2023 Decon Conference Presentation Format Guide
The 2023 EPA International Decontamination Research and Development Conference will be held December 5-7, 2023 in Charleston, South Carolina as a hybrid conference. It will include a mix of keynote, oral, technology café, and poster presentations.
A description of each session and information on presenting is is provided below.
Please note: All presenters will be required to provide their talks in-person. The Poster and Technology Café sessions will not be streamed or recorded. Remote attendee participation will be limited to viewing the live stream of keynote and oral presentations.
Topic Descriptions | Oral Presentations | Technology Café | Poster Session | Student Competition | Release Forms
Topic Description
The conference will cover presentations on the following topic areas*:
- Biological Agents: Decontamination
Includes agricultural threats and biotoxins. Research on decontamination/mitigation efforts for biological response and remediation. - Biological Agents: Sampling & Analysis
Sampling and analysis research related to characterization/clearance for biological agent contamination. - Chemical Agents: Decontamination
Research on decontamination/mitigation efforts for chemical agent response and remediation. - Chemical Agents: Sampling & Analysis
Sampling and analysis research related to characterization/clearance for chemical agent contamination of indoor or outdoor areas and materials. - Radiological Agents: Decontamination/Sampling & Analysis
Research on decontamination/mitigation efforts and sampling and analysis methods/plans for radiological agent contamination of indoor or outdoor areas and materials. - Materials and Waste Management
Research on all hazards approaches to manage waste and other materials following intentional or natural disasters. - Biothreat Contagion Preparedness Research (COVID-19 and other emerging/re-emerging pathogens) **
SARS-CoV-2 and other emerging/re-emerging pathogen environmental sampling, analysis, fate/transport, and decontamination research. - Information Sharing and Infrastructure Security
Research and response efforts related to the mitigation/prevention of information and security and its impact on public health and the environment. - Decision Support (conceptual and tool demonstrations)
Current and newly developed tools and resources to help communities plan for homeland security incidents involving intentional or natural disasters. - Hazard Response
Hands on approaches and case studies to demonstrate real-world sampling, analysis, and decontamination efforts during response and remediation efforts for natural disasters, large-scale accidental contamination, and intentional contamination incidents. Also highlighted in this session are the dynamics of environmental crisis communication that are important in these contamination events. - Applications of Social Science to Decontamination, Sampling, and Risk Communication
Community involvement and decontamination efforts; risk communication and risk perception with decontamination efforts; issues of equity, vulnerability, trust, or stigma related to decontamination; citizen science and decontamination; community case studies; and impacts on community resilience. - Water Sector Resilience
Decontamination efforts and increasing the resiliency of aging water systems and source water. - Oil Spill Response
Sampling, analysis, fate and transport, and cleanup operations involving oil spills in the natural environment. - Analysis for Coastal Operational Resiliency (AnCOR)
Includes an overview of methods, analyses, results, and demonstration videos to showcase research efforts of the federal collaboration among Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Coast Guard, and U.S. EPA's AnCOR project.
*Research area topics include research at the bench, pilot, and full scale. Operational demonstrations and case studies are also featured.
**This session includes SARS-CoV-2 and other emerging/re-emerging pathogen environmental sampling, analysis, fate and transport, and decontamination research. Presentations related to COVID-19 clinical testing, medical countermeasures, or vaccine development will not be considered, as these topics are outside the scope of this conference.
Oral Presentations
Concurrent oral presentation sessions grouped around the conference topics will be hosted each day of the conference. Each concurrent session will consist of four live presentations. Please Note: Oral platform presentations will be recorded during the conference and posted to the conference proceedings webpage.
All materials should be emailed to EPA_Decon@icfi.com.
Before the Conference
- Respond to abstract acceptance email to confirm in-person participation.
- Make sure presentation follows best practices for accessibility.
- Send in your final presentation by November 15, 2023.
- Complete and sign EPA's Multimedia Consent Form.
- Complete and sign EPA's Content License Agreement (pdf) (not required for EPA employees).
- Register for the conference by November 1, 2023. (Registration is now closed).
During the Presentation
- Each presentation is allotted 20 minutes for their talk with an additional 5 minutes for questions from the audience.
- Moderators will indicate how much time you have left with 5 minute and 2 minute warnings.
Technology Café
The Technology Café provides an opportunity for presenters to demonstrate and discuss advancements in emerging and innovative technologies. Presenters will highlight accomplishments, case studies, challenges, and future directions in decontamination research and application. 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. This session will run concurrently with the Poster session.
All materials should be emailed to EPA_Decon@icfi.com.
Before the Conference
- Respond to abstract acceptance email to confirm in-person participation.
- Develop a one-page fact sheet that contains information on the technology, including but not limited to: links to website, instructions on how to download the technology, and a detailed description on how it can be used.
- Presenters may opt to have materials made available on the conference website (strongly encouraged).
- All materials should follow best practices for accessibility.
- Materials and intent to post or not post to the conference website should be sent by November 15, 2023.
- Complete and sign EPA's Content License Agreement (pdf) (not required for EPA employees).
- Each presenter is limited to an 8-foot table.
- If you have equipment that needs to be shipped to the conference, please contact the venue for more information. EPA is not responsible for equipment brought to the conference.
- Register for the conference by November 1, 2023. (Registration is now closed).
During the Conference
- Presenters will provide a 5-10 minute overview of the tool and offer a tool demonstration to attendees.
- Presenters should be available for the duration of the Technology Café, approximately two hours. Time will be allotted for presenters to set up their technology during the break, prior to the session.
- Printed one-page fact sheet will be made available to attendees during technology café presentation.
Poster Session
Presenters should summarize their current research consistent with the conference topic descriptions. The poster sessions will provide an opportunity for researchers to concisely share their work and answer questions from participants. This session will run concurrently with the Technology Café session.
All materials should be emailed to EPA_Decon@icfi.com.
Before the Conference
- Respond to the abstract acceptance email to confirm in-person participation.
- Presenters can opt to have posters made available on the conference website (strongly encouraged). For those opting to post to the conference website, files should be sent in by November 15, 2023.
- Primary authors may only have one poster. If a primary author has both an accepted technology café demonstration and an accepted poster, they must have another presenter available for the technology café demonstration.
- Print your poster and bring it with you or you can contact the venue for information on how to ship materials.
- Complete and sign EPA's Content License Agreement (pdf) (not required for EPA employees).
- Register for the conference by November 1, 2023 (Registration is now closed)..
Poster Format
- Posters must contain the name(s) and title(s) of all authors.
- All posters should follow best practices for accessibility.
- Posters should be 3-foot high by 4-foot wide.
- Font in the body of the poster should have a minimum of 24 points. The title font should have a minimum of 50 points.
During the Conference
- Presenter will provide a 3-5 minute lightning talk describing their research to attendees.
- Presenters should be available for the duration of the session, approximately two hours. Time will be allotted for presenters to set up their poster during the break, prior to the session.
Student Competition
Current students and recent graduates who have opted to participate in the Student Poster Competition 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.
- 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.
- Follow all poster session guidelines above.
During the Conference
- A panel of judges will visit each student poster that has opted to participate in the competition.
- Each student should be prepared to give a 3-5 minute lightening talk, as noted in the poster session guidelines above.
Participants will be judged on the following criteria:
- Knowledge and presentation of the lightening talk (35 points)
- Scientific content (30 points)
- Visual appeal (15 points)
- Potential impact (10 points)
- Ability to answer questions (10 points)
All students will receive an emailed copy of their evaluation form with feedback from the judges. The top poster presenters will be announced during the closing ceremony of the conference. Winners will be asked to provide their 3-5 minute lightening talk to the audience.
Release Forms
All oral presenters will need to sign EPA's Multimedia Consent Form (needed for presenters appearing in the conference recording).
All non-EPA oral presenters will need to sign EPA's Content License Agreement (needed for third party content where EPA is not the copyright holder).
Presenters opting to post technology café supplemental materials or posters on the conference webpage will need to sign a EPA's Content License Agreement (needed for third party content where EPA is not the copyright holder).
- EPA's Multimedia Consent Form - this form grants consent for release of video, photo(s) and/or voice recording to U.S. EPA and related conditions or waivers. The form can be downloaded, filled out, and returned to EPA_Decon@icfi.com.
- EPA's Content License Agreement (pdf) - this form grants consent for the license of material to be distributed, promoted, and broadcast at the conference and online posting.
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, presentation guidance, logistics, or any other topics, please contact EPA_Decon@epa.gov.