The ongoing Deepwater Horizon oil spill is widely considered to be the worst environmental disaster in US history. Surface and subsurface oil plumes are expected to dominate the northern Gulf of Mexico for months or years to come. Minimizing potential harm and speeding the recovery of impacted environments and communities will require support and guidance from entities with expertise in disaster recovery that are capable of rapid and timely engagement. Preventing similar disasters in the future will in turn require investment in local institutions with sufficient intellectual capital and infrastructure to advance environmental and community resiliency.

Recovery from the Horizon spill is expected to take years, if not decades. The event is also expected to change state and national policies on oil exploration that will have lasting effects on the economies, cultures and environments of the northern Gulf of Mexico. Tulane University is taking collaborative and preemptive actions to build institutional capacities that will speed recovery and help shape the post-Horizon sociopolitical landscape.

• identify and coordinate Tulane faculty and staff expertise in support of ongoing Horizon spill response and recovery efforts;
• provide a platform for building intellectual capital, curricula, and infrastructure at Tulane in support of response and recovery efforts;
• provide a platform for advancing long term environmental and community resiliency in New Orleans and elsewhere in the northern Gulf of Mexico.