The first Effects of Oil on Wildlife Conference (EOW) was founded and hosted by Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research in 1982, and the conference has since gained international recognition as the premier oiled wildlife response conference. EOW conferences aim to encourage collaborative efforts focused on the care and conservation of oiled wildlife and their habitats.

The series of EOW Conference is the only one of its kind and the impacts have been great. There is now a worldwide understanding and recognition of the problems connected to the oiling of wildlife and increasingly governments and responsible industries have included oiled wildlife response as a fully integrated activity in their oil spill contingency plans. A truly global community of oiled wildlife responders has also emerged from this series of conferences and together they have developed a shared understanding of standards of good practice which are increasingly recognised and applied all over the world.

Over its history of almost 30 years, most EOW’s have taken place in the United States.

EOW Conference 2009

The most recent event travelled to Europe and was held 5-9 October 2009 in Tallinn, Estonia. The Conference theme was Science, Planning and Cooperation to Minimise the Effects of Oil on Wildlife and was attended by 148 participants from 25 countries. See the conference website for more details.