Offshore Wind Technology Town Hall: Technological Solutions to Monitoring and Mitigation Challenges  @ OCEANS Halifax

Over the past year, multiple discussions, workshops and forums have been held focusing on challenges around effectively conducting ecological monitoring and mitigation campaigns for offshore wind using new technologies. This has included a workshop series sponsored by the US Department of Energy, and coordinated through the Technology Subcommittee of the Regional Wildlife Science Collaborative and the offshore renewable energy committee of MTS and a TechSurge and Tech Café hosted by RWSC/MTS at the NYSERDA State of the Science Workshop. The intent of this series of technology events is to address opportunities for monitoring within and around offshore wind facilities in support of regional science and regulatory priorities. A common theme and objective throughout all of these 2024 events is to engage the marine technology community. This town hall at the Oceans 2024 conference is a capstone event and discussion for this series of workshops and meetings. An expert panel will offer their unique perspectives in the application of marine technology to the advancement of offshore wind development. The main objectives will be to summarize the major outcomes of the workshop, share ongoing and future activities in Canada, and facilitate discussion with the audience on key gaps and next steps. Through this town hall we will engage the OCEANS community in a conversation that will gather input on action that can be taken in 2025 to foster opportunities for our community to address gaps identified by our panelists.