About

With support from the National Academies' Gulf Research Program, the Natural Hazards Center is leading the Next Generation Oil Spill Researchers initiative—a community of practice readying Gulf-based researchers and community collaborators before the next disaster happens.

Background

It’s been over 15 years since responders, scientists, and community members were called into action by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. As time passes, we risk losing a generation’s worth of experience and knowledge about oil spill science and how to coordinate a research response to an event of national significance.

The United States—and many other countries—rely on the Gulf for its energy production and commerce. Preparing for low-probability but high-consequence oil spills is a vital element of effective risk management that demands focused preparedness efforts, including an established next generation of oil spill researchers.

Through prior activities such as the 2021 Offshore Situation Room—an innovative “serious gaming” exercise on major offshore oil disaster scenarios—and the 2024 Gulf–Alaska Knowledge Exchange, the Gulf Research Program has convened experts, responders, and community representatives to learn from both the Deepwater Horizon and Exxon Valdez spills.

These discussions revealed a clear consensus: the nation must train and connect the next generation of oil spill researchers to prevent the loss of hard-earned knowledge and improve readiness for any future incidents. Additionally, there is a need to partner with and elevate the work of Gulf-based researchers who know the local context best.

Fostering a New Community of Practice for Oil Spill Research

The Next Generation Oil Spill Researchers initiative was established to build a community of practice that fosters learning, engagement, and cross-regional collaboration between early-career and senior researchers, Gulf-based institutions, community organizations, and incident response practitioners. The community of practice is supported by three pillars of work:

Interactive webinars strengthen Gulf-centered research capacity to study the human, economic, and environmental impacts of future spills. The multi-year webinar series equips early-career researchers from across disciplines and organizations with greater knowledge to conduct a coordinated, rigorous, and community-centered research response that reduces the burden on affected populations.

Networking opportunities foster connections and knowledge exchange between senior and next generation researchers and practitioners. Through Next Generation Oil Spill Researchers LinkedIn group and in-person networking events, members share lessons from past spills, learn community-rooted research practices, and build connections that enable sustained collaboration.

Resources and Readings are curated so that institutional memory of past oil spill research is preserved and the lessons learned about studying the human toll of spills are transferred to the next generation. The collection includes publications related to the human, economic, and environmental impacts of oil spills as well as online training modules and data collection tools.

Next Generation Oil Spill Researchers represents an investment in people—cultivating a prepared, connected, and ethically grounded community of practice capable of conducting impactful, interdisciplinary work in the event of future oil spills or hazardous incidents. This initiative marks the first phase of a longer-term effort to strengthen research readiness and resilience across the Gulf and beyond. The community of practice will evolve and adapt as new challenges, technologies, and research priorities emerge.