The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Triton Initiative, in collaboration with OES-Environmental and the Pacific Marine Energy Center, is hosting an interactive workshop about marine energy-related environmental effects and information needs at the 2026 Ocean Renewable Energy Conference (OREC) + Marine Energy Collegiate Competition (MECC) from 1:00-3:00 PT on 19 May 2026 in Portland, Oregon, USA.
This 2-hour, interactive workshop will explore how stakeholder groups (e.g., developers, researchers, decision-makers) conceptualize environmental effects of marine energy to illuminate differences in how these groups interpret information, judge severity, and make decisions. The facilitators will introduce multidisciplinary research examining how stakeholder groups utilize information about potential environmental impacts to inform decision-making. Participants will then be broken into groups to participate in an activity that explores factors that influence their understanding of an environmental effect, corresponding information sources and needs, and actions that can be taken to manage or mitigate the effect. This exercise will enable engaging conversations about environmental effects topics of interest with key players in the marine energy industry, and provide insights into the information and communications needs of different stakeholder groups. The overarching goal of this workshop is to gather insights to help reduce barriers to information access and establish effective feedback channels so environmental monitoring research projects can better address end-user needs in support of advancing marine energy permitting and deployment. In turn, participants will be provided with resources aligned with identified information needs.
