COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Dr. Scott Socolofsky, an assistant professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at Texas A&M University, has received a National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER award for his research on multiphase plume behavior in natural water bodies. The $400,000 grant will continue through 2009. The NSF CAREER award is the most prestigious award for new faculty members for their career-development and teaching activities, highlighting them as upcoming academic leaders in the 21st century. Socolofsky’s research will focus on the behavior of bubbles, droplets and particles in the deep ocean. His research will aid in answering the question of what happens to oil and natural gas that is released during an accidental oil-well blowout. Knowing where oil and gas particles diffuse during an oil-well blowout can help make cleanup both easier and quicker. His research will also help with deep-ocean disposal of carbon dioxide, which researchers are currently investigating. By collecting carbon dioxide, condensing it into liquid and injecting it into the ocean, the carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere more slowly than with current disposal techniques. This process can reduce the rate of increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Awardees must include plans for teaching, as well as research, in their application for a CAREER grant. Socolofsky said he wants to develop new undergraduate and graduate courses in environmental fluid mechanics. He also would like to develop an exchange program between Texas A&M and The University of Karlsruhe in Germany, where he did his postdoctoral work in environmental fluid mechanics. Socolofsky joined the Department of Civil Engineering in January 2003. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in civil, environmental and architectural engineering in 1994 from the University of Colorado in Boulder. He obtained both a Master of Science degree and a doctorate in civil and environmental engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1997 and 2001, respectively.
