Appendix A
Biographical Sketches of Committee Members
F. Pat Dunn, Chair, retired from Shell Oil Company, served as a member of the Marine Board Committee on Disposition of Offshore Platforms (1985) and as a Marine Board member from 1986–1989. At Shell, Mr. Dunn was manager of civil engineering in the Offshore Production Division, where his group designed and supervised construction of more than 100 major platforms and numerous minor structures. He also was involved in an industry group that played a major role in setting industry practices and guidelines for offshore platform design. Mr. Dunn has bachelor's and master's degrees in civil engineering from Ohio State University.
Karen A. Bjorndal is an associate professor of zoology and director of the Archie Carr Center for Sea Turtle Research at the University of Florida in Gainesville. She received a B.A. in biology at Occidental College and a Ph.D. in zoology from the University of Florida. Dr. Bjorndal serves as the chair of the Marine Turtle Specialist Group of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. She was a member of the National Research Council Committee on Sea Turtle Conservation, which issued a report entitled Decline of the Sea Turtles: Causes and Prevention in 1990. Dr. Bjorndal is a member of the Scientific Advisory Council of the Bahamas National Trust and the Board of Directors of the Annual Sea Turtle Symposium. Her research includes sea turtle demographics, feeding ecology, growth rates, and nutrition.
James M. Coleman (NAE) is the executive vice chancellor of Louisiana State University, and a professor in the Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences. Dr. Coleman's research focuses on continental shelf, slope, and deltaic sedimentation, and he has authored or co-authored more than 180 papers in the field of geomorphology. He has served as a principal investigator on a number of projects for oil and gas companies on the geological characteristics of continental shelf sediments in the Gulf of Mexico. Dr. Coleman has received several honors for contributions to the field, including election as a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a fellow to the Geological Society of America. He was appointed a member of the Marine Board in 1993. Dr. Coleman received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in geology from Louisiana State University.
William E. Evans is president of the Texas Institute of Oceanography of Texas A&M University, where he previously served as dean and then superintendent of the Texas State Maritime Program. Dr. Evans served as the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere (Administrator of NOAA) from 1988–1989, assistant administrator of NOAA for Fisheries from 1986–1988, and as chairman of the Marine Mammal Commission from 1983–1986. He was responsible for directing the conservation, management, and development of living marine resources for commercial and recreational use and developing and implementing national policy for the nation 's marine waters and resources. Dr. Evans is currently a principal investigator in a research project for the Minerals Management Service to examine the effects of various human activities on marine mammal populations in the Gulf of Mexico. His special area of research is the effects of noise on marine mammals. Dr. Evans has a B.S. in science education, an M.A. in audiology, and a Ph.D. in biology and biophysics.
Richard A. Kasprzak is the coordinator of the Artificial Reef Program for the State of Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. The focus of this program is to coordinate the conversion of decommissioned oil platforms into fish habitats. Mr. Kasprzak previously was a biologist with the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, focusing on population dynamics of finfish and shrimp, and has previously worked for the National Marine Fisheries Service. He has a B.S. in biology from Loyola College and pursued graduate studies at the University of Alabama and Louisiana State University.
James E. Kiesler is general manager of Global Movible Offshore, an offshore construction company that installs and removes offshore structures in the Gulf of Mexico. Prior to that, Mr. Kiesler worked for 17 years as a manager of offshore construction and in positions concerned with marine construction. Mr. Kiesler has experience in offshore platform fabrication and installation and has been involved in the installation of more than 500 platforms and the removal of more than 200 platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. He holds a B.S. in civil engineering from Purdue University.
Patrick E.G. O'Connor is team leader of the offshore and civil engineering team for the Amoco Corporation Worldwide Engineering and Construction group in Houston. He has 28 years of experience in civil engineering, 20 of them related to offshore activities. Mr. O'Connor has engineering and construction experience in the North Sea, the Gulf of Suez, West Africa, the Far East, Trinidad, the Arctic, and the Gulf of Mexico, and is currently involved in the evaluation and development of explosive and platform-toppling technologies for abandoning platforms in the North Sea. He has a B.S. degree in civil engineering and is a chartered engineer in the United Kingdom.
Alan Powell is a professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Houston. He previously served as technical director of the David W. Taylor Naval Ship Research and Development Center, where he was responsible for research on all aspects of ships (except nuclear vessels), including underwater acoustics and the effects of explosions on ships. Dr. Powell is currently teaching and doing research in acoustics and gas dynamics. He is a member of the Acoustical Society of America (fellow, Biennial Award, Silver Medal, past president), Royal Aeronautical Society (fellow, Orville Wright Prize, Baden-Powell Prize), and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (Per Br üel Gold Medal). Declared a meritorious executive by President Reagan, he also received the Captain Robert Dexter Conrad Gold Medal for Scientific Achievement from the Secretary of the Navy. Dr. Powell is a member of the National Research Council Naval Studies Board, has served on several of its committees, and was chair of the National Research Council standing Committee on Hearing, Bioacoustics, and Biomechanics. He is a chartered engineer in the United Kingdom and has B.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in engineering.
Allan G. Pulsipher is the director of the Policy Analysis Program of the Center for Energy Studies at Louisiana State University. The center conducts research and policy analyses on topics of concern to Louisiana's economy, environment, and government. He has directed studies of both the economic and environmental implications increasing the role of smaller, independent oil and gas companies on the outer continental shelf. He has served as chief economist at the Monitored Retrievable Storage Review Commission and the Tennessee Valley Authority. Dr. Pulsipher was also a program officer at the Ford Foundation and a senior staff economist at the President's Council of Economic Advisers. He has B.A. and Ph.D. degrees in economics.
Daniel J. Sullivan is manager of marine operations of J. Ray McDermott, Inc., a major offshore construction company operating in the Gulf of Mexico. He has 22 years of field experience in all aspects of offshore construction, including the removal of platforms. In his present position, Mr. Sullivan is responsible for all offshore operations in the Gulf of Mexico. He has a B.S. in civil engineering from Tulane University.
J. Pace VanDevender is director of the National Industrial Alliances Center at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The goals of the center are to create large-scale, long-term work to improve the global competitiveness of U.S. industry by determining the key issues and opportunities for synthesis of organizations and technology for new applications. Dr. VanDevender previously held positions at Sandia as a research scientist, a manager for fusion research, and director of pulsed power sciences. Dr. VanDevender is a member of the National Research Council Naval Studies Board and has served on numerous committees under this board. He has B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees in physics.
Peter K. Vélez is manager of regulatory affairs for Shell Offshore, Inc. He joined Shell in 1975 and has had assignments in designing, constructing, installing, and removing offshore structures and as manager of health, safety, and the environment. He is active in trade association groups, including the American Petroleum Institute, the Offshore Operators Committee, the National Ocean Industries Association, and the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association and is a member of the U.S. Coast Guard National Offshore Safety Advisory Committee, which provides advice on offshore mineral and energy safety issues. He also serves on the governor of Louisiana's Energy Task Force, which is charged with advising the governor on oil and gas issues that affect the state. Mr. Vélez received B.S. and M.S. degrees in civil engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
