GoMRI Attends 2016 Clean Gulf Conference in Tampa, FL
– NOVEMBER 28, 2016
 Members of the GoMRI Management Team, GRIIDC, Sea Grant, and GoMRI-funded consortia attend the 2016 Clean Gulf Conference. From left to right: Katie Fillingham, Sherryl Gilbert (C-IMAGE), Dave Reed (GRIIDC), Leigh Zimmermann, and Monica Wilson (Sea Grant). Photo Credit: Katie Fillingham. |
(From Fall 2016 Newsletter) Members of the GoMRI Management Team, as well as members of the Gulf Sea Grant Team and the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative Information and Data Cooperative (GRIIDC), attended the 2016 Clean Gulf Conference from November 1-3, 2016 in Tampa, Florida. The goal of the conference was to bring together members of the oil spill prevention, preparedness, and response communities to “establish and build relationships [needed] in place before an incident on water or land occurs.” GoMRI and Sea Grant were interested in participating in this conference to learn how GoMRI can continue to provide oil spill science and products to this community to help aide in preparedness and response efforts.
Sherryl Gilbert from the Center for the Integrated Modeling and Analysis of the Gulf Ecosystem (C-IMAGE) Consortium and Dave Palandro from ExxonMobile organized a workshop called Oil Spill Responses 101 and Exploring the Role of Environmental Research During Response and more than 100 conference participants attended. The workshop featured presentations from GoMRI’s Program Manager, Kevin Shaw, who provided an overview of the program, and several GoMRI-funded consortium directors and Principal Investigators, including Steve Murawski (C-IMAGE), Tamay Ozgokmen (CARTHE), and Terry Wade (ADDOMEx) who shared some of the science GoMRI is producing. Monica Wilson discussed GoMRI’s partnership with the four Gulf Sea Grant Programs. The second panel included presentations from several members of government and industry including representatives from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Natural Resources Damage Assessment (NRDA), Shell, and the Net Environmental Benefit Analysis (NEBA), sharing the current methods of oil spill response. The final session included a discussion from the participants on the role of scientific research in the response process and how these relationships can be expanded for improved spill response.
GoMRI also hosted a booth in the exhibit hall, which saw many visitors. Staff from the Management Team, GRIIDC, the Gulf Sea Grant Team, and the C-IMAGE consortium all participated in staffing the booth and distributing materials and hot sauce. A brief survey was also available for visitors to complete, seeking input on what types of materials or products featuring oil spill science would be most useful to them in their work.
