Clarkson prof cited by U. S. Interior Department for 'exemplary service' for work with Gulf oil spill

POTSDAM – A Clarkson University professor has been cited by the U.S. Interior Department for “exemplary service to the nation” during last year's Deepwater Horizon crisis.

Clarkson University Civil and Environmental Engineering Prof. Poojitha Yapa recently received the Director's Award from the U.S. Geological Survey of the Department of the Interior for his work during Deepwater Horizon oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico last spring and summer.

During the Deepwater incident, USGS Director Marcia K. McNutt served as chair of the National Incident Command Flow Rate Technical Group,

In a letter commending Yapa, McNutt said, “Under difficult circumstances, you and the other team members set your personal and professional lives aside to tackle these challenges... Your answers and insights helped guide important decisions and made a very real and positive difference during the response to this unprecedented oil spill event,” McNutt said

“The nation was privileged to have a cadre of such dedicated government, academic and independent scientists to call upon during this disaster.”

A computer model developed by Yapa was used to predict the flow of oil and natural gas released into the Gulf of Mexico. He advised officials, based on his insight into the problem and simulations using his Comprehensive Deepwater Oil and Gas (CDOG) blowout model, where the natural gas and oil released by the explosion might end up.

Yapa is recognized worldwide as an expert on modeling oil and gas released in deep water.