Project Director: Michael Roman

Funding Organization: National Academies of Science, Engineering, Medicine: Gulf Research Program

Funding Cycles: Healthy Ecosystems 2

Description: Zooplankton and small fish provide the foundation for commercially and recreationally important fish species in the Gulf of Mexico, but their limited mobility makes them particularly vulnerable to impaired environmental conditions. Project researchers will build upon a variety of models to assess potential responses of zooplankton and fish to stressors such as oil spills and events limiting oxygen supply in the northern Gulf of Mexico. The synthesis of historic data with a broad range of new information will identify new, cost-effective ways of monitoring critical living marine resources in the Gulf.