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, AND MURT CONOVER • During the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill, scientists and responders needed to predict where the oil would go. The complexity of the Gulf's physical properties, a number of surprising phenomena, and the mitigating response efforts all played significant roles in the distribution and fate of the oil in the Gulf. In addition, the DWH accident was unique in that the source of the leaking oil was from a wellhead 1,500 meters below the surface. Dispersant chemicals were applied at the surface and at the wellhead, which dispersed the oil into smaller droplets. • The spill exposed the lack of baseline data available for scientists working in the Gulf to predict the fate of oil in the marine environment and the physical processes that impact it. It is critical that sufficient baseline data continue to be collected in the many ecosystems that are at risk of being impacted by oil-related exploration and extraction activities. • When scientists and responders were faced with the DWH oil spill, they needed to understand oil movement to determine how to remove it and minimize impacts. An associated activity engages students as environmental engineers to develop a procedure that would remove the most oil from the ocean in the event of a large-scale oil spill.