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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 2020
JULY 13, 2020 — One of the most efficient methods for removing an oil slick from the surface of the water (and one of the most exciting) is by burning it in place or “in-situ burning”. It is a technique that is difficult to master and still holds many challenges for researchers.
JULY 13, 2020 — On July 1, OR&R’s Emergency Response Division participated in a State of Hawaii sponsored dispersant monitoring exercise held in Oahu.
June 2020
JUNE 29, 2020 — Responding to and preparing for major oil spills requires the connection and coordination of many systems. The Texas General Land Office's Director of Research and Development explained how these systems have been connected and used in their coastal waters on the June 25 episode of OR&R’s YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW.
JUNE 29, 2020 — On June 18 and 19, Nancy Wallace, chief of the Marine Debris Division, participated in a virtual workshop hosted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Environmental Solutions Initiative.
JUNE 29, 2020 — On June 19, Kate Wheelock, Chief of the Disaster Preparedness Program, and Charles Grisafi, Southeast Regional Preparedness Coordinator, spoke with Washington D.C. and district staff from the office of Senator Rick Scott (FL).
JUNE 22, 2020 — On June 18, Dr. Bill Lehr, Scientist Emeritus for the National Ocean Service and OR&R retired senior scientist presented to 300 participants as part of the OR&R Lecture series, YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW, for a ride through the world of liquified natural gas (LNG) or liquified methane releases into the sea.
JUNE 22, 2020 — OR&R provided scientific support through the U.S. National Response Team (NRT) in response to the Ecuador pipeline spill that occurred in early April.
JUNE 22, 2020 — On June 6, Jennifer Simms, NOAA Marine Debris Program’s Communications and Education Specialist, presented virtually to 90 Cadets and four instructors.
JUNE 22, 2020 — On June 17, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Marine Debris Program released the “Delaware Marine Debris Emergency Response Guide: Comprehensive Guidance Document” (Guide).
JUNE 22, 2020 — On June 1-5, 2020, The Disaster Preparedness Program (DPP) held a virtual all-staff operational planning meeting to start planning for FY2021.
JUNE 22, 2020 — On June 12, 2020, Doug Helton participated in a “virtual” conference panel for 2020 Clean Pacific Conference on the challenges posed by abandoned and derelict vessels.
JUNE 15, 2020 — In 2018, the Town of Beaufort in North Carolina began to clean up marine debris in the waters around the Town and the Rachel Carson Reserve with the support of a NOAA Marine Debris Program Marine Debris Removal Grant.
JUNE 15, 2020 — What do you get when you mix heavy oil, sand and a light surf? Sunken oil mats (SOMs), that’s what. They are difficult to find, difficult to recover and pose a continued threat to beaches following a major oil spill.
JUNE 8, 2020 — On May 28, the Disaster Preparedness Program (DPP) hosted a virtual briefing for the Gulf of Mexico congressional delegations. The briefing was open to all interested staff from the Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas delegations, and relevant Senate and House Committees.
JUNE 8, 2020 — Oil slicks form, break apart in waves and turbulence and reform again. Oil droplets move through the water column at the surface or rise from the ocean floor as a result of well blowouts.
May 2020
JUNE 1, 2020 — "Towards thee I roll… to the last I grapple with thee” - Captain Ahab’s last words in “Moby Dick.” On Thursday May 28, OR&R’s weekly lecture series YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW featured Dr. Chris Barker of the Emergency Response Division discussing the art and science of tracking whale carcasses.
JUNE 1, 2020 — On May 26, the NOS Incident Management Team (IMT), in coordination with the Disaster Preparedness Program (DPP), held their first completely virtual tabletop exercise.
JUNE 1, 2020 — On May 20, the Disaster Preparedness Program (DPP) hosted a virtual briefing for the Southeast congressional delegations.
JUNE 1, 2020 — On the list of what you didn’t know that you didn’t know, remotely controlled, fire-breathing jet skis for oil spill response would be right up there near the top. Well, they are under development and Dr. Tim Nedwed, lead for ExxonMobil’s Upstream Research Company discussed them on May 21 as part of OR&R’s weekly lecture series, YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW.
MAY 25, 2020 — On May 15, the OR&R’s Marine Debris Program California Regional Coordinator, Sherry Lippiatt, and California Sea Grant Extension Fellow, Tanya Torres, participated in a virtual California Water Quality Monitoring Council / Trash Monitoring Workgroup meeting.
MAY 25, 2020 — A significant rainfall event that started on Sunday, May 17, has caused major flooding in the mid-Michigan area in the Saginaw River and ultimately resulted in the failures of the Edenville Dam and the Sanford Dam in Midland County.
MAY 18, 2020 — On April 23, the National Ocean Service (NOS) held a virtual Hurricane Preparedness Summit in preparation for the 2020 hurricane season. The summit focused on hurricane readiness in the midst of a pandemic.
MAY 18, 2020 — Dogs comfort us, keep us safe, and occasionally bring us our slippers. Now they are a new and promising tool in oil spill assessment and clean up. In the weekly OR&R lecture series, “You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know” (Thursdays at 3:00 PM ET) Dr. Ed Owens, a world recognized oil spill response expert, discussed the amazing accuracy of trained dogs in finding buried oil
MAY 18, 2020 — The Refugio NRDA case team held a virtual public meeting on May 13, 2019 to provide the public with a summary/overview, answer questions, and receive comments on the recently-released draft Damage Assessment and Restoration Plan (DARP).
MAY 18, 2020 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Marine Debris Program is pleased to release the “U.S. Virgin Islands Marine Debris Emergency Response Guide: Comprehensive Guidance Document” (Guide).
MAY 18, 2020 — On May 4, OR&R Director Scott Lundgren and Senior Scientist Lisa DiPinto participated in a virtual stakeholder panel for an oil spill “Modeling for Synthesis” workshop.
MAY 18, 2020 — The week of May 11, OR&R scientists participated in the Arctic Domain Awareness Center (ADAC) Program Year Sixth Annual Meeting. The ADAC works with international, federal, state, local, tribal, industry, and academic partners to advance domain awareness of the Arctic region.
MAY 18, 2020 — Marine Debris Program Pacific Northwest Regional Coordinator, Andrew Mason, recently participated in two educational outreach opportunities with local students and volunteers.
MAY 11, 2020 — On April 15, Peter Murphy, Alaska Regional Coordinator for the Marine Debris Program, presented a NOAA Live! Webinar titled “Talking Trash – Marine Debris in Alaska & Beyond.”
MAY 11, 2020 — On April 29, Nancy Wallace, Director of the Marine Debris Program, and Peter Murphy, Alaska Regional Coordinator, spoke with district and D.C. staff from the office of Senator Lisa Murkowski (AK).