JUNE 3, 2019 — The U.S. Department of the Interior’s International Technical Assistance Program (ITAP) together with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Commercial Law Development Program (CLDP) played host to the government of Argentina in New Orleans, Louisiana, on May 22-24 as part of its continued engagement on sustainable oil and gas sector development, as supported by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Energy Resources (DOS/ENR).

JUNE 3, 2019 — On May 21 and 22, the Marine Debris Program (MDP) hosted more than 65 partners for the Florida Marine Debris Reduction Workshop at the Nova Southeastern University Guy Harvey Oceanographic Center in Hollywood, Florida.

JUNE 3, 2019 — OR&R’s Emergency Response Division Chief, Scott Lundgren, met with the leadership of the American Salvage Association (ASA) on May 23.

JUNE 3, 2019 — On May 28, Marine Debris Program (MDP) staff participated in the Virginia Stormwater and Litter workshop held in Woodbridge, Virginia.

MAY 28, 2019 — NOAA Scientific Support Coordinator LCDR Jim Rosenberg participated in an oil spill response exercise in partnership with the U.S. Coast Guard, Washington Department of Ecology, and the British Columbia Ministry of Environment in the Strait of Juan de Fuca on May 22.

MAY 28, 2019 — OR&R presented on several of our mapping, data management and modeling tools at the Washington State and U.S. Coast Guards Best Achievable Protection Workshop in downtown Seattle May 14-15, 2019.

MAY 28, 2019 —OR&R staff from the Emergency Response Division (ERD) and the Assessment and Restoration Division (ARD) participated in Chevron’s 2019 Preparedness for Response Exercise Program (PREP) exercise this week held in Covington, Louisiana.

MAY 28, 2019 — The 2019 Arctic Incident of National Significance (IoNS) Workshop/Exercise was held May 21-22 in Anchorage, Alaska.

MAY 28, 2019 — On May 16, the Marine Debris Program's Pacific Northwest and California Regional Coordinators, Nir Barnea and Sherry Lippiatt, contributed to a webinar "Current Actions of the U.S. West Coast Marine Debris Plans," hosted by OCTO and the West Coast Marine Debris Alliance.

MAY 20, 2019 — Steve Morrison is the lead for international activities and partnership coordination for the Marine Debris Program (MDP) and works in the Silver Spring office.

MAY 20, 2019 — On May 13, the Marine Debris Program staff, Steve Morrison, participated in a meeting between the United States government (USG) and government officials from the Republic of Korea (ROK), led by their Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to discuss US/ROK collaborative work under the Korea/US Free Trade Agreement (KORUS).

  MAY 20, 2019 — On April 11, OR&R’s Emergency Response Division Chief Scott Lundgren and Senior Scientist Lisa DiPinto attended the Arctic Domain Awareness Center (ADAC) Annual Meeting at U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters. 

MAY 20, 2019 —On May 13 and 14 OR&R participated in a coastal protection workshop conducted in coastal city of Tuy Hoa, Vietnam, as part of Pacific Partnership 2019.

MAY 20, 2019 — Oil removal operations continue on the sunken World War II tanker near Long Island, New York that the U.S. Coast Guard confirmed to be leaking during an underwater assessment last month. More than 62,000 gallons of oil has been removed from the tanks of the Coimbra since pumping operations began on May 11, 2019.

MAY 20, 2019 — Each year the leadership from the U.S. national and regional oil and hazardous substance preparedness and response interagency partners gather to share information and plan future work. 

MAY 13, 2019 — After ongoing underwater assessment, the U.S. Coast Guard will be removing oil that has reportedly been leaking from a sunken World War II tanker near Long Island, New York.

MAY 13, 2019 — Since the 116th Congress began on January 3, 2019, several bills have been introduced that are relevant to the work of OR&R.

MAY 13, 2019 — On April 30 and May 1, partners representing organizations in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia gathered at the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office in Gloucester, Massachusetts to finalize the Gulf of Maine Marine Debris Action Plan, which aims to coordinate efforts to prevent, study, and remove marine debris.

MAY 13, 2019 — The Disaster Preparedness Program (DPP) has started planning for FY2020! DPP staff gathered at the Disaster Response Center (DRC) May 7-9 for an FY2020 operational planning meeting.

MAY 13, 2019 — On May 8, Rear Admiral Shepard Smith, Director of NOAA Office of Coast Survey, testified at a House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing of the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation.

MAY 6, 2019 — Lieutenant Commander Jim Rosenberg re-joined OR&R in April. He is the new scientific support coordinator for the Northwest Continental U.S.

MAY 3, 2019 — On April 24, the OR&R Diversity and Inclusion Committee sponsored an event on how privilege (or the lack thereof) impacts our lives. Sociologists define privilege as unearned benefits that accrue to particular groups based on their location within a social hierarchy. Having privilege varies, depending on factors such as race, gender, sexual orientation, wealth or social status, and religion. While the subject has been the focus of much attention recently, it is not new.

MAY 6, 2019 — On April 23-24, Marine Debris Program Gulf of Mexico Regional Coordinator Caitlin Wessel visited Hurricane Harvey supplemental debris removal sites from Corpus Christi to Copano Bay, Texas. Caitlin met with groups impacted by Harvey, including the Mission Aransas National Estuarine Research Reserve, Texas General Lands Office (GLO), Goose Island State Park, and the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary.

MAY 6, 2019 — On April 24-25, Carlie Herring, research analyst and Jason Rolfe, Mid-Atlantic regional coordinator for the Marine Debris Program, participated in a workshop on “Microplastics in the Chesapeake Bay and its Watershed: State of the Knowledge, Data Gaps, and Relationship to Management Goals.”

APRIL 26, 2019 — On April 16-18, Adam Davis, LT Michael Doig, and Ed Levine attended the Clean Waterways conference in Cincinnati, Ohio.

APRIL 26, 2019 — Last week, the Marine Debris Program (MDP) celebrated Earth Day around the country.

APRIL 19, 2019 — On April 18, the United States Coast Guard (USCG) Sector Mobile held their annual Continuity of Operations (COOP) exercise at the NOAA Gulf of Mexico Disaster Response Center (DRC).

APRIL 19, 2019 — On April 10, Amy Holman, NOAA Regional Coordinator for Alaska led a remote NOAA communications exercise in support of Alaska Shield, a tri-annual state-wide emergency response exercise.

APRIL 19, 2019 — Ken Finkelstein attended the 2019 North Atlantic Chapter short course on April 8 at University of Massachusetts/Boston. 

APRIL 19, 2019 — On April 10, Amy Holman, NOAA Regional Coordinator for Alaska led a remote NOAA communications exercise in support of Alaska Shield, a tri-annual state-wide emergency response exercise.

APRIL 12, 2019 — On March 29, Sea Grant hosted an Oil Spill Workshop in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

APRIL 12, 2019 — On April 9 and 10, the Marine Debris Program (MDP) hosted a workshop in Silver Spring, Maryland, for divisions across the Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R) to better understand roles and responsibilities both during and outside of emergency response.

By Megan Ewald, Office of Response and Restoration

APRIL 5, 2019 — Last week, the Marine Debris Program’s Northeast Regional Coordinator, Demi Fox, spoke with a group of undergraduate MIT students at U.S. Coast Guard Sector Boston.

APRIL 5, 2019 — Every scientist, policy analyst, educator and administrator who works at NOAA started in the same place, as a kid in a classroom.

MARCH 29, 2019 — This week, leveraging our longstanding relationship with the Coastal Response Research Center at the University of New Hampshire, OR&R’s senior scientist collaborated with researchers from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, the Environmental Protection Agency, Water Mapping LLC, and Sea Scan MK2 ECA Group on a project to calibrate various sensors under development for detecting and characterizing oil in the water column.

MARCH 29, 2019 — During the fourth session of the U.N. Environment Assembly (March 11-15, 2019), the United Nations' Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Environmental Protection (GESAMP) released its report, Guidelines for the monitoring and assessment of plastic litter and microplastics in the ocean.

MARCH 22, 2019 — NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration and the Restoration Center presented at the “Gear Up” workshop, March 15 – 17, hosted by The Whale Museum in the San Juan Islands.

MARCH 22, 2019 — OR&R’s Emergency Response Division Chief Scott Lundgren joined other members of the International Oil Spill Conference (IOSC) Executive Committee to plan the 2020 International Oil Spill Conference.

MARCH 22, 2019 — OR&R Emergency Response Division Chief Scott Lundgren and Senior Scientist Lisa DiPinto participated in events on March 18 and 19 relating to a new American Academies of Arts and Science’s publication on Science During Crisis: Best Practices, Research Needs, and Policy Priorities, receiving an advance briefing with other NOAA line office representatives and attending an event rollout with other department and agency representatives and interested parties.

MARCH 8, 2019; UPDATED MARCH 25, 2019 — OR&R staff and scientists are busy preparing for a number of upcoming trainings for the U.S. Coast Guard and other response partners.

MARCH 15, 2019 — The week of March 11, NOAA OR&R staff conducted oil spill science and response training in Hagatna, Guam for over 40 spill responders and planners.

MARCH 15, 2019 — The OR&R Disaster Preparedness Program (DPP), established just over a year ago, is fully staffed and moving full steam ahead.

MARCH 15, 2019 — On March 9, 2019, the Marine Debris Program’s Gulf of Mexico Regional Coordinator, Caitlin Wessel, attended the Mobile Baykeeper’s post-Mardi Gras cleanup on One Mile Creek in downtown Mobile, Alabama.

MARCH 8, 2019 — On March 1, the Marine Debris Program’s Gulf of Mexico Regional Coordinator, Caitlin Wessel, attended the Alabama University System’s annual Sustainability Summit in Mobile, Alabama.

MARCH 8, 2019 — For the first time in over a decade, OR&R staff will host training for oil spill planners and responders in Hagatna, Guam on March 11.

This feature is part of a monthly series profiling scientists and technicians who provide exemplary contributions to the mission of NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R). This month’s featured scientist is Catherine Berg, a scientific support coordinator in OR&R’s Emergency Response Division.

MARCH 1, 2019 — The week of February 25, the OR&R Emergency Response Division, NOAA Marine Fisheries/Greater Atlantic Regional Field Office, and the Coastal Response Research Center (CRRC - a joint NOAA/University of New Hampshire research center) brought response, management and seafood inspection authorities from state and federal levels together to discuss fisheries management following a major pollution event in the Gulf of Maine. 

MARCH 1, 2019 — Last weekend, OR&R team member and Genwest employee Kristen Faiferlick attended World Information Architecture (IA) Day to learn best practices in organizing, sharing, and publicizing information.

FEBRUARY 22, 2019 — Each year, the Alaska Forum on the Environment brings together a diverse audience to discuss ongoing and emerging environmental issues such as contaminants, hazardous waste cleanup, hazardous materials management, and pollution prevention within Alaska’s many different communities and regions.

FEBRUARY 22, 2019 — On February 14 – 16, the Marine Debris Program’s Chief Scientist, Amy V. Urhin, participated in the Floating Marine Macro Litter Workshop held in Rome, Italy.

FEBRUARY 15, 2019 — On February 13, 2019, Great Lakes Scientific Support Coordinator LT Michael Doig attended an oil in ice training course hosted by U.S. Coast Guard Sector Lake Michigan, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with support from Canadian Pacific Railroad.

FEBRUARY 15, 2019 — On February 13, OR&R Deputy Director LaTonya Burgess announced the selection of Kate Wheelock to the position of the Disaster Preparedness Program Chief.

FEBRUARY 8, 2019 —Vicki Loe, OR&R outreach lead; Alyssa Dillon, OR&R web editor; and Seumas Gagne, OR&R webmaster, are pleased to announce that we have completed the development and launch of a new Drupal theme for response.restoration.noaa.gov.

FEBRUARY 8, 2019 — The Marine Debris Program released an internal report analyzing their fiscal year 2018 digital presence.

FEBRUARY 8, 2019 — The 2017 natural resource damage settlement agreement for in-river injuries reached between NOAA, our co-trustees, and parties potentially responsible for hazardous waste releases into the Raritan River from the American Cyanamid Superfund Site in Bridgewater, New Jersey.

The Guide outlines existing response structures at the local, state, and federal levels to facilitate a coordinated, well-managed, and immediate response to acute waterway debris incidents impacting coastal areas in the state of Texas.

DECEMBER 21, 2018 — On December 18, the Marine Debris Program announced the release of its “Texas Marine Debris Emergency Response Guide.”

DECEMBER 14, 2018 — The prestigious Team Member of the Year award recognizes contractors for outstanding contributions to NOS programs and the demonstration of exceptional and sustained effort toward the accomplishment of NOS missions. The following contractors that work in OR&R were recognized for their achievements at a ceremony on December 3 in Silver Spring, Maryland.

DECEMBER 14, 2018 — From December 3-7, the Marine Debris Program’s science team met with FY17 Marine Debris Research Grant recipient, Dr. Beth Polidoro, at Arizona State University to learn about an exciting microplastics project.

DECEMBER 14, 2018 — This week in Silver Spring, Maryland, OR&R’s Disaster Preparedness Program (DPP) held a three day NOAA-Specific Incident Command System 300 Level Training (ICS 300).

This feature is part of a monthly series profiling scientists and technicians who provide exemplary contributions to the mission of NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R). This month’s featured scientist is Charles Grisafi, OR&R Marine Debris Program regional coordinator for Florida and the Caribbean.

DECEMBER 7, 2018 — The NOAA Damage Assessment, Remediation and Restoration Program (DARRP) sponsored the second in a series of workshops on Long Term Data Management in the Gulf of Mexico on December 4 – 6 at NOAA's Disaster Response Center in Mobile, Alabama.

DECEMBER 7, 2018 — On November 29 and 30, the NOAA Marine Debris Program, in collaboration with the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW), Marine Quest, and the NOAA Office for Coastal Management, hosted more than 50 partners at the Southeast Marine Debris Workshop.

NOVEMBER 30, 2018 — West Coast federal and state trustees and oil industry representatives convened in Portland, Oregon, for the West Coast Joint Assessment Team (JAT) meeting on November 27.

NOVEMBER 30, 2018 — OR&R’s Ken Finkelstein, Jim Turek of the National Marine Fisheries Service Restoration Center, and Grant Blumberg of NOAA’s General Counsel participated in a public meeting on November 19 in Stratford, Connecticut. 

NOVEMBER 30, 2018 — OR&R staff sat down with Brooklyn public high school students to share stories about careers in marine science.

NOVEMBER 30, 2018 — Finally, November 30 marks the end of Hurricane Season 2018. Hurricane Season 2018 was extremely busy, with storms like Hurricane Florence in North Carolina, and Hurricane Michael in the Florida panhandle that left a path of destruction in their wake.

This feature is part of a monthly series profiling scientists and technicians who provide exemplary contributions to the mission of NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R). This month’s featured scientist is Ed Levine, a scientific support coordinator and supervisor in OR&R’s Emergency Response Division.

NOVEMBER 16, 2018 — On November 9, Tri-State Rescue and Rehabilitation, Inc. presented an award to NOAA at their annual "Fly Me to the Loon: Night to Benefit the Birds" fundraising event.

NOVEMBER 16, 2018 — A recent OR&R publication in the journal Landscape Ecology examined how hydrodynamic drivers and physical setting influence seagrass landscape composition and configuration.

NOVEMBER 9, 2018 — In October 2018, OR&R’s director, chiefs of OR&R’s Emergency Response and Marine Debris Divisions, and staff participated in a series of industry partnership information-sharing meetings.

NOVEMBER 9, 2018 — On November 6, the Marine Debris Program’s California Regional Coordinator, Sherry Lippiatt, gave the morning keynote for the Marine Debris Solutions Conference in San Diego, California.

In 2018 NOAA reached agreements with cooperating companies across America to restore natural resources damaged by industrial pollution and oil spills. Six pollution cases were settled, totaling $34.3 million that will go toward restoration.

NOVEMBER 2, 2018 — On October 31, OR&R’s Diversity and Inclusion team held an event focused on substance sensitivities in the workplace.

NOVEMBER 2, 2018 — The 2018 Oregon State of the Coast conference was held on October 27, in Coos Bay, Oregon. 

NOVEMBER 2, 2018 — On October 27, Charles Grisafi, Florida and Caribbean Regional Coordinator for the NOAA Marine Debris Program, participated in the first-ever Ghost Trap Rodeo event at Fort De Soto Park in Tierra Verde, Florida.

NOVEMBER 2, 2018 — The NOAA Unmanned Marine Systems (UMS) Symposium was held at the Stennis Space Center in Stennis, Mississippi, the week of October 29.

OCTOBER 26, 2018 — Members of the Disaster Preparedness Program (DPP) participated in the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM) Annual Conference this week in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

OCTOBER 26, 2018 — On October 16, Great Lakes Scientific Support Coordinator, LT Michael Doig, joined the crew of the NOAA Ship Ronald H. Brown on the final leg of their around the world voyage.

OCTOBER 26, 2018 — The Northeast Brandywine Riverfront Brownfields Area Wide Plan (AWP) in Wilmington, Delaware held a public open house and provided presentations on draft reuse alternatives developed under the EPA AWP grant.

OCTOBER 26, 2018 — OR&R staff joined public elementary school students from PS 146 in Brooklyn, NY, for their annual Plum Beach fall cleanup.

OCTOBER 19, 2018 — On October 13, the Marine Debris Program’s (MDP) Director, Nancy Wallace, OR&R Director Dave Westerholm, NOS Acting Assistant Administrator Nicole LeBoeuf, and Acting NOAA Administrator RDML Tim Gallaudet, participated in the Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup flagship event.

OCTOBER 19, 2018 — From October 16-18, state and federal Natural Resource Trustees came to together for the biannual Texas Trustee Summit in Galveston, Texas, hosted by the NOAA Damage Assessment, Remediation, and Restoration Program (DARRP).

OCTOBER 19, 2018 — On October 10 and 11, OR&R staff participated in the Crowley Alaska Tankers "Shippers" Exercise in Valdez, Alaska.

OCTOBER 19, 2018 — On October 11, RDML Tim Gallaudet joined President Trump, Secretary Ross, Senator Whitehouse, and Senator Sullivan and Julie Fate Sullivan, at a signing ceremony for the “Save our Seas Act of 2018.”

OCTOBER 12, 2018 — On September 21, Nir Barnea, the NOAA Marine Debris Program’s Pacific Northwest Regional Coordinator, met with project managers for the Makah Tribe to review the Tribe’s new derelict crab pot removal project.

OCTOBER 12, 2018 — The 41st AMOP Technical Seminar on Environmental Contamination and Response was held in Victoria, B.C. on October 2 to 4.

During the first week of September, Hurricane Florence, a Category 4 hurricane still located hundreds of miles offshore, was setting its sights to make landfall along the North Carolina-South Carolina coast. While some residents waited to see where its path would lead, others decided to heed warnings issued by the governor of North Carolina to evacuate their low-lying coastal homes.

OCTOBER 5, 2018 — Rosa González, Environmental Compliance Coordinator for the Office of Response and Restoration, is in Puerto Rico to serve as the Coastal Resources Coordinator for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)’s Natural and Cultural Resources Sector Recovery Support Function team supporting Puerto Rico recovery efforts following Hurricane María in 2017.

OCTOBER 5, 2018 — Researchers at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), and University of Alaska’s Arctic Domain Awareness Center (ADAC) are developing a small Long-Range Autonomous Underwater Vehicle system (Tethys LRAUV) to detect oil spills in some of the most challenging oceanic environments on the planet, under arctic sea ice. 

SEPTEMBER 28, 2018 — The October 2018 online/open access issue of the Water Environment Research Journal includes a multi-authored review of 2017 literature on Effects of Pollution on Marine Organisms. Four NOAA scientists were among the eight co-authors.

SEPTEMBER 28, 2018 — On September 16, the NOAA Marine Debris Program’s Pacific Northwest Coordinator, Nir Barnea, joined the University of Washington’s Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team (COASST) and other volunteers in a field exercise to support a study funded by the NOAA Marine Debris Program.

SEPT. 28, 2018 — NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration continues to support the U.S. Coast Guard’s pollution task force mission assignment to remove vessels and containers that sank or were stranded by Hurricane Florence.

SEPTEMBER 28, 2018 — Basketball and coastal stewardship have a lot in common, according to Simeon Hahn, Regional Resource Coordinator (RRC) for the Mid-Atlantic Region.

SEPTEMBER 21, 2018 — On September 18, the Marine Debris Program announced its FY19 “Marine Debris Research” federal funding opportunity.

SEPTEMBER 21, 2018 — On September 12, the NOAA Marine Debris Program supported the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Aquaculture (FDACS) in hosting a shellfish aquaculture gear management workshop in Cedar Key, Florida.

SEPTEMBER 21, 2018 — It pays to arrive early to an International Coastal Cleanup event on September 15 - you get to pick up the best debris around.

SEPTEMBER 21, 2018 — Hurricane Florence has passed, but it left a coastal disaster in her wake that continues to severely impact communities, ecosystems, economies.

SEPT. 14, 2018 — As Hurricane Florence continues to impact North Carolina and South Carolina throughout Friday, NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration is beginning to deploy personnel on scene to provide NOAA scientific support to the U.S. Coast Guard.

SEPTEMBER 14, 2018 — On September 4, the NOAA Marine Debris Program and Washington State partners released the Washington Marine Debris Action Plan.

SEPTEMBER 14, 2018 — OR&R is happy to announce the signing of a multi-year Interagency Agreement between the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) and OR&R to “standardize the use of NOAA’s Environmental Response Management Application (ERMA®) as the Common Operating Picture (COP) for USCG-led training, exercises, oil spill responses and releases of hazardous substances, pollutants, and contaminants”. 

This week OR&R team member Kristen Faiferlick joined regional EPA representatives and attendees from a range of industries at a training on hazmat regulation and planning tools.

SEPTEMBER 14, 2018 — On September 8, Peter Murphy, Alaska Regional Coordinator for the Marine Debris Program, presented at the inaugural Alaska Net Hack Challenge in Anchorage, with remote participation from Kodiak.

SEPT. 7, 2018 — On Sept. 6, OR&R's Emergency Response Division supported the U.S. Coast Guard’s District 13 Federal On-Scene Coordinator workshop. Other presenters included contracting officers from Coast Guard headquarters, Washington State’s Historic Preservation Officer, and a team of salvage masters from Global Diving and Salvage.

SEPT. 7, 2018 — Historically, the upper portion of the Hudson River estuary between approximately Athens and Troy, New York, consisted of braided river channels. Intertidal and shallow water habitats within these channels supported emergent and submerged vegetation and functioned as important fish habitat.

AUG. 31, 2018 — On Aug. 16, the NOAA Marine Debris Program hosted a Maryland Regional Response Planning workshop at the Annapolis Mariner’s Museum. Thirty-three individuals representing federal, state, and local government attended and crafted a vision for Maryland’s new emergency response guide.

This is the 11th in a monthly series profiling scientists and technicians who provide exemplary contributions to the mission of NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R). This month’s featured scientist is Marine Debris Program Great Lakes Regional Coordinator Sarah Lowe.

Update: Aug. 29, 2018 — Though the Office of Response and Restoration has not yet been activated for response, parts of Hawaii were damaged by Hurricane Lane. The Big Island in particular experienced excessive amounts of rain and flooding, which may take some time to recover from. OR&R continues to stand by in the event of debris and pollution related incidents resulting from Lane. 

AUG. 24, 2018 — On August 21-23, 2018, NOAA joined the U.S. Coast Guard, State of Alaska, and representatives from the Russian Federation, in a seminar on "Understanding Maritime Pollution Threats and Response Systems in the Russian Federation - United States Trans-Boundary Area". 

AUG. 24, 2018 — On August 21, members from NOAA’s OR&R and the Office of Coastal Management participated in an emergency response and preparedness workshop hosted by the PBNERR.

AUG. 24, 2018 — On August 22, OR&R’s Emergency Response Division participated in 2018 Alaska North Slope Mutual Aid Deployment (MAD) Oil Spill Exercise.

AUG. 24, 2018 — On August 13-14, representatives from all sectors (federal, state, county, academia, private sector, and non-governmental organizations) convened in Honolulu for the fourth update workshop of the Hawai'i Marine Debris Action Plan.

AUGUST 17, 2018 — The U.S. Coast Guard’s (USCG) District 11 Response Advisory Team (D-11 DRAT) works extensively with OR&R’s Emergency Response Division providing direct operational decision support to USCG responders during oil spills.

AUGUST 17, 2018 — On August 3-6, Sherry Lippiatt and Tom Barry with the Marine Debris Program (MDP) joined California State University Channel Islands (CSUCI) at the Channel Islands National Park to remove marine debris from ecologically sensitive shorelines on Santa Rosa Island, off the coast of southern California.

AUGUST 17, 2018 — During an early morning low tide on Thursday, August 8, Mr. David Janka, Auklet Charter Services, visited Mearns Rock again this year to record images of the famous rock.

AUG. 15, 2018 — NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration is providing trajectory assistance to the U.S. Coast Guard for an estimated 200 gallons of diesel fuel that were released from a grounded vessel near Santa Cruz, California on Sunday evening.

AUGUST 10, 2018 — OR&R senior economist, Norman Meade, is a co-author on a recent article that details how the impact of the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill on lost recreational use was valued.  

AUGUST 10, 2018 — On July 31, the NOAA Marine Debris Program (MDP) participated in the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Chesapeake and Coastal Service’s inaugural “Trash Talks” event.

AUG. 3, 2018 — Throughout July, Sarah Lowe, Great Lakes regional coordinator for the Marine Debris Program worked with various partners to carry out a series of Marine Debris Literacy and Water & Wildlife Educator Workshops in coastal Ohio.

AUG. 3, 2018 — On June 27-28, OR&R representatives attended the National Response Team-Regional Response Team co-chairs meeting in Philadelphia. 

JULY 27, 2018 — Between July 9 and 12, Amy V. Uhrin, Chief Scientist for the Marine Debris Program, participated in fieldwork as part of a collaborative microplastics pilot project between the Marine Debris Program, NCCOS Great Lakes Mussel Watch, and Loyola University.

JULY 27, 2018 — On Sunday, July 15, the Marine Debris Program joined a multi-beach cleanup across Northern Massachusetts organized by Salem Sound Coastwatch.

JULY 27, 2018 — The Department of Justice (DOJ) lodged a proposed Consent Decree in federal district court on July 5, 2018, to settle claims of the Trustees (NOAA, U.S. Department of the Interior, and the State of Louisiana) for injuries to natural resources from a 2016 spill.

JULY 27, 2018 — OR&R scientists joined forces with NCCOS researchers earlier in July to discuss ongoing collaborative research.

JULY 20, 2018 — On July 11, Sarah Lowe, of the NOAA Marine Debris Program (MDP) participated in a summer institute on Teaching STEM and the Power of Place.

JULY 20, 2018 — OR&R Assessment and Restoration Division (ARD) and Emergency Response Division (ERD) staff recently participated in the biannual West Coast Joint Assessment Team (JAT) meeting.

JULY 20, 2018 — On July 17, Lisa Rosman, of OR&R's Assessment and Restoration Division, participated in an informal roundtable focusing on natural resource damage assessments.

JULY 20, 2018 — Every year, tens of thousands of people visit the 29 National Estuary Research Reserves (NERRs) to enjoy their unique environments, where fresh water meets the sea. A partnership between NOAA and the states, the NERRs are also formidable resources for research and education.

JULY 13, 2018 — Annie Gibbs (OR&R ARD) co-authored a journal article that was judged to be the best paper published in 2017 in the scientific journal Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management.

JULY 13, 2018 — Annie Gibbs, of OR&R’s Assessment and Restoration Division, participated in the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) abstract review committee for the annual North America meeting.

JULY 13, 2018 — The elaborate and masterful Fourth of July fireworks display on Lake Union in Seattle attracts tens of thousands of people every year.

JULY 13, 2018 — On June 11-15, the Marine Debris Program (MDP) participated in the Gulf of Mexico Alliance’s (Alliance) 2018 All Hands Meeting in St. Petersburg, Florida.

This is the fifth blog in a week-long series to highlight the importance of disaster preparedness. Follow us this week as we take a look at how NOAA prepares for natural and human-made disasters, and how you can prepare for the 2018 hurricane season.

JUNE 29, 2018 — OR&R’s Emergency Response Division, in collaboration with the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Sector Upper Mississippi River, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife, recently conducted a three-day Shoreline Cleanup and Assessment Technique (SCAT) training course in St. Louis, Missouri on May 15-17.

JUNE 29, 2018 — During the week of June 25, nearly 40 participants from federal, state and local government, the U.S. Coast Guard, and private industry attended the Science of Chemical Releases class held at the Disaster Response Center in Mobile, Alabama.  

JUNE 29, 2018 — On June 26, OR&R’s mid-Atlantic Regional Resource Coordinator Simeon Hahn conducted site visits for OR&R Director David Westerholm in advance of his attendance at National Response Team meeting in Philadelphia. 

This is the fourth blog in a week-long series to highlight the importance of disaster preparedness. Follow us this week as we take a look at how NOAA prepares for natural and human-made disasters, and how you can prepare for the 2018 hurricane season.

This is the second blog in a week-long series to highlight the importance of disaster preparedness. Follow us this week as we take a look at how NOAA prepares for natural and human-made disasters, and how you can prepare for the 2018 hurricane season.

JUNE 22, 2018 — National Ocean Service Assistant Administrator Russell Callender and OR&R Director Dave Westerholm met on June 20 with key partners of the Rinearson Creek Restoration project in Gladstone, Oregon.

JUNE 22, 2018 — On June 21, OR&R’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee hosted Dr. Claire Horner-Devine, founder of Counterspace Consulting, for a discussion on how institutions and individuals can promote an equitable workplace. 

JUNE 22, 2018 — At P.S. 146 in Brooklyn, all kindergarteners spend two days a month, regardless of the weather, at the shore!

JUNE 22, 2018 — On June 8 and 10, regional coordinators for NOAA’s Marine Debris Program (MDP) joined communities around the world to celebrate and honor our ocean, and raise public awareness around marine debris.

JUNE 22, 2018 — On June 6, the NOAA Marine Debris Program’s (MDP) Pacific Islands Regional Coordinator, Mark Manuel, gave a presentation within the session, “Marine Debris – From management to microplastics” at the 15th annual Asia Oceania Geosciences Society (AOGS) conference in Honolulu, Hawaii.