OINA Speakers Announced

With just one month to go before the inaugural Oceanology International North America 2017 (OINA) exhibition, organiser Reed Exhibitions have announced additional information highlighting key speakers presenting at the conference. Taking place at the San Diego Convention Center in California on February 14 – 16 2017, the OINA Conference will consist keynote focused panel discussions, technical tracks and a full day dedicated to the Catch the Next Wave conference. All aspects of the conference will provide a clear understanding of the present and future requirements and opportunities of the Blue Economy.

Speakers from a range of industries will be presenting at all three programmes at the San Diego conference. This will feature a variety of presenters from US organisations including the National Ocean Service, Coast Guard and the Scripps Institute of Oceanography.

Jules Jaffe, Research Oceanographer, Scripps Institute of Oceanography will present as part of the Unmanned Underwater Vehicles technical discussion, with a particular focus on The M-AUE Miniature Autonomous Vehicle for Monitoring Ocean Currents via "Swarm" Deployment. Jaffe has worked on many projects including the world’s first 3D underwater video microscope and creating autonomous underwater explorer devices enabling scientists to explore the circulation that happens in rivers and along coastlines and to monitor the development of oil spills. Jaffe will explain the development of Unmanned Undersea Vehicles (UUVs) and how miniaturisation has resulted in the availability of lower cost vehicles.

Ryan Thomas, Technical Director of OARS-HPSG will also feature in the technical sessions at OINA. With an education in Marine Geology and Geophysics Thomas has over 17 years’ experience working in the marine survey industry and will be presenting on the subject of Big Data, Visualization & Modeling with a focus on Scalable Processing and Visualization Tools for Large Datasets.

Another notable speaker is Russell Callender, Assistant Administrator at NOAA’s National Ocean Service Maritime the nation’s most comprehensive ocean and coastal agency. Dr Callender has over 20 years of science, policy, and management experience including senior positions in Sea Grant and two line offices in NOAA. Callender will discuss the emerging marine science/technology needs of the climate and environment.

Commenting, he said, "We all depend on a healthy ocean and coasts, but coastal communities are often hit the hardest by changes to our ocean environment. Those changes can be relatively easier to predict, such as rising sea levels or ocean acidification, or they can be harder to predict, such as extreme weather events. Regardless, our goal at NOAA's National Ocean Service is to make coastal communities more resilient by providing the sound science and rapid access to information and technology that promote good decisions today and protect lives and property tomorrow."

Dr Callender will consider present and future threats to coastal communities and the ocean environment; exploring the role of ocean science and technology in their understanding, adaptation to their effects and mitigation of their impacts.

Finally, the renowned oceanographer Walter Munk, of Scripps Institution of Oceanography, will be honoured for his outstanding contribution to ocean science and technology at the Catch the Next Wave event. Munk will present on ‘Acoustic Monitoring of Climate Change’ within the Sensing with Sound session. This will provide a fitting conclusion to the extensive OINA conference schedule.

“Oceanology North America will include a wide range of topical speakers covering an overall insight into the emerging topics for ocean science and technology and how this is delivering an environmentally sound Blue Economy,” states Ellen Burgess, Conference Manager, Reed Exhibitions.

In line with the established Oceanology International conference and exhibition in London, the OINA conference is supported by an extensive industry exhibition. Major players from the US and Europe including iXblue, Teledyne, Hydroid, Xylem, Fugro and Kongsberg, have all confirmed booths in anticipation of OINA becoming the must-attend biennial US event covering all aspects of global ocean science and marine technology.

OINA 2017 is organised by Reed Exhibitions in association with The Maritime Alliance (TMA) and supported by a range of industry partners.