This RAPID award provides funding that will allow the University of Southern Mississippi (USM), Mississippi State University (MSU), and Mississippi Public Broadcasting (MPB) to provide scientific information to the public in response to the BP Oil Spill via the following productions.

1) Three One-hour Television Programs These moderated, roundtable discussions among scientists, journalists and educators will be a regular (short-term), timely, high-profile venue for linking the public to what science can tell us regarding the oil spill. They will be broadcast on MPB (television with radio simulcast) at one month intervals. Each program will be developed to address timely, oil spill-related topics. Each topic will be introduced by a short video package (objective two) and discussed by panelists using broad questions to focus their comments. Dr. Bob Thomas, from the Center for Environmental Communications, Loyola University New Orleans, has agreed to moderate each of these discussions.

2) Thematic News-style Video Packages Videos will provide scripted content lasting three to five minutes on timely topics that require careful explanation (e.g., oil genesis and production in the Gulf, dispersant use, potential berm placement on Louisiana beaches). The videos will lead and focus roundtable discussion in broadcast programs. Likewise, videos will be archived on the companion Web page.

3) Companion Web Portal An interactive Web page/portal will provide an online address for the broadcast audience and others. Although work to develop and populate it will begin immediately upon receipt of funding, the investigators regard this as the focus of long-term oil spill education efforts to be continued after the well is capped and news providers go home. The content developer/moderator will work regularly to update the site and respond to user feedback regarding the content, which will include: 1) an invitation to ask the questions addressed during broadcast programs; 2) video packages and unaired footage from broadcasts; 3) frequently-asked-questions with answers; 4) an annotated selection of excellent, accurate resources related to the oil spill; 5) interviews (threeseven minutes long) of experts regarding specific issues; 6) a weekly blog written by scientists. Investigators will collaborate closely on all components to ensure the unique benefits each type of media provides will work together as a coherent resource representing the science of the oil spill.

Project Report

During fall of 2010, shortly after the Deepwater Horizon well was capped and stopped spilling oil into the Gulf of Mexico, science educators from University of Southern Mississippi’s Gulf Coast Research Laboratory teamed up with Mississippi Public Broadcasting (MPB) to address commonly asked questions. A film crew from MPB interviewed university and agency scientists in Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Florida and Oregon and produced a series of short videos reflecting scientists’ emerging opinions regarding the oil spill and its most significant problems. The videos were televised during three hour-long programs on MPB in fall 2010. The programs featured a panel of scientists discussing each video. A companion Web site provided access to important resources related to the oil spill through a series of frequently asked questions and their answers, links to external sites and access to all videos and news programs produced for the project. One year after the original broadcasts several scientists were re-interviewed to produce a summary video. Through timely selection of pertinent and reliable information for the website, the project addressed misconceptions held by the general public in the months following the capping of the spilling well. Videos and television programs also contributed to addressing misconceptions, but they became an important document of scientists’ perspectives while planning and conducting oil spill research. In the videos scientists address the most pressing immediate concerns such as effects of dispersant, and the safety of seafood for consumers. They describe ways that the oil spill might effect the food webs, geochemistry, and ecology of the Gulf of Mexico, and the projects they conducted to address those questions. The scientists also offer thoughtful consideration of how the oil spill influenced ways they conduct business – the need for collaboration across diverse disciplines and the need for careful consideration of how funding decisions are made during and after an environmental emergency. The Web site, SpillScience.com, remains available as a resource to the public.

Agency
National Science Foundation (NSF)
Institute
Division of Ocean Sciences (OCE)
Type
Standard Grant (Standard)
Application #
1048433
Program Officer
Elizabeth Rom
Project Start
Project End
Budget Start
2010-08-01
Budget End
2012-07-31
Support Year
Fiscal Year
2010
Total Cost
$186,078
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Southern Mississippi
Department
Type
DUNS #
City
Hattiesburg
State
MS
Country
United States
Zip Code
39401