Year: 2023
Relevance
The oil spill response community must build their workforce to prepare for future spills. In order to achieve this, they deliver training programs to better prepare responders. In addition, oil spill response organizations communicate complex science-based issues with their customers and others but often do not have independently developed outreach materials that provide science concepts that non-scientists can easily interpret. Finally, during an oil spill, people often seek the latest oil spill science and deeper understanding of how oil spill response operates and what clean-up approaches were used in the past.
Response
Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium developed and led an award-winning outreach program that included all four Gulf-based Sea Grant programs that developed numerous outreach publications, infographics and slides that were shared broadly with many audiences, including the oil spill response community. In addition, people throughout the world that were being impacted by oil spills contacted the program to learn more about the latest oil spill science topics and response efforts.
Results
Sea Grant oil spill science outreach team members shared oil spill science and outreach information with groups experiencing spills in Brazil, Sri Lanka and the US (in response to spills in 2019 near Jekyll/St. Simons island, 2020 in Delaware Bay and 2021 near Huntington Beach), which informed actions that Sea Grant programs and others took in response to spills. In addition, an oil spill response cooperative used the Sea Grant publications to improve messaging to customers, including member companies, sister cooperatives and oil spill science contractors throughout the world. The team's work also resulted in the reshaping of contingency plan review processes, program outreach approaches and oil spill response courses delivered in the Canary Islands and by the National Spill Control School. Groups, such as Louisiana Oil Spill Coordinator's Office and Bureau of Safety & Environmental Enforcement, used and shared the team's publications as an oil spill science resource and workforce development and training.
Recap
Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium (MASGC) provided leadership for a four Sea Grant program regional project that developed outreach materials and publications that have been incorporated into oil spill response training programs and used during active spills and by oil spill response organizations to share peer-reviewed science with others.