Florida Tech Professor Funded for Environmental Studies in Alaska

– Dr. John Trefry, Florida Tech professor of oceanography, received $20,000 from the Prince William Sound Regional Citizens Action Committee to participate
in a study to determine the history of petroleum hydrocarbon deposition in sediment in Port Valdez, Alaska. This information is valuable to future
management decisions for the port, which is at the terminus of the 800-mile Alaska pipeline.

Trefry is currently involved in studies in the Alaskan Arctic and the Gulf of Mexico. Substantial funding from the U.S. Dept. of the Interior has allowed
him to assess the long-term cumulative impacts of offshore drilling in these areas.

Trefry, who earned the prestigious 2002 gold medal from the Florida Academy of Sciences, has a 25-year history of studying potential environmental impacts
from offshore oil exploration and production. He also co-discovered deep-sea hydrothermal vents in the Atlantic Ocean. Before this find, the vents were
thought to exist only in the Pacific.

Florida Tech offers oceanography degrees through its Department of Marine and Environmental Systems (DMES). The department integrates the expertise and
skills of scientists, engineers, and resource managers. DMES also grants undergraduate and graduate degrees in environmental science, ocean engineering and
meteorology.