Christopher Walker
  • Marine Biology
  • Class of 2019
  • Berkeley, MO

Walker on CMU Research Team in the Caribbean

2016 Apr 4

Christopher Walker was one of 17 Central Methodist University students to spend their spring break conducting research on Dauphin Island, Alabama.

For the second year in a row CMU faculty Prof. Greg Thurmon and Dr. Jerry Priddy led a caravan of students to the Caribbean island to conduct research on how the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, caused by the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, is still affecting the marine life in its waters today.

Students spent their days seining and sieving for bean clams and ghost crabs or fishing on the boats of Dr. Priddy and Thurmon while collecting sediment samples from the ocean floor.

During the evenings students hovered above microscopes examining the specimens collected from the day by identifying invertebrates and plankton as well as, analyzing sediment samples for left over petroleum from the spill.

Many of the students participating in the research will receive academic credit, and others simply went to actively be involved in scientific study. This trip was open to all students of the Fayette campus regardless of their major.

Plans are - underway for the 2017 study. Whether or not students will be traveling back to Dauphin Island, they are all readily looking forward to next year's spring break.

Walker is a marine biology major from Berkeley. To see a full list of students that participated in this project please visit the CMU website.