July 16 2010 The BNGIS Centre was notified by Her Excellency, Nicole Avant, U.S. Ambassador to The Bahamas, via Diplomatic Note to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, that the U.S. Embassy in conjunction with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Northern Commend offered a fully funded 5 day training course on oil Spill modeling technology, Seattle Washington.

Ms. Antonique Sweeting, GIS Analyst, BNGIS Centre and Mr. Carlon Bethel, Royal Bahamas Defense Force participated in the training.

During the Training Officers worked in the NOAA Seattle Office of the Office of Response and Restoration, Emergency Response Division. The BNGIS and Defence Force representatives were also provided with the opportunity to: observe the development of daily fate and trajectory models for the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill; speak with the NOAA scientists working on the oil spill; learn about the General NOAA Operational Modeling Environment (GNOME); learn about the NOAA CAMEO tool and chemical reactivity database; and develop a broader understanding of how to apply these forecasting and modeling tools to oil and chemical spills in The Bahamas. Our team also had the opportunity to discuss NOAA’s offshore oil transport models related to the Deepwater Horizon and receive daily updates on the status of the loop current in the Gulf of Mexico.

Subsequent to this training Ms. Antonique Sweeting provided a brief to Oil Spill Contingency Committee and offered recommendations on the way forward.

Debbie Payton Branch Chief,
Emergency Response Division, NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration and
Bahamian Team

Bahamian participants Antonique Sweeting - GIS Analyst , BNGIS Centre and Senior Lieutenant Carlon Bethel, RBDF at NOAA Office of Response and Restoration, Seattle, Washington

NOAA Scientist and Staff
Office of Response and Restoration and Bahamian participants