Tethys (database)

While encouraging collaboration, products included two international workshops, a report, and a collection of metadata forms on project sites and research studies. The first workshop was held in Dublin Ireland in September 2010, drawing 58 international experts from various backgrounds to identify key interactions between device and environment, look into data collection details, and to scope out case studies for the report. The second workshop was also held in Dublin Ireland in October 2012, drawing 55 international experts from nine countries to review Tethys for content and functionality, to provide feedback on the report, and to guide future activities. The final report focused on three case studies:[8]

1. The Interaction of Marine Animals with Turbine Blades
2. Effects of Acoustic Output from Tidal and Wave Devices on Marine Animals
3. The Environmental Effects of Marine Energy Development on Physical Systems

The metadata collection effort included project sites that were performing environmental baseline studies and/or monitoring studies and relevant research studies that were underway. Over 150 forms were collected, providing details on nearly every project that has been deployed to date and on the most current research being conducted. All of this metadata is hosted in Tethys along with associated reports and publications.

Due to the success of the first phase, a second phase was suggested by all parties involved.[9] The primary vision was to identify analysts for each country involved, who could act as representative point of contact for all the activities. Activities included maintaining and collecting metadata forms, expanding Tethys to support a community of experts, five international workshops, and a report.

The first workshop was held in Seattle USA in June 2013, sponsored by the Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center, drawing 36 international experts to discuss instrumentation around devices. The second workshop was held in Stornoway UK in April 2014, drawing 45 international participants to discuss best practices for monitoring around devices. The third workshop was held in Wolfville Canada in November 2014, drawing 25 international participants to identify environmental monitoring, regulatory needs, and scientific capabilities to encourage the progression of the industry. The fourth workshop was held in Nantes France in September 2015, drawing 61 international participants to review the planned state of the science report. The fifth workshop was held in Edinburgh UK in February 2016, drawing 40 international participants to examine the collision risk for marine mammals around tidal turbines. These workshops were supplemented with a strong presence at most international conferences on marine renewable energy and the environment.

A thriving international community was fostered through online events such as quarterly webinars and the occasional expert forum, where topical experts from around the world would engage in discussion around controversial subjects. Bi-weekly newsletters and the collection and dissemination of information have also contributed to the international community. The culmination of this phase was the publication of the 2016 State of the Science report,[10] a detailed description of the environmental effects of marine renewable energy development around the world, derived from years of international cooperation around these issues. The executive summary of the report is available in seven languages and summaries of each environmental issue is available in English.

OES-Environmental has been approved for a 4-year extension consisting of three interrelated tracks: (1) information gathering and analysis, (2) information dissemination, and (3) engaging the community to support research and monitoring needs. This phase will continue most ongoing activities, while expanding to engage the regulatory community and address socio-economic issues. The phase will again culminate with a large report and conference partnerships.

The goal of WREN is to facilitate international collaboration that advances global understanding of environmental effects of offshore and land-based wind energy development, though the formation of a community of practice around research, monitoring and management of the environmental effects of wind energy development. Two key products were developed during phase 1: 1) Tethys was expanded to include land-based wind and host WREN activities and 2) a white paper focused on adaptive management.[11]

The second phase of WREN will include the expansion of Tethys, development of several white papers, continuation of the webinar series, and outreach and engagement efforts. All these activities are aimed at contributing to supporting the expansion of land-based and offshore wind energy deployment.[12]

The Knowledge Base is primarily displayed as a table view that utilizes the alphabetical column sorting, facet box selection, and keyword search to allow users to easily sift through the information. Over 5300 media entries relevant to the environmental effects of wind and marine renewable energy are available, consisting of journal articles, reports, websites, conference papers, presentations, workshop articles, theses, books, book sections, videos, datasets, magazine articles, project site information, and research study information. This is a growing database, where relevant materials that are newly published or discovered will be added.[14]

The interactive Map Viewer shows the locations of geo-tagged project sites, research studies, and documents gathered from across the world. More than 3200 items appear on the map, a subset of the information available in the Knowledge Base. Users may interact with the map with zooming and panning functions, facet box selection, and a keyword search. Selecting one of the icons will reveal a specific page with more in-depth information. This is a growing database, where relevant materials that are newly published or discovered will be added.[15]

In an effort to connect members of this growing community, Tethys is meant to act as a hub, providing resources and contacts for those looking for more information. One way is by providing links to similar databases that may have different approaches to viewing data, or that may provide a different focus on the data collected. Another page lists summaries of the regulatory frameworks in many of the major countries, providing links to agencies and laws rather than going into detail. There is also an extensive database of over 1700 organizations involved in marine and wind renewable energy and the environment, providing a list of publications affiliated with the organization and some basic information. Members of the Tethys community that have created a free account also have the ability to share their contact information and interests to with other community members in a searchable table.

Tethys also houses multimedia in the broadcast tab, meant to engage users in the Tethys community. Everything is freely available to the public and easily searchable.

• Environmental Webinars - webinars on environmental effects of marine or wind energy, hosted by US DOE, OES-Environmental, WREN, and other organizations.
• Conferences and Workshops - presentations, reports, and video from conferences and workshops on environmental effects of marine or wind energy.
• Expert Forums - online discussions among invited scientific and engineering experts on focused research topics of concern to marine energy development.[16]
• Tethys Blasts - a bi-weekly newsletter highlighting new information and events available on Tethys, as well as recent news in renewable energy.
• Tethys Stories - brief descriptions of programs, organizations, or topics of interest in wind and marine renewable energy.