Agricultural Research Service’s, Pasture Systems and Watershed Management Research Laboratory in University Park, Pennsylvania.

William Wiseman, Jr. earned his Ph.D. from The Johns Hopkins University in 1969. His research interests include coastal and estuarine dynamics, and the interactions of physical processes with both biological and geological processes in coastal and estuarine environments. Dr. Wiseman is the director of the Coastal Studies Institute and professor of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences at Louisiana State University.

Dan Walker (Study Director), received his Ph.D. in geology from the University of Tennessee in 1990. He is currently a Senior Program Officer with the Ocean Studies Board of the National Research Council. Since joining the Ocean Studies Board in 1995, he has directed a number of studies including Science for Decisionmaking: Coastal and Marine Geology at the U.S. Geological Survey (1999), Global Ocean Sciences: Toward an Integrated Approach (1998), and The Global Ocean Observing System: Users, Benefits, and Priorities (1997). A former member of the both the Kentucky and North Carolina state geologic surveys, Dr. Walker’s interests focus on the value of environmental information for policymaking at local, state, and national levels.

Chris Elfring is a Senior Program Officer with the Water Science and Technology Board (WSTB). In her work with the WSTB, she has directed almost two dozen studies including New Strategies for America’s Watersheds (1999), A New Era for Irrigation (1996), Flood Risk Management and the American River Basin (1995), Water Transfers in the West: Efficiency, Equity, and the Environment (1992), and Irrigation-Induced Water Quality Problems (1989). Prior to her work at the Academy, Ms. Elfring worked at Congress’s Office of Technology Assessment. She first came to Washington as an AAAS Congressional Fellow (1979-80). Her primary areas of interest include watershed management, water allocation issues, public lands management, the environmental impacts of agriculture, and alternative dispute resolution.

Jodi Bachim received her B.S. in zoology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1998. She is currently a Project Assistant with the Ocean Studies Board.