USM getting first round of BP oil research funds

HATTIESBURG, MS (WDAM) - Southern Miss is among the regional universities which will soon receive the first round of grant money from BP to study the effects of the Gulf oil spill.

USM will get a share of $10 million which BP is giving to the Northern Gulf Institute, a consortium led by Mississippi State University.

It's the first part of a $500 million pledge from the company for the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GRI). The money will be used to study the distribution, composition and ecological interactions of both oil and dispersant.

Louisiana State University is set to receive $5 million while the Florida Institute of Oceanography will get $10 million.

Southern Miss officials say it could take about 10 years for the company to distribute all $500 million dollars through competitive funding.

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