Federally organized research teams mobilizing to deal with the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico are failing to adequately include local ecologists in their efforts, according to some Gulf Coast academic researchers.
"A chorus is developing here," said linkurl:William Hawkins,;http://www.usm.edu/gcrl/cv/hawkins.william/cv.hawkins.william.php director of the University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast Research Laboratory (GCRL), of the growing frustration among Gulf State academics who feel that they should be involved more rapidly and intimately in the cleanup and assessment efforts. "It goes without saying that we have knowledge of the environments that are adjacent to us as do colleagues in the other states," he told __The Scientist__. "I think [including local researchers in federal efforts is] highly appropriate." For now, though, the scientific work being done in the Gulf is being organized by state and federal agencies in concert with BP and private consultants. "The trustees...
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Atmospheric Administration |
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