Interspill attracts a more European attendance, but delegates from Asia, Africa, Australia, and South America were also present. Dr. Sabrina Cohen-Hatton gave the keynote address at the opening plenary, following remarks from three European dignitaries.

Representing NOAA, Chris Barker from OR&R’s Emergency Response Division presented on the progress of the GNOME suite of tools for modeling oil spill fate and transport. ERD Deputy Chief Mark Dix offered a platform presentation on recent work done using artificial intelligence to identify vessel targets for cleanup following hurricanes. Gary Shigenaka, the division's scientist emeritus, spoke on two topics: using the history of oil spills to predict the future of them, and the use of mussels to monitor oil spill impacts as part of the M/V Golden Ray spill and salvage response in St. Simons Sound, Georgia.  

Noteworthy at this conference was a special luncheon on diversity and inclusion, as well as panels on modeling, subsea response, wildlife issues, outreach, and other topics.  An onwater demonstration of equipment was hosted the day before the platform sessions began, as were an assortment of short courses.

The conference attracted over 1,000 delegates from around the world. At the conclusion of the event, the tradition of passing on a boomerang to the next host was done by Rob James, the Interspill co-chair.

For further information, contact Mark.Dix@noaa.gov.