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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.
December 2020
DECEMBER 14, 2020 — On Wednesday, December 9, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) SciTech Forum hosted a complimentary webinar weeks before the 2021 main event that addressed current impacts to the commercial aviation industry.
DECEMBER 14, 2020 — On December 7, Nancy Wallace, Director of the Marine Debris Program (MDP), presented at NASA’s Goddard Engineering Colloquium Series on the topic of remote sensing technologies for detection of marine debris.
DECEMBER 7, 2020 — Following the Deepwater Horizon spill, in order to significantly reduce the time required to contain a deep sea well, industry built out ready to deploy subsea containment equipment and interim subsea dispersal equipment.
DECEMBER 7, 2020 — On November 23 – 27, chief scientist Amy Uhrin and research analyst Carlie Herring, from the NOAA Marine Debris Program, participated in the biennial MICRO2020 conference.
DECEMBER 7, 2020 — Please join us Thursday, December 17 at 3:00pm EST for the next episode of You Don't Know What You Don't Know. We are pleased to welcome a very special guest, Amy Kukulya from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
DECEMBER 7, 2020 — On December 1-2, the NOAA Marine Debris Program, led by Christy Kehoe, Mid-Atlantic Regional Coordinator, hosted a series of four virtual workshops to refine and confirm objectives and actions within the draft Mid-Atlantic Marine Debris Action Plan.
DECEMBER 7, 2020 — The U.S. Department of Justice lodged a consent decree for public comment proposing a settlement to fund natural resource restoration in Superfund sites along Seattle, Washington’s Lower Duwamish River.
DECEMBER 7, 2020 — On November 17, the Disaster Preparedness Program (DPP) convened the National Ocean Service (NOS) Incident Management Team (IMT) for a virtual hotwash about the record setting 2020 Atlantic Hurricane Season that included 29 named storms.
DECEMBER 7, 2020 — On November 19, the NOAA Marine Debris Program (MDP), in its role as Chair of the Interagency Marine Debris Coordinating Committee (IMDCC), hosted a webinar for IMDCC agency representatives as well as MDP staff.
DECEMBER 7, 2020 — A Consent Decree was entered that includes $25 million as a partial settlement to restore natural resources injured by releases of hazardous substances to the Kalamazoo River and Portage Creek in Kalamazoo and Allegan Counties, Michigan.
November 2020
NOVEMBER 23, 2020 — In fiscal year 2020: OR&R provided scientific support for 200 pollution-related incidents.
NOVEMBER 23, 2020 — During the week of November 16, the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI) hosted a virtual synthesis workshop titled “GoMRI Contributions to Dispersant Science.”
NOVEMBER 23, 2020 — Last week, members of the Disaster Preparedness Program (DPP) participated in the 68th annual International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM) Annual Conference, which was held for the first time as a virtual event.
NOVEMBER 23, 2020 — On November 17, the Marine Debris Program (MDP) and the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation sponsored a half-day virtual workshop California Microfiber Workshop: Science, Innovation & Connection.
NOVEMBER 23, 2020 — On November 19, the Marine Debris Program released its Strategic Plan for fiscal years (FY) 2021-2025.
NOVEMBER 23, 2020 — Ever wonder how oil spill responders come up with the ideas and suggestions for oil spill cleanups? Well, this last episode of the You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know lecture series explains it all. Dr. Tom Coolbaugh, program/facility manager of Ohmsett for the Applied Research Associates, Inc. dives into all the extraordinary studies and experiments they are conducting at Omhsett’s wave and test tank.
NOVEMBER 23, 2020 — Assessing the hazards and risks posed by oil and petroleum products is challenging due to the complex nature and variable physiochemical properties of constituents comprising these substances.
NOVEMBER 16, 2020 — The Hudson River Natural Resource Trustees released two data reports presenting findings on freshwater mussels in the Upper Hudson River in support of the Hudson River Natural Resource Damage Assessment.
NOVEMBER 16, 2020 — On October 22, the Southeast and Great Lakes Regional Coordinators for the NOAA Marine Debris Program teamed up to host a virtual training on using the Southeast Marine Debris Collaborative Portal. This online portal allows visitors to view marine debris-related resources and information such as projects, cleanups, funding opportunities, and events for Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina.
NOVEMBER 16, 2020 — OR&R completed the second of four workshop days focused on helping to define what the next generation of Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps should/could look like in a resource constrained environment.
NOVEMBER 16, 2020 — On November 10, the NOAA Marine Debris Program announced the fiscal year 2021 notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) for North America Marine Debris Prevention and Removal projects.
NOVEMBER 16, 2020 — OR&R and Coast Guard National Pollution Funds Center (NPFC) representatives met virtually on October 30th to discuss their ongoing relationship. The NPFC provides funding to support OR&R's response to oil and hazardous substance releases and initiation of natural resource damage assessment.
Vice-Commandant of the United States Coast Guard Visits NOAA Gulf of Mexico Disaster Response Center
NOVEMBER 16, 2020 — On November 6, 2020, Admiral Charles Ray, Vice-Commandant of the United States Coast Guard (USCG), visited the NOAA Gulf of Mexico Disaster Response Center (DRC) in Mobile, Alabama, to see first-hand where USCG Sector Mobile Hurricane Sally operations were managed, and to thank key staff that supported them.
NOVEMBER 9, 2020 — On October 20, Peter Murphy, Alaska Regional Coordinator for the NOAA Marine Debris Program (MDP), presented on Unoccupied Aerial System (UAS) efforts, observations, and opportunities at the recent Drones in the Coastal Zone Workshop.
NOVEMBER 9, 2020 — A review of selected 2019 literature on the Effects of Pollution on Marine Organisms has been published in the October 2020 Annual Literature Review Issue of Water Environment Research.
NOVEMBER 9, 2020 — On October 29, Sarah Lowe, Great Lakes Regional Coordinator for the Marine Debris Program, participated in the virtual Lake Erie Science and Outdoor Writers Workshop, organized by Ohio Sea Grant.
NOVEMBER 9, 2020 — On November 4, the Marine Debris Program released its 2020 Accomplishments Report.
NOVEMBER 9, 2020 — On November 5, Charles Grisafi, Southeast Regional Preparedness Coordinator, was a guest speaker representing the NOAA Disaster Preparedness Program at a South Carolina Hurricane Task Force virtual meeting hosted by the South Carolina Emergency Management Division (SCEMD).
NOVEMBER 9, 2020 — NOAA’s National Ocean Service brings a wealth of coastal science, management, and operational expertise to help communities respond to and recover from hurricanes.
NOVEMBER 2, 2020 — OR&R Director Scott Lundgren and Senior Scientist Lisa DiPinto joined the Canadian Multi-Partner Research Initiative (CAMPRI) Advisory Committee held virtually on Wednesday October 28. CAMPRI is part of the Canadian National Oceans Protection Plan and is mid-way through five years of research that draws upon the expertise and experience of oil spill experts in Canada and internationally.