Presentations at the 2021 Decon Conference

The 2021 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) International Decontamination Research and Development Conference was held virtually November 1-5, 2021. The conference was a mix of pre-recorded and live sessions.  View the Conference website.

• About the Oral Presentations
• About the Technology Café 
• About the Poster Session & Student Competition

Questions and Other Information: The conference is hosted by EPA’s Center for Environmental Solutions and Emergency Response. If you have technical questions about the content of the conference or your proposed presentation, logistics, or any other topics, please contact EPA_Decon@epa.gov. 

About the Oral Presentations

Each day the conference hosted concurrent sessions grouped around the conference themes. View the draft agenda at-a-glance. 

Each concurrent session consisted of four pre-recorded presentations, followed by a moderated live Q&A session. 

About the Technology Café

We welcome conference participants to demonstrate their emerging and innovative technologies in decontamination research. The Technology Café provides an opportunity for presenters and attendees to demonstrate and discuss these advancements and to highlight accomplishments, case studies, challenges, and future directions. These technologies may include, but are not limited to, commercial and prototype equipment and products, innovative decontamination methodologies and processes, analytical methods, software tools and models, or adaptation of commercial technologies for decontamination purposes. The Café is not intended to advertise or promote a product or service.

Technology Café Format:

• Each presenter will have 10-15 minutes to present.
• This event will consist of text-based Q&A and discussion.
• If applicable, presenters may also submit a fact sheet, a link to the technology website, detailed write-up of the technology, and/or instructions on how to download the technology. The supplemental materials will be provided to Technology Café attendees during the conference.
• All presentation recordings will be available on the conference platform during the 5-day conference event and on the conference platform and/or website for 90 days following the event.

Technology Café Guidelines:

• Submitted abstracts should describe the technology, how it will be presented, and its application to the topic areas included in the conference (see Topic of Interest above).
• Presenters are requested to participate in a Q&A with other attendees during the allotted time. If a presenter is unable to attend the event, the video will still be available for showing and questions may be collected for your review.
• A presenter may submit more than one demonstration to showcase.
• All Technology Café materials should follow best practices for ADA accessibility

About the Poster Session & Student Competition

Conference participants are invited to present a virtual poster summarizing their current decontamination research or tool development. The virtual poster sessions will provide an opportunity for researchers to concisely share their work and answer questions from participants. PDF versions of all posters will also be available to meeting attendees for the duration of the conference. Students presenting their posters may participate in a student poster competition.

Poster Session Format:

• Concurrent virtual sessions grouped by topic area
• Each presenter will give a 3-5 minute lightning talk describing their research
• Sessions will conclude with Q&A

Poster Session Guidelines:

• Each primary author may only have one poster.
• Posters should be in .pdf only
• All poster files should be submitted by the deadline
• Posters must contain the name(s) and title(s) of all authors
• All posters should follow best practices for ADA accessibility

Student Poster Session ONLY:

• Please select “Yes, I am a student and would be interested in participating in a poster competition” on the abstract submission form.
• Students must be currently enrolled in an institution of higher learning OR have graduated within 6 months of the conference start date.
• Data used for the poster competition must have been collected while enrolled in school.

Current students and recent graduates are invited to participate in a Student Poster Competition. The competition objective is to encourage students and early career scientists from diverse backgrounds to participate in a competition presenting their research. They will gain experience in concisely presenting their results to a panel of judges with various backgrounds. The competition will facilitate connections among early career professionals and the decontamination community. It will also recognize high performing students for their advancements in the decontamination field.

Participants will be judged on knowledge/presentation of the lightening talk (35 points) and the poster’s scientific content (35 points), visual appeal (20 points), and potential impact (10 points). All students will an receive an emailed copy of their evaluation form with feedback from the judges. The top poster presenters will be announced during the conference.