Texas Governor Rick Perry tapped U. Houston to be a part of a coalition of experts that will research ways to prevent future oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico.
The coalition, named the Gulf Project, will be made up of energy and environmental scientists, policy experts, academic researchers, private sector research scientists and state officials from UH, NASA and Rice University, among others.
UH President Renu Khator said research programs at UH, including the Texas Center for Superconductivity, are slated to be part of the project.
“Our faculty and students in engineering, law, business, geosciences, technology and research are working diligently to address the world’s energy challenges today and in the future,” Khator said.
“The chance to exchange ideas and work in partnership with our peers, industry and researchers will lead to important contributions toward protecting our environment, while providing our students with hands-on experience in shaping energy policy and forging new business approaches to the way energy is created, delivered, used and shared.”
Other UH programs that will take part in the project, according to a press release, are the Mission Oriented Seismic Research Program; Well Logging Group; Global Energy Management Institute; Composites Engineering & Applications Center; Center for Applied Geosciences and Energy; Institute for Multi-dimensional Air Quality Studies; and the Center for Environment, Energy and Natural Resources.
Perry is hoping the project will tackle all the issues currently affecting and halting progress on the current Gulf disaster. He also thinks the project will help solidify Houston’s status as an energy capital.
“To keep our status as the energy capital of the nation and preserve our environment, jobs and economy, Texas must become the world leader in developing the next generation in offshore oil exploration safety and response,” Perry said in the press release.
“The Gulf Project is an unprecedented collaboration of the state’s top scientists, engineers and researchers, focused on protecting our residents, environment and economy, and solving the unique challenges presented by the next generation of domestic energy exploration and production.”
Along with UH and Rice, Perry has called upon most of the state’s top universities, including the University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and Southern Methodist University to take part in the project.