A Gulf Science Blackout

Opinion: Linda Hooper-Bui

THE Deepwater Horizon blowout may be capped and the surface oil slick dispersed, but the scientists’ job has just begun: hundreds of us are working in and around the gulf to determine the long-term environmental impact of the drilling disaster. Although we are all doing needed research, we’re not receiving equal money or access to the affected sites. Those working for BP or the federal government’s Natural Resource Damage Assessment program are being given the bulk of the resources, while independent researchers are shoved aside.

New York Times, Aug 25, 2010

Linda Hooper-Bui is a professor of entomology at Louisiana State University.