As scientists try to determine the effects of the huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, help could come from Erik Cordes, assistant professor of biology at Temple. Last summer, Cordes was interested in the particles and small creatures that rain from the ocean's surface onto the deepwater corals and tube worm communities below. Coincidentally, one of the collection devices he and his team lowered to the seafloor is located directly under the center of the oil spill. When researchers retrieve the devices this fall, they will analyze what was collected. "We'll have real quantitative data on how much of the oil is ending up on the seafloor," said Cordes.