The 6th Premiam Conference

Premiam Conference: innovation and preparedness for post spill environmental monitoring

Wednesday 9 April 2025
In partnership with Cefas (Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science)

We are excited to announce that, in partnership with Cefas, the 6th Premiam Conference (Pollution Response in Emergencies: Monitoring and Impact Assessment) will take place on Wednesday 9 April at ExCeL London, as part of Interspill 2025.

This full-day conference will be delivered by Cefas and provide a forum for scientists, regulators, environmental advisors and other professionals working in the field of marine oil/chemical spill monitoring and impact assessment to share experience, best practice and knowledge with the wider marine emergency response community.

This event will have a range of expert speakers from government, industry and academia with a focus on innovative technologies and the application of best practice science to understanding spill impacts in the marine environment. In line with the scheduled publication of the new Premiam post-spill monitoring guidelines the event will also have an increasingly global focus.

This is an event (Premiam Conference), within the event (Interspill) so to speak... on Wednesday 9 April, specifically!

Attendance will be administered by Cefas in the following way. Please see a working programme, below. If you would like to attend the 6th Premiam Conference @ Interspill 2025, please register your interest by completing the enquiry form at the foot of this page. Form responses will be collated and shared with the Cefas team. Successful applicants will then be invited by Cefas to register via a bespoke platform.

We look forward to hearing from you and to a great event!

The 6th Premiam Conference Sessions

Wednesday, 9th April 2025

09:00

Premiam Conference: Emerging Threats & Challenges

90 minutes

SESSION CHAIR: Mark Kirby, Cefas

Keynote: Post-Spill Monitoring in the wider Scientific Landscape – Cefas/Defra Chief Scientist

This session addresses the significance and relevance of emerging issues and how it relates to environmental impact assessment practices.

Presentation topics to include:

Monitoring in multi-stressor environments – differentiating spill impacts in already impacted areas.
Plastics – what approaches are relevant for investigating impacts of plastics spills
Climate change/biodiversity/food security – spill impacts in the context of broad global threats
Chemical & oil transport trends – how do different cargo trends affect out monitoring preparedness considerations.

14:30

Premiam Conference: New Techniques & Technologies

90 minutes

SESSION CHAIR: Mark Kirby, Cefas
Keynote: Embracing & Adopting Technology

This session considers the place for new technologies in the toolbox for assessment of spill impacts as part of a monitoring programme.

Presentation topics to include:

New Tools for New Fuels – using the latest analytical technology to track the emerging generation of fuels.
Remote sensing – how can remote sensing technologies contribute to an effective impact assessment.
eDNA/Genomics – consideration of the latest molecular biology techniques and their place in emergency response monitoring.
AI & Systems Thinking – considering the new ways of using data to facilitate post-spill monitoring

16:30

Premiam Conference: New Environments & Geographies

90 minutes

SESSION CHAIR: Mark Kirby, Cefas

Keynote: The global ecosystem – threatened by spills?

This session considers the broader, global environment and the importance of developing sound scientific monitoring approaches to all vulnerable marine environments. The next edition of the Premiam Post Spill Monitoring Guidelines (due in 2025) will include principles for monitoring in a wider set of global environments.

Presentation topics to include:

UK Protected Areas – considering the importance of environments closer to home
Tropical Environments – Corals & Mangroves, what are the principles for post-spill monitoring in these environments.
Polar Environments – Are there different considerations to be taken for polar environments?
The Premiam Guidelines – How are they adapting to be more relevant to emerging threats and globally relevant environments?