Subscribe
Dec. 12, 2025 Matthew Alloy 734-780-0234/Matthew.M.Alloy@uscg.mil
Coast Guard Great Lakes Oil Spill Center of Expertise announces fiscal year 2026 project funding selections
CLEVELAND — The U.S. Coast Guard Great Lakes Oil Spill Center of Expertise located in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, announced its project funding for fiscal year 2026.
The eight projects will advance oil spill detection, contingency response and mitigation strategies tailored to meet the challenges of the Great Lakes region.
“The Great Lakes are not just waterways, they are the beating heart of America’s inland economic engine. Protecting the Marine Transportation System here means safeguarding the flow of commerce, innovation and prosperity that millions depend on across the nation," Said U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Victoria Lacefield-Rodriguez, commanding officer, GLCOE. "These projects represent a continuous advancement in addressing the unique environmental and logistical challenges of oil spill preparedness and response in the Great Lakes.”
Funded projects for fiscal year 2026 include:
• Validating oil detection canines for detection of oil spills under ice. Experimental determination of how ice thickness, amount of oil volatiles, and trapped oil thickness impact the performance limits of canines supporting response operations. Awarded partner: International Institute for Sustainable Development, Experimental Lakes Area
• Development of mobile applications for aerial observations and shoreline cleanup and assessment technique of oil in freshwater and ice environments. The development of two applications to improve the flow of information and how SCAT data is handled and incorporated into response. Awarded Partner: Research Planning, Inc.
• Retrospective analysis of in situ burn residue properties for improved freshwater oil spill preparedness. Analysis of more than 50 ISB events to extract insights into ISB residues, the factors that influence burn efficiency and to provide operational recommendations. Awarded Partner: Pegasus Technical Services
• Hydrodynamic building blocks for updated models of oil spill fate and transport in a Great Lakes river, estuary to lake transition. Development of a hydrodynamic model incorporating dynamic bidirectional currents and winds in rivers to Great Lakes transition zones. Updateexisting U.S. Geological Survey river models and open water models such as the General NOAA Operational Modeling Environment. Awarded Partner: U.S. Geological Survey
• Evaluation of ISB efficiency for emerging oil contaminants in freshwater ice conditions. Side-by-side experimental burns in different ice conditions of present and emerging oils used in the Great Lakes aimed to fill the data gaps for both ISB in freshwater ice and for new oils. Awarded Partner: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory
• Validation of modeled surface currents on Lake Michigan and integration with GNOME model clustered surface current drifter deployments in Lake Michigan to validate GNOME model predictions in the lake’s open waters and in the Strait of Mackinaw. Awarded Partner: NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory
• Fate and transport of synthetic oils and impact on the Great Lakes. Computer models to compare the fate, weathering and transport of hypothetical spills of synthetic oils, such as dielectric fluid in areas of concern in the Great Lakes. Awarded Partner: U.S. Coast Guard Academy
• Fate and behavior of submerged oils and effects on benthic organisms in simulated freshwater environments. Using a combination of indoor microcosms and outdoor mesocosms, researchers will investigate oil particle aggregation formation using St. Marys River water and sediments and seeing how oil partitioning between the surface, OPA, and sediments impacts the ecosystem from microbes up to native macroinvertebrates. Awarded Partner: Lake Superior State University
To track the progress of the projects and for information on future funding opportunities visit https://www.dco.uscg.mil/GLCOE/.
For more information, contact Matthew Alloy, research scientist, GLCOE at 734-780-0234 or via email at Matthew.M.Alloy@uscg.mil.
-USCG-
| Date Taken: | 12.12.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 12.12.2025 12:38 |
| Story ID: | 554040 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 25 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
