Steve Lehmann, Senior Scientific Support Coordinator, organized and moderated the event as the focal point of the Boston Area Committee meeting.  Panelists also included the state and federal leads for response in the state, and faculty from University of Massachusetts and the U.S Coast Guard Academy. The audience included many faculty and students from the University of Massachusetts. 

They discussed the opportunities and mechanisms for faculty to provide technical support to the Unified Command and the Trustee agencies as well as issues with participation, coordination, and compensation. Contributions by the academic community concerning baseline ecological information were particularly valuable. 

Further discussion focused on the issue of academic research and challenges around sharing pre-publication findings with the government.  Future coordination will occur with the hope of a working document between government and academic responders and assessors.

For further information, contact Steve.Lehmann@noaa.gov or Ken.Finkelstein@noaa.gov.

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