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NOV. 12, 2024 — Over the past year, the NOAA Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R) Disaster Preparedness Program (DPP) and the Coastal Response Research Center at the University of New Hampshire partnered with Louisiana Sea Grant to launch a series of resources to assist communities following natural disasters.
OR&R Weekly Report
The Office of Response and Restoration publishes this weekly round-up of news and information of interest to our partners, stakeholders, and team members. Click to subscribe
NOV. 12, 2024 — Staff from the NOAA Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R) Assessment and Restoration Division and Emergency Response Division attended the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) North America annual conference in Fort Worth, Texas from October 20–24, 2024. Attended by more than 1,500 scientists, the conference included 1,088 presentations—21 of which were co-authored by NOAA scientists—across 184 scientific sessions.
NOV. 12, 2024 — The NOAA Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R) welcomed four interns from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES): Jalynn Aaron and Kayla Brown, both majoring in psychology, and Mikaela Blackwood and Amari Dupree, both majoring in biology. From this November 2024 through April 2025, interns will remotely support OR&R’s Assessment and Restoration Division with work on natural resource damage assessment and restoration.
July 2022
JULY 25, 2022 — On July 13, 2022, the NOAA Marine Debris Program’s Gulf of Mexico Regional Coordinator Caitlin Wessel presented at the Jackson County Soil and Water Conservation District’s teacher workshop.
JULY 25, 2022 — On July 13, 2022, NOAA Marine Debris Program California Regional CoordinatorChristy Kehoe and Southeast Regional Coordinator Sarah Latshaw presented at the United States Coast Guard Sector San Francisco and Sector Delta Abandoned and Derelict Vessels Quarterly Meeting. The meeting brought together more than 30 ADV experts from across the San Francisco and Sacramento Delta area in Northern California.
JULY 25, 2022 — On July 11, 2022, NOAA Marine Debris Program Education Specialist Alexandria Brake led two workshops for students and educators. Alexandria presented on “Pesky Plastics” at the Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School’s Virtual Engineering Exploration Experience, the first day of a five-week program bringing together experts in various fields to inspire students to consider solutions to complex global problems.
JULY 18, 2022 — On July 6, 2022, the NOAA Marine Debris Program director, Nancy Wallace, joined colleagues from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and virtually met with representatives of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea.
JULY 18, 2022 — On June 22, 2022, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Coast Guard District 13, and Regional Response Team 10 held a Spill of National Significance Seminar in Astoria, Oregon.
JULY 18, 2022 — On July 6, 2022, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Marine Debris Program California Regional Coordinator Christy Kehoe presented at the July Office of National Marine Sanctuaries Resource Protection and Permitting Cross-cut Meeting. The cross-cut meeting brought together over 15 Sanctuaries staff from across the country to focus on marine debris conversations impacting our sanctuaries.
JULY 18, 2022 — On June 30, 2022, Katie Morgan on behalf of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Marine Debris Program was invited to participate in the Rutgers Marine Extension Program Seminar Series (MEPSS).
JULY 18, 2022 — On July 9, 2022, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Marine Debris Program staff joined Congressman Brian Higgins, Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper, Council of the Great Lakes Region, and New York State Parks at Buffalo Harbor State Park to announce the deployment of Seabin technology in their marina.
JULY 11, 2022 — The nation’s ports are vital links for the movement of people and goods, and their protection is of critical importance. Recently, the manager of OR&R’s Environmental Sensitivity Index program and the chief of OR&R’s Emergency Response Division gave a presentation to the American Association of Port Authorities about the benefits of using ESI data to support port activities across the country.
JULY 11, 2022 — On June 14-16, 2022, the Disaster Preparedness Program (DPP) partnered with the Homeland Security Program Office to hold NOAA’s National Level Exercise.
JULY 11, 2022 — On June 29, the NOAA Marine Debris Program announced the Fiscal Year 2022 NOAA Marine Debris Removal notice of funding opportunity. Funding for this opportunity is provided through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
JULY 11, 2022 — OR&R's Disaster Preparedness Program is currently seeking a college intern who is passionate about disaster preparedness and excited to explore questions on human behavior and disasters.
JULY 11, 2022 — On June 28, NOAA Marine Debris Program Director, Nancy Wallace, participated in an official side event as part of the UN Ocean Conference. The virtual panel discussed the issue of plastic pollution with a specific emphasis on answering what key science and innovation is needed to tackle this global environmental challenge.
JULY 11, 2022 — Scientists from NOAA's Office of Response and Restoration recently particpated in an Interspill conference held June 21-23, 2022 in Amsterdam. This event is part of the triumvirate series including the International Oil Spill Conference (U.S., 2024) and Spillcon (Australia, 2023).
JULY 11, 2022 — In May, the Marine Debris Program welcomed Elena Aguilar as part of the NOAA Experiential Research and Training Opportunity internship program.
JULY 11, 2022 — On June 21, 2022, the NOAA Scientific Support Coordinator for the Pacific Northwest CDR Faith Knighton and Regional Response Officer LTJG Kyle Vincent provided Shoreline Cleanup Assessment Technique (SCAT) Field Training to 10 members from the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Columbia River.
JULY 11, 2022 — OR&R Director Scott Lundgren visited the joint OR&R and University of New Hampshire Coastal Response Research Center on June 23, 2022. This visit provided the opportunity to hear from the center’s staff, student researchers, and visiting University of Puerto Rico students working on OR&R-related CRRC projects and other related environmental projects at the university for two months during the summer.
JULY 11, 2022 — Recently, LCDR Rachel Pryor presented at the Environmental Emergency Management Conference hosted by Michigan’s Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy state department.
JULY 11, 2022 — OR&R Director Scott Lundgren participated in an Environmental Justice vessel tour of the Harlem River hosted by Congressman Adriano Espaillat in conjunction with the Bronx and Harlem River Watersheds Urban Waters Federal Partnership, Harlem River Working Group, Bronx Council for Environmental Quality, Hudson River Foundation, and WE ACT.
JULY 11, 2022 — On June 17, the Marine Debris Program's Pacific Northwest Regional Coordinator Andrew Mason and Monitoring Coordinator Hillary Burgess met with partners from the Grassroots Garbage Gang and Willapa Bay National Wildlife Refuge on the Long Beach peninsula of Washington.
June 2022
JUNE 27, 2022 — On June 21 and 22, NOAA's Marine Debris Program coordinated and presented at the virtual 2022 California Ocean Litter Prevention Strategy Implementation Workshop. The workshop brought together over 90 people from across the state and from a diverse set of sectors, including state agencies, nonprofits, private sector, and academia.
JUNE 27, 2022 — On June 9, 2022, U.S. Coast Guard Sector Delaware Bay was selected by the Migratory Bird Council to receive the Presidential Migratory Bird Stewardship Award. The award recognized the collective efforts of several Area Committee organizations, including the OR&R's Emergency Response Division, U.S Environmental Protection Agency, U.S Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research, Inc., and the States of Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
JUNE 27, 2022 — On Saturday, June 11, NOAA's Assessment and Restoration Division and Restoration Center joined the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Hudson River Estuary Program during its World Fish Migration Day event at Lemon Creek Park in Staten Island, New York.
JUNE 27, 2022 — On June 3, NOAA Marine Debris Program team member Shanelle Naone presented to high school students from Leilehua High School (Wahiawā, O‘ahu) participating in the GEAR UP program.
JUNE 27, 2022 — OR&R has created a new landing page to highlight the work that our office does to contribute to Coastal Resilience.
JUNE 27, 2022 — Among the many hats that personnel from OR&R’s Emergency Response Division wear, one of their most critical roles are instructing federal and state agencies in the art of Shoreline Cleanup Assessment Technique (SCAT) and Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI). Preparing the U.S. Coast Guard and state spill response agencies allows for an effective incident response and protection of our nation's sensitive habitats.
JUNE 13, 2022 — On June 2 and 3, 2022, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Marine Debris Program, in collaboration with the Environmental Protection Agency’s Trash Free Waters Program, hosted a virtual workshop, conducted in Spanish, for the development of an action plan that will contain strategic and coordinated actions to address the challenges of aquatic debris in Puerto Rico.
JUNE 13, 2022 — On March 21, 2022 the Tug Western Mariner ran aground in Neva Strait, north of Sitka, Alaska, resulting in a diesel oil spill. OR&R has been providing support for the response, cleanup, and damage assessment for the spill since the incident occurred.
JUNE 13, 2022 — On June 7, the U.S. Department of Justice and the federal natural resource trustees — the Fish and Wildlife Service/U.S. Department of the Interior and NOAA — announced an opportunity for public comment on a draft Interim settlement and crediting agreement with the BASF Corporation.
JUNE 13, 2022 — On May 24-25, 2022 OR&R’s Emergency Response Division presented at the Northwest Area Committees Environmental Unit Training.