Appendix F
Workshop 2 Speaker Biographies
CRAIG BENSON serves as director of sustainability research and education and chair of civil and environmental engineering and geological engineering at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Dr. Benson has a B.S. from Lehigh University and M.S.E. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Texas at Austin. He has been conducting experimental and analytical research in geoenvironmental engineering for nearly three decades, with the primary focus in sustainable infrastructure, beneficial use of industrial by-products, and environmental containment for the solid waste, hazardous waste, and mining industries. His research includes laboratory studies, large-scale field experiments, and computer modeling. Dr. Benson has received several awards for his work, including the Ralph Peck Award, the Huber Research Prize, the Alfred Noble Prize, and the Croes (twice), Middlebrooks, Collingwood and Casagrande Awards from the American Society of Civil Engineers. Dr. Benson is a member of the ASCE Geo-Institute (GI) and is former editor-in-chief of the ASCE/GI Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering. He currently serves as vice president and president elect of the ASCE/GI Board of Governors and is vice chair of the Executive Committee of ASTM Committee D18 on Soil and Rock. Dr. Benson is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the Academy of Distinguished Alumni at the University of Texas at Austin.
PAUL BLACK is principal, co-founder and current CEO of Neptune and Company, Inc. (Neptune), an environmental consulting company that specializes in the technical disciplines of statistics, decision analysis, risk assessment, ecology, environmental modeling, quality assurance (QA), and
chemistry. Dr. Black has more than 20 years of experience applying statistics to a wide range of environmental problems. He is the manager of Neptune’s Decision Analysis, Modeling and Statistics Group. The main focus of the group is to provide consulting services in environmental decision analysis, covering environmental modeling, cost-benefit (economic) analysis, options analysis, statistics, probability, elicitation, earth sciences, and probabilistic human health and ecological risk assessment. Dr. Black has performed work for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Department of Energy (DOE), Department of Defense (DOD), and Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as well as many state and local groups. Dr. Black received an M.S. and Ph.D. in statistics from Carnegie Mellon University. He earned a B.Sc. (with honors) from the University of Lancaster, United Kingdom.
REGGIE CHEATHAM is the director of EPA’s Federal Facilities Restoration and Reuse Office (FFRRO). Prior to joining FFRRO, Mr. Cheatham served as the director of EPA’s Quality Staff in the Office of Environmental Information (OEI); the director of the Environmental Analysis Division in the Office of Information Analysis and Access, OEI; the deputy director of the Regional Support Division (Superfund Enforcement), Office of Site Remediation Enforcement in the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA); and Chief of the Chemical Industry Branch, in the Office of Compliance, OECA; and as an environmental engineer for both the Federal Facilities Enforcement Office, OECS and the RCRA Enforcement Division, Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER). Prior to joining EPA, Mr. Cheatham worked as a quality control/civil engineer in the construction industry and served in the U.S. Army. He holds a B.S. in civil engineering and an M.S. in environmental engineering from The George Washington University.
MARY FLORA earned a B.S. degree in geology from West Virginia University in 1979. After graduation she worked as an engineering geologist for the West Virginia Department of Highways while completing environmental sciences coursework at the West Virginia College of Graduate Studies. She began working at Savannah River Site (SRS) in 1988 in the groundwater and environmental protection program. During her SRS career she has worked in a variety of management functions including Area Completion Projects Environmental Compliance and Regulatory Integration; Soil & Groundwater Project Development; SRS Public Involvement; and SRS Program Integration and Planning. Today, Ms. Flora is the director of environmental compliance and area completion projects for Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, LLC. In this position, she is responsible for regulatory compliance, soil and groundwater assessment/remediation, and deactivation and decommissioning (D&D) activities at the Savannah River Site.
DAVE GEISER is the director and acting deputy director of the DOE’s Office of Legacy Management. He started work in the Office of Legacy Management in 2003 as director of the Office of Policy and Site Transition. From 1991 to 2003, he served in the DOE’s Office of Environmental Management in several capacities: international programs, high-level waste research and development, complex-wide planning and integration, deployment of new technology, and policy and guidance for long-term environmental stewardship. He graduated from Cornell University with a B.S. in chemical engineering and received his commission in the U.S. Navy in 1981. He served in the Navy for 8 years as a nuclear-trained officer on the USS Daniel Webster and at the Naval Sea Systems Command. After leaving the Navy, Mr. Geiser received a master’s of engineering administration degree from The George Washington University and joined Science Applications International Corporation. During his 3 years with SAIC, he spent 2 years in Paris, France, evaluating European waste management practices.
BERNARD (BERNIE) GOLDSTEIN is professor emeritus of environmental and occupational health at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health; he has also served as the dean of the Graduate School of Public Health. He was the founding director of the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, a joint program of Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ)–Robert Wood Johnson Medical School from 1986 to 2001. He is a physician and is board certified in internal medicine, hematology, and in toxicology. He is the author of more than 200 articles and book chapters related to environmental health sciences and to public policy. Dr. Goldstein was assistant administrator for research and development at the EPA from 1983 to 1985. His past activities include member and chairman of the National Institutes of Health Toxicology Study Section; the EPA Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee; and the National Board of Public Health Examiners. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine. He has served as chair or member of numerous Institute of Medicine or National Research Council committees. Dr. Goldstein has also served as president of the Society for Risk Analysis, as vice president and editor-in-chief of the Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment, and as a member of the National Advisory Environmental Health Sciences Council.
WILLIAM (BILL) LEVITAN serves as associate deputy assistant secretary for the Office of Site Restoration and acting director of the Office of Environmental Compliance within DOE’s Office of Environmental Management (EM). He joined EM at headquarters in 1993, and from 2005 to 2009 he served as the executive officer for EM, reporting to the assistant secretary of EM. During his tenure at DOE, he has also served as director of the Office
of Planning and Analysis and the Office of Project Planning and Controls and has had responsibilities for waste management and laboratory program management for the Hanford Site and cross-cutting EM coordination for the Oak Ridge Reservation. From 1977 to 1993, he worked at two environmental consulting/engineering firms—Dames & Moore (until 1987) and NUS Corporation. He received his B.A. in natural sciences from the Johns Hopkins University and his M.S. in marine studies (environmental toxicology) from the University of Delaware.
RICHARD G. MACH, JR. is the director of environmental compliance and restoration policy in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Navy (Energy, Installations, and Environment) and has more than 20 years of environmental experience working for the Navy. He has held his current position since April 2006, acting as a principal policy advisor for the Navy and Marine Corps on environmental programs, including compliance with environmental laws and regulations, cleanup of contaminated sites, and pollution prevention and sustainability. Mr. Mach began his civil service for the Navy in 1992 at Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC), Southwest Division, where he was a remedial project manager in charge of cleanup and compliance projects for various Navy bases in southern California. His next assignment was as the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) environmental coordinator for Hunters Point Shipyard. In this position, Mr. Mach was responsible for the $60 million/year cleanup program at the base to support eventual transfer to the City of San Francisco. After 2 years, Mr. Mach was selected to become the cleanup program and munitions response program manager for NAVFAC Headquarters. In this position, he led several NAVFAC workgroups to develop and implement improved environmental policy, guidance, and strategies to optimize the Navy’s cleanup program and to implement better technologies Navy-wide. After 4 successful years in this position, Mr. Mach was selected for his current position.
ROGER PETRIE is the Federal Facility Agreement (FFA) projects manager for the DOE Oversight Division of the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC). In this capacity, he represents the state in the CERCLA (Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act) cleanup of the DOE Oak Ridge Reservation. Before joining TDEC in 1997, he worked in the Environmental Sciences Division of Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). He worked for the Aquatic Biology Division of the Tennessee Valley Authority before joining ORNL. Mr. Petrie has B.S. and M.S. degrees in wildlife and fisheries science from the University of Tennessee. Mr. Petrie participates in the Environmental
Council of the States through the Federal Facilities Forum and was appointed to the ITRC Board of Advisors in 2012.
WILLIE PREACHER is a member of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, a federally recognized Indian Tribe. He serves as a Tribal representative for various national, state, and local organizations, including the National Conference of State Legislatures’ State and Tribal Government Working Group, the DOE Transportation Stakeholder Forum, and the DOE Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board for Idaho National Laboratory. Mr. Preacher is currently employed as the director of the Tribal/DOE Agreement-in-Principle Program and previously worked at the Idaho National Laboratory for 30 years. He resides in Blackfoot, Idaho.
WILLIAM RECKLEY is a branch chief in the Japan Lessons Learned Project Directorate within the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USRNC), where he is responsible for assessing possible changes in USNRC requirements and programs to address lessons learned from the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan. Since joining the USNRC in 1987, Mr. Reckley has held a number of progressively responsible positions in several offices including the former Office for Analysis and Evaluation of Operational Data, the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, and the Office of New Reactors, where he worked on developing the licensing infrastructure for small and medium-sized reactors—including advanced reactor concepts. In addition to working on numerous specific licensing activities, Mr. Reckley has contributed to various generic projects such as revising emergency action levels, improving licensing processes, and preparing guidance documents for USNRC staff, licensees, and applicants. Prior to joining the USNRC, Mr. Reckley worked for Duke Power Company in the safety analysis and licensing support organization. Mr. Reckley holds a B.S. in nuclear engineering from the University of Maryland.