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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.
May 2021
May 3, 2021 ─ OR&R Director Scott Lundgren addressed the Spill Control Association of America (SCAA) Annual Meeting on April 28, 2021 as part of a virtual government panel.
May 3, 2021 ─ On April 14, Nancy Wallace, Director of the NOAA Marine Debris Program (MDP), and Peter Murphy, Alaska Regional Coordinator, participated in a virtual roundtable event hosted by Senator Dan Sullivan (AK).
May 3, 2021 ─ On April 21, Nancy Wallace, director of the NOAA Marine Debris Program, participated in a webinar, “Addressing and Managing Plastic Pollution,” hosted by the EPA Watershed Academy.
May 3, 2021 ─ OR&R is pleased to introduce Jamie Rhome, the storm surge team lead at the National Hurricane Center.
May 3, 2021 ─ On April 26-27, the NOAA Office of Response and Restoration’s Disaster Preparedness Program partnered with the University of Florida Center for Coastal Solutions, the National Science Foundation, and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute to host the Shared Operational Research Logistics in the Nearshore Environment (SHORELINE 21) workshop.
April 2021
April 26, 2021—On April 20, the Marine Debris Program Mid-Atlantic Regional Coordinator Christy Kehoe presented at a virtual Virginia Plastic Pollution Prevention Network meeting during Earth Week. The mission of the Virginia Plastic Pollution Prevention Network is to promote and facilitate coordination, collaboration, and communication among groups working to reduce plastic pollution throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia.
April 26, 2021—This week, OR&R’s Senior Scientist Lisa DiPinto led a project funded by the U.S Coast Guard’s Research and Development Center entitled “Advancing Detection Capabilities for Monitoring Oil Spills in Ice Environments.”
April 26, 2021—On April 20, 2021, Lieutenant Commander Faith Knighton, scientific support coordinator for the Pacific Northwest, presented an Office of Response and Restoration and Emergency Response Division overview at the virtual 29th Annual Joint Safety and Environmental Professional Development Symposium hosted by the Naval Safety and Environmental Training Center.
April 26, 2021—In March and early April, OR&R’s Emergency Response Division provided Shoreline Cleanup Assessment Technique (SCAT) training in a hybrid (virtual and field) learning environment to spill responders in the San Francisco Bay area.
April 26, 2021—In March and April, the Emergency Response Division supported the Office of Marine and Aviation Operations Fleet by approving the augmentation request and sending LTJG Hayley Betker and LT Rachel Pryor to the NOAA Ship “Pisces” in the Gulf of Mexico. LTJG Betker reported for the first leg of the Southeast Area Monitoring and Assessment Program survey out of Pascagoula, Mississippi and LT Pryor followed on the second leg.
April 26, 2021—In three separate one-on-one briefings, OR&R Director Scott Lundgren met with staff from the offices of Senators Susan Collins (ME), Lisa Murkowski (AK), and Chuck Schumer (NY) on April 15-16.
April 19, 2021 — On April 15 Lieutenant Commander Faith Knighton, Scientific Support Coordinator for the Pacific Northwest, presented an Office of Response and Restoration and Emergency Response Division overview at the virtual 2021 LEPC-Tribal Conference and Hazardous Materials Workshop hosted by the Washington State Emergency Response Commission.
April 19, 2021 — As part of the Disaster Preparedness Program’s (DPP) commitment to continuously enhancing the value of program services to NOAA and partners across the country, DPP has embarked on an innovative research collaboration exploring strategies to quantify relationships between disaster preparedness activities and outcome metrics.
April 19, 2021 — On April 12-14 the Emergency Prevention, Preparedness and Response (EPPR) Working Group of the Arctic Council and the Arctic Coast Guard Forum (ACGF) held Arctic Guardian 2021, an international online emergency response exercise.
April 19, 2021 — On April 12, NOAA and our natural resource co-Trustees released a Draft Supplemental Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment for the Kalamazoo River. The plan is open for public comment through May 14, 2021.
April 12, 2021 — NOAA continues to deepen engagement with the federal Recovery Support Function Leadership Group (RSFLG), advancing the stewardship component of the agency’s mission by aiding communities in disaster recovery.
April 12, 2021 — On March 30, Ashley Hill, the Marine Debris Program’s (MDP) Florida and Caribbean Regional Coordinator, presented about marine debris initiatives and citizen science opportunities during a three-part Marine Pollution Symposium.
April 12, 2021 — This week, Dr. Forrest Masters, Ph. D., P. E. will present as part of the “You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know” lecture series. Dr. Masters is a professor of civil and coastal engineering in the Engineering School of Sustainable Infrastructure & Environment at the University of Florida.
April 12, 2021 — Aquaculture, or the farming of aquatic animals like oysters, is becoming more and more popular in coastal areas. As the demand for seafood rises around the world, aquaculture provides a sustainable way to meet that demand.
April 12, 2021 — Scientists from OR&R’s Assessment and Restoration Division and NOAA Fisheries, in collaboration with our partners from the Coastal Response Research Center, are leading a virtual workshop with NOAA marine mammal scientists from the Alaska Region, Alaska Fisheries Science Center, Northwest Fisheries Science Center and other NOAA participants to discuss ways to approach Natural Resource Damage Assessment for marine mammals in sub-arctic Alaskan waters.
April 5, 2021 — Scientists from OR&R have been working with collaborators from the Northwest Fisheries Science Center and other research groups to improve our understanding of how exposure to oil during early development causes injury in fish.
April 5, 2021 — On March 25-26, the Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve (TRNERR) hosted a virtual workshop, Binational Management of Solid Waste and Flooding, with more than 130 participants representing the U.S. and Mexico.
April 5, 2021 — On Friday, March 26, Director of OR&R, Scott Lundgren, had a one-on-one briefing with Senator Maria Cantwell’s (WA) office staff.
April 5, 2021 — Environmental justice is the idea that all people, regardless of race, religion, national origin, or economic station, deserve fair treatment with regards to environmental laws and policy. The Urban Waters Federal Partnership works to restore and revitalize relationships between urban communities, particularly those that have been disproportionately impacted by pollution or economic distress, and local waterways.
March 2021
March 29, 2021 — On March 22, Lieutenant Rachel Pryor facilitated a meeting between OR&R’s Spatial Data Branch and the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 5 Superfund Program to discuss establishing an inter-agency digital highway to share data between the two agencys' mapping programs.
March 29, 2021 — From 1962 to 1985, Metal Bank of America Inc. owned and operated a salvage yard adjacent to the Delaware River. The facility recycled scrap metal and electrical transformers from various utility companies. The Environmental Protection Agency designated Metal Bank a Superfund site in 1983.
March 29, 2021 — Last week, during the You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know Lecture we took a deep dive into the history of Mallows Bay and the ghost ship fleet with Maryland’s State Underwater Archeologist, Dr. Susan Langley.
March 22, 2021 — Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Assessment and Restoration Division scientist Ken Finkelstein took part virtually in the National Ocean Science Bowl (NOSB) Northeastern Competition. The annual NOSB competition holds regional events for high school students and invites the winners to the national tournament during the spring.
March 22, 2021 — As federal trustees for natural resources, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are initiating studies to assess natural resource injuries related to the release of hazardous substances from or near the Diamond Alkali Superfund site. The site, centered in Newark, New Jersey, includes the Lower Passaic River, Newark Bay, and other areas.