Oil Academic Task Force

Press Release:

Chancellor Frank T. Brogan and chair of the Oil Spill Academic Task Force to visit University of West Florida

TALLAHASSEE – Chancellor Frank T. Brogan and Dr. W. Ross Ellington of Florida State University, the chair of the Oil Spill Academic Task Force, will visit the University of West Florida on Tuesday to meet with UWF President Judy Bense and UWF researchers to discuss ways the task force can help Gulf Coast communities deal with the crisis.

“Dr. Ellington and I want to get a look at the University of West Florida’s facilities, which will become the leading-edge staging ground of the State University System’s response to the leak of the Deepwater Horizon, and meet with the university’s research team,” Brogan said. “Working with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the Oil Spill Academic Task Force is already developing oil-spill flow projections, and our scientists are eager to help our state in any other way they can.”

Brogan’s visit will include a discussion of beach monitoring and the long-term data analysis that will be crucial to the Gulf Coast’s recovery. He will also participate in a dialogue on the economic impact the spill might have on Florida’s coastal communities.

“The scientific community in Florida is dedicated to helping our state deal with this oil spill as effectively as possible,” Ellington said. “The University of West Florida will play an important role in gathering key data as events unfold in the Gulf of Mexico.”

Members of the media who wish to cover the visit by the chancellor and the chair of the Oil Spill Academic Task Force should contact Janice Cooper Holmes of the University of West Florida at (850) 474-2658 or at jcooper@uwf.edu.

The Oil Spill Academic Task Force brings together resources of Florida’s academic institutions to assist the state of Florida and the Gulf of Mexico region in preparing for and responding to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The task force consists of scientists and scholars from the State University System of Florida working in collaboration with their counterparts from private universities in the state.

To learn more, visit the Oil Spill Academic Task Force’s Web site at http://oilspill.fsu.edu/.