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OSU receives grant to study small life in dead zones
$5 million grant comes from Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation for study
Issue date: 2/4/09 Section: News
OSU's science programs recently received a $5 million grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.
The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation was established in 2000 with hopes of improving the life for future generations. Environmental conservation and science are its direct focuses.
The awarded money is going toward the study of microscopic organisms living in low-oxygen spots in the ocean. Oregon State scientists will be working with the Universidad de Concepcion in Chile; their studies will be located off the coast of Oregon and Chile.
The low-oxygen spots are called dead zones. Dead zones are areas in the ocean where there is little or no oxygen in the sea floor. Many are occurring along the coastal range of large continents.
The lack of oxygen can potentially destroy the habitat, as very few organisms can live in dead zones. With this study, it's possible to better understand the evolution of the dead zones, as well as more fully comprehend the past and predict the future.
"We call them dead zones because crabs and fish cannot survive. But they are not dead - there is a lot of microbial activity that takes place in them," said Ricardo Letelier, an OSU professor of oceanic and atmospheric sciences.
OSU was awarded a second grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation for $3.1 million for the study of a bacteria that has become very common in the oceans.
Together OSU and Universidad de Concepcion will collect the samples and send them to Penn State University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The OSU scientists who will be on the project are microbiologist Stephen Giovannoni, zoologists Francis Chan and Jane Lubchenco and oceanographers Jack Barth and Alan Mix.
news@dailybarometer.com, 737-2231
The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation was established in 2000 with hopes of improving the life for future generations. Environmental conservation and science are its direct focuses.
The awarded money is going toward the study of microscopic organisms living in low-oxygen spots in the ocean. Oregon State scientists will be working with the Universidad de Concepcion in Chile; their studies will be located off the coast of Oregon and Chile.
The low-oxygen spots are called dead zones. Dead zones are areas in the ocean where there is little or no oxygen in the sea floor. Many are occurring along the coastal range of large continents.
The lack of oxygen can potentially destroy the habitat, as very few organisms can live in dead zones. With this study, it's possible to better understand the evolution of the dead zones, as well as more fully comprehend the past and predict the future.
"We call them dead zones because crabs and fish cannot survive. But they are not dead - there is a lot of microbial activity that takes place in them," said Ricardo Letelier, an OSU professor of oceanic and atmospheric sciences.
OSU was awarded a second grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation for $3.1 million for the study of a bacteria that has become very common in the oceans.
Together OSU and Universidad de Concepcion will collect the samples and send them to Penn State University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The OSU scientists who will be on the project are microbiologist Stephen Giovannoni, zoologists Francis Chan and Jane Lubchenco and oceanographers Jack Barth and Alan Mix.
news@dailybarometer.com, 737-2231
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