200-400 words
a. WHOI Scientist
b. Experts have intellectual and emotional stakes in knowledge. Describe the principle(s) that guide members in your area of expertise. Include at least two principles.
While it is impossible to classify all scientists into the same group where they all have the same principles, I can describe some principles that would guide me as a scientist and might guide others as well. In the debate I was specifically an environmental scientist looking at the spill with regard to the damage done to animal and plant communities.
Usually if someone studies something in depth, they start to develop an emotional attachment to it. I think if I really were a scientist, I would feel sympathy for the animals hurt from the spill and I think other scientists feel the same way. Because of this, one of their principles would be to conduct their tests and research in such a way as not to harm the environment.
Another principle that I think is valued by scientists is that conclusions should be true to the data collected. I know from writing my labs that I need to carefully study the data before making decisive conclusions. If I don't do this, my teacher (a scientist) will take points off my lab.
c. Describe the influence that the opinion(s) of an expert in another area (outside your constituent group) had on your opinion(s). Give at least one specific example.
Before the debate, I thought badly of BP. I thought that they weren't doing a good job of cleaning up the spill and that they were handling the crisis in the wrong ways. However, as I listened to BP group members, they said that they were doing all they could to help. I know that a lot of times this can be stated insincerely, but it made me wonder if maybe BP really is doing all they can. They do have a huge and very difficult responsibility.
Listening to the Gulf Residence representatives also affected my thinking. Stories from every day people added emotion and a sense of realness to the crisis. Rather than just numbers and facts, it became a very real event. It made the data come alive.
d. Compare the positive features and limitations of expert opinion; create a pair of lists. Include at least two strengths and at least two weaknesses.
Positive:
Experienced
-they know how to collect data well
-they know how to interpret data well
Knowledgeable
-because they are experts they would be able to think of significant factors that other people would never understand
Negative:
They might not be able to see other points of view
If they are biased towards something, they might give a biased report on their findings
-however people would probably trust them solely on the fact that they are experts
e. Comment on the responsibility that your constituent group has for (i) the occurrence of the BP Oil Spill in April 2010, and (ii) the restoration efforts in the Gulf region.
Because scientist could probably have best predicted the possible negative effects of a spill, they should have realized the importance of preventing a spill and should have done more to enforce rules to protect the environment.
We need to provide information about what happened before, during and after the spill; data about what we have accomplished so far and about how we could improve; and we need to speculate about the negative effects of the spill in the future and how best to counter act them.
(Word Count: About 500 minus the questions)
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Friday, September 3, 2010
Gulf Oil Spill
Step 1
Group C, BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10317116
Step 2
Timeline
April 20 2010: 11 people died in explosion in the Gulf of Mexico. The explosion was caused by a surge in oil and gas. The blowout preventer system of valves (BOP) at the well head on the seabed is believed to have failed.
April 22 2010: Oil rig sinks and riser pipe that connected it to the well falls to the seabed. Oil and gas continue to flow from the pipe and blowout preventer. This caused a five mile (8km) oil slick.
Many efforts are made to contain the leak including booms, skimming, dispersion (chemicals break down oil), and burning.
May 2 2010: BP starts drilling one of two relief wells.
May 5 2010: BP successfully stops one leak.
May 16 2010: Starts drilling other well. The wells are expected to take two or three months to complete
May 16 2010: A tube is inserted into the leaking pipe, which funnels oil to surface.
May 26 2010 - May 29 2010 Top kill system starts and fails
June 2: Lower a cap over blowout preventer to funnel oil to surface. Leaky pipe is cut off. The cap does not fit quite right, but does save some oil.
June 16 2010: Engineers open a second route to surface by connecting another pipe, which connects to another rig.
July 10 2010: LMRP cap is removed to be replaced with a tightly fitting cap.
July 15: The valves inside are turned off and the flow is stopped for the first time since 20 April.
August 5 2010: Mud and cement pumped in to block well.
Key players
US Congress
Media
Transocean chief executive Steve Newman
Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce
BP CEO Tony Hayward
Key Terms
Deep Horizon Oil Rig: owned and mostly staffed by employees of exploration firm Transocean, under contract to BP
Centralisers:These devices make sure that the pipe or casing is centralised during cementing, to ensure a good job is done
Cement bond log: A sonic scanning device is lowered through the well on a wireline. It checks whether there are imperfections in bonding or other problems in the cement. If there are, more cement can be squeezed into affected sections.
Liner: a bit of casing hung from the bottom of the casing section above. Inside this would have been a further piece of tubing called a "Tieback".
The blowout preventer (BOP): is supposed to stop this happening. The BOP, the size of a five-storey building, consists of a series of high-pressure valves, designed to prevent such a surge or kick from damaging the drilling operation. In this BOP, built by US firm Cameron to specifications by Transocean, there are five ram-type preventers and two annular preventers, according to Transocean's chief executive.
Blind ram shear: Last line of defence in BOP - cuts pipe
Annulus: Gap between pipe and rock, or between pipe and another pipe
Step 3:
We didn't really have time to share information during class.
Step 4:
WHOI Scientist or technical specialist
Step 5:
I am an environmental scientist whose focus is on the effects of the oil spill on populations and communities of organisms. I believe that the oil spill crisis will not be over until the negative effects are repared. This could take decades. For example, according to tests conducted in 2007 on a Cape Cod beach affected by the 1969 oil spill, fiddler crabs were negatively affected by oil even 38 years after the spill.
Questions:
BP: How do you plan to fix the damage done to the underwater ecosystems by oil pollution an chemical pollution caused by the spill?
Activists: Do you expect the organisms of the coastal region to fully recover based on their tolerance to previous habitat-related threats?
Gulf Folk: What effects on the gulf fauna have you noticed? What do you expect the long term effects of this spill to be on your career as a whole?
Government: What action do you plan to take where repairing ecosystemic damage is concerned?
Group C, BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10317116
Step 2
Timeline
April 20 2010: 11 people died in explosion in the Gulf of Mexico. The explosion was caused by a surge in oil and gas. The blowout preventer system of valves (BOP) at the well head on the seabed is believed to have failed.
April 22 2010: Oil rig sinks and riser pipe that connected it to the well falls to the seabed. Oil and gas continue to flow from the pipe and blowout preventer. This caused a five mile (8km) oil slick.
Many efforts are made to contain the leak including booms, skimming, dispersion (chemicals break down oil), and burning.
May 2 2010: BP starts drilling one of two relief wells.
May 5 2010: BP successfully stops one leak.
May 16 2010: Starts drilling other well. The wells are expected to take two or three months to complete
May 16 2010: A tube is inserted into the leaking pipe, which funnels oil to surface.
May 26 2010 - May 29 2010 Top kill system starts and fails
June 2: Lower a cap over blowout preventer to funnel oil to surface. Leaky pipe is cut off. The cap does not fit quite right, but does save some oil.
June 16 2010: Engineers open a second route to surface by connecting another pipe, which connects to another rig.
July 10 2010: LMRP cap is removed to be replaced with a tightly fitting cap.
July 15: The valves inside are turned off and the flow is stopped for the first time since 20 April.
August 5 2010: Mud and cement pumped in to block well.
Key players
US Congress
Media
Transocean chief executive Steve Newman
Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce
BP CEO Tony Hayward
Key Terms
Deep Horizon Oil Rig: owned and mostly staffed by employees of exploration firm Transocean, under contract to BP
Centralisers:These devices make sure that the pipe or casing is centralised during cementing, to ensure a good job is done
Cement bond log: A sonic scanning device is lowered through the well on a wireline. It checks whether there are imperfections in bonding or other problems in the cement. If there are, more cement can be squeezed into affected sections.
Liner: a bit of casing hung from the bottom of the casing section above. Inside this would have been a further piece of tubing called a "Tieback".
The blowout preventer (BOP): is supposed to stop this happening. The BOP, the size of a five-storey building, consists of a series of high-pressure valves, designed to prevent such a surge or kick from damaging the drilling operation. In this BOP, built by US firm Cameron to specifications by Transocean, there are five ram-type preventers and two annular preventers, according to Transocean's chief executive.
Blind ram shear: Last line of defence in BOP - cuts pipe
Annulus: Gap between pipe and rock, or between pipe and another pipe
Step 3:
We didn't really have time to share information during class.
Step 4:
WHOI Scientist or technical specialist
Step 5:
I am an environmental scientist whose focus is on the effects of the oil spill on populations and communities of organisms. I believe that the oil spill crisis will not be over until the negative effects are repared. This could take decades. For example, according to tests conducted in 2007 on a Cape Cod beach affected by the 1969 oil spill, fiddler crabs were negatively affected by oil even 38 years after the spill.
Questions:
BP: How do you plan to fix the damage done to the underwater ecosystems by oil pollution an chemical pollution caused by the spill?
Activists: Do you expect the organisms of the coastal region to fully recover based on their tolerance to previous habitat-related threats?
Gulf Folk: What effects on the gulf fauna have you noticed? What do you expect the long term effects of this spill to be on your career as a whole?
Government: What action do you plan to take where repairing ecosystemic damage is concerned?
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