Microbial communities of beaches of the Baffin Island Oil Spill (BIOS) Project almost 40 years later

This project re-visited beaches of the 1980s Baffin Island Oil Spill (BIOS) Project in 2019, almost 40 years after the original project. Sediment samples were collected from both the previously oil-exposed beach test plots and nearby control sites to characterize the corresponding microbial communities. The goals of this project were to: (i) assess any long-term legacy effects of the 1980s oil exposure, (ii) compare the microbial communities between the different oil-exposed beach sites, and (iii) identify potential oil-degrading microorganisms that may have been enriched since the original oil exposure.