Appendix A
Biographical Sketches of Committee Members and Staff
James Saiers, Chair, is a professor of hydrology, the associate dean of Academic Affairs, and professor of chemical engineering at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. Dr. Saiers studies the circulation of water and the movement of waterborne chemicals in surface and subsurface environments. One element of his research centers on quantifying the effects that interactions between hydrologic and geochemical processes have on the migration of contaminants in groundwater. Another focus is on the dynamics of surface water and groundwater flow in wetlands and the response of fluid flow characteristics to changes in climate and water management practices. His work couples field observations and laboratory-scale experimentation with mathematical modeling. Dr. Saiers is a member of the National Research Council (NRC) Committee on Independent Scientific Review of Everglades Restoration Progress and was a member of the 2012 Hydraulic Fracturing Research Advisory Panel of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Science Advisory Board. He earned his B.S. degree in geology from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in environmental sciences from the University of Virginia.
Charles Harvey is a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and is an experienced scientist, mentor, and leader of multidisciplinary environmental science projects. He has worked extensively on issues of hydrology, biogeochemistry, and groundwater contamination. He is credited with making fundamental advances in understanding chemical transport and reaction in flowing groundwater. He has several built large-scale field programs to study (1) arsenic contamination in Bangladesh, (2) the ecology of peat swamp forests in Borneo, and (3) the interaction of fresh and saline groundwater beneath Cape Cod. He was awarded a National Science Foundation Career Award, the 2008 M. King Hubbert award for major scientific contributions to groundwater hydrology, the 2012 Prince Sultan Abdulaziz International Prize for Water, and the 2014 Geological Society of America Meinzer Award for seminal contributions to hydrogeology. Dr. Harvey is co-director of Terrascope, an undergraduate learning community at MIT built on a sequence of classes that investigate a different global environmental issue each year. He has taught workshops on hydrology and water contamination in Bangladesh, Denmark, Italy, and Singapore. He has advised the governments of Singapore, India, Kuwait, and Brunei on water resource management. Dr. Harvey holds a B.S. degree in mathematics from Oberlin College, and a Ph.D. degree from Stanford University.
William A. Hopkins is a professor in the Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation at Virginia Tech and the program director of the Interfaces of Global Change interdisciplinary graduate education program. His research program focuses on physiological ecology and wildlife ecotoxicology, addressing pressing questions in both basic and applied science. Current work in Dr. Hopkins’s laboratory examines the bioenergetics of various processes including digesting various prey types, development under variable incubation conditions, mounting an immune response, and enduring parasitic infections. He is also interested in maternal effects and how maternal behavioral decisions may influence a mother’s fitness and the fitness of her offspring. Dr. Hopkins’s previous research experience at the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Mercer University’s Medical School, Auburn University, and the University of South Carolina includes quantification of diverse physiological responses of invertebrates and vertebrates to natural and anthropogenic stressors. Hopkins serves as a toxicologist on the Scientific Advisory Board for the International Center for Birds of Prey, and served as a member of the National Research Council Committee on Mine Placement of Coal Combustion Wastes. Dr. Hopkins received his B.S. degree in biology from Mercer University, an M.S. degree in zoology from Auburn University, and a Ph.D. degree in ecology, evolution, and organismal biology from the University of South Carolina.
Kenneth W. Potter is a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Wisconsin. Dr. Potter’s areas of research include estimation of hydrologic risk, especially flood risk; adaptation of hydrologic design to climate change; assessment and mitigation of human impacts on aquatic systems; and restoration of aquatic systems. Dr. Potter is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a fellow of the American Geophysical Union, and a Woodrow Wilson fellow. He has extensive NRC committee experience. He is a former member of the Water Science and Technology Board, chaired the NRC Committee on American River Flood Frequencies and the NRC Committee on Integrated Observations for Hydrologic and Related Sciences, and he served on the Committee on Restoration of the Greater Everglades Ecosystem. Dr. Potter received his B.S. degree in geology from Louisiana State University and his Ph.D. degree in geography and environmental engineering from Johns Hopkins University.
René Marie Price is an associate professor in the Department of Earth and Environment and the Southeast Environmental Research Center at Florida International University and is currently a Florida professional geologist. Dr. Price is a chemical hydrogeologist, who uses geochemical constituents to trace water flow throughout the hydrologic cycle. Her research interests include groundwater and surface water interactions, ecohydrology, karst hydrogeology, seawater intrusion, and sea level rise. She has conducted hydrologic research extensively in South Florida and the Everglades, and internationally in Spain, India, Mexico, and Australia. She also has served as science advisor on several Everglades Restoration science advisory boards. Dr. Price holds a B.S. degree in geology from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, an
M.S. degree in environmental sciences from the University of Virginia, and a Ph.D. degree in marine geology and geophysics from the University of Miami.
R. David G. Pyne is president of ASR Systems, LLC. He has more than 40 years of water supply engineering and water resources management experience, including investigations, design, and construction of more than 40 wellfields. He is recognized as the pioneer and leader of aquifer storage recovery (ASR), having developed this technology in Florida, elsewhere in the United States, and overseas since 1978. In Florida this has included the first operational ASR wellfield in Manatee County which became operational in 1983, and many of the operational ASR wellfields completed since then. He has led research projects for the Southwest Florida Water Management District and the South Florida Water Management District addressing the fate of microbiota during storage in ASR wells, and operational measures to control arsenic mobilization and attenuation during ASR storage. He has actively participated in the development of legislation, regulations, and policies governing ASR in Florida and nationwide. Mr. Pyne successfully established ASR Systems LLC during 2001 to provide water resources and ASR consulting services. Prior to that, he worked with CH2M HILL for 30 years, directing the firm’s ASR program. He has provided ASR consultant assistance to the World Bank, International Atomic Energy Agency, UNESCO, and USAID. His technical expertise encompasses groundwater hydrology, surface water hydrology, water quality, water supply and wastewater systems planning, stormwater management, environmental studies, deep injection wells, bank filtration, and aquifer recharge. Mr. Pyne holds a B.S. degree in civil engineering from Duke University and an M.S.E. degree in environmental engineering sciences from the University of Florida.
Larry Robinson is a distinguished professor in the School of the Environment at Florida A&M University (FAMU). Previously he served as the interim president at FAMU from July 2012 to April 2014. His research interests include environmental chemistry and the application of nuclear methods to detect trace elements in environmental matrices and environmental policy and management. In May 2010, Robinson took a leave of absence from FAMU to serve as assistant secretary of Commerce for Conservation and Management at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). While there, he supported and managed NOAA’s coastal and marine programs, including marine sanctuaries for preserving areas of special national significance, including fisheries management and preparation of nautical charts. He also supported NOAA’s participation in addressing the BP oil spill crisis and served on the Ocean Policy Task Force. He returned to the university as a special assistant to the FAMU president in November 2011 and was selected as provost and vice president for Academic Affairs in March 2012. From 2001 to 2010, he served as director of NOAA’s Environmental Cooperative Science Center housed at FAMU. Dr. Robinson was on the NRC Committee on Mine Placement of Coal Combustion Wastes and the Committee on Restoration of the Greater Everglades Ecosystem. He earned a B.S. in chemistry from Memphis State University and a Ph.D. in nuclear chemistry from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.
Elizabeth J. Screaton is a professor of hydrogeology at the University of Florida, Gainesville. Dr. Screaton studies groundwater flow in geological process, the exchange of surface and groundwater in karst aquifer systems, and the interactions between water flow and deformation in subduction-zone sediments. Her work in subduction-zone research combines field work, laboratory work, and numerical modeling to investigate the interrelationship of fluid flow and deformation. Dr. Screaton earned her B.A. degree in geology from Carleton College, M.S. degree in Earth sciences from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a Ph.D. degree in Earth sciences from Lehigh University.
Rhodes Trussell, NAE, is the founder of Trussell Technologies, Inc. Previously he was the lead drinking water technologist at Montgomery Watson Harza, Inc. He is recognized worldwide as an authority in methods and criteria for water quality and the development of advanced processes for treating water or wastewater to achieve the highest standards. He has worked on the process design for dozens of treatment plants, ranging from less than 1 to more than 900 million gallons per day in capacity and has experience with virtually every physiochemical process and most biological processes as well. He has a special interest in emerging water quality problems and water reuse. Dr. Trussell is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and has served for more than 10 years on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA's) Science Advisory Board. He also served as chair of the Water Science and Technology Board, has been a member of numerous NRC committees, including the Committee on Indicators for Waterborne Pathogens, and chaired the NRC committee on water reuse. Dr. Trussell holds B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in environmental engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.
STAFF
Stephanie E. Johnson, study director, is a senior program officer with the Water Science and Technology Board. Since joining the National Research Council in 2002, she has worked on a wide range of water-related studies, on topics such as desalination, wastewater reuse, contaminant source remediation, coal and uranium mining, coastal risk reduction, and ecosystem restoration. She has served as study director for over fifteen committees, including the Panel to Review the Critical Ecosystem Studies Initiative and all five Committees on Independent Scientific Review of Everglades Restoration Progress. Dr. Johnson received her B.A. from Vanderbilt University in chemistry and geology, and her M.S. and Ph.D. in environmental sciences from the University of Virginia.
Brendan McGovern is a senior program assistant with the Water Science and Technology Board (WSTB). Since joining the NRC in 2014, he has contributed to the production of Reducing Coastal Risk on the East and Gulf Coasts and Progress Toward Restoring the Everglades: The Fifth Biennial Review. Prior to joining the
WSTB, Brendan worked with the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Henry L. Stimson Center. Mr. McGovern received his B.A. degrees in political science and history from the University of California, Davis.
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