An assistant professor at The University of Texas Marine Science Institute (UTMSI) here has been named as one of 30 recipients of the Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement awards.

Dr. Zhanfei Liu will receive $5,000, which is intended as seed money for research and professional growth, according to the Oak Ridge Associated Universities consortium, which awards the grants.

UTMSI director Dr. Lee Fuiman said the university will match the grant. He said Liu plans to use the money to investigate how microbes, tiny, one-cell organisms, can digest some of the pollution from the Deepwater Horizon crude oil in Gulf of Mexico coastal waters.

Liu was not immediately available for comment on the grant.

The University of Texas at Austin is one of 89 sponsoring members of the Oak Ridge consortium. Full- time assistant professors at member institutions within two years of their initial tenure track appointment are eligible for the grants, which must be used in research on engineering and applied science, life sciences, mathematics or computer science, physical science or policy, management or education.