$10 Million Divvied Up to Research Gulf Oil Spill

Now that the gusher the in gulf appears to be capped, scientists are vying for money to research the oil spill's long-term impact. But there's not enouigh money to go around.

Members of the Florida Institute of Oceanography met in St. Petersburg to whittle down a list of 233 proposals to just 27. Those research projects from universities and research institutes across the state will divide $10 million from BP.

But that money was a proverbial drop in the bucket compared to how much researchers were asking for - $100 million. Chairman Bill Hogarth serves as dean of USF's College of Marine Science.

"You don't want to say this is nothing, but this is the beginning," Hogarth said. "The $100 million we talked about earlier - it doesn't change that figure. This is a great beginning, but we need more money. There's no doubt about it. There's probably $40 million out of this proposal that we could fund it today."

Hogarth says the projects were judged based on their scientific merit, scope and cost effectiveness.