Emergency Response Research Webinar Series
![A collage of photos depicting emergency response events and activities](/sites/default/files/2021-02/er_research_webinar_series_banner_v2.png)
Free webinars typically held on the second Wednesday of the month. Special webinars on COVID-19 research are conducted as research results become available.
EPA's Office of Research and Development hosts this webinar series to share current research activities and results. This webinar series covers the latest information on research supporting EPA's response to chemical, biological, and radiological incidents, as well as natural disasters. This forum allows EPA to communicate directly with partners and stakeholders to foster collaboration and dissemination of information.
NOTE: Attendees have the option of receiving a certificate of attendance. Acceptance of certificates is contingent on organization requirements—EPA cannot guarantee acceptance. Closed-captioned recordings of the webinars are provided below for later viewing and as a training resource; certificates cannot be provided for viewing webinar recordings.
Webinar dates and topics are subject to change.
On this page:
Upcoming Webinar
Testing Chemical Warfare Agent Response in a Realistic Setting
Wednesday, August 14, 2024, 2:00 - 3:00 PM ET
Register to attend this webinar
![Decontamination of a building interior for a field scale chemical warfare agent study.](/system/files/styles/small/private/images/2024-08/deconwebimage.jpg?itok=oRo00kYU)
Chemical warfare agents (CWA), chemicals developed to cause intentional harm or death through their toxic properties, remain a threat to the United States and other countries. EPA is enhancing the nation's ability to respond to and recover from a potential chemical agent incident by developing environmental remediation responses from bench-scale research to response exercises and training. Simulated release scenarios provide responders and researchers an opportunity to understand the effectiveness of sampling methods and decontamination approaches.
The presentation will provide an overview of the Operational Test and Evaluation of Chemical Remediation Activities (OTECRA) full-scale field study. Presenters will discuss how findings from previous studies, assets, and responder personnel were brought together in a realistic setting to test operational feasibility. They will review field study components, including sampling, decontamination, data management, and waste management that would be used to remediate an indoor environment following a simulated CWA release. The discussion will provide a sharpened operational perspective through field study insights.
About the Presenters
![Lukas wearing a yellow shirt standing in front of Stonehenge](/system/files/styles/thumbnail/private/images/2024-08/oudejans_webprofile.png?itok=9KETfqyU)
Lukas Oudejans is a Research Physical Scientist with the EPA Office of Research and Development's Center for Environmental Solutions and Emergency Response. Over the past 15 years, he has gained vast experience in homeland security programs related to research, development and evaluation of innovative technologies for the decontamination of materials contaminated with chemical or biological agents. He was a co-lead of the full-scale Operational Test and Evaluation of Chemical Remediation Technologies (OTECRA) field study. Currently, he is leading research efforts to assess decontamination approaches for surfaces contaminated with synthetic opioids such as fentanyl and fentanyl analogues. Dr. Oudejans holds a Ph.D. in Experimental Physics from Radboud University, Nimegen, The Netherlands.
![Shannon wearing a blue shirt and sunglasses](/system/files/styles/thumbnail/private/images/2024-08/serre_webprofile.png?itok=KldGD2Fg)
Shannon Serre is currently with the EPA's Office of Emergency Management working in the CBRN Consequence Management Advisory Team. He is focused on the response and recovery from a chemical, biological, or radiological incident. He has been involved in several field scale projects including: the Bio-response Operational Testing and Evaluation (BOTE) project, Underground Transport Restoration (UTR) project, Operational Test and Evaluation of Chemical Remediation Technologies (OTECRA) and is now involved with the Analysis for Coastal Operational Resiliency (AnCOR) project. Shannon has a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Utah.
![JJ has a beard and is wearing a red shirt and hat with sunglasses sitting a top his head.](/system/files/styles/thumbnail/private/images/2024-08/justice_webprofile.png?itok=UDgwXPXA)
James Justice (JJ) is an On-Scene Coordinator (OSC) working in EPA Region 5's Superfund and Emergency Management Division, located in Cleveland, OH. He received his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry and Environmental Biology from Heidelberg College. Prior to joining the EPA, JJ worked as an Environmental Investigator for the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District and as a contractor for the EPA. In his 22 years as an OSC, JJ has responded to regional and national emergencies, conducted numerous site assessments and time-critical removals, deployed to special events, and served on regional and national workgroups to improve response readiness. JJ has a particular interest in air monitoring and sampling as well as conducting training for local and state first responders.
2024 Schedule
If you are interested in being notified when new webinars are scheduled, please sign up to receive email notifications here: Receive emails for upcoming webinars
Topic and presenters are subject to change. Additional information and registration links will be provided in advance of each webinar.
Date | Topic |
---|---|
August 14 | Testing Chemical Warfare Agent Response in a Realistic Setting |
September 11 | Premise Plumbing & Wildfires |
October 9 | Cybersecurity & the Water Security Test Bed |
November 13 | Protective Actions & Decontamination: Response to a Radiological Incident |
December 11 | Regional Research Partnerships to Address High Priority, Near-Term Research Needs: Splash Pads & COTS Flight Simulator to Support Aerial Recon Training |
Past Webinars
Recordings and other materials from past webinars are available below. Recordings are hosted on EPA's YouTube channel. Certificates cannot be provided for watching the webinar recordings.
2024 Webinars
Date | Topic and Presenter(s) |
---|---|
July 10, 2024 | Clean Water Access During Emergencies Presenters: James Goodrich, Office of Research and Development and Dave Carney, Kentucky's Department for Public Health |
June 12, 2024 | EPA's Wind Tunnel: Modeling Urban Wind Flow & Dispersion Presenter: Michael Pirhalla, Office of Research and Development |
May 8, 2024 | Pathogen Contaminated Wastewater: Where Does it Go & How to Treat it Presenter: Adam Burdsall, Office of Research and Development |
April 10, 2024 | Oil Spill Response: Advances in Detection Capabilities Presenter: Robyn Conmy, Office of Research and Development |
February 14, 2024 | Protecting Drinking Water Sources with EPA's River Spill Model Presenters: James Goodrich, Office of Research and Development and Sam Dinkins, Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission |
More Webinars
Special Topics
Cleanup, Remediation & Decontamination
- Toxic Aromatherapy: A Melioidosis Mystery (2023)
- Fentanyl Decontamination (2023)
- Clean or Replace? Decontaminating PFAS from Firefighting Equipment and Hangars (2022)
- Considering Trade-offs in Contamination Cleanup (2022)
- Readily Available Equipment for Response and Recovery (2021)
- Neutralization and Attenuation of Ricin Toxin (2019)
- Decontamination Strategy and Technology Selection Tool (DeconST) (2014)
- Remediation of Soils Contaminated with Bacillus anthracis Spores (2014)
Large Scale Demos
- Analysis for Coastal Operational Resiliency (AnCOR)-Wide Area Demonstration (2023)
- Underground Transportation Restoration Research (2018)
- Responding to a Chemical Warfare Incident: From Sampling and Analysis to Decontamination and Waste Management (2017)
Community Resilience & Social Science
- Building Relationships and Trust in Contamination Cleanup (2023)
- Promoting Community Resilience through Social Science (2021)
Sampling & Analysis
- Innovative Sampling for Large-Scale Biological Outdoor Contaminated Events (2023)
- Facilitating Coordinated Response from Field to Lab: the Environmental Sampling and Analysis Methods (ESAM) Program (2022)
- Biothreat Agent Detection: Advances in Rapid Analytical Methods (2021)
- Virtual Reality: A Training Tool for Biological Sampling (2020)
- USGS/EPA Collaboration: Bacillus anthracis in American Soils: From Sample Collection to Data Application (2014)
COVID-19 Research
- COVID-19: Evaluating Aerosol Treatment Technologies (2022)
- COVID-19: Aerosol Treatment Devices & Ozone Disinfection (2021)
- COVID-19: Electrostatic Sprayers and Foggers for Disinfectant Application (2021)
- Reducing Environmental Exposure to SARS-CoV-2: An Overview of Findings (2021)
- COVID-19: Cleaning & Disinfecting of PPE for Effective Reuse (2021)
- COVID-19: UV-C Devices and Methods for Surface Disinfection (2021)
- COVID-19 Long Lasting Disinfectants (2020)
- EPA Expands Research on COVID-19 in the Environment (2020)
Oil Spills
Waste Management
- Waste Estimation Case Studies to Support Planning for Natural and Manmade Disasters (2023)
- Pre-Incident Planning for CBRN Waste Management (2022)
Wildfires and Natural Disasters
- Underground Storage Tanks: Preparing and Responding to Extreme Events (2022)
- Remediating Premise Plumbing Following a Water Emergency or Disaster (2022)
Water Security
- Building Resiliency: Emergency Water Treatment System (2021)
- Removal of Organic Contaminants from Polyethylene Drinking Water Pipes by Flushing (2018)
- Premise Plumbing Research in EPA's Homeland Security Research Program (2018)
- EPA's Water Security Test Bed (2015)
- TEVA-SPOT Consequence Evaluation Module and EPA-RTX (2014)