Meet the Presenters
Gaming and Communication Track
Science Track
Thomas Armstrong, Director, National Coordination Office, US Global Change Research Program, Moderator
Thomas Armstrong joined the Office of Science and Technology Policy as Director of the National Coordination Office for the US Global Change Research Program in March 2011. He previously served as the Department of Interior's Senior Advisor for Climate Change and as Vice-Chair for Adaptation Science and Principal for the Department of Interior on the CENRS Subcommittee for Global Change Research.
Robert E. Bowen, Associate Professor, Environmental, Earth and Ocean Sciences (EEOS), UMass Boston; University Fellow, European Center for the Environment and Human Health, Peninsula Medical School, University of Exeter, United Kingdom.
Prof. Robert Bowen's work is bounded by two large, integrated research areas. First, how do we identify, rank and integrate critical indicators assessing the relationship between social dynamics and environmental systems. Second, how does human health, in particular, relate to changes in environmental systems and how can we measure the nature and extent of that integrated relationship? Work on these issues has taken him to more than 35 countries as international panel member, consultant or science advisor.
Robert Brock, Marine Biologist, NOAA
Dr. Robert Brock is a Marine Biologist and coordinates and oversees the natural science program of NOAA’s National Marine Protected Areas Center. Robert holds a Bachelor of Science (Marine Ecology) from Florida International University, a Master of Science (Marine Biology) from the Nova Southeastern University Oceanographic Center, and a Doctorate (Aquatic Ecology) from the University of Florida. Prior to coming to the Center in 2010, Robert was previously a Fishery Biologist with the NOAA Fisheries Service, a Supervisory Marine Biologist with the National Park Service, and a Marine Biologist with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Robert participates on several international expert groups, most notably working with the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization, and the Commission for Environmental Cooperation/North American Marine Protected Areas Network.
Sarah Cooley, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Dr. Sarah Cooley uses oceanographic and social science approaches to forecast the total consequences of human-driven changes in the marine inorganic carbon cycle. Anthropogenic changes such as ocean acidification will affect not only the marine environment but also the benefits that marine ecosystems provide to human communities. Recently, she has assessed how ocean acidification could alter protein supply and economic revenue using ocean models and social science datasets. This research incorporates marine chemistry, ecology, sociology, economics, resource management, risk assessment, and decision-making under uncertainty.
Scott Doney, Senior Scientist, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Scott Doney is a senior scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. His research interests span oceanography, climate and biogeochemistry. Much of his research involves how the global carbon cycles and ocean ecology respond to natural and human-driven climate change, which may act to either damp or accelerate climate trends.
Kevin Friedland, Researcher, National Marine Fisheries Service, Narragansett Laboratory
Kevin Friedland is a researcher with the National Marine Fisheries Service at the Narragansett Laboratory in Rhode Island, USA. He holds a bachelors degree in ecology from Rutgers College in New Jersey and a doctorate from the College of William and Mary in Virginia. His dissertation research was on the distribution and feeding ecology of Atlantic menhaden. During his professional career he has done research on menhaden, bluefish, sea herring, sturgeon, eel, cod, haddock, and salmon. His publications cover a range of topics including: estuarine ecology of fishes, functional morphology, feeding ecology, recruitment processes, fisheries oceanography, stock identification, ecosystem ecology, and climate change. His current research is on the effects of growth on the early maturation and survival of Atlantic salmon and the factors controlling the recruitment of cod and haddock. He has served as chair of several committees for the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) and is the incoming chair of the Regional Association for Research on the Gulf of Maine (RARGOM).
Bob Glenn, Chief Marine Fisheries Biologist, Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries
Bob Glenn leads the Invertebrate Fisheries Program for the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries. His research focuses on population monitoring and how environmental conditions affect the demographics, distribution, and life history parameters of commercially important marine invertebrates. Bob sits on the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC) Lobster Technical Committee and the Northern Shrimp Plan Development Team. In 2006 he was awarded the ASMFC Annual Award of Excellence for having made highly significant contributions to the conservation of Atlantic Coastal Fisheries. Bob earned a B.S. in Marine Biology from the University of New England, and M.S. in Marine Biology from the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth.
Erica Goldman, Assistant Director for Science Policy Outreach, COMPASS
At COMPASS, Erica helps facilitate constructive dialogue between ocean scientists and the policy and management communities. She works to design events and venues to bring scientists and policymakers together for conversations that drive new approaches to ocean science and ocean policy. She has a multi-faceted background in science writing, policy, and research and a deep appreciation for marine ecosystems. Erica received her PhD in biology from the University of Washington, where she studied the biomechanics of jellyfish swimming. Following her graduate studies, Erica worked as a news intern for Science Magazine and served as a Knauss Marine Policy Fellow in the House Resources Committee. Prior to joining COMPASS, Erica worked as a science writer for Maryland Sea Grant, writing about Chesapeake Bay science and policy for the magazine Chesapeake Quarterly.
Robyn Hannigan, Chair, Environmental, Earth and Ocean Sciences, UMass Boston
Dr. Robyn Hannigan is Chair of the Environmental, Earth and Ocean Sciences Department at UMass Boston. She is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Geological Society of America. As a geochemist her research focuses on understanding the relation between the geochemical record of past climate and how this record informs our understanding of future climate change scenarios in marine systems.
Kathy Jacobs, Assistant Director for Climate Assessment and Adaptation, Office of Science and Technology Policy; Director, National Climate Assessment
Kathy Jacobs is the Assistant Director for Climate Assessment and Adaptation at the Office of Science and Technology Policy and the Director of the National Climate Assessment. She is on mobility assignment from the University of Arizona, where she is on the faculty of the department of Soil, Water and Environmental Science. She has 23 years experience as a water manager for the state of Arizona, including 14 years as director of the Tucson Active Management Area.
CDR Tony Miller, Deputy Director, Task Force on Climate Change
CDR Tony Miller was commissioned as a surface warfare officer in the US Navy in 1990 after graduation from the US Naval Academy with a BS in Oceanography. He later earned an MS in Meteorology and Oceanography and a PhD in Physical Oceanography from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA. After two ship tours, CDR Miller was redesignated a Meteorology and Oceanography officer. Since then he has completed various tours both afloat and ashore. He was Commanding Officer of the Naval Oceanography Submarine Warface Center in Stennis Space Center, MS. He is currently assigned to the Navy headquarters staff as the Deputy Director of Navy’s Task Force Climate Change.
Susi Moser, Director & Principal Researcher, Susanne Moser Research & Consulting
Susanne Moser is Director and Principal Researcher of Susanne Moser Research & Consulting in Santa Cruz, CA. She also serves as a Social Science Research Fellow at Stanford University, and as a Research Associate at the University of California-Santa Cruz. Dr. Moser's work focuses on adaptation to climate change, resilience, decision support, and effective climate change communication in support of social change.
Steven Murawski, Research Professor and St. Petersburg Downtown – Peter Betzer Endowed Chair, University of South Florida, College of Marine Science
Dr. Steve Murawski is a fisheries biologist and marine ecologist involved in understanding the impacts of human activities on the sustainability of ocean ecosystems. He has developed approaches for understanding the impacts of fishing on marine fish complexes exploited in mixed-species aggregations. His current areas of interest include understanding the Gulf of Mexico Large Marine Ecosystem in terms of multiple, simultaneous stressors through the application of integrated ecosystem assessments. In addition to his science activities, Dr. Murawski is a USA Delegate and currently a vice-president of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES).
Andrew Rosenberg, Senior Vice President for Science and Knowledge, Conservation International
Andrew Rosenberg, PhD., is the Senior Vice President for Science and Knowledge at Conservation International and a Professor of Natural Resources and the Environment at the University of New Hampshire. He previously served as the Dean of the College of Life Sciences and Agriculture at UNH. Dr. Rosenberg served as Deputy Director of NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service from 1998-2000, the senior career position in the agency, where he dealt with policy decisions on science and resource management issues nationwide. Dr. Rosenberg also served as the NMFS Northeast Regional Administrator, negotiating the recovery program for New England fisheries, reversing overfishing and resource declines, and implementing marine mammal recovery and endangered species protection programs throughout the northeast. He has served as the U.S. lead representative in several international fishery management organizations such as NAFO, NASCO, and FAO. He was a commissioner on the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy.
Mary Ruckelshaus, Natural Capital Project, Stanford
Dr. Mary Ruckelshaus oversees all work of the Natural Capital Project partnership, which is led by an interdisciplinary team of core scientists and project leaders from Stanford, The Nature Conservancy, and World Wildlife Fund. She is based in Seattle, WA, where she was a staff scientist with NOAA Fisheries Service for 13 years. Prior to that, she was an assistant professor of biological sciences at The Florida State University (1994-1997). The main focus of her recent work is on developing ecological models including estimates of the flow of ecosystem services under different management regimes in marine systems worldwide.
Cascade Sorte, Postdoctoral Research Associate, UMass Boston
Cascade Sorte, a postodoctoral research associate at UMass Boston, is a global change ecologist who studies the influences of environmental conditions on biological systems. Dr. Sorte is particularly interested in the use of historical data to help inform and predict future changes in coupled human-natural ecosystems.
Security Policy Track
Samson R. Akinola, Policy and Institutional Analyst
Mr. Akinola is a policy and institutional analyst, governance expert, development planner and environmentalist with interests in problem-solving scholarship to alleviate poverty in Africa. He is concerned with knowledge generation and application to the challenges that are confronting Africa. He has published numerous journal articles and designed strategies for the application of twenty seven (27) African development models that are pragmatic and problem-solving.
Jennifer Andrews, Director, Program Coordination and Planning, Clean Air-Cool Planet (CA-CP)
Mehdi Azam
Mehdi Azam's research area focuses on climate change adaptation, environmentally induced migration, disaster risk reduction, and new environmental governance. He has published research articles in international journals, has presented papers in national and international conferences, and has participated in several collaborative research projects with different organizations and universities.
Margaret Davidson, Director, NOAA Coastal Services CenterMargaret Davidson currently serves as Director of the NOAA Coastal Services Center. Before joining NOAA, Ms. Davidson was executive director of the South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium from 1983 to 1995. She also served as special counsel and assistant attorney general for the Louisiana Department of Justice. An active participant in coastal resource management issues since 1978, Davidson earned her juris doctorate (J.D. degree) in natural resources law from Louisiana State University. She later earned a master's degree in marine policy and resource economics from the University of Rhode Island. Davidson holds a faculty appointment at the University of Charleston and serves on the adjunct faculties of Clemson University and the University of South Carolina. She has served on numerous local, state, and federal committees and has provided leadership for national professional societies. She has focused her professional work on environmentally sustainable aquaculture, mitigation of coastal hazards, and impacts of climate variability on coastal resources. Davidson served as the acting assistant administrator for NOAA's National Ocean Service from 2000 to 2002.
Steve Fetter, Assistant Director, White House Office of Science Technology Policy
Steve Fetter is principal assistant director for environment and energy in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. He also serves as deputy co-chair of the National Ocean Council and as co-chair of the National Science and Technology Council Committee on Environment, Natural Resources, and Sustainability. Fetter is on leave from the University of Maryland School of Public Policy, where he has been a professor since 1988 and served as dean from 2005-2009. During previous leaves from the University, he served as special assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy and worked in the State Department as an American Institute of Physics fellow and as a Council on Foreign Relations international affairs fellow. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a fellow of the American Physical Society. Before joining OSTP, he was president of the Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs and a member of the Director of National Intelligence's Intelligence Science Board and the Department of Energy's Nuclear Energy Advisory Committee. He also has been vice president of the Federation of American Scientists, associate director of the Joint Global Change Research Institute, and a visiting fellow at Stanford's Center for International Security and Cooperation, Harvard's Center for Science and International Affairs, MIT's Plasma Fusion Center, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. He received a Ph.D. in energy and resources from the University of California, Berkeley, and a S.B. in physics from MIT.
David Hodgkinson, Associate Professor, University of Western Australia Law School
David Hodgkinson is an Associate Professor at the University of Western Australia Law School and Special Counsel with Australian law firm Clayton Utz. He is the coauthor of the book 'Global Climate Change: Australian Law and Policy' and the general editor of the loose-leaf service 'Climate Change Law and Policy in Australia.' As Executive Director of a non-profit organization, David manages an industry partnership which builds capacity in mechanisms designed to reduce GHG emissions.
Julia Knisel, Coastal Shoreline and Floodplain Manager, MA Office of CZM
Arleen O'Donnell, Vice President, Eastern Research Group, Moderator
Alfred Oehlers, Professor, Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies
Dr. Alfred Oehlers is a professor at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies. His teaching and research interests are centered on contemporary economic, social and political developments in the Pacific islands region, with an emphasis on the security implications arising from these processes of change. He is currently working on several projects focusing on issues such as development and security, climate change, security sector development, and regionalism in the Pacific islands.
Captain Wayne Porter, United States Navy, Moderator
Capt. Wayne Porter’s distinguished career in the U.S. Navy began with his commission in 1986. His tours have included Fleet Ocean Surveillance Intelligence Center, The USS Blue Ridge (LCC-19), Office of the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO), and the Office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. He co-authored, with Col. Mark Mykleby, the National Strategic Narrative, published by the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars.
Michael Schwebel, Ph.D. Candidate, Temple University
Michael Schwebel is a PhD Student at Temple University within the Department of Geography and Urban Studies. His dissertation research focuses upon island states, climate change, and the surrounding issues of jurisdiction, planning, and linkages.
Kirsten Ullbæk Selvig, Director General, Ministry of Fisheries and Coastal Affairs, Norway
Kirsten Ullbæk Selvig has been with the Ministry of Fisheries and Coastal Affairs in Norway since 1996 as Director General, with a particular focus on infrastructure for maritime transport and safety at sea, ports and port security, oil spill preparedness and civil radio navigation policy. She previously served as assistant DG in the Department for Petroleum Affairs. She spent one year at the Norwegian Defense College and received her law degree from the University of Copenhagen.
Wes Shaw, StormSmart Coast Network
John Weber, Ocean Planning Director, Northeast Regional Ocean Council
John Weber has 15 years of experience in the environmental field, focusing on coastal and ocean management issues. He is currently the Ocean Planning Director for the Northeast Regional Ocean Council, a partnership of New England states and federal agencies collaborating on ocean management issues, where he is providing strategic direction for the Northeast response to the National Ocean Policy, particularly the Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning Framework. He recently served as the Ocean Program Manager for the MA Office of Coastal Zone Management, where he managed the development and implementation of the Massachusetts Ocean Management Plan, completed in late 2009. John’s previous private- and public-sector experience included review of urban waterfront development and planning activities, dredging, coastal erosion, and wetland restoration projects. John has a B.S. in Coastal Geology from Long Island University and an M.S. in Marine Resource Management from Oregon State University.
Sandra Whitehouse, Team Lead, Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning Program, Ocean Conservancy
Dr. Sandra Whitehouse is a marine environmental policy advisor who has worked on initiatives in Rhode Island and on the federal level. Dr. Whitehouse is a former chair of Rhode Island’s Coastal Resources Management Council. She is currently the team lead for Ocean Conservancy’s Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning program.
Julia Wyman, Staff Attorney, Marine Affairs Institute, Moderator
Ms. Wyman is an environmental attorney with national policy experience and national networks of coastal managers to draw on. Prior to working as the Staff Attorney at the MAI, Ms. Wyman served as the Policy Analyst at the Coastal States Organization (CSO) in Washington, DC, where she managed the climate change portfolio, as well as the Legal Council.
Judith Youngman
Professor of Political Science and Interim Director of the Center for Maritime Policy and Strategy, U.S. Coast Guard Academy
Dr. Judith A. Youngman is Professor of Political Science and Interim Director of the Center for Maritime Policy and Strategy at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. She previously served at the U.S. Military Academy, Rhone-Poulenc Rorer (now Sanofi Aventis), Merck & Co., Inc., and Pfizer Inc. A Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration and of the Inter-University Seminar on Armed Forces and Society, she has served as chair of several national advisory committees and presently serves on the National Advisory Council of the Alliance for National Defense, among other affiliations. She also has addressed or consulted with a range of military organizations on topics related to security, including the Naval War College; Army War College; Air Force Corona (four-star) Conference; PACOM Commanders Conference; PACAF Commanders Conference; Air Force Council; USCG Senior Executive Leadership Conferences; Australian Defence Forces; Canadian Defence Forces; Royal Jordanian Armed Forces; and the NATO Committee on Women in NATO Forces. Dr. Youngman earned her B.A. in Political Science from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and her M.A. and Ph.D. in Government from the University of Texas at Austin.
Gaming and Communication Track
Richard Delaney, Executive Director of the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies
CIOCS Advisor, Richard F. Delaney is President and CEO of the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown, MA, a private, non-profit focused on the conservation and protection of coastal and marine resources and with which UMB has an agreement for cooperation and exchange. Previously, he was the founding Director of the Urban Harbors Institute at UMass Boston, Assistant Secretary of Environmental Affairs in Massachusetts and the Director of the Coastal Zone Management Program, and National Chair of the Coastal States Organization in Washington DC. He has worked in over 20 countries on sustainable coastal development and management issues.
Douglas Ducharme, Assistant Research Professor, War Gaming Dept., U.S. Naval War College
Douglas Ducharme is an Assistant Research Professor in the War Gaming Department, U.S. Naval War College. Professor Ducharme is a retired naval helicopter pilot who also deployed for one year as the Chief of Operations for the Energy Fusion Cell of Multi-National Force-Iraq. He is currently enrolled in the Doctoral Program in Higher Education Leadership at Johnson & Wales University. His research interests include energy security, infrastructure protection, maritime stability operations, and operations research.
Peter Neill, Director, World Ocean Observatory
Peter Neill is Director of the World Ocean Observatory, a project founded in 2004 as a recommendation of the 1998 Independent World Commission on the Future of the Oceans. He served 20 years (1985-2005) as President of the South Street Seaport Museum, New York; as past Director of Schooner, Inc., an environmental education organization for Long Island Sound (1979-1984); as past Director of the Connecticut Marine Science Consortium (1982-1984); and as past Director for Maritime Preservation for the National Trust for Historic Preservation (1984-1985). Neill has previously served as President of the Council of American Maritime Museums and of the International Congress of Maritime Museums. He is a co-founder of The Sound School, New Haven, CT., and The Harbor School, New York, NY, two innovative public high schools that use maritime history and environment as a context for teaching and learning. He has appeared on numerous television documentaries on PBS, A&E, Discovery and National Geographic Society productions. His publications include three novels and several non-fiction books, anthologies, and articles on literature of the sea, maritime history, art, and culture. He is a graduate of Stanford University and the University of Iowa.
Janot Mendler de Suarez, Games for a New Climate designer & facilitator
Janot Mendler de Suarez serves on the Council of Advisors for the Collaborative Institute on Oceans Climate and Security at the University of Massachusetts - Boston, and co-chairs the Global Oceans Forum working group on Oceans, Climate and Security. She is a reviewer for the journal Ocean & Coastal Management, and contributes to scholarly research on issues of equity and sustainable development. With the National Center for Race Amity at Wheelock College, Boston she led development and community engagement for the June 2011 National Race Amity Conference and served on the Greater Boston Task Force for Boston Race Amity Day. From 1998-2005, she pioneered an experimental distance MSc degree program and was a Sr. Lecturer and then Honorary Research Associate with the Centre for Developing Areas Research in the Department of Geography at Royal Holloway, University of London. Ms. Mendler de Suarez was central to the development of GEF-IW:LEARN (the Global Environment Facility’s International Waters Learning Exchange and Resource Network), and championed integration of climate adaptation at the waterbody scale, gender mainstreaming, capacitation of parliamentarians working for regional natural resources policy reform, and the use of participatory peer learning techniques ranging from open space dialogue to the use of audio/ visual media and games, and has worked in over 60 countries. Janot earned a BA from Mount Holyoke College in Biological Sciences and Political Science, and holds a Master’s degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.
Pablo Suarez, Associate Director of Programs, Red Cross Red Crescent Climate CentreDr. Pablo Suarez’s research focuses on the use of information for reducing vulnerability. He is associate director of programs for the Red Cross/Red Crescent Climate Centre, and an advisor for Oxfam America’s Private Sector Team. He has consulted for the United Nations Environment Programme, the World Bank, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) in Germany and other international organizations, working in more than 30 countries. Dr. Suarez is a visiting scholar at Boston University and a guest scholar at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA). He has worked and published on a diverse range of issues including transportation modeling, food security implications of changing rainfall patterns, microinsurance instruments for subsistence farmers, and the impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic on disaster management organizations. His current work addresses adaptation to climate change, institutional innovation and integration, and the use of video and other communication tools for awareness, advocacy and capacity building.
