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Nancy Kinner '80G, '83G appears on "PBS NewsHour" and before Congress with actor Kevin Costner.

Describing how some oil will evaporate and some will form tar balls the size of your thumbnail, Kinner explained dilution to her TV audience as if she were explaining it to a class of students—slowly, thoughtfully, and with an earnest intensity that made the urgency of the situation obvious. "Dr. Kinner has been a great resource for us," says Jenny Marder, reporter-producer for "PBS NewsHour," where Kinner has been a frequent guest. "She's good at clearly explaining the technical side of the cleanup effort."

As oil continued to pour into the Gulf at the rate of about 2 million gallons a day, the spill remained at the top of the national news and the media continued to call. Erika Mantz, director of UNH's media relations office, was sometimes fielding 8-10 requests a day, and Kinner was talking nonstop. Along with "PBS NewsHour," she talked on air to ABC's "Good Morning America," CBS, CNN, C-SPAN and the BBC. She talked to reporters from Time and Newsweek magazines, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and dozens of other publications. As the spill dragged on, some news outlets called back for second and third interviews.

"It's all about education," says Kinner, who provided a steady voice in the midst of the hype and online misinformation. Kinner reminded people to look at the science. And, she pointed out, over and over again, we don't have all the answers yet. It's too soon to tell. It wasn't necessarily what people wanted to hear. But it was the truth. The important thing, Kinner seemed to be saying, is to learn something from this so we can do better next time. Because there will be a next time.

Like any good teacher, Kinner used analogies. When reporters wanted to know why it was taking so long to cap the well, Kinner explained it this way: "Imagine yourself up in a helicopter at night. You're bouncing around in the wind and trying to place something on a 7-inch dinner plate one mile below." She explained why it was so difficult to work a mile below the surface by describing the pressure: "It's 2,200 pounds per square inch down there," she said. "That's like someone putting a ton of pressure on one square inch of your skin."

While Kinner talked to the press, her staff at the center worked nearly round the clock in what they called the war room. Mike Curry '09, Tyler Crowe '08, '10G and Heather Ballestero '09G, along with a trio of undergraduates, focused on the center's web site, which saw a sharp spike in traffic. Zach Magdol '08 and Joe Cunningham '03, '08G, the center's research engineers, handled countless requests for scientific support. "It was truly a team effort," says Kinner.

Christopher Morris/VII SKIMMED: Shrimpers hired by BP try to corral oil on the Gulf of Mexico in Bay Long, La., on June 12.

When she wasn't answering media calls, Kinner was sometimes fielding calls from federal officials. At graduation on May 22, she was on stage serving as chief faculty marshal when her cell phone buzzed. Juggling her mace in one hand and her phone in the other, she took a call from David Kennedy, head of NOAA's National Ocean Service: Could she convene an emergency international meeting to address the use of dispersants in the Gulf cleanup efforts, starting in two days? Her answer, of course, was yes. Within 24 hours, Kathy Mandsager, the center's program coordinator, had invited 50 key scientists. Two days later, in Baton Rouge, La., Kinner, her staff and dozens of experts were hard at work, tackling the most controversial issue of the Gulf oil spill—dispersants.

"It's really a question of trade-offs," says Kinner. "There are only a few ways to clean up oil when it spills." And then she summarizes the options: If the conditions are right, you can burn it. Or you can collect it using booms and skimmers. But if it's spilling at tremendous rates and the wind is blowing, these methods are ineffective. Dispersants work like laundry detergent in a washing machine. They attract the oil, and the turbulence helps them pull oil particles away from the surface, driving the oil down into the water and protecting the fragile shoreline and estuaries. But little is known about the long-term effects of dispersed oil. Before the Deepwater Horizon spill, dispersants had been used sparingly in U.S. waters—on only five occasions in 30 years. And while today's dispersants are less toxic than earlier ones, the controversy rages on.

Among the Baton Rouge attendees were scientists who had publicly denounced dispersants and had ordered a drastic reduction in their use during the Gulf cleanup. The debate was all over the news. Kinner reminded people at the meeting that they were not there to discuss policy or politics. Their job was to examine the science and to discuss the pros and cons of different cleanup methods. By the end of the second day, the group had reached a consensus supporting the use of dispersants and released a carefully crafted statement to the press.

Sean Gardner/Reuters CHAIN REACTION: The offshore oil rig Deepwater Horizon burns on April 21, setting off a massive prevention and cleanup effort.

For days afterwards, Kinner was on the spot, fielding questions and explaining the decision. She is convinced it was the right choice. "When history writes the story of the Deepwater Horizon, dispersants are going to be viewed as saving the day," says Kinner. "We kept the oil off shore—out of the oyster beds, out of the shrimp areas."

It is a testament to the reputation of the center and Kinner's facilitation skills that a group of overworked scientists and oil spill responders, all of them in crisis mode, gathered together for two long days and came out the other side with an agreement. At the end of the final day, Kinner heard a familiar request from somewhere in the crowd: Sing, Nancy, sing! Her signature tune, "Happy Trails," is familiar to thousands of UNH alums who, for the past six years, have been serenaded by Kinner at the end of every graduation ceremony. Turns out the oil spill community has come to expect the same treatment. And so she sang, sending everyone off humming "'til we meet again."

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