The NOAA Marine Debris Program attended and presented at an International Joint Commission (IJC) workshop on developing a monitoring framework for microplastics in the Laurentian Great Lakes. This was the first workshop in a two-part series for the IJC Microplastics Monitoring and Risk Assessment Working Group. The IJC Working Group consists of subject matter experts, working in a voluntary capacity, helping to develop recommendations on microplastics management for the IJC’s Science Advisory Board. The objectives of the workshop included: 1) developing methods for sampling microplastics in various environmental compartments such as tributary and lake waters, sediments, and biota, 2) discussing quality assurance/quality control measures when collecting field samples, 3) designing experiments to capture spatial and/or temporal trends, and 4) evaluating if microplastics sampling could fit into existing environmental monitoring programs. The working group’s insights will guide creation of a monitoring framework that could be implemented in the Great Lakes and adapted in other regions. Data from a comprehensive monitoring program can inform future risk assessments and support future efforts to classify microplastics as a sub-indicator for State of the Great Lakes reporting under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. The NOAA Marine Debris Program staff gave a presentation on considerations for collecting and analyzing microfiber debris from environmental samples. Members of microplastics monitoring working groups from the Chesapeake Bay region and Southern California also attended the workshop for cross-regional collaboration, relationship building between these various groups, and to align and harmonize monitoring frameworks.

OR&R’s Emergency Response Division assisted with a Hawaii Oil Spill Response Workshop, sponsored by the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM), held in Honolulu. The workshop was conducted with two key Indo-Pacific partner countries, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Thirty-two spill responders from Sri Lanka and four responders from the Maldives were sponsored to attend. Participants spanned from multiple agencies including those representing the military, disaster management, environmental protection, wildlife and fisheries. The NOAA Scientific Support Coordinator for the Pacific Islands presented an overview of the role of OR&R’s scientific team in oil and hazardous material spill response and planning activities. NOAA’s USINDOPACOM liaison officer arranged for the participants to visit the NOAA Inouye Regional Center on the last day of the workshop, where the Scientific Support Coordinator provided a tour of the center’s atrium exhibits, including the Science on a Sphere.