University Events & Programs
Oil Spill Response Forum
Oil Spill Response 25 Years After the Exxon Valdez and in the Wake of Deepwater Horizon: What Have We Learned and What Are We Missing?
October 28 and 29, 2014

When the Exxon Valdez ran aground off Prince William Sound in Alaska in 1989, 11 million gallons of crude oil gushed into the sound, making it the largest oil spill in U.S. history at the time. In 2010, the explosion of Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico held the attention of the U.S. public and politicians as a staggering 200 million gallons of crude oil continued to leak into the gulf for more than 86 days.

Two environmental disasters, billions spent in cleanup and restoration, and numerous laws and regulations passed.

But what have we learned — and could it happen again?


On October 28th and 29th, the University of New Hampshire assembled nearly 40 scientific experts and industry specialists for a two-day forum, 'Oil Spill Response: 25 Years After the Exxon Valdez and in the Wake of Deepwater Horizon, What Have We Learned and What Are We Missing?'

Hosted by the UNH Center for Spills in the Environment and the School of Marine Science and Ocean Engineering, the forum featured panelists who played key roles during the Valdez and Deepwater Horizon spills. They will shared first-hand, “on scene” experiences, and weighed in on the discussion of environmental responses, the role of media in oil spill coverage and policy impacts of such disasters. Speakers discussed how these two spills can inform future spill responses, from scientists and governments, as well as what we should be doing differently to avoid future disasters.

Speaker PowerPoint presentations, where available, can be downloaded below.



Event Details

Tuesday, October 28, 2014 – Memorial Union Building, Granite State Room

8:00 a.m.

Welcome

  • Mark Huddleston President, University of New Hampshire
  • Larry Mayer UNH School of Marine Science and Ocean Engineering
    Larry Mayer has a broad-based background in marine geology and geophysics that is reflected in his association with both the Ocean Engineering and Earth Science Departments.

    He graduated magna cum laude with an Honors degree in Geology from the University of Rhode Island in 1973 and received a Ph.D. from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in Marine Geophysics in 1979. At Scripps his schizophrenic future was determined as he worked with the Marine Physical Laboratory's Deep-Tow Geophysical package, but applied this sophisticated acoustic sensor to problems of the history of ocean climate. After being selected as an astronaut candidate finalist for NASA's first class of mission specialists, he went on to a Post-Doc at the School of Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island where he worked on problems of deep-sea sediment transport and paleoceanography of the equatorial Pacific.
 

Introduction

  • Nancy Kinner UNH Center for Spills in the Environment
    Nancy E. Kinner, Ph.D., is a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of New Hampshire. She has been co-director of the Coastal Response Research Center, a partnership between UNH and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), since 2004. The center brings together the resources of a research-oriented university and the field expertise of NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration to conduct and oversee basic and applied research, conduct outreach, and encourage strategic partnerships in spill response, assessment and restoration.

    Kinner's research explores the role of bacteria and protists in the biodegradation of petroleum compounds and chlorinated solvents. She teaches courses on environmental microbiology, marine pollution and control, the fundamentals of environmental engineering, and environmental sampling and analysis.

    Kinner received a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University in biology (ecology and systematics) in 1976 and a master’s of science degree and doctoral degree in civil engineering from the University of New Hampshire, where she joined the faculty in 1983. She has conducted funded research projects for agencies and research organizations including USEPA, NSF, AWWARF, CICEET and the N.H. Department of Environmental Services.
8:30 a.m.

Overview of Oil Spills in United States

  • Gary Shigenaka NOAA, Office of Response & Restoration, Emergency Response Division
    Gary Shigenaka is a senior biologist with NOAA’s Emergency Response Division (ERD) in Seattle. He has provided biological and shoreline assessment support during spills of oil and hazardous chemicals in the U.S. and internationally for more than two decades. Shigenaka was part of the early scientific mobilization for the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska, and monitored the long-term effects in Prince William Sound through last year. He worked the Deepwater Horizon oil spill out of the Houma, La., incident command post, where he worked on vexing biological issues related to the spill. He continued supporting the response from New Orleans and Seattle. In March and April of this year, Gary managed shoreline assessment activities for the Texas City Y spill in the Galveston, Texas, region.

    Shigenaka also oversees other research initiatives designed to improve our understanding of environmental impacts of spills and other large-scale disturbances, and also to develop and improve biological tools for response and assessment. He was co-lead for a recent study of in-situ burning residue chemistry and behavior, and is currently helping to determine biological response priorities for the Arctic region.

    In his many previous jobs, Shigenaka researched problems related to environmental contamination for NOAA’s national marine pollution monitoring programs. He also had extensive field experience in fisheries and oceanographic field research, having spent six years aboard a NOAA research ship, two years as a fisheries monitor in the Bering Sea, and shorter periods working in the field for NOAA Fisheries and the Washington Department of Fisheries.

    Shigenaka received both a bachelor’s degree in biological oceanography and master’s degree in marine affairs from the University of Washington in Seattle. As a graduate student, he served as a Knauss Policy Fellow in Washington D.C., and was awarded the Donald L. McKernan Prize for outstanding marine affairs thesis. A Chicago native, Shigenaka has been a Seattle resident for more than 40 years. His 19-year-old son is attending the University of Washington; his current household consists of three highly eccentric stray cats.
9:00 a.m.

Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Response

Twenty-five years after the tanker Exxon Valdez hit a reef and spilled 11 million gallons of crude oil into Alaska’s Prince William Sound, the Coast Guard’s Chief of Spill Response Operations and the government’s chief science advisor to that environmental disaster share their insight. Learn about what went right – and wrong – in the response to what was, until the Deepwater Horizon spill in 2010, the largest oil spill ever in U.S. waters.

  • David Kennedy, Session Chair National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
    David Kennedy is a senior policy adviser on the Arctic region for National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration. In this role he works closely with NOAA headquarters leadership, line and staff office leadership and the NOAA Arctic Task Force to address NOAA-wide Arctic policy goals, objectives, and program issues, providing guidance and direction on a broad scope of Arctic regional policy as well as support on major legislation, budget and programs related to the Arctic. He held several positions at NOAA; in 2010 he served as NOAA’s commander for the agency’s response to the Deepwater Horizon/BP oil spill. In this role, he oversaw development of a NOAA-wide organizational structure to support the agency’s responsibility as the lead science agency. He successfully represented NOAA at frequent briefings and discussions with state government officials, local community leaders, and staff at other agencies.

    His career began in the U.S. Air Force as a pilot for six years based in Alaska. He then spent several years with the University of Alaska’s Geophysical Institute, where he served as research facilities director and later as director of the spilled oil research team focusing on arctic pollution issues.

    In 2001, he was recognized with the Presidnteial Rank Award for his leadership and exemplary accomplishments including the development of NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration, which has become the leader in environmental pollution response and assessment. In 2009, he received a second President Rank Award, and was recognized as part of a group for strong leadership and innovation leading to the environmental cleanup and historical preservation of the Pribilof Islands.
  • Ed Page Chief of Coast Guard Operations, Exxon Valdez Oil Spill
    Captain Ed Page, U.S. Coast Guard retired, is the executive director of the non-profit Marine Exchange of Alaska, having established the vessel tracking organization in April 2001 after serving 29 years as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Coast Guard.

    A 1972 graduate of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, Page served as a deck officer on the Coast Guard vessels sailing Atlantic, Pacific and Alaska waters followed by assignments in marine safety, environmental protection and search and rescue. He was assigned as chief of environmental protection for the 17th Coast Guard District in 1990 during the Exxon Valdez oil spill response during which he served as a regional response manager and later as chief of spill response operations and deputy federal on-scene coordinator during the three-year response. He later served as captain of the port and group commander for Los Angeles-Long Beach and chief of marine safety and environmental protection for Alaska and for Coast Guard Pacific Area.

    In his 13 years with the Marine Exchange of Alaska he has focused his efforts on preventing oil spills through developing one of the largest non-governmental vessel tracking monitoring and response systems in the world. It is composed of an extensive satellite and terrestrial-based AIS (Automatic Identification System) vessel tracking network. The system tracks cargo ships, fishing vessels, tankers, cruise ships, offshore supply vessels, ferries, tugs and barges, and Coast Guard vessels throughout Alaska waters, including the Arctic, and has aided responses to a variety of maritime emergencies and oil spill responses.

    In 2012, he established the non-profit Alaska Maritime Prevention and Response Network to implement USCG-approved alternative planning criteria for tankers and nontank vessels operating in Alaska. The organization provides prevention and response measures to enhance environmental protection to the more than 1,700 vessels that have enrolled since January. He serves as the president of the network as well as the president of the board for the Alaska Ocean Observing System.

    An avid kayaker and sailor, Captain Page has lived in Alaska for more than 25 years in several regions of the state.
  • Robert Spies Principal, Applied Marine Sciences & Chief Science Advisor to Governments on the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Restoration Program
    Dr. Robert Spies, principal of Applied Marine Sciences, has 35 years experience in applied marine ecology and its application to management. He has investigated the fate and effects of radionuclides, petroleum hydrocarbons and chlorinated hydrocarbons in marine ecosystems. Specific research projects conducted over his career have included investigations into the effects of organic contaminants on endocrinology and reproduction of starry flounder in San Francisco Bay and kelp bass in southern California, alterations of benthic communities by petroleum seepage, and benthic-pelagic transfer of contaminants in marine foodwebs, to name just a few.

    Spies has also coordinated or assisted in the management of large restoration and conservation programs for agencies at all levels. He served as chief science advisor to governments on the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Restoration Program, advisor to the Calfed Program to restore aquatic ecosystem functions in California’s Central Valley and director of the Alaska SeaLife Center, which is dedicated to studying the causes of decline in North Pacific marine mammal and bird populations.
 

Session Discussion

  • Larry Dietrick Director, Spill Prevention and Response, Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, retired
    Larry Dietrick is retired from the positions of director of spill prevention and response for the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation. In that role he oversaw the response to the Exxon Valdez oil spill. He participated in the development of extensive state legislation in follow up to the 1989 spill as well as the evolution and adoption of response tools that enabled Alaska to have one of the most advanced oil spill safety nets in the nation. He was the director of the Division of Spill Prevention and Response from 1999 until his retirement in 2013. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Toledo and has completed graduate course studies at the University of Cincinnati and Ohio State University. He received his master of science degree in environmental quality sciences from the University of Alaska at Fairbanks. He has extensive experience in environmental programs and participated in development of the initial requirements for offshore oil and gas development in Alaska’s Arctic. He has also worked on the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System and North Slope oil and gas development including the Alaska Natural Gas Transportation System. He has represented the State on numerous boards, task forces and organizations. He led the Arctic Caucus Oil Spill Task Force and participated in the U.S. Coast Guard Incident Specific Preparedness Review for the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Dietrick was a member of the U.S. delegation to the Arctic Council Task Force for Emergency Prevention, Preparedness and Response. He has also been a member of the Arctic Council Task Force that prepared the Agreement on Cooperation on Marine Oil Pollution Preparedness and Response in the Arctic and the project team for development of recommendations on the prevention of marine oil pollution in the Arctic.
  • Robert Mastracchio Vice President for Engineering, ExxonMobil Research & Engineering Company, retired
    Robert (Bob) Mastracchio retired from ExxonMobil in 2000, after spending more than 35 years with the company. He started out as a process design and facilities planning engineer with refinery startup assignment in California, Milan, Sicily and Scotland. He worked for three year as abegan his career with Exxon Research and Engineering Company in Worked for three years in Exxon’s London engineering center as facilities planner and refinery troubleshooter covering 15 refineries in 10 countries from Greece to Norway.

    He spent several years in Exxon’s New York City Corporate headquarters as executive responsible for downstream strategic planning, financial and business analysis, and spent three years with Exxon’s International Company leading group of executives responsible for downstream strategic planning outside North America.

    Mastracchio was assigned to Valdez Alaska in spring 1989 as technical manager for Valdez oil spill cleanup and was there for three cleanup seasons. Returned to Exxon Engineering in 1991 as department manager for engineering technology. In 1993 he moved to the projects department, where he was responsible for the management of worldwide capital projects with a project inventory in excess of one billion dollars.

    He was appointed vice president for Exxon Engineering in 1995, and for the year prior to his retirement, served as acting president of Exxon Research and Engineering Company during merger transition with Mobil.

    Mastracchio received his bachelor’s of science degree and master’s of science degree from the University of Connecticut.
  • Marilyn Heiman Director, U.S. Arctic Program, The Pew Charitable Trusts
    Marilyn Heiman is Pew Charitable Trusts’ director of the U.S. Arctic Program. Before joining Pew in 2009, Marilyn was campaign manager for the International Boreal Conservation Campaign, which works to protect one of the largest forest ecosystems on the planet. She served as the secretary of interior’s Alaska policy advisor during the Clinton administration. In that capacity, she coordinated activities of the Bureau of Land Management, the Minerals Management Service, the National Park Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Geological Survey in Alaska. As Alaska representative to the secretary of interior, she served on the six-person Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council.

    Previously, she was special assistant on natural resources and oceans for Alaska Gov. Tony Knowles and was director of his statewide transition team after his election in 1994. Prior to that she worked as an aide to the House Resources Committee in the Alaska legislature during the Exxon Valdez oil spill and was staff to the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Commission. Marilyn holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley.
11:15 a.m.

LUNCH (on your own)

See UNH dining options

12:30 p.m.

Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Response

When the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded nearly five years ago, killing 11 people and releasing an estimated 200 million gallons of oil over 87 days, it tested the response capabilities of the oil industry, government, and scientists. Hear from two of the most prominent voices during the spill, the Coast Guard’s Commandant Thad Allen and Marcia McNutt, then director of the U.S. Geological Survey.

  • James Watson, Session Chair
    President and chief operating officer for the Americas Division of the American Bureau of Shipping
    James Watson is currently serving as president and chief operating officer for the Americas Division of the American Bureau of Shipping. He is responsible for all operations of the American Bureau of Shipping in the western hemisphere.

    Prior to joining ABS, Watson served as director of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement at the U.S. Department of Interior. In this role he provided regulatory oversight for energy exploration and production on the U.S. outer continental shelf. Before becoming BSEE director, Watson served as the U.S. Coast Guard’s director of prevention policy for marine safety, security and stewardship, where his responsibilities included commercial vessel safety and security, ports and cargo safety and security and maritime investigations. He was also designated as the federal on-scene coordinator for the government-wide response to the Deepwater Horizon drilling explosion in the Gulf of Mexico.

    Watson earned a bachelor’s of science degree in marine engineering from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in 1978. He received his master’s of science degree in naval architecture and his master’s of science in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan in 1985. Watson earned an additional master’s of science degree in strategic studies at the National Defense University in 2001.
  • Thad Allen Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, retired
    Thad Allen is executive vice president of consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton’s business at the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security focusing on emergency management, critical infrastructure protection, cyber security, emergency communications and maritime security. He is a national thought leader in homeland security, maritime policy, law enforcement and national resiliency. Known for his expertise in bringing together diverse parties to address major challenges and create unity of effort, Allen completed a distinguished career in the U.S. Coast Guard as its 23rd commandant in 2010. His crisis leadership experience includes responses to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita, the Haitian earthquake, and port security operations in New York Harbor following the September 11 attacks.

    He is a fellow in the National Academy of Public Administration and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Allen also currently serves as a director on the Coast Guard Foundation and Partnership for Public Service.

    He is a 1971 graduate of the US Coast Guard Academy. He holds a master’s in public administration from The George Washington University—from which he received the Alumni Achievement Award in 2006. He also holds a master’s in science from the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
  • Marcia McNutt Editor-in-Chief, Science family of journals
    Marcia McNutt is a geophysicist who serves as the editor-in-chief of Science. Prior to joining Science, she served as the director of the U.S. Geological Survey from 2009 to 2013 as one of a group of accomplished scientists who populated top government posts as part of President Obama’s “dream team.” During her tenure, the USGS responded to a number of major disasters, including earthquakes in Haiti, Chile and Japan, as well as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

    McNutt has also served as president and chief executive officer of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in Moss Landing, Calif. During her time at MBARI, the institution became a leader in developing biological and chemical sensors for remote ocean deployment, installed the first deep-sea cabled observatory in U.S. waters, and advanced the integration of artificial intelligence into autonomous underwater vehicles for complex undersea missions.

    McNutt began her faculty career at MIT where she became the Griswold Professor of Geophysics and served as director of the Joint Program in Oceanography and Applied Ocean Science and Engineering, offered by MIT and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Her own research area is the dynamics of the upper mantle and lithosphere on geologic time scales, work that has taken her to distant continents and oceans for field observations. She is a veteran of more than a dozen deep-sea expeditions, more than half of which she has served as chief scientist or co-chief scientist.

    McNutt’s honors and awards include membership in the National Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She also holds honorary doctoral degrees from Colorado College, University of Minnesota, Monmouth University and Colorado School of Mines.

    She was awarded the Macelwane Medal by the American Geophysical Union in 1988 for research accomplishments by a young scientist and the Maurice Ewing Medal in 2007 for her significant contributions to deep-sea exploration. The U.S. Coast Guard awarded her their Meritorious Service Medal, the noncombat equivalent to the Bronze Star, for her work on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
 

Session Discussion

  • Kate Moran President & CEO, Ocean Networks Canada
    Dr. Kathryn Moran joined the University of Victoria in September 2011 as a professor in the faculty of Earth and Ocean Sciences and director of NEPTUNE Canada. In July 2012, she was promoted to the position of president and CEO of Ocean Networks Canada. She was previously a professor at the University of Rhode Island with a joint appointment in the Graduate School of Oceanography and the Department of Ocean Engineering. She also served as the Graduate School of Oceanography’s associate dean, research and administration. From 2009 to 2011, Moran was named to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy where she served as an assistant director, focusing on Arctic, polar, ocean, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and climate policy issues.

    During the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Moran was selected to be a member of the president’s eight-member science team under the leadership of Secretary of Energy Steven Chu.

    Moran received degrees from the University of Pittsburgh (bachelor of science), University of Rhode Island (master of science), and Dalhousie University (doctoral degree). She co-led the $12 million integrated ocean drilling program’s Arctic coring expedition, which was the first deepwater drilling operation in the Arctic Ocean. This expedition successfully recovered the first paleoclimate record from the Arctic Ocean.

    She also led one of the first offshore expeditions to investigate the seafloor following the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. She recently led the development of a new deep ocean in situ gas hydrate observatory instrument that was successfully deployed in 2013 offshore the west coast of Canada. Previously, Moran was a research engineer at Canada’s Bedford Institute of Oceanography where her major research focus areas were the Arctic Ocean and assessing offshore constraints to resource development on the East Coast. She also served as the director of the international Ocean Drilling Program in Washington D.C., managed mission-specific drilling platform operations in the North Atlantic and Arctic; designed and developed oceanographic tools, participated in more than 35 offshore expeditions and has served as chair and member of national and international science and engineering advisory committees and panels.
  • Bethany Kraft Ocean Conservancy
    Bethany Carl Kraft is the director of external affairs for the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council. Created by the RESTORE Act of 2012 and composed of the governors of the five Gulf Coast States and Secretaries from six federal agencies, the Council is responsible for restoring and protecting the natural resources, ecosystems, fisheries, marine and wildlife habitats, beaches, coastal wetlands and economy of the Gulf Coast.

    She is working with the council on a one year detail from Ocean Conservancy, where she serves as the director of the Gulf Restoration Program. In that role, Carl Kraft worked to secure comprehensive, science-based and community supported restoration of the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem at the local, regional and national levels.

    Before joining Ocean Conservancy, Bethany served as the executive director of the Alabama Coastal Foundation, an environmental education and habitat restoration non-profit. During her tenure she developed an award-winning citizen science outreach program and was active in the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster community response.

    A lifelong resident of the Gulf region, Bethany began her career in conservation with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality after graduating magna cum laude from Texas A&M University. She resides in New Orleans.
  • Charlie Williams Executive Director, Center for Offshore Safety
    Charlie Williams is the executive director of Shell’s Center for Offshore Safety and chief scientist of well engineering and production. He has worked for Shell for 40 years in research and development, engineering, and operations management assignments, including a stint as vice presidents of global research and development. He is chairman of the governing board for the Center for Offshore Safety. He has been working extensively on post-Deepwater industry response including serving as advisor to Shell senior management. He currently chairs two Joint Industry Task Forces (Subsea Well Control and Containment and the API Center for Offshore Safety), and was co-chair of the BSEE/Argonne Labs Workshop “Effects of Water Depth on Offshore Equipment and Operations.”

    Williams serves on the DOI OESC Federal Advisory Committee, the Operating Committee of the Marine Well Containment Project and on the executive board of the Marine Well Containment Company. He continues to testify at numerous commissions including the Presidential Commission and the National Academy Commission. He presented at the panel “Root Causes of Incidents and Responses” at the National Conference on Science, Policy and the Environment and on drilling and drilling safety management at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He is a 35-year member of SPE and API.
2:45 p.m.

Break

3:00 p.m.

Panel I: Role of Science

In both historic oil spills, science and scientists provided expertise and evaluation, as well as controversy, in the response effort. From the deadly effect on wildlife in Prince William Sound to the unprecedented use of dispersants at the wellhead in the Gulf of Mexico, spill response, damage assessment, and restoration have called upon the latest science and served as springboards for new areas of inquiry.

  • Marcia McNutt, Panel Chair Editor-in-Chief, Science family of journals
    Marcia McNutt is a geophysicist who serves as the editor-in-chief of Science. Prior to joining Science, she served as the director of the U.S. Geological Survey from 2009 to 2013 as one of a group of accomplished scientists who populated top government posts as part of President Obama’s “dream team.” During her tenure, the USGS responded to a number of major disasters, including earthquakes in Haiti, Chile and Japan, as well as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

    McNutt has also served as president and chief executive officer of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in Moss Landing, Calif. During her time at MBARI, the institution became a leader in developing biological and chemical sensors for remote ocean deployment, installed the first deep-sea cabled observatory in U.S. waters, and advanced the integration of artificial intelligence into autonomous underwater vehicles for complex undersea missions.

    McNutt began her faculty career at MIT where she became the Griswold Professor of Geophysics and served as director of the Joint Program in Oceanography and Applied Ocean Science and Engineering, offered by MIT and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Her own research area is the dynamics of the upper mantle and lithosphere on geologic time scales, work that has taken her to distant continents and oceans for field observations. She is a veteran of more than a dozen deep-sea expeditions, more than half of which she has served as chief scientist or co-chief scientist.

    McNutt’s honors and awards include membership in the National Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She also holds honorary doctoral degrees from Colorado College, University of Minnesota, Monmouth University and Colorado School of Mines.

    She was awarded the Macelwane Medal by the American Geophysical Union in 1988 for research accomplishments by a young scientist and the Maurice Ewing Medal in 2007 for her significant contributions to deep-sea exploration. The U.S. Coast Guard awarded her their Meritorious Service Medal, the noncombat equivalent to the Bronze Star, for her work on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
  • Christopher Reddy Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
    Christopher Reddy is a senior scientist of marine chemistry and geochemistry at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Woods Hole, Mass. He earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Rhode Island College and a doctoral degree in chemical oceanography from the University of Rhode Island. He also holds an executive certificate in management and leadership from MIT’s Sloan School of Management.

    His research interests include: Applying and developing isotopic measurements for investigating the source, transport, and fate of organic contaminants in coastal and oceanic waters; chemical and physical interactions of organic contaminants with sedimentary organic matter; microbial degradation of persistent organic com-pounds; developing new analytical techniques for studying environmental chemistry and using organic geochemistry to solve problems in oceanography. He also serves as director of the Coastal Ocean Institute.
  • Steven Murawski Director, Center for Integrated Analysis & Modeling of Gulf Ecosystems, University of South Florida
    Dr. Steven A. Murawski is a professor and Peter Betzer Endowed Chair of Biological Oceanography at the University of South Florida. He develops and conducts an active program of research, collaboration and professional development commensurate with the goals of the university.

    Murawski is developing interdisciplinary programs and research investigating how activities such as recovery of the Gulf of Mexico marine ecosystem can be structured to achieve longterm positive outcomes. His research in fisheries science includes developing new technological approaches to the assessment of resource status (reef fishes), employing a towed camera system (C-BASS or camera-based assessment system), using novel techniques for understanding fishermen’s behavior and choice, and investing the short- and long-term effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on marine animal populations. He undertook the first comprehensive survey of fish diseases of the Gulf of Mexico ever undertaken, and continues to analyze the impacts of Deepwater Horizon on Gulf fish population dynamics.

    Murawski serves as the director and principal investigator of the Center for Integrated Modeling and Analysis of Gulf Ecosystems (C-IMAGE), funded through an $11 million grant by the Gulf Research Initiative (GRI). He is actively involved in international fisheries and marine science activities, recently serving as vice-president and U.S. delegate to the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES), and external advisor to the United Nations Food and Agriculture’s Ecosystem Approaches to Management program in Africa.

    He also serves on the U.S. steering committee of the International Institute for Advanced Systems Analysis (IIASA), which is funded by the National Science Foundation.

    Prior to his current position, he was employed at NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service as director of scientific programs and chief science advisor.
  • Charlie Henry Director, NOAA’s Gulf of Mexico Disaster Response Center
    Charlie Henry is the director for NOAA’s new GOM Disaster Response Center (DRC) located in Mobile, Ala. The mission of the center, which opened in October 2012, is to enhance NOAA’s preparedness to respond to natural and man-made disasters in the Gulf of Mexico region and nationally. Henry has many years of environmental assessment and spill response experience beginning with the 1985 Arco Anchorage incident near Anacortes, Wash. The first 13 of those years were at Louisiana State University as a research associate providing chemistry support during emergency events and research on the fate of environmental pollution in marine and coastal environments. Henry has responded to more than 400 oil and chemical spill events including the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, the 1991 Kuwait oil fires, the 2000 Tanker Jessica oil spill in the Galapagos Islands off Ecuador, the hundreds of oil and chemical spills in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita on the northern Gulf of Mexico coast in 2005, and served as the lead NOAA Scientific Support Coordinator for the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
  • Robert Spies Principal, Applied Marine Sciences & Chief Science Advisor to Governments on the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Restoration Program
    Dr. Robert Spies, principal of Applied Marine Sciences, has 35 years experience in applied marine ecology and its application to management. He has investigated the fate and effects of radionuclides, petroleum hydrocarbons and chlorinated hydrocarbons in marine ecosystems. Specific research projects conducted over his career have included investigations into the effects of organic contaminants on endocrinology and reproduction of starry flounder in San Francisco Bay and kelp bass in southern California, alterations of benthic communities by petroleum seepage, and benthic-pelagic transfer of contaminants in marine foodwebs, to name just a few.

    Spies has also coordinated or assisted in the management of large restoration and conservation programs for agencies at all levels. He served as chief science advisor to governments on the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Restoration Program, advisor to the Calfed Program to restore aquatic ecosystem functions in California’s Central Valley and director of the Alaska SeaLife Center, which is dedicated to studying the causes of decline in North Pacific marine mammal and bird populations.
  • Lucinda Jacobs Principal, Integral Consulting, Inc
    Dr. Lucinda Jacobs is an environmental scientist who specializes in aquatic and sediment geochemistry, processes that mitigate exposure to toxic chemicals, and processes that control chemical transport and fate. During her 25 years of experience, she has designed, directed, and contributed to a variety of multidisciplinary environmental studies, including global studies of metal behavior in anoxic marine systems; RI/FS and ecological risk assessment projects in wetlands, river systems, urban lakes, and bays; and natural resource damage assessments (NRDAs). Dr. Jacobs has developed and directed investigations that integrated source control and chemical fate processes (e.g., bioavailability, natural recovery) with effects-based testing to derive site-specific toxicity thresholds, cleanup levels, and benchmark values. She is familiar with a wide variety of field sampling and laboratory analytical methods, including toxicity testing and radionuclide dating techniques, and she has designed or contributed to the design of a variety of field studies. She has directed the preparation of two data validation guidance manuals.

    Dr. Jacobs has served as an expert witness and expert consultant on chemical fingerprinting, loading analyses, the timing of releases, natural resource injury, and the interpretation and conclusions of environmental investigations. This work has included reconstructing historical scenarios for environmental releases and analyzing existing environmental distributions in the context of current and ongoing sources and transport/fate processes.
5:30 p.m.

Networking

6:15 p.m.

Dinner (on your own)

See UNH dining options

7:15 p.m.

Panel II: Role of Media

In their devastation and longevity, the Exxon Valdez and Deepwater Horizon spills continue to captivate the public. Hear from those involved in communicating the news about both spills – journalists Anne Thompson, Mark Schrope and Charles Wohlforth as well as the government’s chief spokesperson Thad Allen, Coast Guard communicator Carroll, and Justin Kenney, director of communications for NOAA during the Deepwater Horizon spill.

  • David Kennedy, Panel Chair National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
    David Kennedy is a senior policy adviser on the Arctic region for National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration. In this role he works closely with NOAA headquarters leadership, line and staff office leadership and the NOAA Arctic Task Force to address NOAA-wide Arctic policy goals, objectives, and program issues, providing guidance and direction on a broad scope of Arctic regional policy as well as support on major legislation, budget and programs related to the Arctic. He held several positions at NOAA; in 2010 he served as NOAA’s commander for the agency’s response to the Deepwater Horizon/BP oil spill. In this role, he oversaw development of a NOAA-wide organizational structure to support the agency’s responsibility as the lead science agency. He successfully represented NOAA at frequent briefings and discussions with state government officials, local community leaders, and staff at other agencies.

    His career began in the U.S. Air Force as a pilot for six years based in Alaska. He then spent several years with the University of Alaska’s Geophysical Institute, where he served as research facilities director and later as director of the spilled oil research team focusing on arctic pollution issues.

    In 2001, he was recognized with the Presidnteial Rank Award for his leadership and exemplary accomplishments including the development of NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration, which has become the leader in environmental pollution response and assessment. In 2009, he received a second President Rank Award, and was recognized as part of a group for strong leadership and innovation leading to the environmental cleanup and historical preservation of the Pribilof Islands.
  • Mark Schrope Freelance Writer and Editor
    Mark Schrope is a full-time freelance writer, editor and communications consultant based in Florida. He has written about the Deepwater Horizon spill for Nature, the New York Times, Chemical & Engineering News and others. Aside from spending numerous weeks on the Gulf of Mexico, his work as a journalist has taken him into the eye of a hurricane, to the Egyptian desert, to the seafloor by submersible and to remote islands in Fiji and Colombia.

    As a consultant he has worked for clients such as Sea Grant and the Scripps Research Institute. For several years Schrope also handled public relations for Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution. He has a bachelor of science degree in biology from Wake Forest University, an master’s of science in chemical oceanography from Florida State University and a certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz.
  • Sean Carroll U. S. Coast Guard, Chief of Response, Sector Boston
    U.S. Coast Guard Commander Sean Carroll is the chief of response for U.S. Coast Guard Sector Boston. He serves the captain of the port, Captain John C. O’Connor III, and oversees the Coast Guard missions of search and rescue, pollution response and maritime law enforcement from the Massachusetts/New Hampshire state border, south to Manomet Point in Plymouth, Mass., and all navigable waters extending 200 nautical miles off shore.

    His previous assignment was head of the U.S. Coast Guard Motion Picture and Television Office in Los Angeles, Calif. In this role, he led all Coast Guard engagement with the entertainment industry to promote the service’s message and educate the American public on their Coast Guard. During his tenure, the U.S. Coast Guard was featured on U.S. television once every six days, and appeared in a major motion picture once every 13 months.

    During the summer of 2010, Commander Carroll served as the External Affairs Director for the Unified Area Command for the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Response. He subsequently served as the Strategic Communications Chief for the National Incident Commander during the same response. In November 2012, Commander Carroll served as the Liaison Coordinator for the First Coast Guard District’s Hurricane Sandy Area Command, building and maintaining critical communication network with the States of New York and New Jersey, and the City of Manhattan.

    His operational assignments include US. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Sea, USS O’Brien, and U.S. Coast Cutter Katmai Bay. He also served as military aide to the superintendent of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, chief of contingency planning and force readiness at U.S. Coast Guard Sector Delaware Bay in Philadelphia as well as chief of incident management.

    Commander Carroll graduated with honors from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy with a bachelor of science degree in management (sigma iota epsilon) and from the University of Rochester’s Simon School of Business with a master of business administration degree (beta gamma sigma). He is a certified project management professional (PMP) and a senior professional in human resources (SPHR).
  • Justin Kenney Senior Director of Communications, The Pew Charitable Trusts
    Justin Kenney is the senior director of communications at the Pew Charitable Trusts. Kenney has more than 20 years of experience in strategic communications, in the areas of business, government, policy and advocacy. Since April 2012, he has served as senior director of communications at the Pew Charitable Trusts, working with the environment initiatives. Before that, he served in the Obama Administration as the director of communications and external affairs at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA. He is a former senior public affairs officer with the Pew Charitable Trusts, where he managed strategic communications, including campaigns on ocean conservation, climate change and wilderness protection. He served as director of communications for the Pew Ocean Commission, the first independent review of federal ocean policy in more than 30 years.

    He also served as the deputy director for communications for the White House Council on Environmental Quality during the Clinton Administration, as the senior environmental policy advisor to the Secretary of Commerce, and as the communications director for NOAA’s National Marine Sanctuary Program. Kenney earned a master’s degree in public communication from American University.
  • Thad Allen Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, retired
    Thad Allen is executive vice president of consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton’s business at the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security focusing on emergency management, critical infrastructure protection, cyber security, emergency communications and maritime security. He is a national thought leader in homeland security, maritime policy, law enforcement and national resiliency. Known for his expertise in bringing together diverse parties to address major challenges and create unity of effort, Allen completed a distinguished career in the U.S. Coast Guard as its 23rd commandant in 2010. His crisis leadership experience includes responses to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita, the Haitian earthquake, and port security operations in New York Harbor following the September 11 attacks.

    He is a fellow in the National Academy of Public Administration and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Allen also currently serves as a director on the Coast Guard Foundation and Partnership for Public Service.

    He is a 1971 graduate of the US Coast Guard Academy. He holds a master’s in public administration from The George Washington University—from which he received the Alumni Achievement Award in 2006. He also holds a master’s in science from the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
  • Anne Thompson NBC Universal
    Anne Thompson is NBC News’ chief environmental affairs correspondent. Her reports appear across all platforms of NBC News including NBC Nightly News, Today, MSNBC and NBCNews.com.

    Thompson was tapped for this position in April 2007. Most recently, Thompson led coverage on the Gulf oil spill, covering all aspects of the crisis from beginning to when the well was finally killed. She traveled to Copenhagen to cover climate change negotiations, Greenland, Costa Rica, the Amazon, Australia and Europe to cover such issues as alternative fuels, global warming, land usage and new technologies.

    From March 2005 to April 2007, Thompson served as chief financial correspondent reporting on financial and economic news for NBC News. Thompson has reported on the economic impact of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, the increased cost of health care and its impact on the economy, alternative fuel vehicles, identity theft, and the politics of the credit card industry. In addition, from a financial perspective, she covered the trials of Martha Stewart, Bernie Ebbers and Tyco.

    In 2006, Thompson received the prestigious Gerald Loeb Award, and she was part of the "Nightly News" team that won the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Journalism Award and an Emmy Award for coverage of Hurricane Katrina. In 2004, she was awarded the Gerald Loeb Award for distinguished business and financial journalism for a series of reports that aired on Nightly News on the jobless economic recovery. She was also nominated for four business and financial news Emmys.

    Before being named an NBC News correspondent in 1997, Thompson had been an award-winning general assignment reporter for WDIV-TV, the NBC affiliate in Detroit, since 1986. While at WDIV, Thompson was honored with seven Emmy Awards for a variety of stories.

    From 1983 to 1986, Thompson was a consumer reporter at KSDK-TV, the NBC affiliate in St. Louis, Mo. She began her broadcasting career at WNDU-TV in South Bend, Ind., where she served as a general assignment reporter from 1979 to 1983. Raised and educated in Europe, Thompson received her high school diploma from the International School of Brussels in Belgium. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in American Studies from University of Notre Dame, where was elected as a member of the Board of Trustees in 2010.
  • Charles Wohlforth Alaska Science Writer
    Charles Wohlforth is a life-long Alaska resident and prize-winning author of more than ten books. His work includes writing about science and the environment, politics and history, travel, and as-told-to biography. A popular lecturer, he has spoken all over the United States and overseas, and he regularly hosts TV and radio interview programs on Alaska public broadcasting stations. He is father of four, living in Anchorage during the winter, where he is an avid cross-country skier, and in summer on a remote Kachemak Bay shore reachable only by boat.


Wednesday, October 29, 2014 – Huddleston Hall Ballroom

8:00 a.m.

Future Spill Scenarios

Since 2010, oil production and transport has come inland, with fracking and oil sands mining future spills are far more likely to be on land. As Arctic drilling heats up, the response to oil spills in this threatened environment is also looming. Hear from Fran Ulmer, special advisor to the State Department on Arctic Science and Policy. Panelists will discuss the changing response to spills from trains and pipelines.

  • Nancy Kinner, Session Chair UNH Center for Spills in the Environment
    Nancy E. Kinner, Ph.D., is a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of New Hampshire. She has been co-director of the Coastal Response Research Center, a partnership between UNH and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), since 2004. The center brings together the resources of a research-oriented university and the field expertise of NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration to conduct and oversee basic and applied research, conduct outreach, and encourage strategic partnerships in spill response, assessment and restoration.

    Kinner's research explores the role of bacteria and protists in the biodegradation of petroleum compounds and chlorinated solvents. She teaches courses on environmental microbiology, marine pollution and control, the fundamentals of environmental engineering, and environmental sampling and analysis.

    Kinner received a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University in biology (ecology and systematics) in 1976 and a master’s of science degree and doctoral degree in civil engineering from the University of New Hampshire, where she joined the faculty in 1983. She has conducted funded research projects for agencies and research organizations including USEPA, NSF, AWWARF, CICEET and the N.H. Department of Environmental Services.
  • Fran Ulmer U.S. Arctic Research Commission
    Fran Ulmer is chair of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission, where she has served since being appointed by President Obama in March 2011. In June 2010, President Obama appointed her to the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling. From 2007 to 2011, Ulmer was chancellor of Alaska's largest public university, the University of Alaska Anchorage.

    Before that, she was a distinguished visiting professor of public policy and director of the Institute of Social and Economic Research at the University of Alaska. She is a member of the Global Board of the Nature Conservancy and on the board of the National Parks Conservation Association.

    Ulmer served as an elected official for 18 years as the mayor of Juneau, a state representative, and as lieutenant governor of Alaska. She previously worked as legal counsel to the Alaska Legislature, legislative assistant to Gov. Jay Hammond and director of policy development for the state. In addition, she was the first chair of the Alaska Coastal Policy Council and served for more than 10 years on the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission.

    She has served on numerous local, state and federal advisory committees and boards. Ulmer earned a juris doctorate cum laude from the University of Wisconsin Law School, and has been a fellow at the Institute of Politics at the Kennedy School of Government.
  • Fred Stroud U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
    Environmental scientist Fred Stroud has been a member of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Emergency Response Program since 1975, as on-scene coordinator and environmental response team member. He has responded to numerous oil, chemical and other spill incidents in the U.S. and internationally.

    Stroud has extensive experience with the Oil Pollution Act, National Contingency Plan, The Stafford Act and other environmental laws related to spill response.

    Stroud responded to the Exxon Valdez in 1989 and the first Gulf War oil fires in 1991 (as lead U.S. response representative). He was a member of the U.S. team that responded to the oil well fire near Nemagon, Uzbekistan, in 1992 and a member of multi-agency work group that revised the NCP in 1994 to address the changes that OPA mandated. Stroud has also responded to many major hurricanes, including Hugo, Andrew, Floyd, Katrina and Rita.

    He was the lead on-scene coordinator for the Martin County coal slurry spill in Kentucky in 2000, which released 308 million gallons of coal slurry into tributaries of the Big Sandy River.

    He received his bachelor’s degree in biology with a minor in chemistry.

    In 2001, Stroud led the EPA's first bioterrorism response on U.S. soil at the AMI facility in Boca Raton, Florida and upstream postal facilities contaminated with bacillus anthracis. Later that year worked with USPS response personnel to develop cleanup strategies for D.C.-area postal facilities contaminated with bacillus anthracis.

    Stroud was part of a team that provided air monitoring and samples at the Fresh Kill Landfill and Ground Zero in New York City in the wake of the Sept. 11. terror attacks.

    He’s responded as member of United Nations Environmental Program to the earthquake in Sichuan Province, China, 2008, to provide consult on the United States’ disaster debris plan. He spent six months in China providing ‘capacity building’ guidance to China’s EPA, working both in Beijing and Chengdu.

    During the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, his group produced a subsea dispersant plan, and collected samples near the wellhead site to determine effectiveness and toxicity. During the Silvertip ExxonMobil pipeline spill in 2001 near Billings, Montana, he created a new liaison position to facilitate a quicker and more efficient cleanup effort.

    Stroud has been an instructor in EPA/ERT’s Slow and Fast Water Oil Spill Response course since its creation by OPA in 1992.
  • Thomas Coolbaugh Distinguished Scientific Associate, Oil Spill Response Technology Group, ExxonMobil Research & Engineering
    Tom Coolbaugh leads the Oil Spill Response Technology group of ExxonMobil Research and Engineering as distinguished scientific associate. His focus is on response technologies such as the use dispersants and in-situ burning, remote sensing of oil spills and providing training to a variety of potential spill responders. He has been with ExxonMobil since 1988.

    He received his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Amherst College and his doctorate degree in chemistry from the California Institute of Technology. He also earned a master’s of science degree in the management of technology from Polytechnic University in New York (now part of NYU).

    Dr. Coolbaugh is chair of IPIECA’s Oil Spill Working Group, a member of the American Petroleum Industry Spills Advisory Group and the Marine Preservation Association Dispersant Advisory Committee. He served on the committee that prepared the NRC report on Responding to Oil Spills in the U.S. Arctic Marine Environment.
 

Session Discussion

  • Deborah Glickson National Academy of Sciences
    Deborah Glickson is a senior program officer with the Ocean Studies Board at the National Research Council, part of the National Academy of Sciences. She received a master’s degree in geology from Vanderbilt University in 1999 and a doctoral degree in oceanography from the University of Washington in 2007. Her doctoral research focused on magmatic and tectonic contributions to mid-ocean ridge evolution and hydrothermal activity at the Endeavour Segment of the Juan de Fuca Ridge. In 2008, she participated in the Dean John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship and worked on coastal and ocean policy and legislation in the U.S. Senate. Prior to her doctoral work, she was a research associate in physical oceanography at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Since joining the NRC staff in 2008, she has worked on a number of ocean and earth science studies, including such topics as scientific ocean drilling, critical ocean science research needs and infrastructure, the academic research fleet, marine hydrokinetic energy, methane hydrates, geoscience education and oil spill response.
  • Dave Westerholm Director, Office of Response & Restoration, NOAA
    Dave Westerholm is a senior executive with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and currently serves as the director of the Office of Response and Restoration. His emergency response team includes scientific support coordinators who directly assist federal on-scene coordinators with environmental data, modeling, preparedness aids and training.

    He oversees NOAA's new Disaster Response Center and as the primary federal trustee his Damage Assessment and Restoration group is responsible for protecting coastal and marine resources, mitigating threats, reducing harm, assessing damage and restoring ecological function under the Clean Water Act, CERCLA and the Oil Pollution Act. In addition, he manages NOAA's Marine Debris Program, a multi-agency effort devoted to prevention, education and mitigation of the hazards of persistent marine debris.

    Prior to NOAA, Mr. Westerholm had several years of corporate experience as both Senior Operations Director and Vice President for Anteon Corporation and then General Dynamics. He is a retired Coast Guard Captain with experience in a variety of assignments including engineering, search and rescue, marine safety, security, emergency management and environmental protection.
10:15 a.m.

BREAK

10:30 a.m.

Panel III: Human Dimensions / Social and Public Health

While tarred beaches and oiled shorebirds may have grabbed the headlines, spills always have significant effects on human lives. This panel will explore the impact of the spills on human health and socio-economics.

  • Gary Shigenaka, Panel Chair NOAA, Office of Response & Restoration, Emergency Response Division
    Gary Shigenaka is a senior biologist with NOAA’s Emergency Response Division (ERD) in Seattle. He has provided biological and shoreline assessment support during spills of oil and hazardous chemicals in the U.S. and internationally for more than two decades. Shigenaka was part of the early scientific mobilization for the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska, and monitored the long-term effects in Prince William Sound through last year. He worked the Deepwater Horizon oil spill out of the Houma, La., incident command post, where he worked on vexing biological issues related to the spill. He continued supporting the response from New Orleans and Seattle. In March and April of this year, Gary managed shoreline assessment activities for the Texas City Y spill in the Galveston, Texas, region.

    Shigenaka also oversees other research initiatives designed to improve our understanding of environmental impacts of spills and other large-scale disturbances, and also to develop and improve biological tools for response and assessment. He was co-lead for a recent study of in-situ burning residue chemistry and behavior, and is currently helping to determine biological response priorities for the Arctic region.

    In his many previous jobs, Shigenaka researched problems related to environmental contamination for NOAA’s national marine pollution monitoring programs. He also had extensive field experience in fisheries and oceanographic field research, having spent six years aboard a NOAA research ship, two years as a fisheries monitor in the Bering Sea, and shorter periods working in the field for NOAA Fisheries and the Washington Department of Fisheries.

    Shigenaka received both a bachelor’s degree in biological oceanography and master’s degree in marine affairs from the University of Washington in Seattle. As a graduate student, he served as a Knauss Policy Fellow in Washington D.C., and was awarded the Donald L. McKernan Prize for outstanding marine affairs thesis. A Chicago native, Shigenaka has been a Seattle resident for more than 40 years. His 19-year-old son is attending the University of Washington; his current household consists of three highly eccentric stray cats.
  • Richard Kwok National Institutes of Health
    Richard Kwok, Ph.D., is a staff scientist in the epidemiology branch at NIEHS and is the lead associate investigator for the Gulf Long Term Follow-Up Study (GuLF STUDY). The study focuses on the potential health effects of cleanup workers, volunteers and community members from the Deepwater Horizon disaster. Dr. Kwok specializes in the environmental causes of a range of diseases, and the pervasive nature of the environment in disease etiology has allowed him to work on a number of different projects with domestic and international collaborators from federal, academic and industry sectors.

    His work has included research into air and water pollution, including arsenic, and non-ionizing UV radiation exposures with outcomes including cardiovascular, respiratory, reproductive and cancer health outcomes. Dr. Kwok received his bachelor of science degree in public health. in environmental science, and his master’s degree in public health and doctoral degree in epidemiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

    The GuLF STUDY was developed to learn about possible health effects of the recent Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
  • Duane Gill Head of Sociology, Oklahoma State University
    Duane A. Gill is professor and head of sociology at Oklahoma State University. He was part of a research team that investigated human impacts of the 1989 Exxon Valdez Oil Spill in Alaska through a series of longitudinal studies funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council and the Earthwatch Center for Field Studies. He recently led an NSF-funded research project to document and understand social and psychological impacts of the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in coastal Alabama. Dr. Gill was part of a research team employed by the Gitga’at First Nation in British Columbia to assess potential impacts of an oil spill associated with the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline project. He also conducted research for the Mikisew Cree First Nation regarding cumulative sociocultural effects of oil industry development in northern Alberta. These research activities seek to understand community capacity to respond to and recover from disasters, as well as ways to enhance community preparedness and resilience.
  • LaDon Swann Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium
    LaDon Swann is the director of the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium and Auburn University Marine Programs. He is responsible for implementing practical solutions to coastal issues through competitive research, graduate student training and extension and outreach and K-12 education in Alabama and Mississippi. In addition to his administrative duties for Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant and the Auburn University Marine Extension and Research Center, Swann conducts research on shellfish aquaculture and habitat restoration. He has over 25 years of experience designing, delivering and evaluating adult education programs.

    The Tennessee native worked for 10 years with the Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant College Program at Purdue University, where he earned a doctorate degree in curriculum and instruction for adults. He also served as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in Togo, West Africa, in the mid-1980s.

    Swann’s focus areas include environmental literacy and workforce development, healthy coastal ecosystem, resilient communities and economies and sustainable fisheries and aquaculture.
  • Robert Dickey Director, The University of Texas, Marine Science Institute
    Robert W. Dickey is director of the University of Texas at Austin, Marine Science Institute (UTMSI) and chair of the Department of Marine Science, College of Natural Sciences.

    Robert joined UTMSI in 2013 as the Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Regents Chair in Marine Science after serving 28 years with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s seafood safety related marine science programs. His research interests are in the areas of marine natural toxins, xenobiotics in aquatic systems, toxicology and analytical methods development.

    Robert leads the UTMSI, a center for higher education and research with global reach. The Institute is dedicated to advancing knowledge of estuarine, coastal and blue water oceans through objective inquiry and research; training future generations of marine science professionals through inspired teaching and mentorship; and raising ocean literacy of the general public and societal leaders through diverse education outreach programs.
  • Tim Robertson General Manager, Nuka Research and Planning Group, LLC
    Tim Robertson is general manager of Nuka Research and Planning Group based in the remote community of Seldovia, Alaska, where he was living in 1989 when the Exxon Valdez ran aground. Tim received his Master’s degree from the University of Alaska in Fisheries Science and began his career as a research biologist for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in the 1970’s. In the early 1980’s Tim went to work in the oil production industry as a drill fluid engineer. He worked both onshore and offshore on the Alaska North Slope and in Cook Inlet where he oversaw discharge compliance for drilling operations.

    This background in natural resource management and oil field operations propelled Tim into a leadership role when the Exxon Valdez spill occurred. He was asked to lead the City of Seldovia’s response to the spill and was appointed by the community as their first representative to the then-new Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council. In the early 1990’s, Tim was an active participant in most of the State and Federal revisions of oil spill laws and regulations. He worked on provisions of OPA-90, was a member of the Negotiated Rulemaking Committee that developed U.S. Coast Guard vessel response plan requirements, and served on the working group that help craft the State of Alaska oil spill contingency planning regulations.

    Tim has been consulting on oil spill prevention and response issues since 1992. He helped create a community-based oil spill response team, led the program to develop geographic response strategies around Alaska, created the potential places of refuge maps for the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, led the development of the Spill Tactics for Alaska Responders Manual, developed the oil spill response gap methodology, and has recently been the co-manager of the Aleutian Islands and Cook Inlet marine risk assessment projects.

    Tim still lives in a small Alaskan coastal community where the residents make their living from the sea around them. His love of the coast and the people that live there continues to inspire his work.
12:30 p.m.

LUNCH (on your own)

See UNH dining options

1:15 p.m.

Panel IV: Policy and Politics

Public concern following the Exxon Valdez spill led to the creation of the Oil Pollution Act, signed into law in 1990. The Deepwater Horizon spill spawned no legislation but did lead to the creation of several science and research entities focusing on oil spills. What’s the role of politics during and in the wake of an oil spill? Can policy prevent damage from future spills?

  • Kate Moran, Panel Chair President & CEO, Ocean Networks Canada
    Dr. Kathryn Moran joined the University of Victoria in September 2011 as a professor in the faculty of Earth and Ocean Sciences and director of NEPTUNE Canada. In July 2012, she was promoted to the position of president and CEO of Ocean Networks Canada. She was previously a professor at the University of Rhode Island with a joint appointment in the Graduate School of Oceanography and the Department of Ocean Engineering. She also served as the Graduate School of Oceanography’s associate dean, research and administration. From 2009 to 2011, Moran was named to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy where she served as an assistant director, focusing on Arctic, polar, ocean, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and climate policy issues.

    During the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Moran was selected to be a member of the president’s eight-member science team under the leadership of Secretary of Energy Steven Chu.

    Moran received degrees from the University of Pittsburgh (bachelor of science), University of Rhode Island (master of science), and Dalhousie University (doctoral degree). She co-led the $12 million integrated ocean drilling program’s Arctic coring expedition, which was the first deepwater drilling operation in the Arctic Ocean. This expedition successfully recovered the first paleoclimate record from the Arctic Ocean.

    She also led one of the first offshore expeditions to investigate the seafloor following the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. She recently led the development of a new deep ocean in situ gas hydrate observatory instrument that was successfully deployed in 2013 offshore the west coast of Canada. Previously, Moran was a research engineer at Canada’s Bedford Institute of Oceanography where her major research focus areas were the Arctic Ocean and assessing offshore constraints to resource development on the East Coast. She also served as the director of the international Ocean Drilling Program in Washington D.C., managed mission-specific drilling platform operations in the North Atlantic and Arctic; designed and developed oceanographic tools, participated in more than 35 offshore expeditions and has served as chair and member of national and international science and engineering advisory committees and panels.
  • James Watson President and chief operating officer for the Americas Division of the American Bureau of Shipping
    James Watson is currently serving as president and chief operating officer for the Americas Division of the American Bureau of Shipping. He is responsible for all operations of the American Bureau of Shipping in the western hemisphere.

    Prior to joining ABS, Watson served as director of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement at the U.S. Department of Interior. In this role he provided regulatory oversight for energy exploration and production on the U.S. outer continental shelf. Before becoming BSEE director, Watson served as the U.S. Coast Guard’s director of prevention policy for marine safety, security and stewardship, where his responsibilities included commercial vessel safety and security, ports and cargo safety and security and maritime investigations. He was also designated as the federal on-scene coordinator for the government-wide response to the Deepwater Horizon drilling explosion in the Gulf of Mexico.

    Watson earned a bachelor’s of science degree in marine engineering from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in 1978. He received his master’s of science degree in naval architecture and his master’s of science in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan in 1985. Watson earned an additional master’s of science degree in strategic studies at the National Defense University in 2001.
  • John Rayfield Staff Director, Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, US House of Representatives
    John Rayfield is the staff director for the subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation. Rayfield is a Capitol Hill veteran with 32 years of experience, including the previous ten as the Subcommittee’s Republican staff director. He was the staff lead on the recently enacted Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2012, as well as previous Coast Guard authorizations. Before joining the Committee staff, Rayfield worked for the Resources Committee and the Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee, as well as for two members of Congress from Virginia.
  • James Ayers EVOS Trustee Council and US Advisor on Deepwater Horizon
    James R. Ayers has been the president of Alaska Strategies since 1987, a private conservation firm providing consultant management services, including strategic planning for local governments, businesses and national nonprofits regarding public policy, legislation and media. He served as the advisor to the U.S. Coast Guard on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. He also served as vice president and senior advisor at Oceana, Inc., where he was responsible for all aspects of management of Arctic and Pacific programs, including management of a $2.5 million budget. He also served as chief of staff to the governor of Alaska, executive director of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council, coordinator of the Alaska Coastal Management Program, and deputy commissioner of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
  • David Kennedy National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
    David Kennedy is a senior policy adviser on the Arctic region for National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration. In this role he works closely with NOAA headquarters leadership, line and staff office leadership and the NOAA Arctic Task Force to address NOAA-wide Arctic policy goals, objectives, and program issues, providing guidance and direction on a broad scope of Arctic regional policy as well as support on major legislation, budget and programs related to the Arctic. He held several positions at NOAA; in 2010 he served as NOAA’s commander for the agency’s response to the Deepwater Horizon/BP oil spill. In this role, he oversaw development of a NOAA-wide organizational structure to support the agency’s responsibility as the lead science agency. He successfully represented NOAA at frequent briefings and discussions with state government officials, local community leaders, and staff at other agencies.

    His career began in the U.S. Air Force as a pilot for six years based in Alaska. He then spent several years with the University of Alaska’s Geophysical Institute, where he served as research facilities director and later as director of the spilled oil research team focusing on arctic pollution issues.

    In 2001, he was recognized with the Presidnteial Rank Award for his leadership and exemplary accomplishments including the development of NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration, which has become the leader in environmental pollution response and assessment. In 2009, he received a second President Rank Award, and was recognized as part of a group for strong leadership and innovation leading to the environmental cleanup and historical preservation of the Pribilof Islands.
  • Peter Gautier Rear Admiral, Director of Governmental and Public Affairs, U.S. Coast Guard
    Rear Admiral Gautier is the director of governmental and public affairs for the U.S. Coast Guard, where he is responsible for external engagement with Congress, the media and other intergovernmental entities.

    From June 2011 to July 2014 he commanded Sector New Orleans, directing all Coast Guard operations in southeast Louisiana, including the lower 300 miles of the Mississippi River. Prior to this, he served as the chief of the Deepwater Horizon Action Office which oversaw policy resulting from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, where he served for five months as the national incident command chief of staff. He served as the chief of operations for the Deployable Operations Group; chief, Cargo and Facilities Division at Coast Guard Headquarters, Washington D.C.; and commanding officer of the Coast Guard Gulf Strike Team, Mobile, Ala., where he responded in key roles in a number of major responses including the World Trade Center attacks, the Shuttle Colombia Disaster and Hurricane Katrina.

    Gautier’s other assignments include chief of port operations and marine environmental response at the Coast Guard Marine Safety Office in San Francisco and Coast Guard Headquarters as a packaged hazardous materials transportation expert, serving as a U.S. delegate to United Nations and International Maritime Organization committees governing transportation of hazardous materials. He has also served aboard two Coast Guard cutters and as commanding officer of Loran Station Gesashi, Japan.

    He graduated from the U. S. Coast Guard Academy with a bachelor’s of science degree in marine engineering in 1987. He holds a master’s of chemical engineering degree from the University of Michigan and a masters of national security strategy from the National War College. His military decorations include the Legion of Merit (two awards), Meritorious Service Medal (four awards), Coast Guard Commendation Medal (three awards), DOT 9/11 Medal, and Coast Guard Achievement Medal (two awards).
3:15 p.m.

BREAK

3:30 p.m.

Panel V: Path Forward (Part 1)

What have we learned from Exxon Valdez and Deepwater Horizon, and how can we use this knowledge to respond to future spills in the Arctic or inland? In Part 1, four of the most influential figures in these two spills and in the federal government weigh in. Panelists in Part 2 represent the perspective of those who will effect change in future spill response. Key areas of discussion will highlight the path forward regarding the role of science, human dimensions policy and politics and risk communication.

  • Nancy Kinner, Panel Chair UNH Center for Spills in the Environment
    Nancy E. Kinner, Ph.D., is a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of New Hampshire. She has been co-director of the Coastal Response Research Center, a partnership between UNH and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), since 2004. The center brings together the resources of a research-oriented university and the field expertise of NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration to conduct and oversee basic and applied research, conduct outreach, and encourage strategic partnerships in spill response, assessment and restoration.

    Kinner's research explores the role of bacteria and protists in the biodegradation of petroleum compounds and chlorinated solvents. She teaches courses on environmental microbiology, marine pollution and control, the fundamentals of environmental engineering, and environmental sampling and analysis.

    Kinner received a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University in biology (ecology and systematics) in 1976 and a master’s of science degree and doctoral degree in civil engineering from the University of New Hampshire, where she joined the faculty in 1983. She has conducted funded research projects for agencies and research organizations including USEPA, NSF, AWWARF, CICEET and the N.H. Department of Environmental Services.
  • Fran Ulmer U.S. Arctic Research Commission
    Fran Ulmer is chair of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission, where she has served since being appointed by President Obama in March 2011. In June 2010, President Obama appointed her to the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling. From 2007 to 2011, Ulmer was chancellor of Alaska's largest public university, the University of Alaska Anchorage.

    Before that, she was a distinguished visiting professor of public policy and director of the Institute of Social and Economic Research at the University of Alaska. She is a member of the Global Board of the Nature Conservancy and on the board of the National Parks Conservation Association.

    Ulmer served as an elected official for 18 years as the mayor of Juneau, a state representative, and as lieutenant governor of Alaska. She previously worked as legal counsel to the Alaska Legislature, legislative assistant to Gov. Jay Hammond and director of policy development for the state. In addition, she was the first chair of the Alaska Coastal Policy Council and served for more than 10 years on the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission.

    She has served on numerous local, state and federal advisory committees and boards. Ulmer earned a juris doctorate cum laude from the University of Wisconsin Law School, and has been a fellow at the Institute of Politics at the Kennedy School of Government.
  • Thad Allen Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, retired
    Thad Allen is executive vice president of consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton’s business at the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security focusing on emergency management, critical infrastructure protection, cyber security, emergency communications and maritime security. He is a national thought leader in homeland security, maritime policy, law enforcement and national resiliency. Known for his expertise in bringing together diverse parties to address major challenges and create unity of effort, Allen completed a distinguished career in the U.S. Coast Guard as its 23rd commandant in 2010. His crisis leadership experience includes responses to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita, the Haitian earthquake, and port security operations in New York Harbor following the September 11 attacks.

    He is a fellow in the National Academy of Public Administration and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Allen also currently serves as a director on the Coast Guard Foundation and Partnership for Public Service.

    He is a 1971 graduate of the US Coast Guard Academy. He holds a master’s in public administration from The George Washington University—from which he received the Alumni Achievement Award in 2006. He also holds a master’s in science from the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
  • Marcia McNutt Editor-in-Chief, Science family of journals
    Marcia McNutt is a geophysicist who serves as the editor-in-chief of Science. Prior to joining Science, she served as the director of the U.S. Geological Survey from 2009 to 2013 as one of a group of accomplished scientists who populated top government posts as part of President Obama’s “dream team.” During her tenure, the USGS responded to a number of major disasters, including earthquakes in Haiti, Chile and Japan, as well as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

    McNutt has also served as president and chief executive officer of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in Moss Landing, Calif. During her time at MBARI, the institution became a leader in developing biological and chemical sensors for remote ocean deployment, installed the first deep-sea cabled observatory in U.S. waters, and advanced the integration of artificial intelligence into autonomous underwater vehicles for complex undersea missions.

    McNutt began her faculty career at MIT where she became the Griswold Professor of Geophysics and served as director of the Joint Program in Oceanography and Applied Ocean Science and Engineering, offered by MIT and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Her own research area is the dynamics of the upper mantle and lithosphere on geologic time scales, work that has taken her to distant continents and oceans for field observations. She is a veteran of more than a dozen deep-sea expeditions, more than half of which she has served as chief scientist or co-chief scientist.

    McNutt’s honors and awards include membership in the National Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She also holds honorary doctoral degrees from Colorado College, University of Minnesota, Monmouth University and Colorado School of Mines.

    She was awarded the Macelwane Medal by the American Geophysical Union in 1988 for research accomplishments by a young scientist and the Maurice Ewing Medal in 2007 for her significant contributions to deep-sea exploration. The U.S. Coast Guard awarded her their Meritorious Service Medal, the noncombat equivalent to the Bronze Star, for her work on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
  • Peter Gautier Rear Admiral, Director of Governmental and Public Affairs, U.S. Coast Guard
    Rear Admiral Gautier is the director of governmental and public affairs for the U.S. Coast Guard, where he is responsible for external engagement with Congress, the media and other intergovernmental entities.

    From June 2011 to July 2014 he commanded Sector New Orleans, directing all Coast Guard operations in southeast Louisiana, including the lower 300 miles of the Mississippi River. Prior to this, he served as the chief of the Deepwater Horizon Action Office which oversaw policy resulting from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, where he served for five months as the national incident command chief of staff. He served as the chief of operations for the Deployable Operations Group; chief, Cargo and Facilities Division at Coast Guard Headquarters, Washington D.C.; and commanding officer of the Coast Guard Gulf Strike Team, Mobile, Ala., where he responded in key roles in a number of major responses including the World Trade Center attacks, the Shuttle Colombia Disaster and Hurricane Katrina.

    Gautier’s other assignments include chief of port operations and marine environmental response at the Coast Guard Marine Safety Office in San Francisco and Coast Guard Headquarters as a packaged hazardous materials transportation expert, serving as a U.S. delegate to United Nations and International Maritime Organization committees governing transportation of hazardous materials. He has also served aboard two Coast Guard cutters and as commanding officer of Loran Station Gesashi, Japan.

    He graduated from the U. S. Coast Guard Academy with a bachelor’s of science degree in marine engineering in 1987. He holds a master’s of chemical engineering degree from the University of Michigan and a masters of national security strategy from the National War College. His military decorations include the Legion of Merit (two awards), Meritorious Service Medal (four awards), Coast Guard Commendation Medal (three awards), DOT 9/11 Medal, and Coast Guard Achievement Medal (two awards).
 

Panel V: Path Forward (Part 2)

  • Dave Westerholm Director, Office of Response & Restoration, NOAA
    Dave Westerholm is a senior executive with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and currently serves as the director of the Office of Response and Restoration. His emergency response team includes scientific support coordinators who directly assist federal on-scene coordinators with environmental data, modeling, preparedness aids and training.

    He oversees NOAA's new Disaster Response Center and as the primary federal trustee his Damage Assessment and Restoration group is responsible for protecting coastal and marine resources, mitigating threats, reducing harm, assessing damage and restoring ecological function under the Clean Water Act, CERCLA and the Oil Pollution Act. In addition, he manages NOAA's Marine Debris Program, a multi-agency effort devoted to prevention, education and mitigation of the hazards of persistent marine debris.

    Prior to NOAA, Mr. Westerholm had several years of corporate experience as both Senior Operations Director and Vice President for Anteon Corporation and then General Dynamics. He is a retired Coast Guard Captain with experience in a variety of assignments including engineering, search and rescue, marine safety, security, emergency management and environmental protection.
  • Greg DeMarco ExxonMobil’s Emergency Preparedness and Response Support Manager
    Greg DeMarco serves as ExxonMobil’s emergency preparedness and response support manager. He coordinates tactical- and strategic-level support for the corporation’s preparedness and response efforts to a variety of hazards. DeMarco also interfaces with Tier 3 response co-ops, trade associations and government agencies, and oversees ExxonMobil’s oil spill response research and development program. He serves on American Petroleum Institute’s Oil Spill and Emergency Preparedness and Response Subcommittee and chairs its Spills Advisory Group. He also sits on IPIECA’s (International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association’s) Oil Spill Working Group.

    DeMarco has been with Exxon since 1997 and has held a variety of operational and staff assignments in the Downstream and Safety, Health and Environment organizations. Prior to joining Exxon, he served for seven years as a consultant to the federal government (including the EPA and the U.S. Coast Guard) assisting with the development of regulations stemming from the Oil Pollution Act of 1990.

    DeMarco also served as an officer in the U.S. Coast Guard both on active duty and in the reserves where he focused on oil spill response issues as well as serving as a deck officer on several USCG cutters.

    He has a master’s of environmental management degree and a master’s of business administration from Duke University in Durham, N.C., as well as a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies from Trinity College in Hartford, Conn.
  • Mary Landry Rear Admiral, Director, Incident Management & Preparedness, U.S. Coast Guard, retired
    Mary Landry became the inaugural director of incident management and preparedness at Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C. in April 2012. Landry is responsible for establishing, developing and implementing all hazards incident management goals, strategies, policies and doctrine to meet Coast Guard responsibilities in incident preparedness and response. Prior to joining the Coast Guard’s Senior Executive Service, Landry served on active duty in the Coast Guard, retiring at the rank of rear admiral in 2011. As a flag officer she served as director of governmental and public affairs at Coast Guard Headquarters. Her subsequent tour was as the commander of the Eighth Coast Guard District and Commander of Task Force 189.8, headquartered in New Orleans.

    As District Commander, Rear Admiral Landry was responsible for U.S. Coast Guard operations covering 26 states, more than 1,200 miles of coastline and 10,300 miles of inland waterways from Florida to Mexico and including the entire navigable lengths of the Mississippi, Ohio, Missouri, Illinois and Tennessee River systems. During this tour she served as federal on-scene coordinator in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and oversaw the service’s response to the historic 2011 Mississippi River Valley floods. Landry’s military commendations and civilian honors include the Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit (three awards), the University of Rhode Island Distinguished Achievement Award, the Seamen’s Church Institute River Bells Distinguished Service award, the U.S. Women in Shipping and Trading Association (WISTA) Personality of the Year 2011, New Orleans Magazine 2011 Top Female Achiever and an honorary doctoral degree from Hilbert College.

    She has an undergraduate degree from SUNY Buffalo, a master’s degree in management from Webster University, and a master’s of marine affairs from the University of Rhode Island. She is also a graduate of the Harvard National Security Fellowship.
  • Allyson Anderson Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE)
    Allyson K. Anderson is the associate director of strategic engagement of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement at the Department of the Interior. Prior to joining BSEE she was a senior professional staff member on Chairman Jeff Bingaman's Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. She came to Washington as the 2006-2007 American Geological Institute/American Association of Petroleum Geologist Bill Fischer Congressional Science Fellow. While working on the Energy Committee, she worked on many energy- and resource-related issues including oil and gas exploration and production activities, mineral criticality, carbon sequestration and geothermal energy resources. She also worked on policy related to fossil energy research and development, critical minerals and materials for clean energy technologies and other geological and science related policy areas. Prior to joining the Energy Committee staff, Anderson was a petrophysicist/senior geoscientist at ExxonMobil Exploration Company in Houston and student-researcher at the Kansas Geological Survey. She earned a master's degree in geology from Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis in 2000. She is a former president of the Association for Women Geoscientists and has also served on many other volunteer, professional outreach and education committees through professional geoscientific organizations. Anderson is also currently an adjunct professor and energy scholar at Georgetown University's Science in the public interest program.
  • Marilyn Heiman Director, U.S. Arctic Program, The Pew Charitable Trusts
    Marilyn Heiman is Pew Charitable Trusts’ director of the U.S. Arctic Program. Before joining Pew in 2009, Marilyn was campaign manager for the International Boreal Conservation Campaign, which works to protect one of the largest forest ecosystems on the planet. She served as the secretary of interior’s Alaska policy advisor during the Clinton administration. In that capacity, she coordinated activities of the Bureau of Land Management, the Minerals Management Service, the National Park Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Geological Survey in Alaska. As Alaska representative to the secretary of interior, she served on the six-person Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council.

    Previously, she was special assistant on natural resources and oceans for Alaska Gov. Tony Knowles and was director of his statewide transition team after his election in 1994. Prior to that she worked as an aide to the House Resources Committee in the Alaska legislature during the Exxon Valdez oil spill and was staff to the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Commission. Marilyn holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley.
5:30 p.m.

ADJOURN