Spill offers research bonanza

BATON ROUGE, La. - As terrible as the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is, it offers an opportunity for research for generations. Scientists and federal officials gathered at Louisiana State University Thursday for a day-long brainstorming. "We're here to find out what we know, what we don't know and what we need to know," said Robert Gagosian, president of the nonprofit Consortium for Ocean Leadership, which organized the event. An oceanographer at the Naval Research Lab at Stennis Space Center, Miss., Sonia Gallegos, last year received NASA funding to study spills. She said she wanted a small spill, but not something like this. She lives two blocks from the beach in Bay St. Louis and said the spill breaks her heart. (Source: Washington Post, 06/03/10)