On December 4, 2014 the United States hosted the semi-annual meeting for the Arctic Council's Emergency Prevention, Preparedness, and Response (EPPR) Working Group in Seattle, Washington.

Representatives from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Greenland, Canada, and the United States attended, as well as permanent participants from the Inuit Circumpolar Council and the observer states of Singapore and Korea. Prior to its formal meeting, the group visited the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy to understand U.S. response capabilities in ice-laden waters.

The EPPR meeting was followed by a day-long workshop on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) and their potential applications in the Arctic. Presenters provided international policy and operational experiences on the use of UAS platforms. As part of the speaker panel, OR&R provided its operational experience with evaluating UAS for spill response and injury assessment.

Several other speakers from NOAA's UAS Program Office and the National Marine Mammal Laboratory also contributed insight and perspectives on their operational experience with multiple platforms. More information on the Arctic Council's EPPR Working Group can be found at https://eppr.org/?it=eppr/.

For more information, contact Amy Merten.

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