NSF awards two grants

The National Science Foundation is awarding a Mississippi State University assistant professor almost $200,000 in rapid response funding to study the Deepwater Horizon oil spill impact on Louisiana salt marshes. Deepak Mishra's project is assessing overall salt marsh health and productivity by comparing pre- and post-spill satellite images. Mishra says the maps and tools developed during the one-year study will aid coastal managers in Louisiana as they evaluate and prioritize the large-scale marsh restoration efforts. (Source: MSU, 08/31/10) In another NSF rapid response grant, a University of Alabama molecular biologist was awarded $110,000 to study tiny, transparent animals that live in Gulf Coast waters. Matthew Jenny, an assistant professor of biological sciences at UA, will study sea anemones, small animals related to the corals that build ocean reefs. Jenny, working in collaboration with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, will collect anemones from coastal waters of Alabama to Louisiana. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 08/27/10)