2023 EPA International Decontamination Research and Development Conference
Date and Time
8:00 am - 5:00 pm EST
Location
Hyatt House/Historic District
560 King Street
Charleston, SC 29403
United States
Event Host
Event Type
Description
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“Advancing Preparedness through Science and Collaboration”
The clean-up of chemical, biological, or radiological (CBR) contamination incidents and natural disasters is a critical challenge for the United States. Understanding how to characterize and remediate affected areas of environmental contamination and waste is necessary for daily life to return.
The Decon Conference is designed to facilitate presentation, discussion, and further collaboration of research and development topics focused on an all-hazards approach to remediate contaminated indoor and outdoor areas, critical infrastructure, water distribution systems, and other environmental areas/materials.
This conference is free and open to the public. Content and presentations are geared towards the emergency response community, including local and state emergency mangers, homeland security officials, first responder coordinators, private sector industry, risk managers, educators in the field of emergency management, and others.
About the Conference | Attend | Program Details | Presenter Info | Special Accommodations | History | Contact Us
About the Conference
The conference speakers and group leaders will be subject matter experts from EPA and other federal, state, and local agencies, tribes, academia, industry, and non-government organizations. The conference will be held in-person at the Hyatt House/Historic District in Charleston, South Carolina and will consist of a mix of technical sessions, including keynote, oral, poster, and Technology Café demonstrations. In-person participation is encouraged, however, oral presentations and plenary discussions will be live-streamed for those unable to attend on-site.
Topics for this conference include:
- Sampling & Analysis for Biological, Chemical, or Radiological Agents
- Decontamination for Biological, Chemical, or Radiological Agents
- Materials and Waste Management
- Biothreat Contagion Preparedness Research (COVID-19 and other emerging/re-emerging pathogens)
- Information Sharing and Infrastructure Security
- Decision Support (conceptual and tool demonstrations)
- Hazard Response
- Applications of Social Science to Decontamination, Sampling, and Risk Communication
- Water Sector Resilience
- Oil Spill Response
- Analysis for Coastal Operational Resiliency (AnCOR)
Topic descriptions are included in the Presentations Format Guide.
Please note: All presenters will be required to provide their talks in-person. Remote attendee participation will be limited to viewing the live stream of keynote and oral presentations. The Poster and Technology Café sessions will not be streamed or recorded.
Meet the 2023 Conference Organizing Committee.
Review the Conference Diversity Commitment and Code of Conduct.
Attend
Registration
Registration for the 2023 EPA Decon Conference is now closed! We apologize, but we are not able to accommodate any additional late registration requests.
Check back at this website for updates or sign up to receive email notifications. If you already receive email correspondence regarding the 2023 Decon Conference, you do not need to sign up again.
Lodging, Transportation, and Dining
Information on the hotel, transportation, and dining can be found on the Logistics Page.
Note: EPA participants should include the following 5170 code on their Travel Authorizations: MM262606.
Program Details
Preliminary agenda now available!
Presenter Info
The abstract submission period has closed.
Decisions regarding abstract submissions will be made by late-September 2023.
Presenters should review the Presentations Format Guide for specific guidelines and requirements.
Special Accommodations
If you require special accommodations, please contact [email protected] by October 5, 2023.
Conference History
Since 2005, EPA's Office of Research and Development's Center for Environmental Solutions and Emergency Response (CESER) (formerly the National Homeland Security Research Center) has organized and hosted an international conference on decontamination research and development.
The conference began as a workshop featuring presentations that discuss decontamination, cleanup, and associated issues for sites contaminated with CBR materials. The initial workshop focused on five main topic areas including: decontamination processes, decontamination technologies, research and development interests, radiological contamination, and lessons learned from prior work. While the first four workshops were largely focused on decontamination and related issues, the scope expanded as the workshop shifted from a workshop to a conference in 2010.
Topic areas and conference attendance continues to grow (with almost 500 attendees participating in the 2021 conference) as we prepare for the 13th biennial conference.
Additional Resources
Contact Us
For questions about the conference, contact [email protected].