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A healthy planet and healthy people need a healthy ocean. Make a donation today to help MERI preserve our oceans for tomorrow.

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WHAT'S HAPPENING AT MERI

Summer Educational Programs are Underway!

Join MERI’s 20th anniversary campaign to restore health to the marine environment.

Oceans 20/20 - Vision for the Planet

Even before the spill, the Gulf of Mexico was damaged. Our oceans are contaminated—even at their greatest depths—by pesticides, plastics, fertilizers, fire retardants, herbicides, and other industrial chemicals.

Will we act in time to save the living heart of our planet?

Oceans 20/20: Vision for the Planet is MERI’s ambitious campaign to stop the flow of toxins into the sea and restore health to the oceans. It is built on clear understanding derived from 20 years of scientific research on the marine food web, and a clear strategy to educate the public and prompt bold, effective policy change in the years ahead.

The campaign’s success depends on caring individuals and institututions that understand our oceans are a vital, irreplaceable planetary resource. Please support our efforts! Contribute to MERI now.

OF SPECIAL INTEREST

Attention scientists: A consensus statement opposing any further dispersant use in the Gulf is ready for signatures. Read it here, and sign on by emailing kcoker@meriresearch.org. Include your name, degree, title, affiliation and contact info. Your comments are welcome! View the press release here.

Countless gallons of toxic crude oil and dispersants have poisoned the Gulf of Mexico. With 20 years of experience tracking toxins in the ocean food web, MERI brings critical expertise to the crisis.

MERI's director, Dr. Susan Shaw, is a marine toxicologist. She dove in the oil slick in May to witness impacts first hand, and has since become an influential voice in the media and scientific community on the impacts of the oil and dispersant mix.

Watch Dr. Shaw's TED Talk on the Gulf

MERI stands with many marine scientists in opposing the use of toxic dispersants in the Gulf. Oil and dispersants combined are more toxic than either alone.

Read Dr. Shaw's op-ed in the New York Times to learn about the dispersant Corexit. Visit our news page to read articles and listen to interviews in which she explains the impact dispersants have on every level of the ocean food web.

Support MERI's proposal for independent research

To assure that short- and long-term impacts of toxins in the Gulf of Mexico are fully understood, MERI is calling for an independent, collaborative investigation that will examine effects at every level--from phytoplankton, fish, and birds, to marine mammals and humans. Learn more here.

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