Ecological consequences of widespread post-hurricane Katrina oil spills: Integrating chemistry with biology in the field and laboratory

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Whitehead, Andrew PILouisiana State University0652006Ecological consequences of widespread post-hurricane Katrina oil spills: Integrating chemistry with biology in the field and laboratoryThe major goal of the proposed work is to link genomic, developmental, and physiological effects in marsh-dwelling fish with stressors released during the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina to an industrialized coastal area. It is likely that the results will inform a greater understanding of the responses of organisms to a variety of natural and anthropogenic stressors and lead to improved restoration efforts. One of the hypotheses that will be investigated is that oil-associated toxicity to resident fish will be significant. A second hypothesis is that oil contamination levels will be predictive of functional genomic responses, and that functional genomic responses will be predictive of developmental and physiological responses in marsh fishes. A final hypothesis is that combinations of natural and anthropogenic stressors associated with major storm events will interact in complex ways in governing the emergent stress phenotype. These hypotheses will be tested by integrating field experiments with controlled laboratory exposures, combining chemical with biological data, and coupling functional genomic endpoints with genotoxic, physiological, and developmental indicators of ecological stress.This unusual study using advanced genomic techniques will take advantage of the hurricane-induced damage in a major center of petroleum activity to consider the interaction of the natural stressors to the ecosystem from the flooding and high winds of hurricanes and the anthropogenic stressors released from the industrial and residential areas. The broader impacts of this work include advancement of a more fundamental understanding of ecological functioning in coastal marshes that are highly influenced by industrial and urban systems; development of an environmental genomics model; and information transfer to local, state, and federal organizations involved in sustainability of coastal regions. Undergraduate students have been central to the preliminary research for this work and will be involved throughout the project. Both graduate and undergraduate students will benefit from the project and it is likely to attract under-represented groups to science and engineering.