DROPPS provided the opportunity for high school students to participate in research cruises on the UTMSI R/V Katy in May of 2016. We took roughly 80 9th graders out on the water and discussed how oil spills effect different organisms. The students experienced being on a research vessel while collecting and observing marine life themselves. DROPPS scientists gave a short presentation explaining how oil and dispersed oil affect plankton and other organisms caught in oil spills. The trip includes a plankton tow, a benthic mud grab, and two trawls to collect fish and epi-benthic invertebrates.
