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Dr. Yong Hoon Kim attended the 3rd Korea CCS (Carbon Capture and Storage) Conference from March 13-15 in Jeju Island, Korea. Dr. Kim presented "Environmental Risk Assessment related to Carbon Capture and Storage".

Malcolm Spaulding was an invited participant at the Oil Spill Dispersant Research Workshop held at the Lod Cooke Alumni Conference Center, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA from March 12-13. The workshop was coordinated by the University of New Hampshire Center for Spills in the Environment (CSE). The major purpose of this workshop was to ensure that the oil spill response and restoration community, including government representatives and industry, is aware of how dispersant-related research can impact future spill response.

On February 26 Kelly Knee chaired the 2nd Annual Environmental Business Council meeting on climate change adaptation in Rhode Island. The four hour program, with a focus on interactions between climate change and extreme weather, included an overview of the meteorological characteristics of Hurricane Sandy and discussion of the challenges and legal issues surrounding disaster recovery.

Alicia Landi attended the Southern New England Chapter of American Fisheries Society meeting in Groton, CT on January 16. Talks by graduate students from Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, as well as representatives from Northeast Fisheries Science Center, covered topics ranging from molecular identification of fish eggs to predicting climate change effects on river herring.

Dr. Eric Comerma presented "Chemmap an Operational Application" at the 18th Cedre Information Day in Paris la Défense on March 27th. This year's conference was devoted to the use of models in terms of preparedness and response against accidental pollution of water. Leading French and foreign specialists were invited to present the tools they prepare, develop and use.

Dr. Matthew Horn co-authored a paper titled "Cleaning methods for the isotopic determination of diatom-bound nitrogen in non-fossil diatom frustules" which was recently accepted by Limnology and Oceanography: Methods. The paper advances the field of paleoceanography, addressing ground-truthing of the stable isotope ratio of diatom frustule-bound organic nitrogen. This proxy is used to determine past nutrient consumption in the surface ocean, which may be used to infer past oceanic conditions and climate.

ASA has been working in conjunction with the US Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory to enhance their model skill assessment tool. The Interactive Model Evaluation and Diagnostics System (IMEDS) is a custom OpenSource application developed by the ERDC to assess coastal process model performance using comparisons to coastal observing data.

ASA's Andrew Bird recently visited the ERDC facility in Vicksburg, MS, to work with Jeff Hanson and Tyler Hesser on development tasks, with specific focus on data interoperability, use of open standards, and improved display of model performance metrics.

Deborah French McCay, Danielle Reich, and Jill Rowe were recently invited to participate in BOEM's Atlantic Wind Energy Workshop in Herndon, VA, where they presented the CUEM model to offshore wind energy and resource experts from the U.S. and Europe and facilitated a discussion on possible applications of the model. (See front page for full story)

Matt Ward, gave a lecture at the US Naval Academy in February on the operational support RPS ASA provided during the US Armed Forces assistance operation to support Japan in disaster relief following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.

Eoin Howlett attended the GEOSS (Global Earth Observation System of Systems) Future Products Workshop in Silver Spring, MD, March 26-28. The workshop focused on how GEOSS enables the integration and accessibility of sensor and model data. Eoin presented the paper "Use of open standards to share ocean observing and model data in U.S. IOOS".

This winter the Northern Territory Water Police undertook training for the implementation of ASA's search and rescue model, SARMAP. During the 2 day training course led by Ben Brushett many actual SAR cases were tested against SARMAP predictions with impressive results. The delivery of SARMAP to the NT Water Police completes the rollout of SARMAP to all Australian State Water Police bodies.

Dr. Malcolm L. Spaulding was a keynote speaker at a workshop on the "Development of A Strategic Plan for Arctic Oil Spill Research", in Calgary, on Jan. 28-29, sponsored by the Canadian Environmental Studies Research Funds (ESRF) program. Malcolm provided an outline of the current state of modeling in ice covered waters and recommended major research thrusts in the area.

On March 15 Kelly Knee and Alex Crosby attended "Community Resiliency after Sandy: A Coastal No Adverse Impact Approach", hosted by the Association of State Floodplain Managers in Lincoln, RI. The workshop provided an approach and tools intended to increase resiliency as Rhode Island recovers and rebuilds after Hurricane Sandy.

In late November 2012, RPS Evans-Hamilton deployed 2 taught line moorings in approximately 2,000 meters water depth off the coast of Morocco as part of a 12 month current study of the area. Despite high winds and seas at the deployment sites, the moorings were successfully deployed on schedule at the specified locations. The moorings will be serviced at 4 month intervals by the RPS field team who will download data and replace the batteries in the instruments. Relatively few field measurements have been collected in this area and data from the measurement program will be used to develop an improved understanding of the current structure along the coast. The data will also be used to enhance the accuracy of current models for this area and will provide design parameters for potential future oil and gas drilling operations along the coast.

On March 15 Kelly Knee and Alex Crosby attended "Community Resiliency after Sandy: A Coastal No Adverse Impact Approach", hosted by the Association of State Floodplain Managers in Lincoln, RI. The workshop provided an approach and tools intended to increase resiliency as Rhode Island recovers and rebuilds after Hurricane Sandy.

Andrew Menton spent several weeks in Ireland this winter. He delivered OILMAP™ training to Philips 66 at the Whitegate Refinery in Cork. He assisted the Irish Coast Guard with their annual SAR training course at the National Marine College of Ireland and he also visited the Irish Navy to deliver SARMAP™ and provide training in its use. Andrew is returning to Ireland this month to deliver OILMAPWeb™ to the Shannon Estuary Anti-Pollution team and observe a spill exercise in the Shannon Estuary.


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