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Responding to Oil Spills in the U.S. Arctic Marine Environment (2014)

Chapter: Appendix A: Committee and Staff Biographies

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Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Committee and Staff Biographies." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 2014. Responding to Oil Spills in the U.S. Arctic Marine Environment. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18625.
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A Committee and Staff Biographies

COMMITTEE

Martha Grabowski (Chair) is McDevitt Chair in Information Systems and Professor, Chair of the Business Administration Department at Le Moyne College, and Research Professor of Industrial & Systems Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. She is also a licensed former merchant officer and retired lieutenant commander in the U.S. Naval Reserve. Much of Dr. Grabowski’s work centers on developing understanding of how large-scale systems of people, organizations, and technology behave, particularly those that are complex and geographically distributed. Her research projects focus on the impact of technology in safety-critical systems, risk analysis and risk mitigation in large-scale systems, and the role of human and organizational error in high-consequence settings. Currently, she is studying how social media can mobilize large masses of people in harm’s way in very short time periods during extreme warning events, and modeling high-reliability virtual organizations for post-disaster cleanup, for global supply chains, and for financial cybersecurity systems. Dr. Grabowski is a recent past chair of the Marine Board and has served on numerous National Research Council (NRC) committees, including chairing the NRC committee on Naval Engineering in the 21st Century and vice-chairing the Committee on Review of the Tsunami Warning and Forecast System and Overview of the Nation’s Tsunami Preparedness. Dr. Grabowski earned a B.S. from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and an MBA, an M.S. in engineering, and a Ph.D. in management and information systems from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Thomas S. Coolbaugh is a Distinguished Scientific Associate in the Oil Spill Response Technology Group at ExxonMobil Research and Engineering in Fairfax, Virginia. As the Oil Spill Response Technology Group lead, he provides technical guidance and training on the full suite of oil spill response strategies in support of global operations. In this position, his focus includes the use of dispersants, in situ burning, and remote sensing of oil spills. He has extensive experience in a variety of research settings as a research scientist and research leader and is an inventor/co-inventor on numerous U.S. and international patents covering a variety of compositions of matter and processes, including synthetic elastomers, dispersants for engine oils, and other specialty additives. Dr. Coolbaugh

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Committee and Staff Biographies." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 2014. Responding to Oil Spills in the U.S. Arctic Marine Environment. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18625.
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is chair of IPIECA’s Oil Spill Working Group, and a member of the American Petroleum Industry (API) Spills Advisory Group and of the Marine Preservation Association Dispersant Advisory Committee. He is the author of various publications covering a range of subject matter including oil spill response technology. Dr. Coolbaugh received his B.A. in chemistry from Amherst College and his Ph.D. in chemistry from the California Institute of Technology. He has also received an M.S. in the management of technology from Polytechnic University (Now Polytechnic Institute of NYU).

David F. Dickins has over 40 years of project management experience focusing on environmental issues associated with offshore oil exploration and development, and marine transportation in Arctic waters. His company, DF Dickins Associates, founded in Canada’s Northwest Territories in 1978, provides engineering research services for government and industry clients in the United States, Canada, Russia, Scandinavia, and Europe. Mr. Dickins has an established worldwide reputation and is regarded within the scientific and engineering community as an expert on Arctic sea ice and marine environments, oil spills in ice, remote sensing of ice, Arctic shipping route evaluations, and environmental impacts. He has worked on research issues related to cold water oil spill response and recovery for most of his career, including nine large-scale experimental field spills in ice and cold water covering the period from 1974 to 2009. Over the past 10 years, he led a series of joint projects funded by industry and the U.S. Minerals Management Service to test and develop new radar systems for oil-in-ice detection. In 2004 his firm was contracted to develop a set of Arctic oil spill research priorities for the U.S. Arctic Research Commission. He acted as project manager for remote sensing as part of the SINTEF Oil in Ice Joint Industry Project (JIP) in Norway from 2007 to 2010, and currently chairs the Field Research Technical Working Group as part of the ongoing Arctic Response Technology JIP. Mr. Dickins received a B.A.Sc. in mechanical engineering from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver in 1971 and is a registered professional engineer in the Province of British Columbia.

Richard K. Glenn is the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation’s (ASRC’s) Executive Vice President of Lands and Natural Resources and a member of their Board of Directors. The Arctic Slope Regional Corporation is an Alaska Native-owned regional corporation representing more than 10,000 Iñupiat Eskimos of Alaska’s North Slope. The shareholders of ASRC own surface and subsurface title to nearly five million acres of Alaskan North Slope lands with oil, gas, coal, and mineral resources. Mr. Glenn has special expertise in resource development in an Arctic setting, and is well versed in on- and offshore Arctic geologic and sea-ice processes. From 1995 to 2001, he headed the North Slope Borough Department of Energy Management, where he supervised the energy programs for all of the North Slope Borough villages. He has twice been appointed by the President to the U.S. Arctic Research Commission and he is also the founder of the Barrow Arctic Science Consortium, a not-for-profit organization that encourages research and educational activities in the North Slope and facilitates the two-way transfer of information between scientists and the local communities. Mr. Glenn also has experience in his extended family’s subsistence whaling crew, having served as its co-captain for almost 20 years. Mr. Glenn received a B.S. in geology from San Jose State University in 1985 and an M.S. in geology from the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 1991 and is a licensed professional geologist.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Committee and Staff Biographies." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 2014. Responding to Oil Spills in the U.S. Arctic Marine Environment. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18625.
×

Kenneth Lee is the Director of the Wealth from Oceans National Research Flagship, part of Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation. He leads a national team of multidisciplinary scientists to promote research and development and the application of emerging technologies in ocean sciences to increase Australia’s global competitiveness. He currently serves on the Australian Government National Plan for Maritime Environmental Emergencies Committee. Previously, he was Executive Director of the Centre for Offshore Oil, Gas and Energy Research, part of Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Dr. Lee’s research and project management activities include studies to link organic and inorganic contaminants, marine noise, and alterations in hydrodynamic processes to effects on biota, including commercial fisheries species; chemical/microbiological studies on the biotransformation and biodegradation of contaminants; development of novel approaches to assess the impact of organic pollutants by the development and validation of toxicity assays based on advances in genomics, microbial ecology, and biochemical analysis; and coordination of multidisciplinary studies including the application of numerical models to predict the risk of industrial activities and contaminants on ecosystem health. Dr. Lee is one of the world’s leading experts on the effects of dispersants and other spill response technologies. He recently served on the National Research Council Committee on the Effects of the Deepwater Horizon Mississippi Canyon-252 Oil Spill on Ecosystem Services in the Gulf of Mexico. Dr. Lee received a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in botany/ environmental studies from the University of Toronto in 1982 and 1977, respectively, and a B.Sc. in biology from Dalhousie University in 1975.

William L. Majors has spent the past 10 years as the Planning & Development Manager for Alaska Clean Seas, a not-for-profit oil spill response cooperative located on the North Slope of Alaska. Their membership includes oil and pipeline companies that engage in or intend to undertake oil and gas exploration, development, production, or pipeline transport activities on the North Slope. Mr. Majors coordinates oil spill response research and development projects, training, and safety, including working with member companies on contingency plan development, oil spill response readiness, and oil spill response training and exercises and cooperating with regulatory and resource agencies on oil spill response readiness. Mr. Majors also spent almost 20 years in the U.S. Coast Guard, including 10 years’ experience in marine safety and pollution response. He has over 25 years of oil spill response and management experience.

Mark D. Myers is the Vice Chancellor for Research at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF), a position he has held since January 2011. Dr. Myers previously worked as the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act coordinator for the State of Alaska, and was the director of the U.S. Geological Survey from 2006 to 2009. His career as a geologist and policy maker spans more than three decades and includes work as a geologist for ARCO Alaska and the State of Alaska. He is an internationally recognized leader in energy and science policy and has wide-ranging industry, state, and federal government experience. From 2001 to 2005, he served as director of the state Division of Oil and Gas. Prior to his geology career, Dr. Myers served in the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve as a pilot and intelligence officer. As Vice Chancellor for Research, Dr. Myers oversees administration of UAF’s $123-million-per-year research enterprise and supervises the university’s research institutes.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Committee and Staff Biographies." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 2014. Responding to Oil Spills in the U.S. Arctic Marine Environment. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18625.
×

Dr. Myers received his B.S. and M.S. in geology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1977 and 1981, respectively, and a Ph.D. in geology from UAF in 1994.

Brenda L. Norcross is a Professor of Fisheries Oceanography in the School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, UAF. Her research centers on fishes and their habitats, including human-induced effects on the environment. Since 2004, Norcross’s research has focused on fishes in the Arctic, specifically the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas. Dr. Norcross headed the herring component of the multi-investigator Sound Ecosystem Assessment project, which investigated the environment of Prince William Sound following the Exxon Valdez oil spill. That research resulted in a synthetic knowledge of the juvenile life stage of herring. She has studied flatfishes in Alaskan waters and has modeled nursery habitats. Dr. Norcross was a member of two NRC committees, the Committee on Improving the Collection and Use of Fisheries Data and the Committee to Review the Gulf of Alaska Ecosystem Monitoring Program. Dr. Norcross earned her Ph.D. in marine science from the College of William and Mary in 1983.

Mark Reed is an expert in marine environmental modeling and impact assessments at SINTEF. SINTEF is the largest independent, nonprofit research organization in Scandinavia and has significant expertise in marine environmental technology, including fate and effects of spilled oil in cold regions. His scientific focus is on numerical model development for decision support applications, including coupled physical, biological, and chemical processes in the marine environment, with particular focus on fates and effects of pollutants (including oil, petroleum products, and chemicals). He has worked in quantitative environmental impact and natural resource damage assessment, and numerical modeling of animal migrations, biological transport, and fishery dynamics. Dr. Reed used his modeling expertise to help with the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico and has also worked on field programs for oil spill response in ice and cold water. He was operations manager at Applied Science Associates from 1982 to 1992, and group leader for Marine Environmental Modeling at SINTEF from 1992 through 2012. He now works as a private consultant supporting research and industrial organizations. Dr. Reed received a B.A. in philosophy from Antioch College in 1969, an M.S. in civil and urban engineering from the University of Pennsylvania in 1975, and a Ph.D. in ocean engineering from the University of Rhode Island in 1980.

Brian Salerno resigned from the committee in August 2013 to become the Director of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. Prior to this appointment, he served as the U.S. Liaison Officer for BIMCO, an international shipping association comprising a membership of a broad range of stakeholders with interests in the shipping industry. His previous U.S. Coast Guard positions included service as Deputy Commandant for Operations; and Assistant Commandant for Marine Safety, Security, and Stewardship. In these positions, VADM Salerno was responsible for national marine safety, security and environmental protection doctrine, policy, and regulations. He also ensured policy alignment with other federal partners and oversaw important work with federal advisory committees, industry-stakeholder partnerships, and international bodies. He received a master’s degree in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College in 2000, and also has a master’s degree in management from the Johns Hopkins University.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Committee and Staff Biographies." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 2014. Responding to Oil Spills in the U.S. Arctic Marine Environment. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18625.
×

Robert Suydam is a wildlife biologist whose research interests have focused on monitoring population trends and documenting natural history traits of bowhead whales, beluga whales, eiders, geese, caribou, and other Arctic species. He has held a position within the North Slope Borough’s Department of Wildlife Management since 1990, and as part of this job conducts studies on wildlife species that are important for subsistence on the North Slope of Alaska. He is also responsible for reviewing documents related to oil and gas exploration, development, and production for projects onshore and offshore, with a focus on reviewing and evaluating impacts to bowhead whales and other marine mammals from industrial activities, particularly industrial sounds, in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas off northern Alaska. He has written more than 50 peer-reviewed scientific publications and has authored numerous scientific reports. Dr. Suydam received a B.S. in environmental biology from California State University, Fresno, in 1986, an M.S. in biology from UAF in 1995, and a Ph.D. in aquatic and fishery sciences from the University of Washington in 2009.

James M. Tiedje is the University Distinguished Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, and of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences, and is Director of the Center for Microbial Ecology at Michigan State University. His research focuses on ecology, physiology, and genetics and genomics underlying important microbial processes in nature. Some of his relevant interests for this study include biodegradation of environmental pollutants and bioremediation, and microbial life in permafrost. His group has discovered several microbes that live by halorespiration on chlorinated solvents and is using genomics to better understand ecological functions, endemism, and niche adaptation. He has served as editor-in-chief of Applied and Environmental Microbiology and Editor of Microbial and Molecular Biology Reviews. He has over 450 refereed papers, including seven in Science and Nature. He shared the 1992 Finley Prize of UNESCO for research contributions in microbiology of international significance, is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the American Academy Microbiology, and the Soil Science Society of America, and is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. He was president of the American Society for Microbiology in 2004-2005. He received his B.S. degree from Iowa State University and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Cornell University.

Mary-Louise Timmermans is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geology & Geophysics at Yale University. Her principal research focus is investigating the dynamics and variability of the Arctic Ocean to better understand how the ocean impacts Arctic sea ice and climate. Her approach is to apply fundamental theoretical models to geophysical observations, including measurements from an ice-based network of drifting automated ocean-profiling instruments, and hydrographic measurements from icebreaker surveys. Her research includes investigations of ocean mixing, eddies, waves, double-diffusive heat transport, and freshwater and heat content in the upper Arctic Ocean. She received a B.S. in physics at the University of Victoria, British Columbia, in 1994 and a Ph.D. in fluid mechanics from Cambridge University in 2000.

Peter Wadhams is Professor of Ocean Physics at Cambridge University. He is an oceanographer and glaciologist involved in polar oceanographic and sea ice research and concerned with climate change processes in polar regions. He leads the Polar Ocean Physics group, studying the effects of

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Committee and Staff Biographies." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 2014. Responding to Oil Spills in the U.S. Arctic Marine Environment. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18625.
×

global warming on sea ice, icebergs, and the polar oceans. This involves work in the Arctic and Antarctic from nuclear submarines, autonomous underwater vehicles, icebreakers, aircraft, and drifting ice camps. He has more than 40 polar field expeditions. Dr. Wadhams’ direct experience with oil spills in ice began during 1974-1976 with involvement, while with the Institute of Ocean Sciences in Victoria, British Columbia, in the Beaufort Sea Project, a large Canadian government project to study the effect of oil blowouts on ice in the Beaufort Sea. This included taking part in oil spills in the moving pack ice of the Beaufort Sea. He authored one of the Beaufort Sea Project reports. More recent relevant involvement includes the deployment of autonomous underwater vehicles under ice, and the European Union Interice project to carry out oil-ice studies using the Hamburg ice testing tank. Later, he was director of the Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge (1987-1992), before moving to his present position. He has been awarded the Polar Medal by the Queen of England and the Italgas Prize for Environmental Sciences. He is a member of the Scientific Committee of the European Environment Agency, Copenhagen, and a member of the Finnish Academy. Dr. Wadhams received his Ph.D. from the Scott Polar Research Institute in 1974.

STAFF

Deborah Glickson is a Senior Program Officer with the Ocean Studies Board at the National Research Council (NRC). She received an M.S. in geology from Vanderbilt University in 1999 and a Ph.D. 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 Ph.D. 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, and geoscience education.

Lauren Brown is an Associate Program Officer with the Polar Research Board and the Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, where she has been involved in a number of studies such as America’s Climate Choices, Lessons and Legacies of International Polar Year 2007-2008, and Seasonal to Decadal Predictions of Arctic Sea Ice. She holds an M.S. in Marine Studies with a focus on physical ocean science and engineering from the University of Delaware. She is especially interested in high-latitude environmental policy issues and the role of polar regions in global climate change.

Stacee Karras joined the NRC in September 2012 as a fellow in the Ocean Studies Board, and is currently a Research Associate. She received her B.A. in marine affairs and policy with concentrations in biology and political science from the University of Miami in 2007. The following year she received an M.A. in marine affairs and policy from the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Committee and Staff Biographies." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 2014. Responding to Oil Spills in the U.S. Arctic Marine Environment. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18625.
×

Marine and Atmospheric Science. Most recently, she earned her J.D. from the University of Virginia, School of Law.

Heather Chiarello joined the Ocean Studies Board in July 2008. She graduated magna cum laude from Central Michigan University in 2007 with a B.S. in political science with a concentration in public administration. She is pursuing a master’s degree in sociology and public policy analysis at The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. After five years with the Ocean Studies Board, Heather accepted a position as Senior Program Assistant with the Institute of Medicine in April 2013.

Payton Kulina joined the Ocean Studies Board as a Program Assistant in June 2013. He graduated from Dickinson College majoring in policy management, focusing on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and Rails-to-Trails projects. Prior to this position, Payton worked as a coordinator with BP Alternative Energy, also in Washington, DC.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Committee and Staff Biographies." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 2014. Responding to Oil Spills in the U.S. Arctic Marine Environment. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18625.
×

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Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Committee and Staff Biographies." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 2014. Responding to Oil Spills in the U.S. Arctic Marine Environment. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18625.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Committee and Staff Biographies." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 2014. Responding to Oil Spills in the U.S. Arctic Marine Environment. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18625.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Committee and Staff Biographies." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 2014. Responding to Oil Spills in the U.S. Arctic Marine Environment. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18625.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Committee and Staff Biographies." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 2014. Responding to Oil Spills in the U.S. Arctic Marine Environment. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18625.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Committee and Staff Biographies." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 2014. Responding to Oil Spills in the U.S. Arctic Marine Environment. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18625.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Committee and Staff Biographies." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 2014. Responding to Oil Spills in the U.S. Arctic Marine Environment. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18625.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Committee and Staff Biographies." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 2014. Responding to Oil Spills in the U.S. Arctic Marine Environment. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18625.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Committee and Staff Biographies." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 2014. Responding to Oil Spills in the U.S. Arctic Marine Environment. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18625.
×
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U.S. Arctic waters north of the Bering Strait and west of the Canadian border encompass a vast area that is usually ice covered for much of the year, but is increasingly experiencing longer periods and larger areas of open water due to climate change. Sparsely inhabited with a wide variety of ecosystems found nowhere else, this region is vulnerable to damage from human activities. As oil and gas, shipping, and tourism activities increase, the possibilities of an oil spill also increase. How can we best prepare to respond to such an event in this challenging environment?

Responding to Oil Spills in the U.S. Arctic Marine Environment reviews the current state of the science regarding oil spill response and environmental assessment in the Arctic region north of the Bering Strait, with emphasis on the potential impacts in U.S. waters. This report describes the unique ecosystems and environment of the Arctic and makes recommendations to provide an effective response effort in these challenging conditions. According to Responding to Oil Spills in the U.S. Arctic Marine Environment, a full range of proven oil spill response technologies is needed in order to minimize the impacts on people and sensitive ecosystems. This report identifies key oil spill research priorities, critical data and monitoring needs, mitigation strategies, and important operational and logistical issues.

The Arctic acts as an integrating, regulating, and mediating component of the physical, atmospheric and cryospheric systems that govern life on Earth. Not only does the Arctic serve as regulator of many of the Earth's large-scale systems and processes, but it is also an area where choices made have substantial impact on life and choices everywhere on planet Earth. This report's recommendations will assist environmentalists, industry, state and local policymakers, and anyone interested in the future of this special region to preserve and protect it from damaging oil spills.

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