A&M System and Harte Research play instrumental role in response to the oil spill

Released earlier this week, Governor Perry named the Texas A&M System a participant in the Gulf Project, a coalition of energy and environmental scientists, policy experts, academic researchers, private sector research scientists and state officials.

Consultants for the Project include Dr. Larry McKinney, executive director of the Harte Research Institute at Texas A&M - Corpus Christi. The Harte Research Institute has proved instrumental in providing data and research for information on the Gulf of Mexico and the oil spill. McKinney has also authored a foreword to the forthcoming book Glory of the Silver King edited by Brandon Shuler.

Texas A&M University Press authors Sylvia Earle and Wes Tunnell are both active at HRI, providing articles, interviews and access to research for greater understanding of the Gulf of Mexico and the effects of the recent oil spill.

HRI Panel to be Broadcast Live on Internet

The third of four panels the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies (HRI) at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi is holding to discuss the long-term impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster on the world’s sixth-largest body of water will be broadcast live over the Internet on Ustream tomorrow (Friday, June 18), from 3:30-4:30 p.m. in the Harte Research Institute, Conference Room 127.

Coral Reefs of the Southern Gulf of Mexico author John Wes Tunnell Jr will speak on comparisons between the Deepwater Horizon spill and the 1979 Ixtoc I oil spill in the Bay of Campeche off the coast of Mexico.

Celebrated oceanographer and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence, Sylvia Earle, is speaking on putting the Gulf oil spill in a world perspective. Earle is the author of the foreword to both Tunnell's Coral Reefs of the Southern Gulf of Mexico and Jesse Cancelmo's Texas Coral Reefs. Earle has recently been quoted in many articles and publications about the current issues facing the Gulf of Mexico and will be attending the independent TEDxOilSpill conference in Washington DC at the end of this month.

The panel discussion is free and open to the public. The meeting can also be viewed on the Internet by going to http://www.ustream.tv/user/tamuccvideogallery and clicking on “TAMUCC HRI Panel Discussion on Gulf Oil Spill.” The final panel in the series will be held on Friday, June 25.

The Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies supports and advances the long-term sustainable use and conservation of the Gulf of Mexico through research, public policy initiatives and public education. Advisory board members represent leaders in academia, industry, and conservation from the United States, Mexico and Cuba.