RWSC Director Emily Shumchenia joined NOAA, BOEM, and DOE leadership, as well as representatives from eNGOs, the research community, and the offshore wind industry in Washington, DC, at a Summit on Advancing Technologies for Whale Conservation and Responsible Offshore Wind Development. The objectives of the Summit were to share information among groups advancing tools to support the real-time detection and monitoring of marine mammals, and to announce the launch of a collaborative workshop series.
The RWSC Technology Subcommittee has been developing concepts for a Technology Workshop Series as a way to address the technology recommendations in the RWSC Science Plan, specifically around the need for consistent performance evaluation methods for new technologies.
The first several sessions of the collaborative Technology Workshop Series will be hosted by RWSC and the Marine Technology Society, in partnership with two US Department of Energy (DOE) National Laboratories (the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory), with support from the DOE and contributions from NOAA and BOEM. These sessions will focus on assessing the state of the science regarding technologies, tools, and methods for monitoring marine mammals around offshore wind construction activities. The sessions will occur in 2024.
RWSC and partners will roll these marine mammal sessions into the broader Technology Workshop Series that may expand to offer additional sessions on other technologies and taxa.
Visit the Technology Workshops page for more information about the effort, its alignment with the RWSC Science Plan, and a list of synergistic upcoming events hosted by partners.