This workshop is part of a national series sponsored by the Sea Grant Oil Spill Science Outreach Program to improve community preparedness for oil spills. This collaboration of the of the Gulf Research Program of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative; and Sea Grant programs around the country will feature workshops focused on three broadly defined topical areas pertaining to oil spills: public health, social disruption, and economic impacts. The aim of the project is to identify regional-level needs and priorities for improving preparedness. This project follows up on a 2017 workshop sponsored by the Gulf Research Program that brought together oil spill and public health practitioners, the disaster research community, and leaders from communities affected by oil spills. The workshop in Alaska will focus on the topics of public health and social and economic disruption from spills in three parts:

1. research and lessons learned from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill,
2. the current state of oil spill preparedness in Alaska, and
3. how to prepare communities for the next technological disaster.

The workshop agenda is now available (updated 2/13/2019).

Space is limited, and online registration is required.