Here is the second half of our discussion with Tulane's director of the Center for Applied Environmental Public Health, LuAnn White. 

In part 2 of our interview, LuAnn will answer the questions below. Again, for your ease-of-viewing, I provided the approximate start time for each of the answers so you can find the info you want quickly. 

 8. A number of media reports have been filmed in Grand Isle and other coastal areas. The Mississippi delta estuary and ecosystem is huge, and it has a lot of backwater and surface area. Is there oil in there? Can it be remediated and/or recovered? Does it need to be? (start)

9.  It seems like current media coverage is falling into one of two very different categories, either highly optimistic (“the oil has disappeared”), or very dire (“the Gulf will take decades to recover”). What causes this split in the coverage? What is your outlook? (4:05)

10. What do you think the media was hoping to find when they came down to the Gulf Coast? (8:10)

11. What do you think will be the impact from this event on the region’s long term reliance on the oil and gas industry? (11:05)

12. Is now an exciting time to be a scientist? (14:30)

13. Talk for a moment about seafood safety and the processes used to ensure that toxins, including oil, haven’t affected food from the Gulf. (16:10)