Expert Details

Environmental Risks, Endangered Species, Sea Level Rise, and Marine and Land Use

ID: 733833 District of Columbia, USA

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Expert provides smart solutions to environmental risks for clients across all sectors, nationally and internationally. She is an expert on strategic advising, planning, and developing innovative solutions to environmental problems. Her work bridges science, policy and regulation of climate change (including emissions solutions), sea level rise, endangered species, and land-ocean policy. She helps private sector clients evaluate options, avoid risks. and manage major environmental crises. She also advises and assists U.S. and international governments and works with NGO's to facilitate environmental solutions. She also advises company boards and social-impact investor groups.

Expert has experience in a wide range of natural resources and environment-based industries, areas including maritime (ports and oceans), forestry and fisheries, development, complex land-use management, and application of new and emerging technologies.

Expert has a Ph.D. in ecological science. She currently serves on the boards of several non-profit organizations and university boards. She is Professor of Biology and Global Change in Virginia Tech University, and she has held positions and fellowships at Stanford University, University of California Davis, U. Washington, Lewis and Clark NW Law School, and Smithsonian Institution. She is the author of over 50 publications and a frequent speaker at conferences and meetings. She has given testimony at U.S. Senate and House hearings. She chaired a blue ribbon committee charged with designing and reviewing a code of scientific ethics for the Department of Interior. Prior to founding her eponymous firm, she was President of the SEI (1994-2011), an international non-profit science-policy group where she recruited 1,000 scientists to provide expert advice to advance the mission of solving regulatory environmental issues. Prior to this time, she was a Professor of Biology (1992-1994). She developed a transparent peer-review process for the SEI group. SEI, using her review-process were engaged by several US environmental agencies to solve environmental issues of national prominence affecting businesses and environment.

Expert has developed several IDIQ's with government and has instituted a government-private-NGO round-table that was featured in Science magazine for its innovative approach. Expert was inducted into the Irish100 Education for her services to education. She also received a Red Cross Hero award for rescuing passengers when a 747 plane she was flying on crashed and exploded during takeoff.

Expert's experience includes consulting for:
- several natural resource based companies in the US and internationally that were either facing, or already embroiled in, environmental controversy and helped them to resolve the problems and win trust of regulators and environmental groups.
- oil and gas company on ways to minimize environmental risks and engage community.
- development companies and private entities to identify environmental risks affecting their property and business operations (including coastal sea level rise and inundation as well as regulatory matters), designed ways to manage those risks cost-effectively, and identified methods to combine economically sound development and sustainability.
- private company and investor groups in order to identify emerging environmental issues (e.g. emissions) for potential opportunities and risks.
- investment groups seeking to make investment decisions, to help them understand the soundness of science and technology of emerging companies and the scope of the problem being solved; the environmental and regulatory opportunities and risks associated with their investments and that would also affect their RoI.
-US and international governments on environmental policy including advising.
- Multiple-parties including government, NGO and private sector on public-private partnerships.
- CEO's and private individuals seeking to assess environmental risks and evaluate options.

Education

Year Degree Subject Institution
Year: 1994 Degree: Ph.D. Subject: Marine Ecological Science Institution: Oregon State University
Year: 1982 Degree: M.S. Subject: Fisheries Science Institution: NUIG (National University of Ireland Galway)
Year: 1978 Degree: B.S. (honors) Subject: Hons Zoology and Botany Institution: University College Galway

Work History

Years Employer Title Department
Years: 2014 to Present Employer: Undisclosed Title: President Department:
Responsibilities:
Current: Founder and President of Consulting group that delivers smart solutions to environmental risks for clients from all sectors, nationally and internationally. Serves primarily private sector, investors, secondary governments and NGOs'.
Years Employer Title Department
Years: 1994 to 2011 Employer: Sustainable Ecosystems Institute Title: Founder and CEO Department:
Responsibilities:
Non-profit organization integrating science and conducted scientific research to address environmental problems. Grew the organization and recruited 1,000 affiliated scientists. Held Government IDIQ contracts, and managed organization. Primary Clients were U.S. and International Governments, as well as private natural resources companies.
Years Employer Title Department
Years: 2012 to Present Employer: Undisclosed Title: Professor Adjunct Department: Biological Sciences/Global Change
Responsibilities:
Current: Full Professor Adjunct in Global Change Institution and Dept Biological Sciences.
Years Employer Title Department
Years: 2011 to 2015 Employer: University of California, Davis Title: Professor Department: Wildlife Health Center
Responsibilities:
Helped to integrate science and policy into School of Veterinary Medicine Wildlife Health Program. Conducted independent work and research on hazards (e.g. oil spills, tsunamis) on wildlife, endangered species, fisheries and ports for U.S. government and stakeholders.
Years Employer Title Department
Years: 2009 to 2010 Employer: Stanford University Title: Visiting Professor Department: Biology
Responsibilities:
Visiting Scholar in 2009-2010 and also 2002-2003. Focused on ways that top-level science can participate in and influence decision-making.

Career Accomplishments

Associations / Societies
Chair, Board of Directors - Wild Geese Network of Irish Scientists (Association of Irish Diaspora scientists, engineers and technologists) 2015-Present
Board of Directors- PADI Project AWARE . Global SCUBA diving conservation organization.2008-Present
American Ornithological Society, Conservation Committee, 2014-Present
American Society of Civil Engineers: Committee on Conservation 2016-Present.
St Barthelemy International Association - Board of Directors, 2007-2014 (Chair 2009-2012)
BBC- The World, Science Advisor 2006-2012.
Member American Geophysical Union
Member American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Awards / Recognition
Red Cross Hero award for saving lives when the 747 plane, on which I was a passenger crashed and exploded on take off in a typhoon
Inducted into Ireland 100 for services to US higher education and international learning
Science-artist in residence Award Cill Rialig
Senior Whitely Fellow University of Washington
Publications and Patents Summary
Expert has over 50 publications including peer-reviewed articles in top scientific journals and books, white papers, special reports, and OpEds published in the Washington Post, New York Times, and Huffington Post. She is the co-author of two upcoming books on resilience and sustainability. She is a guest editor for Sustainability

Fields of Expertise

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