Emergency Response Research Webinar Series

Free webinars typically held on the second Wednesday of the month. Special webinars on COVID-19 research are conducted as research results become available. 

EPA's Office of Research and Development hosts this webinar series to share current research activities and results. This webinar series covers the latest information on research supporting EPA's response to chemical, biological, and radiological incidents, as well as natural disasters. This forum allows EPA to communicate directly with partners and stakeholders to foster collaboration and dissemination of information. 

NOTE: Attendees have the option of receiving a certificate of attendance. Acceptance of certificates is contingent on organization requirements—EPA cannot guarantee acceptance. Closed-captioned recordings of the webinars are provided below for later viewing and as a training resource; certificates cannot be provided for viewing webinar recordings. 

Webinar dates and topics are subject to change.

On this page:

• 2025 Schedule
• 2024 Webinar Recordings
• More Webinars by Topic Area

Upcoming Webinar

Managing Contaminated Drinking Water Post-Hurricane

Wednesday, March 12, 2025, 2:00 - 3:00 PM ET

Registration Now Open

Drinking water infrastructure may become contaminated during a hurricane by tidal surge, flooding, pollutants in the water, or physical damage to the distribution system. Many communities experienced damage to drinking water systems following Hurricanes Harvey and Maria (2017), and as recently as Helene (2024). When community infrastructure is damaged from storms, contaminated floodwater can become a problem. It is important for emergency responders to understand how water systems can be decontaminated and returned to service so that communities can begin to recover.

This webinar will discuss a simulated post-hurricane contamination of a drinking water distribution system that was conducted at EPA's Water Security Test Bed (WSTB), a first-of-its-scale replication of a typical municipal drinking water piping system. The WSTB allows researchers and responders to better understand that behavior of water systems under real-world conditions. For this experiment, the 450-foot long pipe and associated premise plumbing were contaminated with diesel fuel, saltwater, and E. coli. The presenter will discuss how the system was monitored before, during, and after decontamination and provide the results.

About the Presenter

Chelsea Hintz is a Biologist in EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD) Center for Environmental Solutions and Emergency Response (CESER). She joined EPA in 2019 and her current research focuses on the fate, transport, and impact of environmental contamination in aquatic systems. She has current projects examining the impact of spilled oil in freshwater environments and evaluating the impact of contamination within green infrastructure (specifically, bioretention cells). Chelsea has a Bachelor of Science in Zoology form Ohio State University and a PhD in Biology from the University of Cincinnati.

2025 Schedule

If you are interested in being notified when new webinars are scheduled, please sign up to receive email notifications here: Receive emails for upcoming webinars.

Topic and presenters are subject to change. Additional information and registration links will be provided in advance of each webinar.

Date	Topic
April 9	SWMM for Emergency Response Planning
May 14	Mobile Hot Zone Decontamination Cart
June 11	Emerging Technologies for Responder Training
July 9	Foreign Animal Disease Outbreak
August 13	Emergency Response Support from EPA
September 10	20 Years After Hurricane Katrina
November 12	Aerosol Treatment Testing Capability
December 10	Lithium Ion Batteries