Christopher M. Reddy

Christopher M. Reddy is a scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (Woods Hole, Massachusetts) in the Department of Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry and the Director of the Institution’s Coastal Ocean Institute.^[1] He studies oil spills, other forms of marine pollution, and biofuels. He has a BS in chemistry from Rhode Island College (1992) and a PhD in chemical oceanography from the Graduate School of Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island (1997). After finishing his BS, Reddy worked as an environmental chemist before attending graduate school.

Reddy has travelled around the world for his research, which included collecting samples with the research submarine DSV Alvin. He has held visiting and adjunct professorships at Boston University, the University of California at San Diego, and California Institute of Technology.

Research

Reddy has been an active researcher of oil spills that have occurred during the past fifteen years, including the North Cape (Rhode Island; 1996), Bouchard 120 (Buzzards Bay; 2003), Cosco Busan (San Francisco; 2007), and theHebei Spirit (South Korea; 2007).^[2]

He has also directed the most recent efforts to study the long term impacts of oil spills in salt marshes from the Florida and Bouchard 65 that occurred in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts in 1969 and 1974, respectively. These studies have shown that the last remnants of spill fuel continue to have deleterious impacts on crabs, mussels, and marsh grasses today.^[3]

Reddy also studies natural oil spills that occur off the coast of Santa Barbara.^[4][5]

Professional activities

He is an associate editor for Environmental Forensics and has provided expert testimonies on oil spills for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the United States Coast Guard and the United States House of Representatives.

Outreach

In 2006, Reddy was awarded an Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellowship, which teaches scientists to communicate environmental science to the lay public, media, and policymakers. He presents scientific talks to lay audiences throughout the country and has published more than 20 op-ed articles or editorials on science-based issues in, for example, the San Francisco Chronicle, The Boston Globe, and Science magazine. He teaches a course and workshops for science graduate and postdoctoral students on communicating science to nonscientist audiences.

Honors

Reddy has received many professional accolades, including ones from the Office of Naval Research, U.S. National Academy of Sciences (Kavli Fellow), and the American Chemical Society.

References

1. ^ "Committee: Effects of the Deepwater Horizon Mississippi Canyon-252 Oil Spill on Ecosystem Services in the Gulf of Mexico". http://www8.nationalacademies.org/cp/committeeview.aspx?key=49311. Retrieved 2011-03-04. 
2. ^ Reddy, Christopher M. (October 13, 2004). "Oil in Our Coastal Back Yard". Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. http://www.whoi.edu/oceanus/viewArticle.do?id=2471. 
3. ^ Reddy, Christopher (April 23, 2007). "Still Toxic After All These Years". Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. http://www.whoi.edu/oceanus/viewArticle.do?id=25568. 
4. ^ Reddy, Christopher (May 14, 2009). "While Oil Gently Seeps from the Seafloor". Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. http://www.whoi.edu/oceanus/viewArticle.do?id=57272. 
5. ^ "Asphalt Volcanoes on the Seafloor". Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. April 25, 2010. http://www.whoi.edu/oceanus/viewArticle.do?id=73126&sectionid=1021. 

Select oil spill related publications (peer reviewed)

• Reddy, C.M. and J.G. Quinn. (2001) The North Cape oil spill - The fate of hydrocarbons in Point Judith Pond and Rhode Island coastal waters. Marine Env. Res. 52, 445-461.
• Reddy, C.M., Eglinton, T.I., Hounshell, A., White, H.K., Xu, L., Gaines, R.B., and Frysinger, G.S. (2002) The West Falmouth oil spill after thirty years: The persistence of petroleum hydrocarbons in marsh sediments. Env. Sci. and Technol. 36, 4754-4760.
• Slater, G.F., White, H.K., Eglinton, T.I, and Reddy C.M. (2005) Determination of microbial carbon sources in petroleum contaminated sediments using molecular 14C analysis. Env. Sci. and Technol. 39, 2552-2558.
• Peacock, E.E., Nelson, R.K., Solow, A.R., Warren, J.D., Baker. J.L., and Reddy. C.M. (2005). The West Falmouth oil spill: 100 kg of oil persists in marsh sediments. Env. Forensics 6:273-281.
• White, H.K, Xu, L., Lima, A.L.C., Eglinton, T.I., and Reddy, C.M. (2005) Abundance, composition, and vertical transport of PAHs in marsh sediments. Env. Sci. and Technol. 39, 8273-8280.
• Peacock, E.E., Hampson, G.R., Nelson, R.K., Xu, L., Frysinger, G.S., Gaines, R.B., Farrington, J.W., Tripp, B.W., and Reddy, C.M. (2007) The 1974 spill of the Bouchard 65 oil barge: Petroleum hydrocarbons persist in Winsor Cove salt marsh sediments. Marine Pollution Bulletin 54, 214-225.
• Culbertson, J.B., Valiela, I., Peacock, E.E., Reddy, C.M., Carter, A., and VanderKruik, R. (2007) Long-term biological effects of petroleum: Response of fiddler crabs to oil in salt marsh sediments. Marine Pollution Bulletin 54, 955-962
• Plata, D.L., Sharpless, C.M., and Reddy, C.M. (2008) Photochemical degradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in oil films. Env. Sci. and Technol. 42, 2432-2438.
• Culbertson, J.B., Valiela, I., Olsen, Y., and Reddy, C.M. (2008) Effect of field exposure to 38-year old residual petroleum hydrocarbons on growth, condition index, and filtration rate of the ribbed mussel, Geukensia demissa. Environmental Pollution 154, 312-319
• Culbertson, J.B., Valiela, I., Pickard, M., Reddy, Peacock. E.E., Reddy, C.M. (2008). Response of salt marsh grass to residual petroleum spilled 38 years ago in Wild Harbor, MA. Journal of Applied Ecology 45, 1284–1292
• Wardlaw, G., Arey, J.S., Reddy, C.M., Nelson, R.K., Ventura, G.T., Valentine, D.L. (2008) Disentangling oil weathering at a marine seep using GC×GC: Broad metabolic specificity accompanies subsurface petroleum biodegradation. Env. Sci. and Technol 42, 7166-7173.
• Farwell, C., Reddy, C.M., Peacock, E.E., Nelson, R.K., Washburn, L., Valentine, D.L. (2009) Weathering and the fallout plume of heavy oil from strong petroleum seeps near Coal Oil Point, CA. Env. Sci. and Technol. 43, 3542–3548.

External links

Biography portal

• Chris Reddy's Lab
• Chris Reddy's Curriculum Vitae (pdf)
• Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

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