| Date: | Tuesday, September 7, 8:00 pm (dinner 7:00 pm) |
| Topic: | USGS Science in the Gulf - The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill |
| Speaker |
Marcia McNutt, Director, U.S. Geological Survey |
| Where: | Sheraton Four Points, Conference Center |
USGS Science in the Gulf - The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
Marcia McNutt
September 7, 2010
ABSTRACT:
In the wake of the massive BP oil spill scientists and citizens have a torrent of questions, ranging from how the use of massive quantities of dispersants affects nature’s ability to break down oil to why oil plumes from deep-sea spills act in unexpected ways to the range of toxic effects of the oil on beaches, coastal wetlands and wildlife. USGS can assist in finding the answers to these and other related questions - answers that will give regional and national leaders insight into how best to respond and recover from this tragedy.
Dr. Marcia McNutt- Biography
Marcia McNutt received a bachelor’s in Physics from Colorado College and a doctorate in Earth Sciences from Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
As Director of the USGS, she is responsible for leading the Nation’s largest water, earth, biological science and civilian mapping agency in its mission to provide the scientific data that enable decision makers to create sound policies for a changing world.
She previously served as president and chief executive officer of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), in Moss Landing, CA.
Dr. McNutt has participated in 15 major oceanographic expeditions and served as chief scientist on more than half of those voyages. She has published 90 peer-reviewed scientific articles. Her research has ranged from studies of ocean island volcanism in French Polynesia to continental break-up in the Western United States to uplift of the Tibet Plateau.
She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She was awarded by the American Geophysical Union the Macelwane Medal in 1988 for research accomplishments by a young scientist and the Maurice Ewing Medal in 2007 for her significant contributions to deep-sea exploration