The Department of Communication, the College of the Environment, University Libraries, and the Master of Communication in Digital Media at the

University of Washington

present:

SEAchange: From Exxon Valdez to Deepwater Horizon

Tales of Environmental Disaster, Justice, and Recovery

with Lessons for Puget Sound

Saturday, April 2, 2011

8:30am - 5:30pm

  One year ago last April, the catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico inspired citizens, scientists, engineers, lawyers, and others to fill what they saw as an information vacuum, while federal officials and mainstream media outlets struggled to accurately tell a story that amplified and morphed at breakneck speed. Newly influential storytellers, along with enterprising journalists and government agencies, used YouTube, Twitter, compelling visuals, cutting-edge science, blogs, and humor to make sense of a complicated set of events.

   Twenty-two years ago this April, in a very different media era, another disastrous oil spill occurred in Prince William Sound, Alaska.  In the two decades between these events, lawyers, environmental advocates, journalists, and researchers have told the story of the Exxon Valdez spill in varying degrees of depth and with a range of tools — from news articles, legal briefs, and documentaries to scholarly investigations and public art exhibits.

   What do the narrative responses produced by these two disasters tell us about the powerful ties between storytelling, our environment, and social justice? What lessons from the 20th Century are useful for people who are still working to tell the story of the BP DeepWater Horizon blowout and its ensuing oil spill in the 21st Century?  On the anniversaries of both spills, what can we learn about the stewardship of Puget Sound?

   Join this important conversation. SEAchange 2011 will feature scientists, fishermen, technologists, chefs, community leaders, and a multitude of interdisciplinary thinkers and doers for a refreshing day of shared learning. At stake are ecosystems and public health, professional livelihoods, government and media credibility, and deep notions of justice and responsibility. Help explore how we as a society of modern consumers confront the many environmental ills that all of us have a hand in creating.

Confirmed speakers:

Richard Harris, National Public Radio

Shirley Laska, University of New Orleans

Doug Helton, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Bill Rodgers, University of Washington

Kevin Davis , Blueacre Seafood

Tom Leschine, University of Washington

Bob Pavia, University of Washington

Fred Felleman, WAVE Consulting

Usha Lee McFarling, University of Washington

Our main stage features many nationally recognized speakers who have dealt directly with these spills and their widespread environmental, economic and emotional fallout. At the same time, we’ll have a variety of more intimate conversations and multimedia presentations where you can delve deeply into your specific areas of interest.

Meals and refreshments will be provided throughout the day.

Reception to follow.

Join the conversations. Engage in this conference on our Social 27 platform.

http://seachange.social27.com/Mhome

http://seachange.uw.edu/

#SCUW11

Registration will be capped at 300. Please register early to hold your seat.

SEAchange is held in the UW Libraries Research Commons, a newly developed space that fosters research conversation and  collaboration and is meeting a new set of student and faculty needs that are emerging with the growth of data-driven research, digital scholarship and interdisciplinary studies.

LOCATION OF RESEARCH COMMONS:

http://www.washington.edu/home/maps/northcentral.html?70,71,741,489

SEAchange 2011 is a Four Peaks Bridge Event

SEAchange

Schedule

Keeping Watch Over the Sea: NANOOS The first defense against oil spills -- or any of a number of assaults on the seas -- is the nation’s linked collection of powerful ocean observing systems. Join Jan Newton, an oceanographer at the Applied Physics Laboratory and executive director of the Northwest Association of Networked Ocean Observing Systems, or NANOOS as she describes this powerful -- and visually compelling -- system to safeguard our waters. http://www.nanoos.org/

Telling the story of being 'oiled' :  Representatives of Native American coastal Louisiana communities. Join Rosina Philippe, Theresa Dardar, Gigi Ancar, and Donielle Ancar-Brinkley as they describe their experiences and the plights of their communities during and after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.


Will the real BP please stand up?: Join comedy writer Josh Simpson, who created the sardonic twitter feed @ BPGlobalPR that has drawn more than 176,000 followers -- 150,000 more than BP’s real twitter feed. The disarming tweets are difficult to distinguish from real statements made by former BP CEO Tony Hayward that angered so many in the Gulf. Simpson will discuss the creation of his twitter stream, the huge public response to it, and the evolution of the feed into a fundraising effort that has has raised thousands for Gulf restoration.


A Fisherman’s Perspective: Join Jeff Stonehill, who formed one of Alaska’s first salmon cooperatives in 1982 only to see the fishery decimated by the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Stonehill will describe the spill’s effects on his own life and profession. 


Forecasting oil flow:  When the extent of the Deepwater Horizon spill became clear, fishing captains, residents and tourists all clamored for information about where the oil was headed and where and when it would hit land. Join NOAA’s Debbie Payton as she discusses the difficulties of “forecasting” oil flow and then getting this complex and uncertain information to  the public in a timely and understandable way.


Sea turtle SOS:  Some of the most compelling of the many animals harmed by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill were the sea turtles of the Gulf of Mexico. Join Gary Shigenaka, a marine biologist from NOAA, as he describes how 500 turtles were rescued and rehabilitated from oil-slicked and burning waters and how their critical nesting habitats were also saved.


How safe is your seafood?: Join Usha Varanasi, retired Science and Research Director of NOAA Fisheries' Northwest Fisheries Science Center and affiliate professor of the UW College of the Environment whose work on seafood safety was instrumental during the Exxon Valdez spill and John Stein, acting Science and Research Director of NOAA Fisheries' Northwest Fisheries Science Center, and Head of NOAA's Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Seafood Safety Program.  They will discuss how scientists determine whether fish and other seafood is safe to eat after an oil spill incident, the complexities of communicating this information and what the outlook is for Gulf seafood recovery.


Seagrass and Seabirds as Sentinels:  Join Sandy Wyllie-Echeverria of UW’s Friday Harbor Lab to discuss what seagrass can tell us about the health of our waters and the educational programs he is developing. Kate Litle and Julia Parrish of UW’s College of the Environment will discuss their extremely successful program Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team (COASST) that employs citizen scientists to find and report dead seabirds along the Washington coastline in an effort to monitor the environmental health of Puget Sound. 


Visualizing an Oil Spill in Puget Sound:  Join NOAA’s Gary Shigenaka as he examines exciting visualization technologies that can show where and how far oil could flow in various spill scenarios in the Sound.


Treaty Tribal Views -- Not just the cost of doing business: Join Chad Bowechop, the Pacific Northwest Makah Tribe representative for the Region 10 Response Team, as he discusses the history of Pacific Northwest oil spills that had direct and lasting impact on indigenous communities. (With Fred Felleman)


How Vulnerable is Puget Sound?: Join Todd Hass, oil spill policy specialist, of the Puget Sound Partnership, and Thomas Callahan, Response Manager for the Washington State Maritime Cooperative, for a look at oil spill vulnerabilities as well as prevention and preparedness measures unique to Puget Sound -- with its high level of tank vessel traffic, confined spaces and numerous islands. The discussion will include looking at lessons we here in Washington State can take from the President’s Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill.


Measuring the Flow: Join Alberto Aliseda, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Washington as he describes how he and UW colleague James Riley used cutting edge visualization techniques -- with no time to lose -- in an effort to help the government determine the amount of oil flowing from the destroyed Deepwater Horizon oil rig.  With Richard Harris, NPR.


Reinvigorating an 'oiled' culture and the role of the media: Join Patience Faulkner, an Alaska native from Cordova and board member of The Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council, who will discuss how minority communities are challenged in their visibility before a disaster event such as a major oil spill, are often used as “props” by the media during disaster coverage and then rapidly become invisible once again.