INSPIRE Joins Cutting-Edge Incubator Space in Downtown Newport

INSPIRE is making moves! INSPIRE is excited to announce our move to Innovate Newport, a co-working and incubator space opening in early 2019. Formerly the Sheffield School, Innovate Newport will host INSPIRE and expand our operations with a fiber-optic internet, a beautiful modern office space, and opportunities for community engagement in downtown Newport.

Rendering of Innovate Newport courtesy of Northeast Collaborative Architects and Studio Troika

Occupying roughly 4,350-square feet of the building’s top floor, INSPIRE’s office at Innovate Newport will host our newly expanded team of marine scientists and analysts, supporting offshore energy and coastal development worldwide. Newport has hosted INSPIRE’s headquarters for over a decade, and INSPIRE CEO Drew Carey is now eager for the company to “grow into this space and collaborate with other marine tech firms as well as [institutions like] the Naval Undersea Warfare Center and University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography.” Carey emphasized that the incubator space is a great start for the future of high-quality jobs like those provided at INSPIRE and will help connect new industries to the broader Newport and Rhode Island community. Employing over 20 employees and young scientists who work worldwide in rapid environmental assessment and measuring the health of the seafloor, INSPIRE will champion the expansion of Newport’s Blue Tech industry at this new and exciting space in the months to come.

For more information, see What’s Up Newport’s profile here and releases from Innovation Newport here.

INSPIRE Takes AWEA Offshore Windpower Conference 2018

Block Island Wind Farm turbine foundation during the construction phase.
Block Island Wind Farm turbine foundation during the construction phase.

INSPIRE Staff Rich Balouskus, Jeanine Boyle, Drew Carey, and Kersey Sturdivant attended the American Wind Energy Association’s (AWEA) Offshore Windpower conference in Washington, D.C. last weekend, promoting our expertise in offshore wind seafloor reconnaissance and fisheries assessment.  Our Sediment Profile Imaging (SPI) camera is a proven and regulatory agency recommended alternative to traditional benthic sampling methods, with the unique ability to visualize the seafloor for communication with key stakeholders, and we were glad to share our expertise with major stakeholders in a key period of offshore wind development.

Rich, Kersey, and Drew manning the booth at AWEA Offshore Windpower 2018.

INSPIRE has conducted research for existing and planned Deepwater Wind developments. Research includes but is not limited to: Benthic Habitat Assessment, G&G Groundtruthing, Visualization, Demersal Fish Trawls, Fisheries Expert Consultation, Lobster and Cod Spawning Surveys, COP Writing and Review, Agency Consultations, and Community Stakeholder Outreach. We provide in-depth knowledge on identifying suitable areas for offshore wind development (both turbine and cable placement) and on permitting to develop in these areas. Our expertise has been honed from our extensive experience working for Deepwater Wind, Ørsted, and NYSERDA. AWEA Offshore Windpower was an exciting opportunity for INSPIRE to contribute to this burgeoning industry and to showcase the work that we have done to date.

INSPIRE Heads to WEDA Pacific

INSPIRE Project Scientist Marisa Guarinello is headed to Hawai’i, where she will be talking Sediment Profile Imaging (SPI), sediment, and dredged material ecosystems impacts.

Marisa Guarinello will be presenting at the WEDA Pacific Chapter Fall 2018 conference in Honolulu, HI, at the Hilton Waikiki. She will present her talk, “Imagery reveals confounding factors in evaluation of dredged material at the Nawiliwili ODMDS off the coast of Kauai”, during the Wednesday October 24 afternoon session on Environmental/Beneficial Use; she presents on behalf of Allan Ota (US EPA Region 9), Brian Ross (US EPA Region 9), Scott Libby (Battelle), and Drew Carey (INSPIRE). Reach her here to connect before the conference!

Principal Scientist Dr. Kersey Sturdivant to Present at the University of Chicago

The Department of Geophysical Sciences at the University of Chicago is hosting Dr. Sturdivant October 11th and 12th as he discusses careers after graduate school with students and presents work on macrobenthic recovery after disaster. Specifically, Dr. Sturdivant will present “The untold story of recovery following the Deepwater Horizon incident: A worm’s eye view,” which details how traditional benthic sampling missed the rapid recovery process following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2011 and highlights benthic community resiliency. “Human understanding of the deep-sea benthic environment has always been limited by our ability to sample it,” Sturdivant notes, “as a result, deep-sea benthic ecology has a long history of mischaracterization ([as evidenced by] Edward Forbes’ [superceded] azoic theory).” Dr. Sturdivant hopes this story of deep-sea recovery serves “as a cautionary example for future deep-sea assessments, especially in areas impacted by anthropogenic activity.”

A SPI Image from an early survey profiles the seafloor and provides new insights into benthic resilience after an oil spill.

INSPIRE’s Fish Trawl Work Featured in Christian Science Monitor

Eva Botkin-Kowacki/The Christian Science Monitor. From left, scientists Steve Sabo, Brian Jenkins, and Matt Griffin count and measure fish in a survey around the Block Island Wind Farm on Aug. 16, 2018.

Christian Science Monitor recently recognized INSPIRE’s involvement with the Deepwater Wind Block Island Wind Farm. In an article highlighting the collaborative effort of fishermen and wind farm developers throughout project implementation, INSPIRE’s trawlers feature as an example of partnership between scientists and stakeholders. INSPIRE worked with local fishermen to design and execute a survey that would assess how offshore wind farm construction and operation affect fish stocks, and we’re grateful to have had the chance to work with them!

INSPIRE’s Marisa Guarinello to Present INSPIRE Survey Work in Hawai’i

INSPIRE’s Marisa Guarinello to Present INSPIRE Survey Work in Hawai’i

INSPIRE staff attend to a deployed SPI camera off the waters of Hawai’i. (Photo credit: INSPIRE Environmental)

Marisa Guarinello of INSPIRE Environmental will be presenting the results of INSPIRE’s sediment profile and plan view imaging survey of the Nawiliwili Ocean Dredged Material Disposal Site in Hawai’i at the Western Dredging Association’s Conference in October 2018. Marisa will also briefly cover results from the Kahului and Port Allen sites, which INSPIRE also surveyed for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in October 2017. At the Nawiliwili site, the team had to account for surprising results in seafloor images, including large volcanic features and coarse coralline material throughout the site in assessing the dredged material footprint. At the time of site designation in 1981, available low-resolution bathymetric contours depicted a relatively uniform seafloor. High-resolution bathymetric data from 2017 revealed a large volcanic feature in the southeastern portion of the site that was confirmed with INSPIRE’s imagery.

A SPI image of an unexpected volcanic rock feature on the seafloor. While previous bathymetric surveys depicted a relatively smooth seafloor, INSPIRE found quite the opposite. (Photo credit: INSPIRE Environmental)

INSPIRE’s innovative visualization tools were instrumental in interpreting and presenting these confounding variables to allow for a clear understanding of features at the Nawiliwili site. In addition to the scope of the initial project, INSPIRE used archival data from 2013 surveys of the South Oahu and Hilo sites to create a complete Popup visualization of all five Hawaiian sites. Integrating all five sites into a single map environment, INSPIRE’s visualization provided crucial conceptual models to describe results of dredged material placement and serve as a valuable communication tool for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as they determine best future uses of all sites and communicate with the public. Marisa is eager to share INSPIRE’s work on dredging in Hawai’i while she is actually in Hawai’i, co-authoring the presentation with counterparts from Battelle and the EPA.

Marisa Guarinello will be presenting at the WEDA Pacific Chapter Fall 2018 conference in Honolulu, HI, at the Hilton Waikiki. She will present her talk, “Imagery reveals confounding factors in evaluation of dredged material at the Nawiliwili ODMDS off the coast of Kauai”, during the Wednesday October 24 afternoon session on Environmental/Beneficial Use; she presents on behalf of Allan Ota (US EPA Region 9), Brian Ross (US EPA Region 9), Scott Libby (Battelle), and Drew Carey (INSPIRE). Reach her here to connect before the conference!

INSPIRE Expands to Harbor Launch Incubator in Maryland

Above: INSPIRE staff conduct the monthly fish trawl survey for Deepwater Wind near Block Island, Rhode Island 2018 (Photo credit: INSPIRE Environmental).

INSPIRE Environmental is headed South! We are new collaborators with Harbor Launch, a start-up and small business incubator for science and science support companies. Harbor Launch is connected with the University of Maryland Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology and its network of innovative research scientists. With a dedicated wet lab and co-working office space in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, INSPIRE can now support Deepwater Wind exploration in the mid-Atlantic.

INSPIRE Environmental at Oceanology International North America 2017

INSPIRE Environmental at Oceanology International North America 2017

On February 14, 2017, we attended Oceanology International North America.  Our team had a great time showing off our Sediment Profile Imaging technology to the conference attendees.

Managing Partner Drew Carey presented a talk on the future of data visualization in marine environments, showing off some of the innovative displays that we have been developing over the past year.

Our booth was designed by our in-house creative team and constructed by Lone Star Exhibits of Houston Texas.

We would like to extend a huge thank you to all who participated in this wonderful conference and a special appreciation to Jennifer Jensen and her team at Lone Star.

INSPIRE at the Battelle Sediments Conference 2017

INSPIRE at the Battelle Sediments Conference 2017

The INSPIRE team is gearing up for a week of presenting our research and connecting with our clients, colleagues, and friends in New Orleans. We’ll be at the Ninth International Conference on Remediation and Management of Contaminated Sediments, presented by Battelle from Tuesday through Friday, January 10-13.

Dr. S. Kersey Sturdivant will be presenting findings of research undertaken following the Deepwater Horizon accident in the Gulf of Mexico.  His talk will take place on Tuesday at 1:50 pm in Grand Ballroom E.

Animal-Sediment Response to and Recovery from the Deepwater Horizon Accident: A Worm’s Eye View.

J.D. Germano, D.G. Browning, S.K. Sturdivant, and D.A. Carey. (INSPIRE Environmental/USA)

John Hardin will be presenting in poster group 2 at the Long-Term Monitoring Strategies poster session (A11 #33).  John’s poster will be displayed from Wednesday 7:00 a.m. through Thursday 1:00 p.m.  Presentations/Reception will take place Wednesday, 5:45 p.m.–7:00 p.m.

Short- and Long-Term Recovery of Benthic Communities Following Dredge Material Disposal: A Case Study of the LA-3 Dredged Disposal Site.

S.K. Sturdivant, J.D. Germano, D.A. Carey, J. Hardin, and A. Ota. (INSPIRE Environmental/USA)

If you are in New Orleans this week, please get in touch. We’d love to see you!

Click here for more information about the Ninth International Conference on Remediation and Management of Contaminated Sediments

Those who are interested in learning more about INSPIRE Environmental have another chance to meet our scientists at the Oceanology International Conference 2017, from February 14 – 16 in San Diego, CA.  INSPIRE will be exhibiting a booth, and Dr. Drew A. Carey will present a talk on the importance data visualization.

Learn more about this event by clicking here.

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