The Geochemical and Environmental Research Group (GERG) is a center of excellence in applied geosciences within the College of Geosciences of Texas A&M University. GERG is organized as three interrelated groups that provide field acquisition, analyses, and interpretation of data across several interlocking themes in environmental sciences, ocean sciences, and resource geosciences. Staff and partne
rs include geologists, inorganic and organic geochemists, analytical and contaminant chemists, biological, chemical, geological, and physical oceanographers, biologists, ecologists, and toxicologists. The Environmental Sciences group conducts applied research related to the health of Earth’s ecosystems and seeks to better understand the changes occurring across the planet as a consequence of human interaction with the environment. The group's researchers monitor the rate of environmental change and predict future change, interpret the results, and provide data to government and industry stakeholders. The scientific team, comprising research scientists, research associates, technicians, and graduate students, has an international reputation for oil-spill response and for analyzing samples for environmental pollutants such as pesticides, PCBs, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), photosynthetic pigments, petroleum hydrocarbons, and lead, mercury, and arsenic. They also collect and analyze rain, seawater, and wastewater, airborne particulates and gaseous organic compounds, soils, sediments, plant and animal tissues, and semi-permeable membrane devices. The Ocean Sciences group carries out oceanographic and ocean observing field work for major programs in the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean and Atlantic Ocean. Since 1995, GERG has developed and operated the Texas Automated Buoy System (TABS) for the Texas General Land Office. This unique system of buoys accommodates an array of advanced sensors and telemetry data transmission to support the oil spill monitoring and trajectory modeling. These observing systems also serve the wider scientific goals of the Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) by making high-quality data available to the general public and other coastal ocean-observing associations such as the Gulf Coast Ocean Observing System (GCOOS). Scientists and technicians participate in national and international workshops to share their expertise in buoy applications, design, and technical developments to improve ocean observing systems around the world. The technical staff at GERG has over 25 years of experience in designing and fabricating subsurface moorings for operations around the world, including experience in the Arctic, Antarctic, Congo River Canyon, Black Sea, and Mediterranean. The Resource Geosciences group has collected, analyzed and curated more than 10,000 seafloor piston-core samples of naturally occurring oil and gas seeps around the worldwide. The data and core samples provide insight into the history of fluid flow in many of the world's major petroleum basins. Geochemical researchers also analyze chemical fossils—known as biomarkers—found in oil and rocks. These complex molecules provide important information for understanding the origins of petroleum, the burial history of basins, and the migration pathways of source rocks to reservoirs, as well as fingerprinting of oil spills.
