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Protecting National Park Soundscapes (2013)

Chapter: Appendix A: Workshop Steering Committee Biographical Information

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Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Workshop Steering Committee Biographical Information." National Academy of Engineering. 2013. Protecting National Park Soundscapes. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18336.
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Appendix A

Workshop Steering Committee Biographical Information

GREGG G. FLEMING, chair, director of the Environmental and Energy Systems Technical Center at the Volpe Center, has more than 25 years of experience in all aspects of transportation-related acoustics, air quality, and climate issues. He has guided the technical work of numerous multifaceted teams on projects supporting all levels of government, industry, and academia, including the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), National Park Service (NPS), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and National Research Council (NRC).

Mr. Fleming is responsible for the design, development, and deployment of internationally recognized environmental analysis tools, including the FAA’s Aviation Environmental Design Tool (AEDT), Integrated Noise Model (INM), and System for Assessing Aviation’s Global Emissions (SAGE), and FHWA’s Traffic Noise Model (TNM). The FAA tools are used for establishing national and international policies pertaining to aviation and the environment, including noise and environmental stringencies and domestic analyses in support of the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). FHWA’s TNM is used for designing highway noise barriers and informing the federal distribution of noise mitigation funds related to highway noise barrier construction. Mr. Fleming is also responsible for evaluating, establishing, and maintaining standardized procedures for national and international aircraft noise certification. Most recently, he has been working with industry and academia on projects related to alternative fuels, with particular focus on approaches to achieving carbon-neutral growth.

Under Mr. Fleming’s direction the Environmental and Energy

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Workshop Steering Committee Biographical Information." National Academy of Engineering. 2013. Protecting National Park Soundscapes. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18336.
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Systems Technical Center maintains an extensive laboratory of environmental measurement and monitoring instrumentation, including a quick-response capability to support all aspects of transportation-related environmental measurements.

Mr. Fleming currently co-chairs the ICAO’s Modeling and Databases Working Group and represents the FAA at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. He chaired the NRC Transportation Research Board’s Committee for Transportation-Related Noise and Vibration and is active in the Society of Automotive Engineers as well as numerous other technical organizations.

Mr. Fleming holds a BS degree in electrical engineering from the University of Lowell. He has coauthored numerous peer-reviewed journal articles and has participated substantially in the development of national and international standards on technical issues pertaining to acoustics, air quality, and climate change.

WILLIAM W. LANG has served as the president of the Noise Control Foundation (NCF) since 1975. NCF is currently working on the development of global policies for noise control. He worked for the IBM Corporation from 1958 to 1992. As a founding member of the Institute of Noise Control Engineering of the United States (INCE/USA) and cofounder of the International Institute of Noise Control Engineering (I-INCE), he is dedicated to furthering worldwide recognition of noise control as a distinct engineering discipline.

He chaired the International Electrotechnical Commission’s Technical Committee 29 on Electroacoustics from 1975 to 1984 and is a member of the International Organization for Standardization’s Working Group on machinery noise emission standards. He was a member of the NRC Committee on Hearing and Bioacoustics. Dr. Lang is a fellow of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA), Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Audio Engineering Society (AES), and UK Institute of Acoustics. He was recently elected an Honorary Member of the National Council of Acoustical Consultants.

He has received the ASA Silver Medal in Noise, the INCE/USA Distinguished Noise Control Engineer Award, the Pro Silentio Medal of the Hungarian Optical, Acoustical, and Film Technical Society, the Clarissima Award of the Brazilian Acoustical Society, and the IEEE Audio and Electroacoustics Achievement Award. He has served as an IEEE director and has authored or coauthored more than 50 technical

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Workshop Steering Committee Biographical Information." National Academy of Engineering. 2013. Protecting National Park Soundscapes. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18336.
×

publications and edited two books. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1978. Dr. Lang holds an MS degree (physics/EE) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a PhD in physics (acoustics) from Iowa State University, and is a registered professional engineer (EE) in New York state.

CYNTHIA S.Y. LEE has been with the John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, Environmental Measurement and Modeling Division, for more than 20 years. Her work covers many aspects of transportation-noise research, including the measurement, analysis, and modeling of aircraft noise, highway noise, and locomotive-horn characteristics for the FAA, NPS, FHWA, and Federal Rail Administration (FRA). She is the project manager overseeing acoustics research in the development of Air Tour Management Plans (ATMPs) for approximately 80 national parks with commercial air tours and conducting computer modeling in support of the Grand Canyon National Park (GCNP) Overflights Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The objective of the ATMPs is to develop acceptable and effective measures to mitigate or prevent significant adverse impacts from the air tours on natural and cultural resources, visitor experiences, and tribal lands. The goal of the GCNP Overflights EIS is to achieve restoration of natural quiet. Ms. Lee has collected and analyzed soundscape data used to determine ambient sound conditions in more than 40 national parks, including participating in joint interagency FAA/NPS teams to establish protocols for this work. She also conducts computer modeling of transportation noise sources (surface and air) to predict noise impacts from air tours or other sound sources of interest for National Environmental Policy Act documents or other planning documents. She led teams that recently collected visitor survey and acoustic data (“dose-response”) in Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Glacier, and Zion National Parks and are analyzing the data to develop a series of empirically based curves to support judgments about potential impacts on visitors’ experiences from various aircraft noise exposure levels. Ms. Lee earned a BS in electrical engineering from Northeastern University (1993).

GEORGE C. MALING JR. is former managing director of the Institute of Noise Control Engineering of the USA (INCE/USA), past president of the INCE Foundation, managing editor emeritus of Noise/News International, and vice president for communications of the International

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Workshop Steering Committee Biographical Information." National Academy of Engineering. 2013. Protecting National Park Soundscapes. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18336.
×

INCE. He chaired the committee that produced the NAE report Technology for a Quieter America (2010).

In 1958 he became a consultant to the International Business Machines Corporation (IBM), and he joined the company in 1965. In 1992 he retired as senior engineer, having worked on numerous projects related to noise control engineering, including research, standards, and product design. During his IBM years he worked on several national and international standards and served a term as chair of the American National Standards Committee S1, which at the time included noise measurement standards.

Dr. Maling is the author of more than 80 technical papers and several articles in handbooks—most recently a chapter on noise for the Springer Handbook of Acoustics (2007). He has also edited numerous conference proceedings for the INTER-NOISE and NOISE-CON series of conferences. He is a fellow of INCE, IEEE, AAAS, ASA, and AES. He received the Silver Medal in Noise from ASA in 1992 and the Rayleigh Medal from the Institute of Acoustics (United Kingdom) in 1999. Recently, he was elected an honorary member of the National Council of Acoustical Consultants.

He served as president of INCE/USA in 1975 and received the Distinguished Noise Control Engineer Award from that organization in 2001 and its Distinguished Service Medal in 2009. Dr. Maling was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1998.

He received his PhD in physics (1963), an electrical engineering degree (1958), an MSEE (1954), and a BS (1954), all from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He also received an AB in physics (1954) from Bowdoin College.

NICHOLAS P. MILLER cofounded Harris Miller Miller & Hanson Inc. in 1981, a leading noise and vibration consulting firm in the United States. Prior to that, he worked for eight years at Bolt Beranek and Newman Inc. in surface transportation noise, noise regulation, and aviation noise consulting services. Mr. Miller has for the past 30 years specialized in aircraft noise-related issues, with emphasis on the effects of aircraft noise on people. He is currently project manager for a study to design the questionnaire, sampling, and interview methods and analytical approaches for a national noise survey of communities around airports. Since 1990, in addition to being actively involved assisting the National Park Service in assessing noise in national parks, he has published peer-reviewed

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Workshop Steering Committee Biographical Information." National Academy of Engineering. 2013. Protecting National Park Soundscapes. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18336.
×

papers (“The effects of aircraft overflights on visitors to US National Parks,” Noise Control Engineering Journal 47(3): 112–117, 1999; “US National Parks and management of park soundscapes: A review,” Applied Acoustics 69: 77–92, 2008), developed and applied protocols for quantifying visitor reactions to aircraft noise, and contributed heavily to the NPS report to Congress, “Report on Effects of Aircraft Overflights on the National Park System.” He established techniques for acoustic monitoring in national parks and provided instrumentation guidelines. He recently assisted the National Park Service in identifying “backcountry” locations in Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks for collecting “dose-response” data that will be used to refine how park visitors react to tour aircraft noise. He participated in the initial planning for the proposed workshop, “Best Practices for Protecting the Natural Soundscapes of America’s National Parks.” Mr. Miller earned an MS in mechanical engineering (1974) from the University of North Dakota and a BS in mechanics (1966) from the Johns Hopkins University.

FRANK TURINA is the program manager for Policy, Planning, and Compliance for the NPS Natural Sounds and Night Skies Division. In this position, he specializes in incorporating acoustic science and research on the effects of noise on humans and wildlife into policy and guidance for protecting NPS resources and values. Working closely with acoustic specialists, biologists, social scientists, and other professionals in acoustics and resource management, he was instrumental in developing the conceptual approach and methods used by NPS to manage and protect park soundscapes. Dr. Turina played a key role in the development of the NPS ATMP and led the development of the first NPS Soundscape Management Plan, for Zion National Park. The plan identifies appropriate and inappropriate sounds based on the park’s purpose and management objectives, and establishes acoustic standards, management actions, and long-term monitoring protocols for protecting acoustic conditions in developed and wilderness areas in the park. Prior to joining the NPS, Dr. Turina was an environmental planner at CH2M Hill, writing and managing the development of environmental analyses for highway, transit, and other public works projects. He earned a BS in park management (1985) from Pennsylvania State University, a master’s degree in environmental policy and management (1993) from the University of Denver, and a PhD in public affairs/environmental policy (2009) from the University of Colorado.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Workshop Steering Committee Biographical Information." National Academy of Engineering. 2013. Protecting National Park Soundscapes. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18336.
×

ERIC J.W. WOOD is president of INCE/USA and the INCE Foundation, and director of the Noise and Vibration Group at the acoustical consulting firm Acentech Inc. He provided assistance in the planning of a roundtable on motorcycle noise and a workshop on noise in national parks together with the National Academy of Engineering. He is an ASA fellow and a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and International Institute of Acoustics and Vibration. In 1972 he joined the acoustical consulting firm Bolt Beranek and Newman (BBN), where he served as a supervisory consultant specializing in environmental and industrial acoustics. Seventeen years later he participated in the employee buy-out of BBN’s commercial acoustical consulting business and helped to form Acentech where he is a founding principal. In his consulting practice, Mr. Wood directs and provides technical contributions to engineering and environmental projects related primarily to the measurement, evaluation, and control of noise and vibration during the design, construction, and operation of major energy systems and transportation and industrial facilities. Examples include power generation, transmission, and distribution, waste management, gas and oil transmission facilities, sport activities, rail transportation, paper mills, expert testimony and regulatory acoustics, product noise reduction, site evaluations, draft fans, heavy-duty mufflers, construction noise, hearing conservation, acoustic impact reports, and thermal-acoustic insulation. Mr. Wood’s writings as author or coauthor include design manuals, chapters in reference texts, editorials, book reviews, and more than 150 bound technical reports, technical papers, and presentations before a range of audiences. During the first five years of his technical career he was employed in the Experiential-Engineering Acoustics Group at Pratt and Whitney Aircraft, where he contributed to full-scale ground-level and in-flight testing of the JT9D engine for the Boeing 747 and Douglas DC-10 commercial airplanes. He received his BS degree (1967) in mechanical engineering from the University of Hartford, where he studied acoustics under Professor Connie Hemond.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Workshop Steering Committee Biographical Information." National Academy of Engineering. 2013. Protecting National Park Soundscapes. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18336.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Workshop Steering Committee Biographical Information." National Academy of Engineering. 2013. Protecting National Park Soundscapes. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18336.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Workshop Steering Committee Biographical Information." National Academy of Engineering. 2013. Protecting National Park Soundscapes. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18336.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Workshop Steering Committee Biographical Information." National Academy of Engineering. 2013. Protecting National Park Soundscapes. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18336.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Workshop Steering Committee Biographical Information." National Academy of Engineering. 2013. Protecting National Park Soundscapes. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18336.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Workshop Steering Committee Biographical Information." National Academy of Engineering. 2013. Protecting National Park Soundscapes. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18336.
×
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Next: Appendix B: Workshop Agenda »
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America's national parks provide a wealth of experiences to millions of people every year. What visitors see—landscapes, wildlife, cultural activities—often lingers in memory for life. And what they hear adds a dimension that sight alone cannot provide. Natural sounds can dramatically enhance visitors' experience of many aspects of park environments. In some settings, such as the expanses of Yellowstone National Park, they can even be the best way to enjoy wildlife, because animals can be heard at much greater distances than they can be seen. Sounds can also be a natural complement to natural scenes, whether the rush of water over a rocky streambed or a ranger's explanation of a park's history. In other settings, such as the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park, sounds are the main reason for visiting a park.

The acoustical environment is also important to the well-being of the parks themselves. Many species of wildlife depend on their hearing to find prey or avoid predators. If they cannot hear, their survival is jeopardized—and the parks where they live may in turn lose part of their natural heritage. For all these reasons it is important to be aware of noise (defined as unwanted sound, and in this case usually generated by humans or machinery), which can degrade the acoustical environment, or soundscape, of parks. Just as smog smudges the visual horizon, noise obscures the listening horizon for both visitors and wildlife. This is especially true in places, such as remote wilderness areas, where extremely low sound levels are common. The National Park Service (NPS) has determined that park facilities, operations, and maintenance activities produce a substantial portion of noise in national parks and thus recognizes the need to provide park managers with guidance for protecting the natural soundscape from such noise. Therefore, the focus of the workshop was to define what park managers can do to control noise from facilities, operations, and maintenance, and not on issues such as the effects of noise on wildlife, noise metrics, and related topics.

To aid in this effort, NPS joined with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and with the US Department of Transportation's John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center to hold a workshop to examine the challenges and opportunities facing the nation's array of parks. Entitled "Protecting National Park Soundscapes: Best Available Technologies and Practices for Reducing Park- Generated Noise," the workshop took place October 3-4, 2012, at NPS's Natural Resource Program Center in Fort Collins, Colorado. Protecting National Park Soundscapes is a summary of the workshop.

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