Appendix
Biographical Sketches of Committee Members and Staff
Danny D. Reible (NAE) is currently the Donovan Maddox Distinguished Engineering Chair at Texas Tech University. He previously served as director of the multi-university consortium, the Hazardous Substance Research Center South and Southwest (1995–2007), while at Louisiana State University and as the Bettie Margaret Smith Chair of Environmental Health Engineering (2004–2013) and director of the Center for Research in Water Resources (2011–2013) at the University of Texas. Dr. Reible was inducted into the National Academy of Engineering in 2005 for his work in identifying management approaches for contaminated sediments. He has led the development of in-situ sediment capping and has evaluated its applicability to a wide range of contaminants and settings, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from fuels, manufactured gas plants, and creosote-manufacturing facilities; polychlorinated biphenyls; and metals. His current research activities are focused on sustainable water management and the assessment and remediation of contaminated sites. He is a fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He received his B.S. from Lamar University, and his M.S. and Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the California Institute of Technology.
Jonathan D. Arthur, P.G., is the State Geologist of Florida and director of the Florida Geological Survey, a division of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Dr. Arthur received his B.S. and Ph.D. from Florida State University and is a fellow of the Geological Society of America. He has served as president of the Association of American State Geologists and
the Florida Association of Professional Geologists, and presently serves on the Florida Board of Professional Geologists and the Executive Committee of the American Geosciences Institute. He also served on numerous committees related to restoration of the Florida Everglades. His research has involved aspects of hydrogeology and hydrogeochemistry, including hydrogeologic framework mapping, aquifer vulnerability modeling, and aquifer storage and recovery, the latter with emphasis on water–rock interactions and the fate of metals and metalloids during variable oxidation-reduction conditions. Dr. Arthur was a member of the NRC Committee on Sustainable Underground Storage of Recoverable Water.
M. Eric Benbow is an associate professor of entomology at Michigan State University. His research involves basic and applied multiple-scale studies on the biology and ecology of aquatic ecosystems, how terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems are coupled, the influence of human activities on those processes, and microbe–insect interactions in aquatic systems and carrion decomposition. Specific projects include the ecology of microbial–invertebrate interactions and their role in mycobacterial disease emergence in West Africa; microbial–insect carrion interaction networks in watersheds of southeast Alaska; watershed biomonitoring; and carrion decomposition with applications in forensics, including human postmortem microbiome studies. He has studied water withdrawal and watershed development in the tropics, including monitoring how invertebrate communities respond to these impacts. Dr. Benbow has served as a consultant to the World Health Organization on Buruli ulcer, the Republic of Palau for stream bioassessment, and the New Jersey Forensic Science Commission, Forensic Anthropology and Associated Forensic Specialties Subcommittee; as an expert witness in a contested case involving Hawaiian streams; and as an Executive Committee member and former president of the North American Forensic Entomology Association. He received his B.S. and Ph.D. in biology from the University of Dayton.
Stuart E. G. Findlay is an aquatic ecologist at the Carey Institute of Ecosystem Studies. Dr. Findlay’s research interests encompass characterization and microbial assimilation of dissolved organic carbon in aquatic ecosystems, delivery of carbon from terrestrial to aquatic ecosystems, carbon and nutrient processing in tidal wetlands, and ecosystem functions mediated by submerged aquatic vegetation. He has been conducting research on the Hudson River ecosystem for over 18 years and is interested in watershed restoration issues as well as a variety of approaches to making scientific information more useful for ecosystem management. He received his B.A. in environmental science from the University of Virginia, his M.S. in marine
science from the University of South Carolina, and his Ph.D. in zoology from the University of Georgia.
K. David Hambright is a professor of biology and director of Environmental Studies at the University of Oklahoma. During the past decade his research has centered on the ecology, evolution, and management of the invasive and toxigenic golden alga Prymnesium parvum in lakes and rivers in Oklahoma, Texas, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. He has recently begun a new long-term research effort aimed at coupling satellite-based remote sensing, digital field photography, and long-term water quality monitoring data on Oklahoman lakes in the effort to develop real-time monitoring capabilities aimed at ensuring public safety on the many public-access recreational lakes in the state. His expertise includes research in climate change and water quality interactions, wetland restoration and habitat and species conservation, paleolimnology, ecosystem modeling, and biodiversity, as well as experience in working with diverse research and modeling teams, interest groups, and stakeholders in politically sensitive systems. He received his B.S. in biology from the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, his M.S. in biology from Texas Christian University, and his Ph.D. in ecology and evolutionary biology from Cornell University.
Lora A. Harris is an associate professor at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, based at the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory. She is an estuarine ecologist who applies field and modeling approaches to address important questions regarding nutrient dynamics, primary production, and ecosystem structure and function in a range of estuarine ecosystems. She is interested in climate impacts on estuaries and lagoons, with a particular focus on salt marsh and seagrass ecosystems. Some of her most recent work has involved participatory modeling efforts involving stakeholders and managers seeking solutions to improve water quality and restore seagrasses in Delmarva coastal lagoons and a collaboration with wastewater engineers to understand the restoration trajectories of hypoxic estuaries. Dr. Harris works closely with state and regional agencies in both a research and an advisory capacity. She received her B.S. from Smith College and her Ph.D. from the University of Rhode Island.
Steve A. Johnson is an associate professor at the University of Florida. He is a freshwater biologist who focuses on natural resource ecology and the conservation and invasion ecology of amphibians and reptiles. Before joining the University of Florida, he worked as the State Sea Turtle Program Coordinator in North Carolina, and as a research wildlife biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey. At the USGS, he coordinated efforts for the national Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative in the southeastern United
States. Dr. Johnson’s area of expertise is natural history and conservation of amphibians and reptiles, and he has worked extensively with imperiled species. He is a member of several professional societies, including the Society for Conservation Biology, Herpetologists League, and Wildlife Society. He received his B.S. and M.S. in biology from the University of Central Florida, and his Ph.D. in wildlife ecology and conservation from the University of Florida.
James A. Rice is a professor of applied ecology at North Carolina State University. He works mainly with fish, and his research focuses on questions at the interface of basic and applied ecology with the intent to advance knowledge of how aquatic ecosystems function and how to effectively manage and restore them. He employs field studies, experiments, lab analyses, and simulation modeling, and he has worked with a wide variety of organisms and life stages (larval to adult) in systems ranging from ponds, reservoirs, and the Great Lakes to streams, large rivers, and coastal estuaries. Areas of particular interest include predator–prey interactions and food web dynamics in aquatic systems; direct and indirect fish responses to hypoxia; bioenergetics modeling of predation and habitat effects; and impacts and management of introduced species. He received his B.A. in biology from St. Louis University and his M.S. and Ph.D. in zoology from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Kenneth A. Rose is the France-Merrick Professor in Sustainable Ecosystem Restoration at Horn Point Laboratory of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. Prior to this, Dr. Rose was a professor at Louisiana State University. His current research is focused on modeling population dynamics of fish and aquatic food webs, and how they respond to a variety of types of stressors, including changes in water flows and quality, lethal and sublethal effects of contaminants, hypoxia, alteration of physical habitat, and climate change. He recently published a model of the population dynamics of the delta smelt, which is a listed species in the California Delta that is the center of controversy about how much water can be pumped out of the system for irrigation and water supply. He has also published on lower trophic level (algae and micro and macro zoo-plankton) food web dynamics. Dr. Rose was a member of review teams for several biological opinions involving delta smelt and salmon. He has served on two National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine committees, including the Committee on Sustainable Water and Environmental Management in the California Bay Delta that evaluated the mitigation and conservation actions of biological opinions and the science underlying the short-term and long-term environmental and water usage decision making
of the system. He received his B.S. from SUNY Albany and his M.S and Ph.D. in fisheries science from the University of Washington.
J. Court Stevenson is professor emeritus at the Horn Point Laboratory of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. His primary areas of interest are coastal zone resources and water quality management issues; ecology of marsh and seagrass systems; effects of sea-level rise on wetlands and coastal shorelines; and the environmental history of Chesapeake Bay and its watershed. He served on the National Academies Committee to Review the St. Johns River Water Supply Impact Study. Dr. Stevenson received his B.S. in biology from Brooklyn College of the City University of New York, and his Ph.D. in botany from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Laura Toran is the Weeks Chair in Environmental Geology at Temple University in Philadelphia. She has 30 years of experience in modeling and monitoring groundwater. Her recent research activities include using karst springs to understand transport in karst, monitoring urban stormwater and streams, and developing hydrogeophysical techniques to predict groundwater–surface water interaction. She teaches classes in groundwater hydrology including modeling with MODFLOW. She served on the National Research Council Committee on Opportunities for Accelerating Characterization and Treatment of Waste at DOE Nuclear Weapons Sites. Dr. Toran received her B.A. in geology from Macalester College and her Ph.D. in geology from the University of Wisconsin.
Staff
Laura J. Ehlers is a senior staff officer for the Water Science and Technology Board of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Since joining NASEM in 1997, she has served as the study director for more than 20 committees, including the Committee to Review the New York City Watershed Management Strategy, the Committee on Bioavailability of Contaminants in Soils and Sediment, the Committee on Assessment of Water Resources Research, the Committee on Reducing Stormwater Discharge Contributions to Water Pollution, and the Committee to Review EPA’s Economic Analysis of Final Water Quality Standards for Nutrients for Lakes and Flowing Waters in Florida. Dr. Ehlers has periodically consulted for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Research Development regarding their water quality research programs. She received her B.S. from the California Institute of Technology, majoring in biology and engineering and applied science. She earned both an M.S.E. and a Ph.D. in environmental engineering at the Johns Hopkins University.
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