BATON ROUGE – LSU will host “Response, Recovery, and Resilience to Oil Spills and Environmental Disasters: Engaging Experts and Communities,” a symposium and workshop for community stakeholders, researchers and policy makers to enhance communication between experts and citizens, encouraging better monitoring and sharing of information concerning local environmental conditions following disasters.
The event will take place on Tuesday, Jan. 29, from 8 a.m. – 3 p.m. in the Woods Auditorium of the Energy, Coast and Environment Building, located on Nicholson Drive Extension. Sponsors include the LSU Superfund Research Program; the LSU Department of Environmental Sciences; the Oregon State University, or OSU, Superfund Research Program; and the OSU Environmental Health Sciences Center. The LSU and OSU Superfund Research Programs are funded by the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences, or NIEHS.
Format: The morning session will be informational, with attendees hearing from leaders of environmental groups including the Louisiana Environmental Action Network and the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, university researchers from LSU and OSU, and officials from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality concerning their work in the aftermath of recent environmental events. Hands-on demonstrations and a training video concerning innovative sampling technologies will be provided.
In the afternoon, attendees will participate in group discussions of three topics:
- Response and Characterizing Exposure (prioritizing contaminants to be monitored),
- Recovery and the Role of “Citizen Scientists” (enhancing the utility of their contributions), and
- Resilience and Community Participation (options for self-organizing and sharing technical information among local groups.)
Who Should Attend? The symposium and workshop is presented at no charge and is open to members of community and student environmental groups, state and federal regulatory agencies, and academic researchers and educators. In particular those with an interest in training students or residents to conduct environmental monitoring are encouraged to attend.
What will you gain?
Community leaders, educators and researchers:
* Learn how a group can participate more effectively in post-disaster environmental assessments.
* Learn about innovative methods for environmental monitoring.
* Learn best practices for data sharing between academic researchers and community groups.
Attendees will have the opportunity to help develop a white paper or symposium report summarizing recommendations for improved communication between community stakeholders and regulators.
The event will be free and lunch will be provided to the attendees, however pre-registration is required.
Registration is open through Tuesday, Jan. 22.
For additional information, please contact Margaret Reams of the LSU Superfund Research Program at mreams@lsu.edu.
