Scientific 'family' tries to mend fences over Gulf research

Scientists are a lot like a big family with uncles and cousins who don't always see eye to eye on things.

They quarrel, disagree and have different opinions.

But they're still family.

"That is what a family is all about,'' said Steve Murawski of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "It's a matter of people looking at data and coming to different conclusions.''

Scientists representing the academic community from across Florida met with scientists from NOAA and other federal agencies Tuesday in St. Petersburg. Their objective was to come up with ways to better work together to monitor the long-term effects of the Deepwater Horizon incident on the Gulf of Mexico, especially the presence of sub-surface oil.

It was the first of three meetings being conducted in Gulf Coast states by NOAA and the other agencies. Another session is set for Biloxi today, while the final meeting will be Thursday in New Orleans. Officials hope to come up with their long-term plan perhaps as early as next week.

For weeks and perhaps months after the April 20 explosion and sinking of the BP rig off the Louisiana coastline, there was not much coordination and sharing of information between the federal government and the academic community. The University of South Florida and other colleges conducted many expeditions into the Gulf on their own.

At times, USF and NOAA officials were at odds with the findings of local researchers. They hope that is all in the past now.

Officials hope that Tuesday's meeting will be a big step toward more coordination, more sharing, more working hand in hand.

"We need to use our resources wisely," said Murawski, director of scientific programs and chief science adviser for NOAA. "That is what the public expects. The public expects that we work together, we combine our information, we interpret data together and we come up with conclusions that they can trust.''

Bill Hogarth, dean of the College of Marine Science at USF, said the plan to look at sub-surface oil was of the utmost importance. It is something his researchers have been involved in for months.

"It's something that needs to be done expeditiously,'' Hogarth said.