographer with expertise in the marine life of the Gulf of Mexico.
Phone: (979) 845-7132 or jwormuth@ocean.tamu.edu
Dr. Steve DiMarco can discuss physical oceanography of the Gulf of Mexico and how oil spills might affect the “dead zone,” a large are of the gulf that has very low oxygen levels that can be harmful to marine life. He can also speak about the pollution effects of oil spills.
Phone: (979) 862-4168 or sdimarco@tamu.edu.
Dr. Gilbert Rowe is with Texas A&M Galveston and his research includes deep-sea biology, and the biogeochemistry of benthic communities
Phone: (409) 740-4458 or roweg@tamu.edu
Dr. Thomas Shirley is a member of the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and is an expert on deep sea marine life, connection between ecology and marine life, and fisheries and deep sea life, especially crabs and crustaceans.
Phone: (361) 825-2030 or thomas.shirley@tamucc.edu
Dr. Paul Montagna is a member of the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and is expert on Gulf ecosystems, long-term effects of pollution in the Gulf, how oceans can recover from pollution and oil spills, and connections between marine estuaries and contaminants.
Phone: (361) 825-2040 or paul.montagna@tamucc.edu
Jill Heatley, a clinical associate professor at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, is certified in aviary and zoo medicine, acting as the lead veterinarian working with The Wildlife Rehab & Education Center in Houston.
Phone: (979) 845-1202 or Jheatley@cvm.tamu.edu
Oil Pollution and Control
Dr. John Kessler, professor of oceanography, can discuss natural oil seeps into the Gulf of Mexico, ocean chemistry and long-term effects of spills on marine life. He just received one of the first National Science Foundation grants to go out to the spill and do research aboard a ship.
Phone: (979) 845-5752 or jkessler@ocean.tamu.edu
Dr. Larry McKinney directs the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M University at Corpus Christi. He is an expert on previous gulf oil spills, containing spills, their effects on marine life, especially marshes and wetlands, and how spills affect the ecosystem.
Phone: (361) 825-2070 or larry.mckinney@tamucc.edu
Dr. Ernie Mancini, director of the Berg-Hughes Center for Petroleum and Sedimentary Studies at Texas A&M, is an expert in petroleum systems in central and eastern Gulf of Mexico, carbonate reservoir characterization and modeling and conventional and unconventional petroleum systems studies.
Phone: (979) 845-2451 or mancini@geo.tamu.edu
Ocean Engineering, Rig and Offshore Operations
Dr. Bill Bryant, professor of oceanography and former department head, has expertise in ocean engineering as well as the geotechnical and geophysics of the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea.
Phone: (979) 845-2680 or wbryant@ocean.tamu.edu
Tracking Oil Spills
Dr. Piers Chapman is professor and head of oceanography. His research interests include marine pollution, oil production control methods, particularly dispersant usage. He is currently the lead researcher on a major NOAA-funded project investigating the hypoxic zone over the shelf of Louisiana and Texas, and serves as an associate editor for the Journal of Geophysical Research (Oceans).
Phone: (979) 845-7211 or piers.chapman@tamu.edu
Dr. Robert Hetland, associate professor of oceanography, is an expert in ocean current modeling and can discuss “loop” currents and how these currents change over time. He can also speak about projections of where spills may be headed.
Phone: (979) 458-0096 or hetland@tamu.edu
Dr. Andy Kronenberg, head of Geology & Geophysics Dept. at Texas A&M, is an expert in structural geology, tectonophysics and mineral physics, with emphasis on mechanical properties of Earth materials.
Phone: (979) 845-0132 or kronenberg@geo.tamu.edu
Business Ethics
Michael Shaub is an accounting professor whose current research focus is on trust, suspicion and professional skepticism in the business world. Phone: (979) 458-1375 or mshaub@tamu.edu
