In a discussion this week with Tulane's director of the Center for Applied Environmental Public Health, LuAnn White, we got answers to questions brought forward by the community about dispersants, natural degradation of oil, and estuary remediation methods. 

In part 1 of our interview, LuAnn will answer the following questions. Because the video is about 13 minutes long, I provided the approximate start time for each of the answers so you can find the info you want quickly. 

1. What types of scientists study the types of dynamics and systems at play when trying to track down where the oil has gone? (0:17)
   
   
2.  Recent reports are that as much as five million barrels of oil has been spilled into the Gulf of Mexico. Additionally, these reports say that only 800,000 were recovered with the rest being released into the Gulf waters. What can you say about the water column as it relates to where the oil has gone? (1:00)
   
   
3. Explain what will happen to the oil that is now out in the gulf? How long will it be there and how will it break down? (3:20) 
   
   
4.  Talk about the pools of oil - or the reported pools of oil that are under the surface of the water in the Gulf (6:30)
   
   
5.  Were oil dispersants used normally, and if so, for what types of applications? How do dispersants work? Do you think the recent alarm of over application of dispersants are well founded?  (9:00)
   
   
6. What Impact would a storm or a hurricane have on the oil that's still in the Gulf of Mexico? (11:40)

Stay tuned for the second installment of LuAnn's interview, which will be posted Monday. She's going to tell us why this spill is different-and not as bad- as the Exxon Valdez,  and her experience dealing with the media. She'll even tell us about something completely  new: there are professional "sniff testers" who determine whether seafood in the gulf is safe to eat! Hmm...smelling dead fish on a good day is probably still bad... 

Note: You can also find the individual video clips of each question in the commonground Streaming Lounge.