UA Professor To Chair Committee Assessing Offshore Research

DAUPHIN, ISLAND, Ala. ­ Dr. William Schroeder, senior marine scientist at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab and professor of biological and marine sciences at The University of Alabama, was recently elected chair of a U.S. Department of Interior advisory board committee.

The committee, the Outer Continental Shelf Scientific Committee, evaluates the quality of offshore research done by the Mineral Management Services Environmental Studies Program. This mineral management program is the Department of Interior agency that focuses on environmental protection during offshore operations.

The federal Outer Continental Shelf is a major source of domestic natural gas and oil production.

Schroeder will chair the committee for two years.