Services
Scientific Support of Oil Spill Response
Leadership for shoreline response operations encompassing shoreline assessment (SCAT), cleanup, inspections, and damage assessment.
Natural resources damage assessment
Unique combination of technical expertise, from pre-planning through restoration, supports critical operational decisions in the context of NRDA and restoration concerns.
Coral Grounding Assessment and Restoration
Support for coral reef damages from ship casualties, anchor damage, oil and chemical spills and wreck removal alternatives among others.
PREVENTION & PLANNING
Spill response plans, tactical and strategy site plans, prevention and contingency plans including national planning initiatives (typically through IMO and/or UN programs), integrated response plans, fleet plans, spill and operations manuals, and practical guidelines for response personnel.
Shoreline Cleanup Assessment Technique (SCAT)
Polaris scientists helped develop the SCAT process in the 1980s and have performed SCAT leadership and management functions for many significant spill events.
Technical Training
Wide range of training courses that cover a variety of oil spill planning and response topics.
Aerial Video Surveys and Mapping
POLARIS scientists continue to pioneer the use of aerial video surveys for shore-zone mapping, coastal inventories, and oil spill countermeasures planning.
Restoration
Technical representation for responsible parties on restoration projects including: trustee liaison, assessment of alternative restoration/ compensation, project design/coordination, and monitoring.
About Polaris
POLARIS APPLIED SCIENCES, Inc. (POLARIS) was created in 1998 from the merger of three highly successful companies with a broad range of capabilities in marine, freshwater, and terrestrial oil and chemical spill response.
POLARIS’ scientific support staff for oil spill response includes internationally recognized leaders in shoreline treatment operations, shoreline geomorphology, pre-spill planning, technical training of spill responders, and environmental assessment.
Our scientists offer a combined total of over 100 years of response experience from more than 200 spills and groundings. POLARIS has provided clients worldwide with spill planning, spill and grounding response, scientific support, shoreline cleanup assessment technique (SCAT) training and implementation, natural resource damage assessment (NRDA) and environmental restoration services.
Rapid response, worldwide coverage
Decades of experience with NRDA projects
World class plans for marine, coastal and inland operations
Highly skilled and experienced instructors, proven materials
OUR TEAM
Click here for full bios
Greg E. Challenger, M.S.
Dr. Elliott Taylor
Andrew W. Graham, M.S.
Travis M. Scott, M.S.
Dr. Stephan Gmur
Alison Craig, M.S., M.P.A.,
Gary S. Mauseth, M.S.
Contact Us for More Information
Latest news
Photos: Experts assess oil spill damage at Orange County beaches
Polaris scientists assisting with response and environmental assessment in California Oil spill. Travis Scott is shown with Shoreline Cleanup Assessment team. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-10-03/photos-major-oil-spill-closes-orange-county-beaches
The Tactics Meeting – A tour of the Environment Unit Podcast with Elliott Taylor
Elliott Taylor sits down with Daniel J Smiley on his podcast The Tactics Meeting and provides a glimpse into some of the challenges and considerations within the Environmental Unit. The conversation touches on EU staffing, net environmental benefit, alternative response strategies, trajectory forecasting, and much more. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Podbean.
The Tactics Meeting – NRDA is in play! Podcast with Greg Challenger
Greg Challenger speaks about Natural Resource Damage Assessment in oil spills with Daniel J Smiley in his podcast The Tactics Meeting. The Tactics Meeting is a weekly podcast of emergency response tools and tactics. This podcast is also available on Spotify, Apple Podcast, and PodBean.
Scientific support for vessel aground in Mauritius
Polaris Applied Sciences, Inc. under contract with salvors (SMIT Salvage) is providing technical support in coral reef damage assessment and mitigation in response to the grounding of the M/V Wakashio in Mauritius and oil spill observation reporting. The grounding took place on 25 July 2020 and Polaris has assisted on-scene and remotely since 6 August. Read more about Scientific support for vessel aground in Mauritius[…]
Reef restoration and emergency response instruments for the Mesoamerican Reef (MAR) region
Polaris is working with the Mesoamerican Reef Fund to develop effective instruments to enable reef restoration and emergency response actions in case of damages to reefs in the MAR region. These instruments will include a regional protocol for reef assessment and restoration, a draft proposal to designate the MAR as a Particularly Sensitive Sea Area, Read more about Reef restoration and emergency response instruments for the Mesoamerican Reef (MAR) region[…]