Technology used to study oil spills, Part 2

August 29, 2018 – Ocean Springs, MS

View the agenda here. Read speaker bios here.

The follow up to 2016’s popular seminar Technology and Deepwater Horizon, this seminar highlighted specialized equipment used to study oil spills, including aerostats, drifters, unmanned surface vehicles, and others.

Introduction to the seminar

Monica Wilson (Florida Sea Grant) facilitated the seminar and explained the Sea Grant-GoMRI oil spill science outreach program.

Morning Session
Dr. Guillaume Novelli is an assistant scientist at the University of Miami-Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science and part of the CARTHE consortium. He shared the history of surface drifters and how they have evolved through time. He also spoke about the development and creation of the biodegradable CARTHE drifter and how they can help scientists learn more about ocean surface currents. View his presentation slides here.

Dr. Adam Greer is an assistant research professor in the Division of Marine Science at the University of Southern Mississippi and part of the CONCORDE consortium. Dr. Greer gave a brief background about phytoplankton and why they are important to the ocean environment. He then spoke about the In Situ Ichthyoplankton Imaging System (ISIIS), a type of underwater vehicle that uses cameras to take pictures of plankton in the water. View his presentation slides here.

Dr. Samira Daneshgar-Asl is a postdoctoral scholar at the University of California Santa Barbara. Dr. Daneshgar-Asl presented the work she performed using the unmanned surface vehicle known as the Saildrone. She shared how this piece of technology along with satellites has been used to locate natural oil seeps in the Gulf of Mexico. View her presentation slides here.

Dr. Oscar Garcia-Pineda is the director of an environmental consulting firm, WaterMapping and part of the DEEP-C and ECOGIG consortia. Dr. Garcia-Pineda spoke on how unmanned aerial vehicles, also known as drones, are used for different oil spill applications. He shared how different sensors attached to drones can provide measurements of oil thickness as well as high resolution photos of surface oil. View his presentation slides here.

Kevin Hoskins is the Vice President of Telecom & Information Systems for the Marine Spill Response Corporation (MSRC). Kevin gave an overview of the surveillance and remote sensing services that MSRC provides during a spill response. He highlighted the five technologies that they use to locate and monitor the oil. View his presentation slides here.

Morning panel discussion: Adam Greer, Samira Daneshgar-Asl and Kevin Hoskins take questions about their presentations.

Afternoon session
Dr. Brian Gullett is a scientific and technical professional, a senior research engineer with the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Research and Development. Dr. Gullett’s presentation focused on the use of a blimp, also known as and aerostat, to study the toxicity of emissions from in situ burning that occurred during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. View his presentation slides here.

Dr. Brook Jones is a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Southern Mississippi’s Ocean Weather Lab. She shared how they use multiple technologies, such as remote sensing, ocean models, and in situ observations, to get a better picture of the ocean. View her presentation slides here.