uncnews.unc.edu

A panel of faculty experts at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will present their findings on the Gulf of Mexico oil spill at a forum Sept. 15 that is sponsored by the General Alumni Association.

“Oil on the Water: A Public Discussion and Analysis of the Long-Term Impact of the Gulf Oil Spill” will be from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the George Watts Hill Alumni Center on Stadium Drive. The experts also will answer questions from the audience in the free public forum.

Peter Coclanis, Ph.D., director of UNC’s Global Research Institute, will moderate the discussion, which will address possible long-term effects of the disaster on the environment, food supply and regional and national economies, as well as the capacity to deal with future spills of such magnitude. Faculty participating will include:

Rick Luettich, Ph.D., director of UNC’s Institute for Marine Sciences. A marine scientist and environmental engineer, Luettich studies physical processes in coastal systems, including the impact of hurricanes and storm surges, and provided computer modeling to predict where the oil spill would spread.

Michael Piehler, Ph.D., assistant professor at the Institute for Marine Sciences. Piehler studies marshes and has worked on the impacts of petroleum products on near-shore ecosystems.

Victor Flatt, J.D., Thomas F. and Elizabeth Taft Distinguished Professor in Environmental Law. Flatt will address the legal liability of BP, Transocean and Halliburton for damage caused by the spill, potential criminal charges under the Oil Pollution Prevention Act and proposed legal changes on offshore drilling, including how such changes could affect the North Carolina coast and economy.

Richard McLaughlin, Ph.D., professor of mathematics and an expert in fluid dynamics. McLaughlin will discuss underwater oil plumes and lessons learned about how plumes propagate and how oil disperses.

For more information, visit http://alumni.unc.edu/article.aspx?SID=7818 or call (919) 962-1208.

General Alumni Association contact: Ann-Louise Aguiar, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ,
(919) 962-3574
News Services contact: LJ Toler, (919) 962-8589