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.
October 21, 2016
Posted: May 26, 2020
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 2020
Posted: May 17, 2020
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.
Posted: May 17, 2020
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.
Posted: May 17, 2020
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
Posted: May 17, 2020
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).
Posted: May 17, 2020
MAY 18, 2020 — Marine Debris Program Pacific Northwest Regional Coordinator, Andrew Mason, recently participated in two educational outreach opportunities with local students and volunteers.
Posted: May 17, 2020
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.
Posted: May 17, 2020
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).
Posted: May 8, 2020
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).
Posted: May 8, 2020
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.”
Posted: May 8, 2020
MAY 11, 2020 — The Office of Response and Restoration has rolled out a weekly lecture series called, “You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know.” Every Thursday at 3:00 PM ET, an expert presents on a topic related to emergency response or environmental protection.
Posted: May 8, 2020
MAY 11, 2020 — On May 8, the Marine Debris Program published a paper in Scientific Reports in which observer data from the Hawai'i-based pelagic longline fishery was used to estimate relative abundance of marine debris accidentally caught by the longlines.
Posted: May 1, 2020
MAY 4, 2020 — To provide a glimpse into what NOAA scientists do in the Office of Response and Restoration, two OR&R scientists—marine biologist Gary Shigenaka and chemist Charlie Henry—recently led a NOAA Live! Webinar for students, The Job of a NOAA Oil Spill Response Scientist.
Posted: May 1, 2020
MAY 4, 2020 — Scientists from the Northwest Fisheries Science Center (NWFSC) Ecotoxicology Program and OR&R traveled from Seattle to Newport, Oregon, to join local scientists at the NWFSC Hatfield Marine Center to process more than 1400 juvenile Chinook salmon in a one day sampling intensive.
Posted: May 1, 2020
MAY 4, 2020 — After thoughtful and extensive deliberation, NOAA and Washington Sea Grant made the difficult decision to cancel this year's NOAA Science Camp program.
Posted: May 1, 2020
MAY 4, 2020 — On April 22-24, Sherry Lippiatt (California Regional Coordinator) and Carlie Herring (Research Coordinator) with the Marine Debris Program participated in the NOAA Citizen Science Workshop.
April 2020
Posted: April 24, 2020
APRIL 27, 2020 — The Chemical Aquatic Fate and Effects (CAFE) team is excited to announce that the CAFE database was recently released as a web-based program.
Posted: April 24, 2020
APRIL 27, 2020 — On April 21, the NOAA Marine Debris Program (MDP) welcomed Tanya Torres as a California Sea Grant Marine Debris Extension Fellow.
Posted: April 24, 2020
APRIL 27, 2020 — On April 16, the director of the Marine Debris Program (MDP), Nancy Wallace, and other MDP team members participated in a phone call with Congressional staff from the offices of Senator Kaine (VA) and Senator Murkowski (AK) to discuss derelict fishing gear removal activities.
Posted: April 24, 2020
APRIL 27, 2020 — Periodically over the years, U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) active duty members interested in learning more about spill science will shadow a Scientific Support Coordinator or other member of OR&R’s Emergency Response Division under the USCG Marine Environmental Response Industry Training Program.
Posted: April 24, 2020
APRIL 27, 2020 — On April 16, the NOAA Marine Debris Program (MDP), in collaboration with Sea Grant, awarded $350,000 to eight Sea Grant programs for projects that will research, prevent and remove marine debris in U.S. waters.
Posted: April 24, 2020
APRIL 27, 2020 — The draft Damage Assessment and Restoration Plan for the Refugio Beach Oil Spill NRDA was released for public comment on Wednesday April 22, 2020.
Posted: April 20, 2020
APRIL 20, 2020 — OR&R presented The Ups and Downs of UxS Technology in Emergency Response and Damage Assessment in the Marine Environment: NOAA OR&R Case Studies and Standards Development, to the EPA Emergency Management Information Technology spring meeting on UxS (Unmanned Aerial Systems) deployment.
Posted: April 20, 2020
APRIL 20, 2020 — LTJG Hayley Betker recently came on board at OR&R’s Emergency Response Division (ERD) as the new Regional Response Officer (RRO) for the West Coast.
Posted: April 20, 2020
APRIL 20, 2020 — On April 9, the Marine Debris Program’s Gulf of Mexico Regional Coordinator, Caitlin Wessel, gave a virtual guest lecture for the University of South Alabama.
Posted: April 20, 2020
APRIL 20, 2020 — April 15, 2020 - OR&R is pleased to announce the release of the Final Workshop Report from the “Leveraging Science and Academic Engagement during Incidents” workshop held in Tiburon, California, in June 2019.
Posted: April 20, 2020
APRIL 20, 2020 — On April 10, Dr. Amy V. Uhrin, Chief Scientist for the NOAA Marine Debris Program, celebrated her 20th anniversary of working for NOAA.
Posted: April 13, 2020
APRIL 13, 2020 — Collin Buckner is a Disaster Planning Associate with the DPP. Located in Mobile, Alabama at the Disaster Response Center (DRC), Collin is responsible for coordination efforts throughout the Northeast as well as the Gulf of Mexico.
Posted: April 13, 2020
APRIL 13, 2020 — Last week the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) announced the Bin Program 2020 Request for Proposals from the Fishing for Energy partnership.
Posted: April 13, 2020
APRIL 13, 2020 — On April 9, 2020, LCDR Michael Doig presented at the 28th Annual Joint Safety and Environmental Professional Development Symposium (PDS).
Posted: April 3, 2020
APRIL 6, 2020 — On March 13, the National Ocean Service (NOS) was awarded a Department of Commerce (DOC) Green Grant.
Posted: April 3, 2020
APRIL 6, 2020 — On April 2, the Marine Debris Program released the 2020 Florida Marine Debris Reduction Plan.
Posted: April 3, 2020
APRIL 6, 2020 — As NOAA's internal response to COVID-19 continues, the agency is adapting quickly implementing new protocols and policies.
Posted: April 3, 2020
APRIL 6, 2020 — Autumn Lotze, Natural Resource and Community Recovery Specialist, and Genwest contractor, recently participated in the Pacific Risk Management ‘Ohana Conference (PRiMO) on behalf of the Disaster Preparedness Program (DPP).
Posted: April 3, 2020
APRIL 6, 2020 — OR&R’s Emergency Response Division has completed a guidance document to help oil spill responders and planners better manage sunken (or submerged) oil mats, known as SOMs. SOMs can form near the shoreline under a range of circumstances and present unique and difficult challenges in oil spill response.
Posted: April 3, 2020
APRIL 6, 2020 — On Wednesday, March 25, the NOAA Marine Debris Program shared a blog outlining educational content about marine debris available online.
March 2020
Posted: March 27, 2020
MARCH 30, 2020 — On March 17, NOAA’s Marine Debris Program participated in the virtual 2020 Virginia Marine Debris Leadership Team Meeting to update Virginia's Marine Debris Reduction Plan hosted by Virginia’s Coastal Zone Management Program and Longwood University.
Posted: March 27, 2020
MARCH 30, 2020 — As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, NOAA's Emergency Response Division (ERD) staff are working remotely, though our staff continues to take calls and to provide our core service of scientific support during spills and other emergencies.
Posted: March 27, 2020
MARCH 30, 2020 — NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration and the Restoration Center are pleased to announce a new publication in the journal Shore & Beach that highlights our work and leadership on long-term data management in the Gulf of Mexico.
Posted: March 27, 2020
MARCH 30, 2020 — The NOS Disaster Preparedness Program continues to provide Incident Coordination for the NOS Incident Management Team (IMT).
Posted: March 20, 2020
On February 20, 2020, Charles Grisafi, Southeast Regional Preparedness Coordinator, and Genwest contractor, represented the NOAA Disaster Preparedness Program (DPP) at the 2020 South Carolina Disaster Intelligence Workshop hosted by the South Carolina Emergency Management Division (SCEMD), in Columbia, South Carolina.
Posted: March 20, 2020
MARCH 20, 2020 — Following a competitive review process, the NOAA Marine Debris Program and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation are pleased to announce the six recipients of the 2019 Hurricane Response Marine Debris Removal Fund.
Posted: March 20, 2020
MARCH 20, 2020 — I hope you are well during this trying time. The Office of Response and Restoration is following public health and agency guidance in the performance of our work and in our response to COVID-19. We remain open for business, delivering our mission of protecting and restoring ocean and coastal resources from the impacts of oil, chemicals, marine debris, and other hazards.
Posted: March 20, 2020
MARCH 20, 2020 — On March 12, Demi Fox, Northeast Regional Coordinator for the Marine Debris Program, met with Congressional staff from the district offices of Senator Collins (ME) and Senator Shaheen (NH).
Posted: March 13, 2020
MARCH 16, 2020 – [Updated March 30] On March 13, the Department of Justice announced filing for public comment of a consent decree proposing a $22.3 million settlement to restore natural resources injured by the Refugio Beach oil spill near Santa Barbara, California in 2015.
Posted: March 13, 2020
MARCH 16, 2020 — OR&R, with funding support from the NOAA North Atlantic Regional Team, partnered with the Chesapeake Bay Science and Technical Advisory Committee and several regional experts and partners to organize a technical workshop on freshwater mussel ecosystem services and restoration activities.
Posted: March 13, 2020
MARCH 16, 2020 — In early 2020, the Marine Debris Program (MDP) was pleased to welcome several new people to the team.
Posted: March 6, 2020
MARCH 9, 2020 — On March 1, the Director of the NOAA Marine Debris Program, Nancy Wallace, spoke to the Gulf States Counties and Parishes Caucus at their annual meeting during the National Association of Counties Conference.
Posted: March 6, 2020
MARCH 9, 2020 — On Thursday, February 27th, the NOAA Marine Debris Program participated in the 4th Annual Ohio Clean Marina Conference in Port Clinton, Ohio.
Posted: March 6, 2020
MARCH 9, 2020 — The NOAA National Ocean Service (NOS) Equal Employment Opportunity, Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Council (NEDAC) met for its annual retreat on February 24-25 in Silver Spring to develop an action plan for FY 20-22, in order to increase diversity and inclusion within NOS.
Posted: March 6, 2020
MARCH 9, 2020 — On February 26-27, the NOAA Disaster Preparedness Program (DPP) co-hosted a 2-day Emergency Support Function (ESF) Resource Advisor Training course for the state of Florida, at the Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve.
Posted: March 6, 2020
MARCH 9, 2020 — On February 24, Caitlin Wessel, Gulf of Mexico Regional Coordinator for the Marine Debris Program, met with Congressional staff from the district offices of Senator Hyde-Smith and Senator Wicker.
Posted: March 6, 2020
MARCH 9, 2020 — This week NOAA experts from Damage Assessment Remediation and Restoration Program (DARRP) and the General Council for Natural Resources gathered at NOAA's office in St. Petersburg, Florida, for a workshop to improve their negotiating skills to help ensure that the best outcomes can be achieved on behalf of the public.
February 2020
Posted: February 28, 2020
MARCH 2, 2020 — Finding and characterizing submerged oil is expensive and a major technical challenge during spill responses and injury assessments, especially when the oil footprint is large and in the open ocean.
Posted: February 28, 2020
MARCH 2, 2020 — [Updated March 26] On February 5-6, at NOAA’s Western Regional Center in Seattle the Disaster Preparedness Program facilitated a devolution site coordination meeting.
Posted: February 28, 2020
MARCH 2, 2020 — The Disaster Preparedness Program (DPP) hosted a workshop at the Disaster Response Center on February 19-20 to identify preparedness needs and scope workshop and training ideas at the national and regional levels.
Posted: February 28, 2020
MARCH 2, 2020 — The NOAA/OR&R Scientific Support Coordinator in the Northeast, Steve Lehmann, organized and taught a one-day short course to approximately 100 responders and planners on Feb. 25 in New Hampshire.
Posted: February 21, 2020
FEBRUARY 24, 2020 — On February 4-6, 2020, members of NOAA’s Disaster Preparedness Program (DPP) and Emergency Response Division (ERD) attended the Regional Response Team IV Winter Meeting in Franklin, Tennessee.
Posted: February 21, 2020
FEBRUARY 24, 2020 — Did you know that on average, garments are worn only 7 times before being disposed? Or that only 1% of textiles are recycled (garment to garment)?
Posted: February 21, 2020
FEBRUARY 24, 2020 — During the week of February 10, NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R) held the first Science of Oil Spill (SOS) class of 2020, training 38 students from five federal agencies, one state agency and two industrial companies at the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS) Eco-Discovery Center in Key West, Florida.
Posted: February 21, 2020
FEBRUARY 24, 2020 — On January 30-31, Marine Debris Program representatives Andrew Mason (Pacific Northwest Regional Coordinator) and Shanelle Naone (Pacific Islands Regional Communications and Outreach Coordinator) attended a workshop comprised of partners from across Oregon.
Posted: February 21, 2020
FEBRUARY 24, 2020 — NOAA and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have released a final Natural Resource Damage Assessment Plan for the Diamond Alkali Superfund Site.
Posted: February 21, 2020
FEBRUARY 24, 2020 — On February 10, NOAA’s Marine Debris Program participated in the 2020 Stormwater and Litter Workshop hosted at Randolph–Macon College in Ashland, Virginia.
Posted: February 14, 2020
FEBRUARY 17, 2020 — The Alaska Forum on the Environment (AFE) was held this week in Anchorage, Alaska, offering six keynote events, over 100 presentations, panel discussions, special events and workshops.
Posted: February 14, 2020
FEBRUARY 17, 2020 — On Saturday, February 8, the NOAA Marine Debris Program participated in Whale Day 2020 at Kalama Park in Kihei, Maui.
Posted: February 14, 2020
FEBRUARY 17, 2020 — NOAA's Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R), a leader in providing scientific information in response to marine pollution, has scheduled a Science of Oil Spills (SOS) class for the week of June 22, in Seattle, Washington.
Posted: February 14, 2020
FEBRUARY 17, 2020 — There’s no better place to learn about environmental resilience than the South Wilmington Wetlands project in urban Wilmington, Delaware.
Posted: February 14, 2020
FEBRUARY 17, 2020 — In a few months, over 1,500 professionals from the international spill response community will gather at the International Oil Spill Conference and Exhibition (IOSC 2020) in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Posted: February 10, 2020
FEBRUARY 10, 2020 — On Jan. 23, the OR&R Diversity and Inclusion Committee hosted an event discussing the First Amendment, free speech, and hate speech.
Posted: February 10, 2020
FEBRUARY 10, 2020 — On February 5, Ian Zelo, joined Dann Karlson from NOAA’s Office of International Affairs and Jessica Levine from the NOAA Center for Weather and Climate Prediction to discuss preparedness and response with a group of international partners participating in the State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP).
Posted: February 10, 2020
FEBRUARY 10, 2019 — The Office of Response and Restoration once again had strong participation in this year’s Gulf of Mexico Oil Spills and Ecosystem Science Conference (GOMOSES).
Posted: February 10, 2020
FEBRUARY 10, 2020 — On Jan. 28-29 in Jacksonville, Florida, Genwest contractors Charles Grisafi, Southeast Regional Preparedness Coordinator, and Autumn Lotze, Natural Resource and Community Recovery Specialist, represented OR&R’s Disaster Preparedness Program (DPP) in the Southeast and Caribbean Disaster Recovery Partnership (SCDRP) 2020 Winter Meeting.
Posted: February 10, 2020
FEBRUARY 10, 2020 — On Jan. 30, Communication and Education Specialist, Jennifer Simms, presented to the entire fifth grade of Spring Hill Elementary.
Posted: February 3, 2020
FEBRUARY 3, 2020 — Three scientists from OR&R’s Emergency Response Division joined their colleagues from the NOS and other state and federal agencies attending the Alaska Marine Science Symposium in Anchorage the week of Jan. 27.
Posted: February 3, 2020
FEBRUARY 3, 2020 — While in Anchorage, Alaska to attend the Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Oceanographer Dylan Righi took the opportunity to visit the National Weather Service Alaska Sea Ice Program.
Posted: February 3, 2020
FEBRUARY 3, 2020 — On January 27-28, the Marine Debris Program’s Chief Scientist, Amy V. Uhrin, participated in the National Academies of Science workshop, Emerging Technologies to Advance Research and Decisions on the Environmental Health Effects of Microplastics held in Washington, D.C.
Posted: February 3, 2020
FEBRUARY 3, 2020 — Great Lakes Scientific Support Coordinator LCDR Michael Doig, was in Traverse City, Michigan, from Jan. 27-31 for the Northern Michigan Area Committee meeting and the annual No-Spills Conference.
Posted: February 3, 2020
FEBRUARY 3, 2020 — On Jan. 23, the Marine Debris Program’s (MDP) Mid-Atlantic Regional Coordinator, Christy Kehoe, and Education and Communication Specialist, Jennifer Simms, presented at the “Wave of Plastic” Workshop located in Solomons Island, Maryland.
Posted: February 3, 2020
FEBRUARY 3, 2020 — On Jan. 29, the Marine Debris Program’s Chief Scientist, Amy V. Uhrin, and Research Analyst, Carlie Herring, participated in the United States Government Informal Nanoplastics Interest Group workshop held in Washington, D.C.
January 2020
Posted: January 24, 2020
JANUARY 27, 2020 — On January 13, Nancy Wallace, Director of the Marine Debris Program (MDP), met with staff from the offices of Senator Dan Sullivan (AK), Rep. Don Young (AK-AL), and Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01).
Posted: January 24, 2020
JANUARY 27, 2020 — On the evening of January 22, 2020, retired OR&R biologist Alan Mearns joined members of the Snohomish County Marine Resources Committee (MRC) in recovering mussel cages at three intertidal sites in Edmonds.
Posted: January 24, 2020
JANUARY 27, 2020 — On January 18, the Marine Debris Program California Regional Coordinator, Sherry Lippiatt, joined the San Francisco chapter of the Surfrider Foundation for a cigarette butt canister installation event in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco.
Posted: January 24, 2020
JANUARY 27, 2020 — On January 22, the Marine Debris Program released the 2020-2025 Great Lakes Marine Debris Action Plan.
Posted: January 24, 2020
JANUARY 27, 2020 — On January 24, OR&R Director Scott Lundgren participated in an information sharing meeting in Herndon, Virginia, with leadership of two associations that represent the private sector spill response capability that clean up oil spills in the U.S.
Posted: January 24, 2020
JANUARY 27, 2020 — Last week a small team of scientists travelled to St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands to evaluate the effectiveness of repair and stabilization actions conducted in seagrass beds damaged by Hurricane Maria response activities.
Posted: January 24, 2020
JANUARY 27, 2020 — The week of January 13, OR&R’s Emergency Response Division (ERD) hosted the Response Oil Assay Workshop: a two-day meeting held in Seattle to help identify the ideal set of physical and chemical properties of oil to include in a new public database under active development by ERD to support the oil spill response community.
Posted: January 21, 2020
Posted: January 17, 2020
JANUARY 17, 2020 — Last week NOAA OR&R scientists were invited by scientists from Watermapping LLC, to participate in field experiments to help determine the potential for using remote sensing to characterize marsh vegetation health following an oil spill event.
Posted: January 17, 2020
JANUARY 17, 2020 — This week in Silver Spring, Maryland OR&R’s Disaster Preparedness Program (DPP) held a 3-day NOAA-specific Incident Command System 300 (ICS 300) Level Training.
Posted: January 17, 2020
JANUARY 17, 2020 — On January 9, 2020 the Disaster Preparedness Program (DPP) announced the recipients of the first annual Preparedness Lagniappe Awards.
Posted: January 11, 2020
JANUARY 13, 2020 — On January 8, a group of about 30 students from Billings Middle School in Seattle, Washington, visited the NOAA Sand Point campus to learn about impacts of climate change on the oceans, including the impact of oil spills due to increased transportation and oil exploration.
Posted: January 11, 2020
JANUARY 13, 2020 — On December 12-13, the Marine Debris Division's Chief Scientist, Amy V. Uhrin, participated in the French-American Workshop, Responding to Plastic Pollution through Science: From Research to Action held in Le Mans, France.
Posted: January 11, 2020
JANUARY 13, 2020 — OR&R led a team of NOAA and Department of Interior scientists in publishing an improved method for determining how much, and what type of environmental restoration will compensate for ecological injuries that result from releases of hazardous substances or oil spills.
Posted: January 8, 2020
The Environmental Response Management Application (ERMA®) is NOAA’s online mapping tool that integrates both static and real-time data, enabling users to quickly and securely access, analyze, and display spatial data.
December 2019
Posted: December 20, 2019
DECEMBER 23, 2019 — On December 11, the CAMEO® software team released updates of two products: Tier2 Submit™ and CAMEOfm.
Posted: December 20, 2019
DECEMBER 23, 2019 — Demonstrating NOAA’s commitment toward enhanced Arctic safety preparedness, select Office of Response & Restoration (OR&R) members participated in four days of intense Arctic Survival Training at the Seattle NOAA Western Regional Center Dec 10-13, 2019.
Posted: December 20, 2019
DECEMBER 23, 2019 — On November 13, Sarah Latshaw, Southeast Regional Coordinator for NOAA’s Marine Debris Program, visited a College of Charleston Introduction to Geographical Information Systems (GIS) class to talk about the issue and share marine debris data.
Posted: December 20, 2019
DECEMBER 23, 2019 — Many of us are fortunate to have friends and family to spend the holiday season with; however, we know that many in our community face a different reality.
Posted: December 13, 2019
DECEMBER 16, 2019 — The week of December 2, experts from the Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R) were recognized at the National Ocean Service 2019 All Hands and Employee Recognition Ceremony at NOAA headquarters in Silver Spring.
Posted: December 13, 2019
DECEMBER 16, 2019 — On December 11, a Consent Decree was announced 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 Michigan.
Posted: December 13, 2019
DECEMBER 16, 2019 — NOAA's North Atlantic Regional Collaboration Team convened a roundtable discussion on December 9 in New York City with nine partners alongside of six NOAA staff with district staff from Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer's offices on NOAA's work to restore natural resources and its connections to resilience.
Posted: December 13, 2019
DECEMBER 16, 2019 — On December 4, the Weeks Bay Foundation, in partnership with the Weeks Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve and NOAA’s Marine Debris Program wrapped up a two year derelict vessel removal project by hanging 25 “Derelict is Dangerous” signs at each of the state- or county-owned boat launches in Baldwin County, Alabama.
Posted: December 13, 2019
DECEMBER 16, 2019 — On December 3-4, 2019, the Disaster Preparedness Program (DPP) joined forces with the Office for National Marine Sanctuaries and other NOAA offices to hold a functional exercise called “Shaken Sanctuaries.”
Posted: December 13, 2019
DECEMBER 16, 2019 — On December 3, NOAA’s Marine Debris Program hosted a Delaware Regional Response Planning workshop at the St. Jones National Estuarine Research Reserve in Dover, Delaware.
Posted: December 13, 2019
DECEMBER 16, 2019 — Convened by the Multi-Party Research Initiative, a 5 year, $45.5 million effort under Fisheries and Oceans Canada, a two-day workshop was held on December 11 and 12 which brought together research and policy individuals from Canada and the U.S.
Posted: December 13, 2019
DECEMBER 16, 2019 — On December 11, the Marine Debris Program released the Great Lakes Land-based Marine Debris Action Plan Accomplishments Report 2014-2019.
Posted: December 13, 2019
DECEMBER 16, 2019 — On December 3-5, the Marine Debris Program’s Northeast Regional Coordinator, Demi Fox, attended the International Whaling Commission (IWC) Third Marine Debris Workshop.
Posted: December 12, 2019
Posted: December 10, 2019
The Environmental Response Management Application (ERMA®) is NOAA’s online mapping tool that integrates both static and real-time data, enabling users to quickly and securely access, analyze, and display spatial data.
Posted: December 9, 2019
DECEMBER 9, 2019 — On November 21, the Marine Debris Program’s Northeast Regional Coordinator, Demi Fox, served on a panel at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Water Summit.
Posted: December 9, 2019
DECEMBER 9, 2019 — On November 20, OR&R scientists, Steve Lehmann and Dr. Ken Finkelstein participated in a panel discussion titled “The Role of Academia in Emergency Response” at the University of Massachusetts at Boston.
Posted: December 9, 2019
DECEMBER 9, 2019 — On November 21, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Marine Debris Program (MDP), announced a request for proposals under the Hurricane Response Marine Debris Removal Fund.
Posted: December 9, 2019
DECEMBER 9, 2019 — On November 18-20, Nancy Wallace, Marine Debris Division Chief, attended the Ocean Conservancy’s Trash Free Seas Alliance annual meeting in San Diego, California.
Posted: December 9, 2019
DECEMBER 9, 2019 — Members of the Disaster Preparedness Program (DPP) participated in the 67th International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM) Annual Conference held in November at the Savannah Convention Center in Savannah, Georgia.
Posted: December 9, 2019
DECEMBER 9, 2019 — On November 21, the National Ocean Service Zero Waste (ZW) Team released a Guide to Hosting a ZW Holiday Party. Following the simple steps in the guide, we can celebrate the season while also protecting our planet.
Posted: December 9, 2019
DECEMBER 9, 2019 — On November 26, the Marine Debris Program (MDP) released the Gulf of Maine Marine Debris Action Plan.
Posted: December 9, 2019
DECEMBER 9, 2019 — On November 18 and 19, the Marine Debris Program’s Northeast Regional Coordinator, Demi Fox, participated in Clean Foundation’s Clean Ocean Summit 2019 in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Posted: December 9, 2019
DECEMBER 9, 2019 — OR&R staff met with NOAA Veterinary Medical Officer Dr. Brian Stacy of the Office of Protected Resources in St. Petersburg, Florida, on November 21 to discuss research needs for strengthening injury assessments of sea turtles after oil spills.
November 2019
Posted: November 26, 2019
NOV. 26, 2019 — In anticipation of its very busy training schedule in fiscal year 2020, OR&R has announced training classes on various spill-response topics in a number of locations. We encourage spill responders and planners to apply!
Posted: November 25, 2019
NOV. 25, 2019 — On Nov. 19, Sherry Lippiatt, California regional coordinator for the Office of Response and Restoration Marine Debris Program, presented as part of the Amazon Lab126 seminar series.
Posted: November 25, 2019
NOV. 25, 2019 — On Nov. 16, Mark Manuel, Pacific Island regional coordinator for the Office of Response and Restoration Marine Debris Program, participated in the Friends of Waikiki Aquarium Fall Fest Event.
Posted: November 25, 2019
NOV. 25, 2019 — The National Ocean Service (NOS) awarded Mary Baker and Marla Steinhoff, Office of Response and Restoration, the biannual 2019 NOS Safety Pro Award for authoring comprehensive safety plans for essential field work on the Duwamish and Willamette rivers.
Posted: November 25, 2019
NOV. 25, 2019 — Each year, the Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R) supports the training of over 2,000 responders. The OR&R external training team and instructors are gearing up for a busy 2020.
Posted: November 25, 2019
NOV. 25, 2019 — On Nov. 1, 2019, a delegation of 12 senior leaders from the Port of Seattle visited the NOAA Western Regional Center in Seattle to learn more about NOAA and areas of common interest in the Puget Sound.
Posted: November 25, 2019
NOV. 25, 2019 — From Nov. 13-14, Peter Murphy with the Office of Response and Restoration Marine Debris Program (MDP) attended the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program (AMAP) workshop on establishing marine litter monitoring guidelines for the Arctic, held in Copenhagen.
Posted: November 24, 2019
NOV. 25, 2019 — On Nov. 13, 2019, John Tarpley, regional operations branch chief in the Emergency Response Division, received the prestigious Legacy Award at the Pacific States-British Columbia Oil Spill Task Force annual meeting in Bellingham, Washington.
Posted: November 15, 2019
NOVEMBER 18, 2019 — On November 5, Caitlin Wessel, Gulf of Mexico Regional Coordinator for the NOAA Marine Debris Program, co-chaired a session at Coastal Estuarine Research Foundation’s (CERF) biennial conference.
Posted: November 15, 2019
NOVEMBER 18, 2019 — On November 6-7, 2019, members of the OR&R Disaster Preparedness Program (DPP) and the OR&R Emergency Response Division attended the Regional Response Team 6 fall meeting in Addison, Texas.
Posted: November 15, 2019
NOVEMBER 18, 2019 — OR&R Scientists George Graettinger and Lisa DiPinto recently published a paper titled “Classification of oil spill by thicknesses using multiple remote sensors” in the journal Remote Sensing of the Environment.
Posted: November 15, 2019
NOVEMBER 18, 2019 — On Wednesday, November 6, the Gulf of Mexico Disaster Response Center (DRC0 in Mobile, Alabama hosted not one, but two distinguished guests - RDML Timothy Gallaudet, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, and CAPT van Westendorp, of the Office of Coast Survey, Navigation Services Division.
Posted: November 8, 2019
NOVEMBER 12, 2019 — On October 29, Caitlin Wessel, the NOAA Marine Debris Program’s Gulf of Mexico Regional Coordinator, delivered a keynote address to almost 200 people at the Texas Plastic Pollution Symposium.
Posted: November 8, 2019
NOVEMBER 12, 2019 — During the week of October 28-31, ten scientists from NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration attended the Clean Gulf conference in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Posted: November 8, 2019
NOVEMBER 12, 2019 —The annual meeting of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) emphasized “the need for environmental scientists and managers from all sectors (e.g., academia, business, government, non-profit, non-governmental and intergovernmental organizations) to work together at a global scale to address shared environmental challenges.”
Posted: November 8, 2019
NOVEMBER 12, 2019 — For NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R), Fiscal Year 2019 was a year filled with new challenges and new achievements.
Posted: November 8, 2019
NOVEMBER 12, 2019 — On November 5, Nancy Wallace, Director of the NOAA Marine Debris Program, spoke on a discussion panel at La Maison Française, the French Embassy in Washington, D.C.
Posted: November 8, 2019
NOVEMBER 12, 2019 — On November 4, Christy Kehoe, Mid-Atlantic Regional Coordinator for the Marine Debris Program (MDP), spoke at an event with Senator Carper (D-DE) to celebrate the University of Delaware’s receipt of a MDP research grant.
Posted: November 8, 2019
NOVEMBER 12, 2019 — In advance of the Clean Gulf Scientific Conference, the NOAA Satellite and Information Service (NESDIS) and OR&R collaborated to provide training on their products and services regarding marine oil pollution.
Posted: November 8, 2019
On October 30-31, NOAA Marine Debris Program staff attended the Policy and Action on Plastic in the Arctic Ocean Workshop, co-hosted by The Harvard Kennedy School, The Wilson Center Polar Institute & the Icelandic Chairmanship of the Arctic Council.
Posted: November 8, 2019
NOVEMBER 12, 2019 — NOAA’s Recovery Support Team -- Donna Johnson, Acting Recovery Support Function Lead (Northeast Fisheries Science Center/ National Marine Fisheries Service, on rotational assignment to NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management) and Autumn Lotze, Natural Resource and Community Recovery Specialist (OR&R Disaster Preparedness Program) -- recently met with stakeholders and key decision makers in Puerto Rico and the U.S.
Posted: November 1, 2019
NOVEMBER 4, 2019 — On October 17-18, the Marine Debris Program (MDP) participated and presented at the Lighthouse Lofoten conference in Svolvaer, Norway.
Posted: November 1, 2019
NOVEMBER 4, 2019 — In early October, members of the CAMEO® software team attended two conferences in Houston, Texas, to get feedback from emergency planners and responders on our CAMEO software and to stay up to date on issues surrounding hazardous material response.
Posted: November 1, 2019
NOVEMBER 4, 2019 — SOLVE Oregon, in partnership with Oregon State Parks, launched a state-wise adopt-a-beach program.
Posted: November 1, 2019
NOVEMBER 4, 2019 — Staff members from OR&R and the Office of Coast Survey recently enjoyed a visit from Russell Callender, former Assistant Administrator of NOAA’s National Ocean Service. In 2018, Dr. Callender was named as the new Director of Washington Sea Grant at the University of Washington in Seattle.
Posted: November 1, 2019
NOVEMBER 4, 2019 — NOAA Marine Debris Program’s (MDP) Pacific Island Region team members participated in the University of Hawai’i’s School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology’s (SOEST) 2019 Open House Program on October 25-26.
Posted: November 1, 2019
NOV. 4, 2019 — NOAA recently announced that Scott Lundgren will be taking the helm on Nov. 12 as director of NOAA's Office of Response and Restoration — NOAA’s office dedicated to preparedness, response, and restoration efforts to protect coastal resources from threats of oil, chemicals, marine debris, and natural disasters.
Posted: November 1, 2019
NOVEMBER 4, 2019 — On October 12, the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project (SCCWRP) celebrated its 50th Anniversary.
Posted: November 1, 2019
NOVEMBER 4, 2019 — On October 16-27, the Marine Debris Program (MDP) was represented at the 2019 Annual Meeting of the North Pacific Marine Science Organization which took place in Victoria, BC Canada.
Posted: November 1, 2019
NOVEMBER 4, 2019 — On October 24, the Disaster Preparedness Program (DPP) met with staff from the office of Senator Shaheen (NH) along with and through an invitation from the University of New Hampshire Coastal Response Research Center (CRRC).
October 2019
Posted: October 25, 2019
OCTOBER 28, 2019 — The deep-pelagic is both the largest and least-understood habitat in the Gulf of Mexico. Dan Hahn, of OR&R’s Assessment and Restoration Division is on a diverse team of federal and academic scientists working to better understand the abundance and diversity of life in these dark waters.
Posted: October 25, 2019
OCTOBER 28, 2019 — On October 8 and 9, members of NOAA Marine Debris Program collaborated with the Gulf of Mexico Alliance (GOMA) and the Environmental Protection Agency to engage more than 60 partners at the GOMA Team Initiative meeting in Texas that aimed to tackle marine debris.
Posted: October 25, 2019
OCTOBER 28, 2019 — The 2018 literature review on the Effects of Pollution on Marine Organisms, authored by three OR&R scientists and partners, has been published in the October 2019 issue of Water Environment Research.
Posted: October 25, 2019
OCTOBER 28, 2019 — What can $28 million do to restore polluted waters across America? In the 2019 fiscal year, NOAA worked with our co-trustees to reach settlements to restore natural resources injured by pollution.
Posted: October 25, 2019
OCTOBER 28, 2019 — OR&R’s Emergency Response Division assisted California’s Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR) to provide oil spill science training to up-and-coming California spill responders this past week.
Posted: October 25, 2019
OCTOBER 28, 2019 —OR&R joined the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and public school teachers and students in Brooklyn, New York, on October 22 for the annual Day in the Life of the Hudson and Harbor event.
Posted: October 25, 2019
OCTOBER 28, 2019 — During the week of October 14, NOAA Marine Debris Program Research Coordinator, Carlie Herring, and NOAA Marine Debris Program Northeast Regional Coordinator, Demi Fox, participated in a research road trip through New England.
Posted: October 25, 2019
OCTOBER 28, 2019 — On October 10, NOAA Marine Debris Program California Regional Coordinator, Sherry Lippiatt, spoke at Moss Landing Marine Labs in Moss Landing, California, as part of their Seminar Series.
Posted: October 18, 2019
OCTOBER 21, 2019 — A diverse array of stakeholders gathered to share information regarding scientific, economic and legal issues to advance the Natural Resource Damage Assessment practice.
Posted: October 18, 2019
OCTOBER 21, 2019 — In early October, NOAA Marine Debris Program Division Chief, Nancy Wallace, attended the XPRIZE Visoneering event in Los Angeles. Attendees help XPRIZE refine and iterate how they tackle global challenges, learn from one another about breakthrough efforts being conducted across the world, and hear and experience new exponential technologies that are reshaping society.
Posted: October 18, 2019
OCTOBER 21, 2019 — On October 10, NOAA Marine Debris Program Chief Scientist, Amy Uhrin, and NOAA Marine Debris Program Research Coordinator, Carlie Herring, led an intra-Program training on marine debris shoreline monitoring methods at Sandy Point State Park in Annapolis, Maryland.
Posted: October 18, 2019
OCTOBER 21, 2019 — The groundbreaking of a new urban wetland in Wilmington, Delaware was held on October 18, at a gathering that included Delaware Governor John Carney, Senator Chris Coons, Mayor Mike Purzycki and other community leaders.
Posted: October 18, 2019
OCTOBER 21, 2019 — OR&R’s Emergency Response Division Chief, Scott Lundgren, participated in the biennial Spills Advisory Group on October 9, hosted by the American Petroleum Institute and bringing together representatives of state and federal government, non-government organizations, academia, petroleum industry, and cleanup organizations for information sharing on spill preparedness and response.
Posted: October 18, 2019
OCTOBER 21, 2019 — Virginia’s barrier islands are remote, ecologically valuable, and highly sensitive to oil spills. Given its critical importance, the United Nations designated the Virginia barrier islands as a Biosphere Reserve.
Posted: October 11, 2019
OCTOBER 10, 2019 — A vessel that capsized early last month remains on its side in St. Simons Sound and continues to pose a pollution threat as responders work to remove the oil onboard.
Posted: October 11, 2019
OCTOBER 14, 2019 — From October 2-4, 2019, OR&R Emergency Response Chief Scott Lundgren and OR&R Senior Scientist Lisa DiPinto participated in the International Technical Advisory Committee meeting held at the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton, United Kingdom.
Posted: October 11, 2019
OCTOBER 14, 2019 — On October 1, 2019, OR&R Emergency Response Chief Scott Lundgren and OR&R Senior Scientist Lisa DiPinto met with representatives of ITOPF (formerly the International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation) at its headquarters in London.
Posted: October 11, 2019
OCTOBER 14, 2019 — On October 7, Yaritza Rivera, NOAA Marine Debris Program’s Hurricane Response Coordinator, joined the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and National Fish & Wildlife Service Foundation (NFWF) at the South Atlantic Coastal Study (SACs) & Coastal Resilience Assessments workshop in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Posted: October 4, 2019
OCTOBER 7, 2019 — On September 25-26, OR&R’s LT Michael Doig participated in a multi-day CANUSLAK cross-border oil spill training exercise in Port Huron, Michigan and Corunna, Ontario.
Posted: October 4, 2019
OCTOBER 7, 2019 — On September 25, Caitlin Wessel, NOAA Marine Debris Program’s Gulf of Mexico Regional Coordinator, joined the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) in an event to announce the 2019 Fishing for Energy awardees and celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the Fishing for Energy program.
Posted: October 4, 2019
OCTOBER 7, 2019 — On October 1-2, the NOAA Marine Debris Program Pacific Regional Coordinator, Nir Barnea, participated in the Microplastic Monitoring Workshop, conducted at the Seattle Aquarium.
Posted: October 4, 2019
OCTOBER 7, 2019 — Gary Shigenaka, an OR&R biologist, was invited to present to the College of the Coast and Environment (CC&E) at Louisiana State University on the history of oil and oil spills.
Posted: October 4, 2019
OCTOBER 7, 2019 — On September 30, NOAA Marine Debris Program’s (MDP) Northeast regional coordinator, Demi Fox, along with Kara Lavender Law, research professor of oceanography at Sea Education Association, and Stewart Harris, director of marine and environmental stewardship for the Plastics Division at American Chemistry Council, joined a panel at the University of Rhode Island’s first ever Plastics: Land to Sea Summit.
September 2019
Posted: September 27, 2019
SEPTEMBER 28, 2019 — On September 21, the Marine Debris Program and other NOAA partners participated in the Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup events throughout the United States, including the Pacific Islands and Hawaii, the Pacific Northwest, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and other areas.
Posted: September 27, 2019
SEPTEMBER 28, 2019 — On September 19, the Marine Debris Program released its first biennial update to the 2017-2023 Oregon Marine Debris Action Plan.
Posted: September 27, 2019
SEPTEMBER 28, 2019 — OR&R’s Emergency Response Division attended an equipment deployment exercise by Oiled Wildlife Care Network (OWCN) this past week as they practiced the transport, set up, and inventory of mobile wildlife care facilities for moderate/large oil spills.
Posted: September 27, 2019
SEPTEMBER 28, 2019 — On September 26, the NOAA Marine Debris Program released a study by Abt Associates, Inc., evaluating the effects of marine debris on beach recreation and regional economies in four coastal communities.
Posted: September 20, 2019
SEPTEMBER 23, 2019 — OR&R’s Assessment and Restoration Division’s Spatial Data Branch and Emergency Response Division provided Environmental Response Management Application (ERMA) training to Hawaii responders on September 11.
Posted: September 20, 2019
SEPTEMBER 23, 2019 — Based in Honolulu, Hawai’i, and born and raised on the island of O‘ahu, Shanelle grew up surrounded by the ocean and rich history the islands offer.
Posted: September 20, 2019
SEPTEMBER 23, 2019 — On August 28 and 29, the Great Lakes Marine Debris Community met in Toledo, Ohio to discuss progress to date on addressing marine debris in the Great Lakes region.
Posted: September 20, 2019
SEPTEMBER 23, 2019 — On September 18, the NOAA Marine Debris Program announced its FY 2020 “Marine Debris Prevention” federal funding opportunity.
Posted: September 13, 2019
SEPTEMBER 16, 2019 — On September 11, the OR&R Emergency Response Division Chief and Senior Scientist participated in the 4th quarter FY2019 Interagency Coordinating Committee on Oil Pollution Research (ICCOPR) hosted by the University of Maryland’s Department of Fire Protection Engineering in College Park, Maryland.
Posted: September 13, 2019
SEPTEMBER 16, 2019 — On September 10, OR&R's Emergency response Division (ERD) staff joined staff from National Marine Fisheries Service, National Marine Sanctuaries and National Weather Service on a tour of the Honolulu Fish Auction on Pier 38 in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Posted: September 13, 2019
SEPTEMBER 16, 2019 — On October 10, the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) will air a documentary, “The Serengeti Rules.”
Posted: September 13, 2019
SEPTEMBER 16, 2019 — Hurricane Dorian formed on August 24, was the fourth named storm and the first major hurricane of the 2019 Atlantic hurricane season. At its peak, the National Weather Service reported that Hurricane Dorian reached Category 5 intensity with maximum sustained winds of 185 mph, making this a major hurricane.
Posted: September 13, 2019
SEPTEMBER 16, 2019 — OR&R participated in NOAA’s Environmental Data Management workshop held in Seattle, Washington on September 4-5.
Posted: September 13, 2019
SEPTEMBER 16, 2019 — On September 3 - 6, OR&R’s Emergency Response Division (ERD) staff held an all-hands meeting in Cle Elum, Washington in the Cascade Mountains, east of OR&R’s Seattle office.
Posted: September 13, 2019
SEPTEMBER 16, 2019 — On September 10, OR&R’s Tom Brosnan, Robb Wright, Simeon Hahn, and Megan Ewald participated in the Christina River Sediment Remediation Technical Workshop in Wilmington, Delaware.
Posted: September 13, 2019
SEPTEMBER 16, 2019 — Each year the SPIE Journal of Applied Remote Sensing honors teams with Best Paper Awards for contributions to science.
Posted: September 2, 2019
SEPT. 3, 2019 — Last week, scientists from NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration, in collaboration with an interdisciplinary and interagency team of researchers and oil spill responders, tested new tools and methods for characterizing oil slicks and oil in the water column following an oil spill.
Posted: September 2, 2019
SEPT. 3, 2019 — Lieutenant Commander Jim Rosenberg, with OR&R’s Emergency Response Division, provided instruction at the annual North West Oil Spill Control Course in Port Angeles, Washington, on Aug. 26-30. Jim is the scientific support coordinator for the Northwestern Continental U.S.
OR&R Biologist Presents to Salish Sea Association of Marine Naturalists in Friday Harbor, Washington
Posted: September 2, 2019
SEPT. 3, 2019 — On Aug. 29, OR&R biologist Gary Shigenaka gave an invited presentation to the Salish Sea Association of Marine Naturalists at the Friday Harbor Whale Museum in Friday Harbor, Washington.
Posted: September 2, 2019
SEPT. 3, 2019 — On Aug. 20-21, the Marine Debris Program’s international activities and partnership coordinator, Steve Morrison, served on the U.S. delegation at the 13th Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ocean and Fisheries Working Group (OFWG) in Puerto Varas, Chile
August 2019
Posted: August 23, 2019
AUGUST 26, 2019 —The NOAA Marine Debris Program’s Pacific Island Region includes not only the Hawaiian archipelago, but also the Pacific island territories.
Posted: August 23, 2019
AUGUST 26, 2019 — The Deepwater Horizon oil spill lasted for 87 days, discharged millions of barrels into the Gulf of Mexico, and posed unprecedented challenges for oil spill experts.
Posted: August 23, 2019
AUGUST 26, 2019 — On August 13, the NOAA Marine Debris Program's California Regional Coordinator, Sherry Lippiatt, presented on marine debris prevention strategies at the California Resource Recovery Association Conference.
Posted: August 23, 2019
AUGUST 26, 2019 — On August 6 and 7, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Region III and the Delaware Emergency Management Agency led a debris management training for emergency responders in Dover, Delaware.
Posted: August 16, 2019
AUGUST 19, 2019 — On August 8, the NOAA Marine Debris Program’s Director, Nancy Wallace, spoke to a group of seven foreign journalists from Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Indonesia during a State Department-sponsored reporting tour covering American policy topics: "The U.S. Vision for the Indo-Pacific Region.”
Posted: August 16, 2019
AUGUST 19, 2019 — On August 9 the Office of Response and Restoration’s Emergency Response Division participated in a Hawaiian Electric Company worst-case oil spill exercise held in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Posted: August 16, 2019
AUGUST 19, 2019 — On August 6, the NOAA Marine Debris Program’s Northeast Regional Coordinator, Demi Fox, joined partners at the Center for Coastal Studies and the Provincetown Harbormaster’s Office for a marine debris cleanup in the Provincetown intertidal area known as the “west end flats.”
Posted: August 16, 2019
AUGUST 19, 2019 — On July 31, the National Ocean Service (NOS) Zero Waste Team, comprised of 13 representatives from NOS program offices and NOS headquarters, came together at the first Zero Waste Workshop in Silver Spring, Maryland.
Posted: August 16, 2019
AUGUST 19, 2019 — OR&R’s Simeon Hahn of the Assessment and Restoration Division organized and led the Delaware River Urban Water Federal Partnership meeting at the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) office in Dover, Delaware, on Aug 7.
Posted: August 16, 2019
AUGUST 19, 2019 — OR&R’s Emergency Response Division, with assistance from partners with the NOAA Pacific Services Center and NOAA Pacific Fisheries Science Center, hosted visitors from the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Sector Honolulu Incident Management Team at the Inouye Regional Center in Honolulu, Hawaii on August 14.
Posted: August 9, 2019
AUGUST 12, 2019 — On July 25-26, over 50 researchers participated in the 2019 Hawai'i Marine Debris Action Plan Research Workshop, hosted by the NOAA Marine Debris Program and the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
Posted: August 9, 2019
AUGUST 12, 2019 — On August 5, the Western Regional Center in Seattle was visited by a delegation of congressional travelers from Washington, D.C.
Posted: August 9, 2019
AUGUST 12, 2019 — On July 22-26, the NOAA Marine Debris Program's Chief Scientist, Amy V. Uhrin, traveled to Honolulu, Hawai'I, to meet with Program partners in the region and participate in the Hawai'i Marine Debris Action Plan Research Workshop.
Posted: August 2, 2019
AUGUST 5, 2019 — On July 30 -August 1, the OR&R Diversity and Inclusion committee (D&I) met in Silver Spring, Maryland, to develop an action plan for the next two years.
Posted: August 2, 2019
AUGUST 5, 2019 — On July 26, the Marine Debris Program’s Gulf of Mexico Regional Coordinator, Caitlin Wessel, participated in a NOAA-funded marine debris removal and restoration project at the Weeks Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR) in Weeks Bay, Alabama.
Posted: August 2, 2019
AUGUST 5, 2019 — As part of the US National Response Team (NRT) – Panama Canal Authority (ACP) Subcommittee, NOAA helped plan, execute, and evaluate the annual EcoCanal ’19 exercise.
July 2019
Posted: July 26, 2019
JULY 29, 2019 — On July 23, Steve Morrison of the Marine Debris Program joined other staff from across NOAA in a meeting with representatives of Taiwan’s Ocean Conservation Administration, Ocean Affairs Council.
Posted: July 26, 2019
JULY 29, 2019 — On July 18, OR&R’s division chiefs met with staff from members of Congress in California and Florida to discuss our activities in their states.
Posted: July 26, 2019
JULY 29, 2019 — On July 23-25, OR&R’s Emergency Response Division conducted Shoreline Cleanup Assessment Techniques (SCAT) Team Member Training in the Arctic hosted by Alaska Clean Seas at their training facility in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska.
Posted: July 26, 2019
JULY 29, 2019 — On July 23, the NOAA Marine Debris Program’s (MDP) Northeast Regional Coordinator, Demi Fox, and Communications and Education Specialist, Jennifer Simms, led a workshop titled: How to Talk Trash: Lessons from NOAA’s Marine Debris Program at the annual National Marine Educators Association conference at the University of New Hampshire.
Posted: July 26, 2019
JULY 29, 2019 — The week of July 22, NOAA OR&R staff held their annual Science of Oil Spills (SOS) training in Independence, at the Educational Service Center of Northeast Ohio.
Posted: July 19, 2019
JULY 19, 2019 — Oil recovery operations on a World War II-era shipwreck near Long Island, New York are now nearing completion after resulting in the removal of more than 450,000 gallons of oil over a period of nearly three months.
Posted: July 19, 2019
JULY 22, 2019 — OR&R sponsored a NRDA (Natural Resource Damage Assessment) workshop through Coastal Response Research Center (CRRC) in Hawaii from July 16-18.
Posted: July 19, 2019
JULY 22, 2019 — Last week, over 50 OR&R participants gathered to discuss some of the ethical questions about travel and tourism.
Posted: July 19, 2019
JULY 22, 2019 — On July 16 the OR&R Disaster Preparedness Program chief, Kate Wheelock, attended the Professional Services Council (PSC) membership meeting where she presented lessons learned from the 2018 hurricanes that devastated the mid-Atlantic coast.
NOAA Marine Debris Program Participates in Bi-national Presentation at Gulf of Maine Council Meeting
Posted: July 19, 2019
JULY 22, 2019 — On July 10 and 11, the NOAA Marine Debris Program’s Northeast Regional Coordinator, Demi Fox, attended a Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment meeting in Halifax, Nova Scotia to update the Council on U.S.-Canada collaborations to prevent and remove marine debris throughout the bi-national region.
Posted: July 19, 2019
JULY 22, 2019 — On July 13, Charles Grisafi, Florida and Caribbean Regional Coordinator for the NOAA Marine Debris Program, participated in a special “bonus” Ghost Trap Rodeo event in Tampa Bay.
Posted: July 12, 2019
JULY 15, 2019 —The OR&R Emergency Response Division sponsored a June 25-26 workshop titled “Leveraging Science and Academic Engagement” in Tiburon, California.
Posted: July 12, 2019
JULY 15, 2019 — On June 26 in Oakland, California, the Marine Debris Program convened a group of 20 California non-profit and agency partners for a training workshop delivered by Root Solutions.
Posted: July 12, 2019
JULY 15, 2019 — Early morning on Thursday July 4, during a minus tide, Skipper David Janka (Auklet Charters, Cordova, Alaska) stepped ashore at a cove on Knight Island in Prince William Sound and took the 30th annual photograph of a scene known as “Mearns Rock”.
Posted: July 12, 2019
JULY 15, 2019 — On July 8 - 9, OR&R’s LT Michael Doig and LT Joshua Valdivia, of the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) provided spill response training for USCG Sector Sault Ste. Marie. This was the last of 5 classes conducted around USCG District 9.
Posted: July 12, 2019
JULY 15, 2019 — On June 26, the NOAA Marine Debris Program Pacific Northwest Coordinator joined 40 current and future Puget Sound Dungeness crabbers in a well-attended workshop to learn how to catch more crabs and lose less crab pots.
Posted: July 11, 2019
A new story map about the Lower Duwamish River Superfund site in Seattle is now live and available to the public.
June 2019
Posted: June 28, 2019
JULY 1, 2019 — OR&R Emergency Response Division employees LCDR James Rosenberg and LTJG Matt Bissell visited three tribal nations (Quinault, Quileute, and Makah) the week of June 24 to provide oil spill response training to tribal members.
Posted: June 28, 2019
JULY 1, 2019 — On June 17 - 19, partners representing diverse stakeholders from Virginia, Delaware, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Washington, DC gathered at the 2019 Mid-Atlantic Marine Debris Summit in Arlington, Virginia.
Posted: June 28, 2019
JULY 1, 2019 — On June 27, the Marine Debris Program released the Southeast Marine Debris Action Plan.
Posted: June 26, 2019
JULY 1, 2019 — During June 18-20, 2019, the University of New Hampshire’s Coastal Response Research Center (CRCC) partnered with the Office of Response and Restoration’s Disaster Preparedness Program to hold NOAA’s 5th Regional Preparedness Workshop and Training (NRPT).
Posted: June 26, 2019
JULY 1, 2019 — OR&R Emergency Response Chief Scott Lundgren, oceanographer Chris Barker, and chemist Dalina Thrift-Viveros participated in a meeting on June 11, 2019 to discuss hazard modeling roles, responsibilities, recent incident coordination, and future exercises and engagements.
Posted: June 26, 2019
JULY 1, 2019 — The Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI) was established in 2010 with the stated goal to improve society’s ability to understand, respond to, and mitigate the impacts of petroleum pollution and related stressors of the marine and coastal ecosystems. As the conclusion of 10 years of GoMRI’s investment in research approaches, the research board has shifted focus toward achieving comprehensive scientific synthesis.
Posted: June 21, 2019
JUNE 24, 2019 —ORR’s Emergency Response Division and their Assessment and Restoration Division, the National Marine Fisheries Service Restoration Center, NOAA Sanctuaries, and the National Weather Service participated in the BP Shipping/Alaska Tanker Company (ATC) Drill in San Mateo, California on June 18-20.
Posted: June 21, 2019
JUNE 24, 2019 — On June 10-11 and 13-14, 2019, OR&R’s LT Michael Doig and LT Joshua Valdivia, of the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) provided spill response training for USCG MSU (Marine Safety Unit) Duluth and Sector Lake Michigan.
Posted: June 21, 2019
JUNE 24, 2019 — Troy Baker, of OR&R’s Assessment & Restoration Division recently participated in a two-week exercise focused on modeling radiation doses in the terrestrial and aquatic environments.
Posted: June 21, 2019
JUNE 24, 2019 — NOAA scientists don’t only work on boats, they work with communities, in cities, and close to home.
Posted: June 21, 2019
JUNE 24, 2019 — The Gulf of Mexico Alliance 2019 All Hands Meeting was held from June 10 - 14 at the new Gulf State Lodge in Gulf Shores, Alabama.
Posted: June 21, 2019
JUNE 24, 2019 — During the week of June 17, OR&R staff from the Emergency Response Division and the Gulf of Mexico Disaster Response Center held a four-day Science of Chemical Releases course in Seattle, Washington, at NOAA’s Western Regional Center and at the Institute of Ocean Science in Sidney, British Columbia.
Posted: June 21, 2019
JUNE 24, 2019 — Dealing with medium and large debris in coastal waters can be chronic, complicated, and costly for many states.
Posted: June 21, 2019
JUNE 24, 2019 — On June 11, the NOAA Marine Debris Program Pacific Northwest Coordinator Nir Barnea joined the field team for the project “Derelict Crab Pot Removal and Outreach in Washington’s Salish Sea”.
Posted: June 21, 2019
JUNE 24, 2019 — During the week of June 10-14, 2019, in Brockport, New York, scientists from around the Great Lakes region gathered to discuss important lake-based issues, including marine debris.
Posted: June 14, 2019
JUNE 17, 2019 — On June 3-6, 2019, Doug Helton from OR&R’s Emergency Response Division joined the U.S. Coast Guard and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) and Alaskan delegates in Bodø, Norway, for meetings with the Emergency Prevention, Preparedness and Response Working Group (EPPR).
Posted: June 14, 2019
JUNE 17, 2019 — On June 4, the Marine Debris Program Director, Nancy Wallace, moderated an Ocean Plastics panel at the Blue Tech Expo in Washington, D.C.
Posted: June 14, 2019
JUNE 17, 2019 — It was a busy weekend celebrating World Ocean Day in New England. The Marine Debris Program’s (MDP) Northeast Regional Coordinator, Demi Fox, attended two of the countless events hosted across the region.
Posted: June 14, 2019
JUNE 17, 2019 — On June 5 and 6, the Weeks Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR) hosted their annual Teachers on the Estuary (TOTE) workshop at the Weeks Bay NERR in Baldwin County, Alabama.
Posted: June 14, 2019
JUNE 17, 2019 — On June 5-6, 2019, the NOAA Western Regional Collaboration Team (NOAA West) partnered with the Disaster Preparedness Program (DPP) to hold a tabletop exercise which simulated an earthquake and resulting tsunami impacting the Seattle region.
Posted: June 10, 2019
JUNE 10, 2019 — On May 28, Nir Barnea, the NOAA MDP Pacific Northwest Regional Coordinator, met in Long Beach, WA with Shelly Pollock and Russ Lewis, representatives of the GrassRoots Garbage Gangs volunteer organization.
Posted: June 10, 2019
JUNE 10, 2019 — Last fall, OR&R had joined PS 146 3rd graders to clean up and remove over 700 pounds of trash from a 200 meter stretch of Plumb Beach at the mouth of Jamaica Bay in New York Harbor.
Posted: June 10, 2019
JUNE 10, 2019 — The week of June 3, OR&R’s Assessment and Restoration Division partnered with the Hudson River Estuary Program/Hudson River National Estuarine Research Reserve at the Great Fish Count at Lemon Creek Park in Staten Island.
Posted: June 10, 2019
JUNE 10, 2019 — During the week of June 3, NOAA OR&R staff held their annual Science of Oil Spills (SOS) training in Seattle, Washington at NOAA’s Western Regional Center.
Posted: June 10, 2019
JUNE 10, 2019 — The week of June 3, OR&R scientists George Graettinger and Lisa DiPinto leveraged collaborative relationships with the Arctic Domain Awareness Center (ADAC) , the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), the U.S.
Posted: June 10, 2019
JUNE 10, 2019 —The 42nd AMOP (Arctic and Marine Oil Spill Program) Technical Seminar on Environmental Contamination and Response was held June 4-6 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
May 2019
Posted: May 30, 2019
JUNE 3, 2019 — Last week marks a major accomplishment for restoration at the Hanford Nuclear Site in eastern Washington State.
Posted: May 30, 2019
JUNE 3, 2019 — On May 24, Kate Wheelock, Chief of the Disaster Preparedness Program, presented on the full breadth NOS operational response capabilities at the FEMA Region 3 (Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, District of Columbia, Virginia, West Virginia) bi-annual Regional Interagency Steering Committee (RISC) Meeting.
Posted: May 30, 2019
JUNE 3, 2019 — On Thursday May 23, OR&R staff gave brief presentations on their work to Benjamin Friedman, NOAA’s Deputy Under Secretary for Operations, who serves as the agency’s chief operating officer and is responsible for the day-to-day management of NOAA’s national and international operations for oceanic and atmospheric services, research and coastal and marine stewardship.
Posted: May 30, 2019
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.
Posted: May 30, 2019
JUNE 3, 2019 — The Southeast and Caribbean NOAA Disaster Resilience Workshop was held May 14-16 at the Office for Coastal Management-Charleston.
Posted: May 30, 2019
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).
Posted: May 30, 2019
JUNE 3, 2019 — On May 28, Marine Debris Program (MDP) staff participated in the Virginia Stormwater and Litter workshop held in Woodbridge, Virginia.
Posted: May 30, 2019
JUNE 3, 2019 — The next generation of environmental scientists learned about current aquatic issues in the news with the help of Troy Baker, an environmental scientist in OR&R's Assessment and Restoration Division.
Posted: May 30, 2019
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.