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Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Committee and Staff Biographies." National Research Council. 2012. Approaches for Ecosystem Services Valuation for the Gulf of Mexico After the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Interim Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13141.
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A

Committee and Staff Biographies

COMMITTEE

Larry A. Mayer (Chair) is the Director of the Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping, Co-Director of the Joint Hydrographic Center, and Professor of Earth Science and Ocean Engineering at the University of New Hampshire. His research interests include sonar imaging, remote characterization of the seafloor, and advanced applications of 3-D visualization to ocean mapping challenges. Dr. Mayer received his Ph.D. from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in marine geophysics in 1979, and graduated magna cum laude with an Honors degree in geology from the University of Rhode Island in 1973. At Scripps his future path was determined when he worked with the Marine Physical Laboratory’s Deep-Tow Geophysical package, but applied this sophisticated acoustic sensor to study the history of climate. Dr. Mayer has participated in more than 50 cruises and has been chief or co-chief scientist of numerous expeditions, including two legs of the Ocean Drilling Program. Recently he has been involved (both at sea and in the lab) with the visualization of environmental data from the Deepwater Horizon incident and the application of acoustic techniques to monitor wellhead integrity and the subsurface environment in the region. He brings a strong set of spatial analysis skills and tools to this committee that will be valuable in mapping the affected areas of the Gulf and understanding impacts. Dr. Mayer served on the President’s Panel for Ocean Exploration and chaired the 2004 National Research Council’s Committee on National Needs for Coastal Mapping and Charting.

Michel C. Boufadel is Professor and Chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Temple University. Dr. Boufadel’s expertise includes investigating the offshore transport and fate of oil, original and dispersed, since 2001. He is very familiar with the Regional Ocean Model-

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Committee and Staff Biographies." National Research Council. 2012. Approaches for Ecosystem Services Valuation for the Gulf of Mexico After the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Interim Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13141.
×

ing System (ROMS) and the various windcast and wave models, such as the Joint North Sea Wave Project (JONSWAP). Furthermore, Dr. Boufadel has developed a strong understanding of the physics of waterflow, oil transport, and oil transformation (with and without dispersants), and has a strong understanding of the role of oil viscosity, surface tension, emulsion, evaporation, droplet formation (i.e., dispersion), and breakup under various energy levels. Dr. Boufadel’s skills will be essential when the committee addresses the question of where the oil went and what it will likely do under a broad range of marine and coastal conditions. Dr. Boufadel earned a Ph.D. and a M.S. in environmental engineering from the University of Cincinnati in 1998 and 1992, respectively, and a B.S. in civil engineering and hydraulics from the Jesuit University at Beirut, Lebanon, in 1988.

Jorge Brenner is currently the Associate Director of Marine Science at the Nature Conservancy. Dr. Brenner is interested in ecosystem services health assessment, valuation models, and spatial dynamics of biodiversity. He is also working on marine conservation and sustainability sciences. Dr. Brenner has experience working on related issues in Mexico, the Mediterranean, and the Gulf of Mexico regions. He brings an international perspective to the committee in addition to his strength in identifying the relevant ecosystem services that the committee will need to quantify for valuation. He earned a Ph.D. in marine sciences from the Catalonia Polytechnic University in 2007, and a M.S. in environmental engineering and a B.S. in biochemical engineering and aquatic resources from the Monterrey Technology Institute University in 1997 and 1995, respectively.

Robert S. Carney is a Professor in Louisiana State University’s Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences. Dr. Carney’s primary research expertise is in deep-ocean biological oceanography, but he is also familiar with shallow systems having directed the Coastal Ecology Institute of LSU for 9 years. He has been awarded numerous grants for his research since 1978, including multiple awards from the Minerals Management Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to support the new sampling as well as reanalysis of archival deep Gulf of Mexico data. He is a PI in the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Census of Marine Life and co-directs international research on continental margin ecosystems. He is a founding member of INDEEP (International Network for Scientific Investigation of the Deep Sea) which will begin funding by Foundation TOTAL in 2011. In addition to basic science, he has published on the design of oil-related impact studies and information needs of deep ocean management. Dr. Carney will

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Committee and Staff Biographies." National Research Council. 2012. Approaches for Ecosystem Services Valuation for the Gulf of Mexico After the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Interim Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13141.
×

provide critical insights regarding the effects of the spill on benthic biota in the Gulf, particularly in the deeper waters near the blowout. In 1977 Dr. Carney earned a Ph.D. in oceanography from Oregon State University; he also earned a M.S. in oceanography from Texas A&M University in 1971 and a B.S. in zoology from Duke University in 1967.

Cortis K. Cooper currently serves as Fellow with Chevron Energy Technology Company, a position he has held since 2002. Prior to beginning his service as Fellow, Dr. Cooper was employed as Scientist/Engineer at Chevron Exploration Technology for 12 years. In this position, he was primarily tasked with quantifying winds, waves, and currents for operation and design of offshore facilities worldwide including measuring and modeling oil spill fates; modeling hurricane alleys in the Gulf of Mexico; modeling sea level in the Caspian Sea; forecasting the Loop Current and associated eddies in the Gulf of Mexico; supervising major ocean current models in the Gulf of Mexico, West Africa, Northeast Atlantic, and Northwest Australia; leading a $1.6 million, 32-company joint industry project (JIP) to improve ocean towing; and leading a $2 million, 24-company JIP to investigate the fate of oil and gas from deepwater blowouts. Dr. Cooper was a member of the 2003 National Research Council’s Committee on Oil in the Sea: Inputs, Fates, and Effects, which initiated and led a field experiment in 2000 that simulated a deepwater blowout off Norway. He has studied the physical oceanography of the Gulf of Mexico for 25 years. Dr. Cooper brings a wealth of relevant skills to the committee, but his grasp of industry standard operating procedure and his understanding of oil dispersion under various oceanographic conditions will be most useful. He earned a Ph.D. in environmental engineering from the University of Maine in 1987, and a M.Sc. and B.S. in civil engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1977 and 1975, respectively.

Jody W. Deming (NAS) holds the Walters Endowed Professorship in the University of Washington’s School of Oceanography. She has also served as Director of the University of Washington’s Marine Bioremediation Program. Dr. Deming has made major contributions to the understanding of life in deep-sea and polar environments. As a marine microbiologist, Dr. Deming has focused her research efforts on the behavior of bacteria under conditions of extreme temperatures, pressures, and salt concentrations. She has used a combination of observational, experimental, and modeling approaches to explore the role of bacteria in the flow of carbon through deep-sea ecosystems, including in the Gulf of Mexico. Dr. Deming’s expertise on marine microbial communities and their role in ecosystem functioning will

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Committee and Staff Biographies." National Research Council. 2012. Approaches for Ecosystem Services Valuation for the Gulf of Mexico After the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Interim Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13141.
×

be essential as the committee assesses the impact of the oil on the lower trophic levels of the Gulf food web. Dr. Deming earned a Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of Maryland, College Park in 1981, and a B.A. in biological sciences from Smith College in 1974. She was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2003 and is a current member of the OSB.

David J. Die is an Associate Professor at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science and the Associate Director of the Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies. Dr. Die’s research focus is on the quantitative evaluation of fishery management strategies and his current portfolio includes collaborative development of a fishery ecosystem model for the Gulf of Mexico. He also has strong links to the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council and was the founding director of the Center of Independent Experts, a central part of the peer review process for the National Marine Fisheries Service. Dr. Die is the current chair of the big-eye tuna working group of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna and has recently been asked to serve on the international panel synthesizing tuna and billfish science for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. He has extensive knowledge of both the ecology and population dynamics of upper trophic levels in the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem and the fishing pressures, and management regimes, to which they are subject. He will bring an international perspective and a strong understanding of the impacts of the spill on the fishing industries in the Gulf. Dr. Die received a Ph.D. in biology and living resources from the University of Miami in 1989, and a B.Sc. in zoology and marine biology from the Universidad de La Laguna (Spain) in 1982.

Josh Eagle is an Associate Professor of Law at the University of South Carolina School of Law and is affiliated with USC’s Marine Sciences Program and its School of Earth, Ocean and Environment. His expertise is in ocean and coastal law, natural resources law, environmental law, and property law. He has testified before Congress and the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force on legal issues related to ocean zoning and the siting of offshore energy facilities. Mr. Eagle’s expertise in pertinent laws and regulations, including the Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) process, will help the committee understand the legal implications of various definitions and assessments of ecosystem services. From 1990 to 1995, Professor Eagle served as a trial attorney for the United States Department of Justice in Washington, DC. From 1997 to 1998, he was wildlife counsel in the policy office of the National Audubon Society in Washington, DC. Mr. Eagle received a J.D.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Committee and Staff Biographies." National Research Council. 2012. Approaches for Ecosystem Services Valuation for the Gulf of Mexico After the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Interim Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13141.
×

from Georgetown University Law Center in 1990, an M.S. in Forest Sciences from Colorado State University in 1996, and a B.A. from Johns Hopkins University in 1985.

Joseph R. Geraci is Professor in the Department of Pathology and in the Program of Comparative Medicine at the University of Maryland’s School of Medicine. His research over the past 40 years has focused on understanding how biological and environmental factors underpinning marine mammal health break down to affect the viability of the individual or population. Dr. Geraci has led research teams from the Arctic to the tropics, on studies of factors governing the health of marine mammals and their environment. He has published extensively on the effects of oil on marine mammals. In addition, Dr. Geraci has served as marine mammal health and program advisor to the U.S. Department of Agriculture; Department of Justice; Marine Mammal Commission; National Marine Fisheries Service; U.S. Navy; Canada Department of Fisheries and Oceans; the governments of Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Spain, and the Caribbean and Pacific Rim nations; the International Whaling Commission; United Nations Environment Program; International Atomic Energy Agency; and non-governmental organizations, aquariums, and research laboratories internationally. Working with the National Marine Fisheries Service, he has played a founding role in developing U.S. regional marine mammal stranding-recovery programs into a nationwide network with international reach. Dr. Geraci will provide an important set of skills in assessing the pathologies and mortalities of megafauna (like marine mammals and sea turtles) that are attributed to the oil spill. Dr. Geraci has a V.M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, a Ph.D. from McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and a B.Sc. from Suffolk University in Boston.

Barbara A. Knuth is Vice Provost, Dean of the Graduate School, Professor of Natural Resource Policy and Management, and Associate Director of the Human Dimensions Research Unit in the Department of Natural Resources at Cornell University. Dr. Knuth’s research focus, through theory-development and empirical studies, advances understanding and practice related to the human dimensions of natural resource management, particularly related to fisheries and wildlife resources, and aims to foster integration of social science and natural/physical science information within natural resource management and policy decision-making processes. Dr. Knuth’s expertise will help the committee accurately identify and quantify the relevant ecosystem services that have significant societal importance. She earned a Ph.D.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Committee and Staff Biographies." National Research Council. 2012. Approaches for Ecosystem Services Valuation for the Gulf of Mexico After the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Interim Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13141.
×

in fisheries and wildlife sciences from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 1986, an M.En., a B.Phil., and a B.A. from Miami University in 1982 and 1980, respectively.

Kenneth Lee is the Executive Director of the Centre for Offshore Oil, Gas and Energy Research (COOGER), part of Fisheries and Oceans Canada. At COOGER he is responsible for the identification of priority research needs and the coordination and implementation of collaborative national and international research programs with government and academia to provide scientific knowledge and advice pertaining to the potential environmental impacts associated with the development of Canada’s offshore oil and gas, and ocean renewable energy sector. 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; 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: This expertise will be most useful as the committee assesses the impact of the 1.8 million gallons of dispersants used in the DWH spill. He 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.

James T. Morris is the Director of the Belle Baruch Institute for Marine and Coastal Sciences, Professor of Biological Sciences, Distinguished Professor of Marine Studies at the University of South Carolina, and an AAAS Fellow. Dr. Morris has authored more than 80 peer-reviewed publications, largely focused on coastal wetlands. He has served on numerous committees and panels for various agencies, including the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), the Irish National Science Foundation, the National Research Council, and the IndoFlux committee of India. Dr. Morris has a long history of funding from NSF for research at North Inlet, South Carolina on the effects of sea-level change on coastal wetlands. Dr. Morris will help the committee assess the impacts of the spill (and spill responses) on the Gulf wetlands—arguably the most critical and complex habitat responsible for

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Committee and Staff Biographies." National Research Council. 2012. Approaches for Ecosystem Services Valuation for the Gulf of Mexico After the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Interim Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13141.
×

many of the ecosystem services under review with this study. He earned a Ph.D. in forestry and environmental studies and a M.S. in biology from Yale University in 1979 and 1975, respectively, and a B.A. in environmental sciences from the University of Virginia in 1973.

Stephen Polasky (NAS) is the Fesler-Lampert Professor of Ecological/Environmental Economics in the Department of Applied Economics at the University of Minnesota. His research interests include ecosystem services, natural capital, biodiversity conservation, endangered species policy, integrating ecological and economic analysis, renewable energy, environmental regulation, and common property resources. Papers authored by Dr. Polasky have been published in Biological Conservation, Ecological Applications, Journal of Economics Perspectives, Nature, Science, among others. He has served as co-editor and associate editor for the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management. He previously held faculty positions in the Department of Agriculture and Resource Economics at Oregon State University (1993-1999) and the Department of Economics at Boston College (1986-1993). Dr. Polasky was the senior staff economist for environment and resources for the President’s Council of Economic Advisors (1998-1999). He was elected into the National Academy of Sciences in 2010. Also, he was elected as a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2009 and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2007. Dr. Polasky is a leader in the rapidly growing field of ecosystem services valuation, which is one of the core tasks for this study. Dr. Polasky received his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Michigan in 1986.

Nancy N. Rabalais is Executive Director and Professor at the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium. Dr. Rabalais’ research includes the dynamics of hypoxic environments, interactions of large rivers with the coastal ocean, estuarine and coastal eutrophication, and environmental effects of habitat alterations and contaminants. Dr. Rabalais is an AAAS Fellow, an Aldo Leopold Leadership Program Fellow, a National Associate of the National Academies of Science, a past president of the Estuarine Research Federation, a past vice-chair of the Scientific Steering Committee of Land-Ocean Interactions in the Coastal Zone/International Geosphere-Biosphere Program, and a past chair of the NRC Ocean Studies Board. She is a current member of the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS) Council, the National Sea Grant Advisory Board, a Trustee for the Consortium for Ocean Leadership, a member of the Governing Board for the Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Observing System, and an NRC commit-

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Committee and Staff Biographies." National Research Council. 2012. Approaches for Ecosystem Services Valuation for the Gulf of Mexico After the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Interim Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13141.
×

tee member for Applying the Clean Water Act across the Mississippi River Basin. She received the 2002 Ketchum Award for coastal research from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and shares the Blasker award with R.E. Turner. She was awarded the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography Ruth Patrick Award and the National Water Research Institute Clarke Prize in the summer of 2008. Her technical familiarity with the Gulf and the interface between the deep benthic habitats and habitats along the coastal and continental shelf will be useful in determining the impacts of the oil at various depths. Dr. Rabalais received her Ph.D. in zoology from the University of Texas at Austin in 1983.

Christopher M. Reddy is a Senior Scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. His research interests include marine pollution, marine natural products, and marine-based biofuels. He has studied numerous oil spills, including the Florida, Bouchard 65, North Cape, Bouchard 120, and Cosco Busan as well as natural oil seeps off the coast of Santa Barbara, California. Dr. Reddy has earned numerous awards and honors, including the Kavli Fellow in 2009 and 2010, which is awarded by the National Academy of Sciences as the premiere recognition for distinguished young scientists under the age of 45. He was also awarded the Henry L. and Grace Doherty Professor of Oceanography in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s Joint Program. Among Dr. Reddy’s many talents, his chemical forensics skills will be most useful in isolating the impacts of the DWH spill from other oil spills and seepage that frequent the Gulf region. He received a Ph.D. in chemical oceanography in 1997 from the University of Rhode Island and a B.Sc. in chemistry from Rhode Island College in 1992.

Ralph G. Stahl, Jr., received his B.S. in Marine Biology from Texas A&M University (cum laude), his M.S. in Biology from Texas A&M University, and his Ph.D. in Environmental Science and Toxicology from the University of Texas School of Public Health. After receiving his Ph.D., he was a National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Senior Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Pathology at the University of Washington in Seattle where he investigated the impact of genetic toxins on biological systems. Ralph joined the DuPont Company in 1984 and in the intervening years has held both technical and management positions in the research and internal consulting arenas. His research over the last 25 years has focused primarily on evaluating the effects of chemical stressors on aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Since 1993 Dr. Stahl has been responsible for leading DuPont’s

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Committee and Staff Biographies." National Research Council. 2012. Approaches for Ecosystem Services Valuation for the Gulf of Mexico After the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Interim Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13141.
×

corporate efforts in ecological risk assessment and natural resource damage assessments for site remediation.

He has been involved with oceanographic studies in the Atlantic, Pacific, Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea, biological and ecological assessments at contaminated sites in the United States, Europe and Latin America, and numerous toxicological studies with mammals, birds and aquatic organisms. He has been selected by the U.S. EPA, Army Corps of Engineers, SERDP, National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences, National Academy of Science, the Water Environment Research Foundation, NOAA, State of Washington, State of Texas, and others to national or state peer review panels on ecological risk assessment, endocrine disruption in wildlife, or natural resource injury determination.

Dr. Stahl has served on the U.S. EPA’s Science Advisory Board (Advisory Council on Clean Air Compliance Analysis, Ecological Effects Subcommittee), the Department of Interior’s FACA Panel on Natural Resource Damages, and currently is active in the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC), Ecological Risk Assessment Advisory Group. He is board certified in General Toxicology and is a Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology. He has authored over 45 peer-reviewed publications on topics in environmental toxicology, ecological risk assessment, and risk management. He recently edited three books stemming from SETAC Education Foundation sponsored workshops, and currently serves on the Editorial Board of the journal Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management.

David Yoskowitz is the HRI Endowed Chair for Socio-Economics at the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies, and Professor in the College of Business at Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi. Dr. Yoskowitz’s interests include market and non-market valuation; ecosystem services; micro and small enterprise development; environmental and water markets; border economics; development microeconomics in Latin America; and socio-economic environment of the Gulf of Mexico region. Dr. Yoskowitz will bring a strong understanding of the Gulf ecosystem services and valuation, as well as a local appreciation of the smaller businesses and enterprises impacted by the spill. He received a Ph.D. in economics and a M.A. in economics from Texas Tech University in 1997 and 1994, respectively, and a B.A. in economics and finance from Bentley College in 1990.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Committee and Staff Biographies." National Research Council. 2012. Approaches for Ecosystem Services Valuation for the Gulf of Mexico After the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Interim Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13141.
×

STAFF

Kim Waddell is a senior program officer with the Ocean Studies Board. He received his Ph.D. in the Biological Sciences from the University of South Carolina and his B.A. in Environmental Studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Dr. Waddell recently rejoined the NRC after a 6-year hiatus during which he was a research associate professor at the University of the Virgin Islands and Texas A&M University working to build marine and environmental research capacity in the Caribbean region. During his previous tenure with the NRC, Dr. Waddell directed a number of studies for the Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources including California Agricultural Research Priorities: Pierce’s Disease (2004), Biological Confinement of Genetically Engineered Organisms (2004), Animal Biotechnology; Science-based Concerns (2002), The Environmental Effects of Transgenic Plants (2002), Exploring Horizons for Domestic Animal Genomics (2002), and The Future Role of Pesticides in US Agriculture (2000).

Sherrie Forrest is an associate program officer with the Ocean Studies Board and the Board on Science Education at the National Research Council. She currently supports the work of several projects, including the Roundtable on Climate Change Education and the Effects of the Deepwater Horizon Mississippi Canyon-252 Oil Spill on Ecosystem Services in the Gulf of Mexico, and she previously worked on the Conceptual Framework for New Science Education Standards. She is also the study director on the Workshop on Climate Change Education in Formal Settings, K-14. She has a B.A. in English literature from Pepperdine University and an M.S. in biological oceanography from the Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences at Rutgers University.

Jeremy Justice was a senior program assistant with the Ocean Studies Board from October 2008 to July 2011. He earned a B.A. in international and area studies from the University of Oklahoma in 2008. He is currently a program coordinator at the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) in Washington, DC.

Lauren Harding joined the Ocean Studies Board as a program assistant in August 2011. In 2011, she graduated from High Point University majoring in biology and minoring in chemistry. As an undergraduate, she conducted an independent research project on cave ecosystems. Prior to her position at OSB, Lauren was a marketing and accounting assistant with Webco General Partnership, a company of the U.S. military resale market.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Committee and Staff Biographies." National Research Council. 2012. Approaches for Ecosystem Services Valuation for the Gulf of Mexico After the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Interim Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13141.
×

Peter Thompson is a Christine Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Graduate Fellow at the National Academies assisting with ongoing work with the Ocean Studies Board. He received his Ph.D. in Behavior, Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics from the University of Maryland where he used population genetics to study the natural history, dispersal, and deep evolutionary history of a single-celled parasite that is interfering with efforts to restore oyster populations in the Chesapeake Bay. Prior to enrolling in graduate school, Dr. Thompson was a research technician for ten years with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration where he studied virus-cell interactions and the development of novel hepatitis vaccines.

Christopher Prosser is a Christine Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Graduate Fellow at the National Academies assisting with ongoing work with the Ocean Studies Board. He received his Ph.D. in marine science from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary, where he investigated multiple stressor interactions between toxicants and bacterial pathogens in the zebrafish (Danio rerio). Prior to his dissertation studies, Dr. Prosser received a Masters in Environmental Management from Duke University and Bachelor of Science degrees in Biology and Marine Science from Coastal Carolina University.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Committee and Staff Biographies." National Research Council. 2012. Approaches for Ecosystem Services Valuation for the Gulf of Mexico After the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Interim Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13141.
×

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Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Committee and Staff Biographies." National Research Council. 2012. Approaches for Ecosystem Services Valuation for the Gulf of Mexico After the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Interim Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13141.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Committee and Staff Biographies." National Research Council. 2012. Approaches for Ecosystem Services Valuation for the Gulf of Mexico After the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Interim Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13141.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Committee and Staff Biographies." National Research Council. 2012. Approaches for Ecosystem Services Valuation for the Gulf of Mexico After the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Interim Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13141.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Committee and Staff Biographies." National Research Council. 2012. Approaches for Ecosystem Services Valuation for the Gulf of Mexico After the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Interim Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13141.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Committee and Staff Biographies." National Research Council. 2012. Approaches for Ecosystem Services Valuation for the Gulf of Mexico After the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Interim Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13141.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Committee and Staff Biographies." National Research Council. 2012. Approaches for Ecosystem Services Valuation for the Gulf of Mexico After the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Interim Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13141.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Committee and Staff Biographies." National Research Council. 2012. Approaches for Ecosystem Services Valuation for the Gulf of Mexico After the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Interim Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13141.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Committee and Staff Biographies." National Research Council. 2012. Approaches for Ecosystem Services Valuation for the Gulf of Mexico After the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Interim Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13141.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Committee and Staff Biographies." National Research Council. 2012. Approaches for Ecosystem Services Valuation for the Gulf of Mexico After the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Interim Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13141.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Committee and Staff Biographies." National Research Council. 2012. Approaches for Ecosystem Services Valuation for the Gulf of Mexico After the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Interim Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13141.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Committee and Staff Biographies." National Research Council. 2012. Approaches for Ecosystem Services Valuation for the Gulf of Mexico After the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Interim Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13141.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Committee and Staff Biographies." National Research Council. 2012. Approaches for Ecosystem Services Valuation for the Gulf of Mexico After the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Interim Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13141.
×
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On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon platform drilling the Macondo well in Mississippi Canyon Block 252 (DWH) exploded, killing 11 workers and injuring another 17. The DWH oil spill resulted in nearly 5 million barrels (approximately 200 million gallons) of crude oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico (GoM). The full impacts of the spill on the GoM and the people who live and work there are unknown but expected to be considerable, and will be expressed over years to decades. In the short term, up to 80,000 square miles of the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) were closed to fishing, resulting in loss of food, jobs and recreation.

The DWH oil spill immediately triggered a process under the U.S. Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA) to determine the extent and severity of the "injury" (defined as an observable or measurable adverse change in a natural resource or impairment of a natural resource service) to the public trust, known as the Natural Resources Damage Assessment (NRDA). The assessment, undertaken by the trustees (designated technical experts who act on behalf of the public and who are tasked with assessing the nature and extent of site-related contamination and impacts), requires: (1) quantifying the extent of damage; (2) developing, implementing, and monitoring restoration plans; and (3) seeking compensation for the costs of assessment and restoration from those deemed responsible for the injury.

This interim report provides options for expanding the current effort to include the analysis of ecosystem services to help address the unprecedented scale of this spill in U.S. waters and the challenges it presents to those charged with undertaking the damage assessment.

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