GERI held its first workshop, Three-Dimensional Hydrodynamic Gulf Circulation Model, June 19-20, 2018. The institute welcomed fellow environmental scientists and engineers from the United States, Brazil and Europe, as well as local authorities in UAE. The primary focus of the meeting was to outline the first priorities for the newly established institute. Plans were established as follows:

Develop a simulation model to assess:

• circulation in the Gulf, including nested sub-models at higher resolution, with the ability to calculate dispersion of nutrients, plankton, sediment, oil and other pollutants
• wave conditions in the Gulf
• regional meteorological conditions using a nested regional sub-model
• calibrate and verify models using existing data

GERI and its collaborators have begun this project and hope to complete it by February 1, 2019.