Oil Spill Research

Research

Reddy has been active researcher on oil spills that have occurred during the past fifteen years¹, including the North Cape (Rhode Island; 1996), Bouchard 120 (Buzzards Bay; 2003), Cosco Busan (San Francisco; 2007), and the Hebei Spirit (South Korea; 2007).

He has also directed the most recent efforts to study the long term impacts of oil spills in salt marshes from the Florida and Bouchard 65 that occurred in Buzzards Bay, MA in 1969 and 1974, respectively. These studies have shown that the last remnants of spill fuel continue to have deleterious impacts on crabs, mussels, and marshes grasses today².

He also studies natural oil spills that occur off the coast of Santa Barbara^3,4

Professional Activities

He is an associate editor for Environmental Forensics and member of the editorial board for Marine Environmental Research. Reddy has provided expert testimonies on oil spills for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, US Coast Guard, and US House of Representatives.

Outreach

In 2006, he was awarded an Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellowship, which teaches scientists to communicate environmental science to the lay public, media, and policymakers. He presents scientific talks to lay audiences throughout the country and has published more than 20 op-ed articles or editorials on science-based issues in, for example, the San Francisco Chronicle, The Boston Globe, and Science magazine. He teaches a course and workshops for science graduate and postdoctoral students on communicating science to nonscientist audiences.

Honors

He has received many professional accolades, including the Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Prize (2002), given to the “nation’s best and brightest academic researchers.” In 2009, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences invited him to participate in the Kavli Frontiers of Science symposium, the highest honor a scientist under 45 can receive from the academy.

Select Oil-Spill Related Publications (Peer reviewed)

Reddy, C.M. and J.G. Quinn. (2001)  The North Cape oil spill - The fate of hydrocarbons in Point Judith Pond and Rhode Island coastal waters. Marine Env. Res. 52, 445-461.

Reddy, C.M., Eglinton, T.I., Hounshell, A., White, H.K., Xu, L., Gaines, R.B., and Frysinger, G.S. (2002) The West Falmouth oil spill after thirty years: The persistence of petroleum hydrocarbons in marsh sediments. Env. Sci. and Technol. 36, 4754-4760.

Slater, G.F., White, H.K., Eglinton, T.I, and Reddy C.M. (2005) Determination of microbial carbon sources in petroleum contaminated sediments using molecular ¹⁴C analysis. Env. Sci. and Technol. 39, 2552-2558.

Peacock, E.E., Nelson, R.K., Solow, A.R., Warren, J.D., Baker. J.L., and Reddy. C.M. (2005). The West Falmouth oil spill: 100 kg of oil persists in marsh sediments. Env. Forensics 6:273-281.

White, H.K, Xu, L., Lima, A.L.C., Eglinton, T.I., and Reddy, C.M. (2005) Abundance, composition, and vertical transport of PAHs in marsh sediments. Env. Sci. and Technol. 39, 8273-8280.

Peacock, E.E., Hampson, G.R., Nelson, R.K.,  Xu, L., Frysinger, G.S., Gaines, R.B., Farrington, J.W., Tripp, B.W., and Reddy, C.M. (2007) The 1974 spill of the Bouchard 65 oil barge: Petroleum hydrocarbons persist in Winsor Cove salt marsh sediments.  Marine Pollution Bulletin 54, 214-225.

Culbertson, J.B., Valiela, I., Peacock, E.E., Reddy, C.M., Carter, A., and VanderKruik, R. (2007) Long-term biological effects of petroleum: Response of fiddler crabs to oil in salt marsh sediments. Marine Pollution Bulletin 54, 955-962

Plata, D.L., Sharpless, C.M., and Reddy, C.M. (2008) Photochemical degradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in oil films. Env. Sci. and Technol. 42, 2432-2438.

Culbertson, J.B., Valiela, I., Olsen, Y., and Reddy, C.M. (2008) Effect of field exposure to 38-year old residual petroleum hydrocarbons on growth, condition index, and filtration rate of the ribbed mussel, Geukensia demissa. Environmental Pollution 154, 312-319

Culbertson, J.B., Valiela, I., Pickard, M., Reddy, Peacock. E.E., Reddy, C.M. (2008). Response of salt marsh grass to residual petroleum spilled 38 years ago in Wild Harbor, MA. Journal of Applied Ecology 45, 1284-1292

Wardlaw, G., Arey, J.S., Reddy, C.M., Nelson, R.K., Ventura, G.T., Valentine, D.L.  (2008) Disentangling oil weathering at a marine seep using GC×GC: Broad metabolic specificity accompanies subsurface petroleum biodegradation. Env. Sci. and Technol 42, 7166-7173.

Farwell, C., Reddy, C.M., Peacock, E.E., Nelson, R.K., Washburn, L., Valentine, D.L. (2009) Weathering and the fallout plume of heavy oil from strong petroleum seeps near Coal Oil Point, CA. Env. Sci. and Technol. 43, 3542–3548.

References