Cutting edge oil spill research helps to protect Louisiana’s uplands, coast, and every habitat in between. Since 1993, the Louisiana Applied and Educational Oil Spill Research and Development Program (OSRADP), the Louisiana Oil Spill Coordinator’s Office’s (LOSCO’s) research office, has funded 119 subcontracts/letter agreements in support of 85 projects – 34 were funded for two years. These projects have examined response techniques, created new teaching tools, and developed more comprehensive data about spill risks.

Each year, LOSCO provides OSRADP with an annual research budget of approximately $500,000, which is used to fund between 10 and 12 projects. OSRADP’s research agenda is flexible, driven by requests from oil spill professionals who need practical solutions to problems they have experienced in the field. Researchers thus have the opportunity to blaze new trails and see their work put into practice.

Effective Partnerships
The OSRADP office, located at Louisiana State University, insures that all funded research will help operators in the field. Research projects are selected by an eight-member review committee made up of representatives from industry, government, state universities, and the non-profit sector. The committee uses the following criteria to evaluate project proposals:

• Does the project have a direct application to Louisiana and its environment?
• Does the project have wide-spread field applications?
• Does the project measurable enhance spill response efficiency?
• Does the project support LOSCO’s mission and goals?

Testing New Science
When oil spills occur in Louisiana, OSRADP invites its researchers to apply experimental cleanup methods to real world spill situations. These “spill of opportunity” projects are by nature limited in scope, but their conclusions provide invaluable proving grounds for research. For example, OSRADP researchers have used the “spill of opportunity” program to test the effectiveness of in situ burns, and to study the socio-economic impact of an oil spill. OSRADP is one of the few oil spill research offices in the United States to field test research in this way.