Underwater Remote Sensing for Oil Spill Response and Restoration
Monday & Tuesday, September 29 & 30, 2025 (all virtual workshop)
1 - 5 pm ET
A Virtual Event
This virtual webinar hosted by the University of New Hampshire's, Coastal Response Research Center is made possible through the partnership with NOAA's Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R), Disaster Preparedness Program (DPP) and the Disaster Response Center. This 2-day webinar session will give the opportunity to share standards and capabilities for underwater remote sensing in an operational context and discuss where efforts of partners overlap and how best to support each other before, during and after an oil spill response.
Objectives
- What are the operational needs for underwater remote sensing during a spill response?
- What lessons have been learned from previous spill responses where underwater remote sensing has been used?
- What are the recent advancements in underwater remote sensing (e.g., NOAA, Federal and State agencies, Industry)?
- How can NOAA and its partners enhance coordination of underwater remote sensing in support of incident response, assessment/restoration, disaster response, and marine debris?
- What are the research needs and priorities for underwater remote sensing to support these missions?
- How to transition technologies into operations (e.g., spills, damage assessment cases, projects)?
Agenda
Agenda here>>
RSVP
Please rsvp to kathy.mandsager@unh.edu to receive the virtual Zoom link and calendar invite.
Presentations
Day 1:
Welcome – Nancy Kinner, Coastal Response Research Center (CRRC)
Opening Remarks – Daniel Hahn, NOAA Office of Response & Restoration (OR&R), Assessment & Restoration Division
Background & Workshop Goals – Robyn Conmy, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
History of Underwater Remote Sensing for Oil Spills (Platform and Sensors) – Scott Pegau, Prince William Sound Science Center
Operational Needs for OR&R on Response for Underwater Remote Sensing – Adam Davis, NOAA OR&R Emergency Response Division (ERD)
Operational Needs for OR&R on NRDA for Underwater Remote Sensing – Daniel Hahn, NOAA OR&R Assessment and Restoration Division (ARD)
Use of Underwater Remote Sensing in Previous Spill Responses - Lessons Learned
- Underwater Remote Sensing during DWH – Tom Weber, MITRE Corporation
- Operational and Scientific Monitoring of Dispersed Oil – Jodi Harney, CSA Ocean Sciences Inc.
Advancements on Remote Sensing – Other Federal & State Agencies, Industry and Academia
- BSEE Research Program – Jay Cho, Program Manager, Oil Spill Preparedness Division
- Low-Cost Remotely-Operated Vehicles (ROV-LC) for Pollution Response – Jerome Popiel, USCG D9, Incident Management & Preparedness Advisor
- Mapping and Documenting a Container Spill in the Pacific – Matthias Herborg, Environmental Incident Coordinator, Fisheries and Oceans (DFO)
- Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) –Tori Sweet, Research Engineer
- Role of Emerging Technologies in Oil Spill Response – Scott Loranger, Kongsberg
- Clean Gulf Associates/Ocean AeroTriton – Keith Blystone, Ocean Aero
Wrap Up Discussion - Lisa DiPinto, CRRC and Greg McGowan, CA OSPR
Day 2:
Case Study on the Use of In Situ and Autonomous Leak Detection Technology
Detecting Dissolved Methane using SAGE: the Sensor for Aqueous Gases in the Environment, Anna Michel & Mary Burkitt-Gray, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
- Nauticus Robotics, Daniel Dehart
- Practical Playbook and New Frontiers in Underwater Surveying - Amy Kukulya, Scibotics, LLC
- Under Ice Acoustics – Christopher Bassett, University of Washington
- Dalhousie University (Canada) Matador Project –Allison Chua, Dalhousie Oceanography Department
- Oil Under Ice Detection - Chris Hall, Alaska Clean Seas
- Underwater Mass Spectrometry for Subsea Oil Characterization and Spill Response - Ryan Bell, Beaver Creek Analytical, LLC
- Development of a Low-Cost UV Fluorometric Sensor to Detect Submerged Oil - Michael Sayers, Michigan Tech Research Institute
3:30 Plenary Panel: Reflections of Plenary Sessions
Panelists: David Fraser, Jodi Harney, LT Bridget Hendrix, Sarah Allan, Brian House, Lisa DiPinto
4:45 Wrap Up - Robyn Conmy, USEPA
Additional Resources
- A critical review on the application of environmental DNA (eDNA) metagenomics in monitoring and assessing biological communities post marine oil spills - ScienceDirect, Volume 995, 15 September 2025 180110
- Oil spill detection under ice and on seafloor, BSEE, SL Ross (2025)
- PAC2023-034 Tully Cruise Report, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (2025)
- Parliamentary Report – Marine Cargo Container Spills, Report of the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans, Canada (2022)
- TSB Marine Transport Safety Investigation Report, Transportation Safety Board of Canada (2021)
Additional Session: Wednesday, October 1, 2025
An (optional) Virtual Event: Breakout Group Discussion
Scenario-based, small group breakout group discussions will be conducted on Wednesday, October 1 (:00 pm - 5:00 pm ET). RSVP's are required for this virtual breakout group event.
Agenda & discussion questions here >>
The Zoom link for breakout session here>>
Steering Committee
- Nancy Kinner, Coastal Response Research Center, University of New Hampshire
- Scott Pegau, OSRI
- Robyn Conmy, U.S. EPA
- Lisa DiPinto, Coastal Response Research Center
- Daniel Hahn, NOAA ORR ARD
- Jodi Harney, CSA Ocean Sciences, Inc
- Gabe Venegas, UNH
- Karen Stone/Jay Cho, BSEE
Questions? Please contact Kathy Mandsager
