Schools

Connecticut College Professor To Study Oil Spill Effects On Microbial Life

Biology professor Anne Bernhard will be part of team studying impact of Deepwater Horizon oil spill on marsh habitat

A biology professor will lend her expertise to a team of scientists studying the effects of a devastating oil spill on the Gulf Coast environment.

Anne Bernhard, George and Carol Milne associate professor of biology, has been at the college since 2004. Her research has focused on the microbial biology of coastal ecosystems, primarily how it relates to salt marshes and estuaries.

Bernhard said she has studied the involvement of microbes in nitrogen recycling and the larger effect this has on marsh ecosystems. She said much of the Louisiana coastline is marshland and serves as a habitat for marsh grasses, invertebrates, and microbes. It is also a nursing and feeding site for birds and fish.

Find out what's happening in New Londonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“It serves a critical role for a lot of both ecologically and economically important organisms,” said Bernhard.

The health of the coastal environment of the Gulf of Mexico has been scrutinized since an explosion on a Deepwater Horizon-BP oil rig resulted in a prolonged oil spill. BP has since funded a 10-year, $500 million research effort to study the effects through an independent entity known as the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative Research Board.

Find out what's happening in New Londonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Recently, Bernhard has become part of a group of researchers headed by the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium. The Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative awarded this group a to research the effect of the spill on the Louisiana salt marshes.

Bernhard said her role will be to see how the spill may have affected microbes and how they carry out their processes. She said much research has been done on the shift in populations of microbes that are able to break down hydrocarbons, but that not as much research has been done on other microbe populations.

Over the course of the three-year grant, the team will visit the marsh several times a year to collect soil samples, measure microbe populations, and conduct other experiments. Bernhard said she will likely make the trip in May, but will have samples mailed to New London on other occasions.

“Hopefully we’ll find some interesting things, and we can apply for new funding…Hopefully it will lead to new questions and new areas of research interest,” said Bernhard.

One effect of the studies, Bernhard said, would be to better understand the impact of disasters such as the oil spill. She said this would help determine the most vulnerable aspects of the marsh environment and how they can be protected.

The grant includes funding for at least two undergraduate students to help Bernhard with her studies during the grant period.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here