The Disaster Resilience Leadership Academy at Tulane University received $1.4 million from the BP Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative to fund research about impacts of the 2010 oil spill in Louisiana and Alabama.
This three year program will focus on three coastal communities. Two areas in Louisiana and one in Alabama will be selected to study the impact of the oil spill.
Ky Luu is the Executive director of the Disaster Resilience Leadership Academy. He says these findings won’t stay locked in an ivory tower. "We have to better understand what’s been happening in these communities. We have to develop the metrics, we have to be able to measure the impact in order to provide these recommendations. But it doesn’t stop at publications. We’re taking these to the communities themselves. "
Luu says the ultimate goal of the project is to share information the most oil affected communities need to prepare for the next time around.
