Appendix B

Advisory Panel Biographical Sketches

ARMISTEAD (TED) RUSSELL is the Howard T. Tellepsen Chair and Regents’ Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology, where his research is aimed at better understanding the dynamics of air pollutants across scales and assessing their impacts on health and the environment to develop approaches to design strategies to effectively improve air quality. Among Dr. Russell’s honors are the Federal Highway Administration Environmental Excellence Award for work on near-road impact and being elected to the Canadian Academy of Engineering. He was a member of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Air Science Advisory Committee (CASAC) and a member of the National Research Council’s Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology. Dr. Russell chaired the CASAC NOx-SOx, Secondary National Ambient Air Quality Standards review panel, the Ambient Air Monitoring Methods Subcommittee, and the Council on Clean Air Compliance Analysis’ Air Quality Modeling Subcommittee. He has served on and chaired multiple National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine committees, including the committee for Assessing Causality from a Multidisciplinary Evidence Base for National Ambient Air Quality Standards and the first task of the Owen’s Lake Scientific Advisory Panel. Dr. Russell earned his B.S. from Washington State University and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees at the California Institute of Technology, conducting his research at Caltech’s Environmental Quality Laboratory.

SARAH AARONS is an assistant professor at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Her research focuses on the relationship between climate and the Earth’s surface through the lens of isotope geochemistry, with a strong focus on the mineral dust cycle. Dr. Aarons’s research tracks variations in the sources of dust to the cryosphere and mountain ecosystems both in the past and the modern day. She is a recipient of the F. W. Clarke Award from the Geochemical Society and the Doris M. Curtis Award from the Geological Society of America. Dr. Aarons received her B.S. degree in geological and environmental sciences from Stanford University and her Ph.D. in geology from the University of Michigan.

ROYA BAHREINI is a professor of atmospheric science in the Department of Environmental Sciences at University of California (UC), Riverside. She specializes in airborne, ground-based, and laboratory measurements of aerosol composition and microphysical properties to understand aerosol sources and formation process, influence on air quality, and direct and indirect effects on climate. Before joining UC Riverside, Dr. Bahreini was a Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) visiting postdoctoral fellow at University

of Colorado Boulder (2005–2007), a research scientist at CIRES and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Earth System Research Laboratories (ESRL; 2007–2012), and University of Denver (2012). She is a recipient of the National Science Foundation CAREER Award, the Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researchers Award (2014), as well as The World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds Award (2014). Dr. Bahreini served on the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s first task for the Owens Lake Scientific Advisory Panel. She currently serves on the South Coast Air Quality Management District’s Technical Advisory Group for the Multiple Air Toxics Exposure Study VI (MATES VI) and California Air Resources Board’s Research Screening Committee. Dr. Bahreini received her B.S. in chemical engineering from University of Maryland, College Park (1999), and her M.S. (2003) and Ph.D. (2005) degrees in environmental science and engineering from the California Institute of Technology.

DAVID DuBOIS is the State Climatologist and associate college professor in the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences at New Mexico State University. Prior to 2010, he was employed as a scientist and a graduate student at the Desert Research Institute, and was manager at the State of New Mexico’s Air Quality Bureau. Dr. DuBois is the first contact person for climate information in New Mexico and oversees the operations, maintenance, and data delivery from the statewide ZiaMet mesonet. He is involved in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) outreach, citizen science, and climate literacy programs. Dr. DuBois chairs the New Mexico Drought Monitoring Workgroup that tracks the status of the drought in New Mexico, and he conducts research in air quality and climate. In 2023, he shared the John C. Frye Memorial Award in Environmental Geology for Bulletin 164 with 11 other colleagues. Dr. DuBois was awarded the Community Leader Public Health Hero Award and the Climate Direct Action Award by the Climate Change Leadership Institute. Dr. DuBois holds a B.S. and M.S. in physics and a Ph.D. in atmospheric sciences from the University of Nevada, Reno.

VALERIE EVINER is a professor of ecosystem management and restoration in the Department of Plant Sciences and an ecologist in the Agriculture Experiment Station at the University of California, Davis. Her research focuses on developing a mechanistic understanding of plant-soil interactions to increase the understanding, restoration, and effective management of ecosystem services, plant invasions, plant communities, and ecosystem resilience in response to multiple environmental changes. Dr. Eviner’s current projects include understanding the building blocks of resilience in California’s ecosystems, how those vary in relation to multiple changes (including drought, wildfire, and invasion), and how those can be managed under changing conditions. She is a fellow of the Ecological Society of America, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Earth Leadership Program. Dr. Eviner is on the scientific advisory boards of the California Climate and Agriculture Network, Point Blue Conservation Science, and the California Native Grasslands Association, and she is on the editorial board of Ecosystems. Dr. Eviner served on the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s first task for the Owens Lake Scientific Advisory Panel. She received a B.A. in biology from Rutgers University and a Ph.D. in integrative biology from the University of California at Berkeley.

SHANNON MAHAN is the director the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Luminescence Geochronology Lab. She began work for the USGS in Denver, Colorado, in 1987 and eventually wound her way through four teams/branches/science centers before landing with the Environmental and Geosciences Science Center in 2015. Mahan has been working in the science of luminescence geochronology and radiation dosimetry since 1990. She has presented more than 300 diverse studies relating to luminescence dating at national and international scientific forums, authored or coauthored more than 200 peer-reviewed articles or maps, and supervised the luminescence studies for more than 50 graduate and post-graduate students. Mahan is frequently asked to review papers for prestigious quaternary science journals, perform guest editor duties, review National Science Foundation grants, and provide dating control for important archeological, paleontological, and geological sites. She is a fellow of the Geological Society of America and a member of the Association for Women Geoscientists and Federally Employed Women. Mahan received her B.S. from Adams State University in Colorado.

TOM MOORE coordinates air quality planning for the Denver Metro/North Front Range–Regional Air Quality Council (RAQC). He has also worked for the Colorado Air Pollution Control Division after managing the Western Regional Air Partnership organization and technical project activities for more than 20 years, most recently at the Western States Air Resources Council (WESTAR) and previously at the Western Governors’ Association. Moore has led numerous air pollution studies and analysis projects, held management positions in state and local governments, and has worked as an environmental consultant. Before his regional role at the Western Regional Air Partnership (WRAP), he managed air quality monitoring and analysis activities for the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, where he assisted in the development and led the implementation of particulate matter health and visibility monitoring networks throughout the state. Moore has also served on federal Clean Air Act national advisory groups for air quality health and welfare standards (such as the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee Particulate Matter Panel, 2008–2011) and regional haze (including ozone/particulate matter/relative humidity implementation under the Federal Advisory Committee Act). He received a B.S. in physical geography from Arizona State University.

GREGORY OKIN currently serves as the chair of geography at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and holds an additional appointment in UCLA’s Institute of Environment and Sustainability. His research interests center on drylands including plant-soil interactions, surface-atmosphere interactions, aeolian processes and dust production, and remote sensing. Dr. Okin is a fellow of the American Geophysical Union and served on the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s first task for the Owens Lake Scientific Advisory Panel. He received a B.A. with a double major in philosophy and chemistry from Middlebury College and a Ph.D. from California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in geological and planetary sciences.

DANI OR is a Nevada Engineering Distinguished Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Nevada, Reno. Previously he was a professor of terrestrial environmental physics at the Swiss Institute of Technology Zurich. Dr. Or’s research focuses on mass and energy transport in porous media; mechanics of landslides and avalanches; evaporation from porous surfaces; biophysical processes and biological activity in soil; and more recently, the physical impacts of wildfire on soil properties and functioning. He also works on surface evaporation from complex surfaces, turbulences and mechanics of boundary layers, capillary forces in porous media, and development of biocrusts. Dr. Or is the recipient of the Kirkham Soil Physics Award (2001), and he was 2004 fellow of the Soil Science Society of America, chair of the 2008 Gordon Research Conference on Flow and Transport (Oxford, UK), and 2010 fellow of the American Geophysical Union. He was recipient of the 2013 Helmholtz International Fellow Award, 2014 elected fellow of the Geological Society of America, and was awarded the 2017 European Geosciences Union John Dalton Medal. Dr. Or presented the 2018 Langbein lecture of the American Geophysical Union, and he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2022. He was selected Caltech Moore Scholar in 2023. Dr. Or holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a Ph.D. in soil and biometeorology (soil physics) from Utah State University.

ROBERT SCOTT VAN PELT has served as a research soil scientist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service’s (ARS’s) Wind Erosion and Water Conservation Research Unit in Big Spring, Texas, for the past 24 years. Prior to his current position, he was employed as a consultant with AgPro, LLC of Carlsbad, New Mexico, INTERA, Inc. of Austin, Texas, and Soil and Water West, LLC of Rio Rancho, New Mexico. Dr. Van Pelt is most noted for his expertise in wind erosion processes; dust generation; dust physical, chemical, and microbiological characteristics; and dust transport. He is a member of Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society and a member of the Soil and Water Conservation Society for which he serves as an associate editor of the Journal of Soil and Water Conservation. Dr. Van Pelt received the Conservation Research Award in 2015 and the Associate Editor Award of Excellence in 2018 and is a founding member of the International Society for Aeolian Research for which he has served on the board of directors. He is an associate editor of Aeolian Research and is a past president of the International Soil Conservation Organization, where currently he serves on the board of directors. Dr. Van Pelt is also a founding member of the Dust Alliance for North America, currently serving as a member of the executive committee and as president. He served on the National Academies of Sciences,

Engineering, and Medicine’s first task for the Owens Lake Scientific Advisory Panel. Dr. Van Pelt received his B.S. in biology from the University of New Mexico in 1978, his M.S. in floristics and plant ecology from the University of New Mexico in 1984, and his Ph.D. in soil physics from New Mexico State University in 1990.

AKULA VENKATRAM is a distinguished professor of mechanical engineering at the University of California, Riverside. His research is focused on the development and the application of models for the transport and dispersion of air pollutants over urban and regional scales. Dr. Venkatram coedited and contributed to the “Lectures on Air Pollution Modeling” published by the American Meteorological Society. He was member of the team that developed AERMOD, the primary regulatory model recommended by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for estimating the impact of pollution sources. Dr. Venkatram is the recipient of the inaugural award from the American Mathematical Society’s Committee on Meteorological Aspects of Air Pollution for “contributions to the field of air pollution meteorology through the development of simple models in acid deposition, ozone photochemistry and urban dispersion.” His research on small-scale dispersion modeling is summarized in the monograph Urban Transportation and Air Pollution, published by Elsevier. Dr. Venkatram served on the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s first task for the Owens Lake Scientific Advisory Panel. He received his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Purdue University.

IAN WALKER is a professor of geography at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Dr. Walker’s expertise includes aeolian and coastal geomorphology, sediment transport and erosion processes, environmental fluid dynamics, sand dune systems, dune restoration, and dust mitigation strategy development. His research uses close range remote sensing (LiDAR, unmanned aerial systems), sedimentology, modeling, and field experiments to better understand and manage dynamic landscapes. Dr. Walker is also experienced with ecosystem restoration and mitigation of dust emissions and sand drift hazards in aeolian landscapes. He has engaged in several dune restoration projects and is an appointed member of the Oceano Dunes Scientific Advisory Group, established in 2018 per a Stipulated Order of Abatement issued by the San Luis Obispo County Air Pollution Control District against the California Department of Parks and Recreation. As such, Dr. Walker has appreciable experience working within environmental management and air quality regulatory frameworks and with air quality regulators at county and state levels to understand and help address regulatory issues, exceptional events, and dust mitigation strategies toward achieving standards while balancing competing interests. He obtained his B.S. in physical geography from the University of Toronto and his Ph.D. from the University of Guelph in Canada.