Great Lakes Coast Guard Oil Spill Center of Expertise Grand Opening

AUG. 29, 2022 — Last week, OR&R Director Scott Lundgren and Senior Scientist Lisa DiPinto joined the U.S. Coast Guard, NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL) Director Deborah Lee and others for the ribbon cutting ceremony for the grand opening of the Great Lakes National Center of Expertise (NCOE).

A group of people cutting a blue ribbon in front of a building.

The event was held at the new research and teaching facility constructed at Lake Superior State University in Sault St. Marie, Michigan. This new facility, along with NOAA’s GLERL in Ann Arbor, Michigan, will serve as the hub of the Great Lakes NCOE.  

Senator Gary Peters (MI) passed legislation into law to establish the NCOE to support the Coast Guard to develop a collaborative research program to examine the impacts of oil spills in freshwater environments and advance development of effective freshwater responses. NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration will be working with the Coastal Response Research Center at University of New Hampshire to lead several projects including:

  • Enhancing the Environmental Response Management Application (ERMA).
  • Advancing Detection Capabilities for Monitoring Oil Spills in Great Lakes Ice Environments.
  • Transitioning Research into Application for Oil Spill Response and Assessments.
  • Operationalizing use of Uncrewed systems (UAS and ROV) for environmental response.
Last updated Sunday, September 11, 2022 9:38pm PDT