science from Creighton University, environmental engineering from the University of Missouri, and an M.B.A. from George Washington University, and is a certified hazardous materials manager and project management professional (PMP).

Torie Baker is a longtime Alaska commercial fisherman and retired university fisheries extension educator. She has captained her own vessel since 1995, harvesting halibut and black cod in the Gulf of Alaska. After arriving in Cordova in 1988, she spent 130 days responding to the Exxon Valdez oil spill and later chaired a stakeholder group that secured $14 million for fisheries research. She has represented commercial fishing interests on numerous advisory councils and served as vice president of Cordova District Fishermen United. For 17 years, she was on the faculty of the University of Alaska Fairbanks, focusing on marine safety, business support, and workforce health. She also assisted in Deepwater Horizon oil spill outreach and continues to train with the Prince William Sound oil spill response network.

Sheri Buretta serves as the full-time chairman of the board for the Chugach Alaska Corporation and has served on the Alaska Federation of Natives Board since 1998. She is the board treasurer for the Tatitlek Corporation and is the treasurer of the Russian Orthodox Sacred Sites in Alaska, Inc., and a vice chairman and director of the Nudlaghi Silver Salmon Camp, and alternate director for the Native American Contractors Association. Previously, she served as a regent and chair for the University of Alaska and served on the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Advisory Committee. She was also a director for Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council from 1999 to 2012. She was the director for the ANSCA (Alaska Native Claim Settlement Act) Regional Association, and she was president from 2004 to 2008.

David Daniel is division committee chair of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Gulf Research Program; an engineering consultant; and president emeritus of the University of Texas (UT) at Dallas. He previously served as deputy chancellor of the UT System, dean of engineering at the University of Illinois, and professor at UT Austin. A civil engineer by training, Dr. Daniel is a recognized expert in geoenvironmental engineering, including waste containment, drilling fluids, and subsurface fluid control. He chaired the American Society of Civil Engineers review panel on the Hurricane Katrina levee failures and served on the National

Academies’ Deepwater Horizon study. His service also includes roles on the National Research Council’s Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board, Board on Energy and Environmental Systems, and Geotechnical Board. He earned his Ph.D. from UT Austin and was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2000.

Theresa Dardar is an advocate for the Southern Gulf ecosystems and Louisiana’s coastal communities. A resident of Pointe-au-Chien for 52 years, she is a board member of First People’s Conservation Council of Louisiana, Lowlander Center, and Gulf Organized Fisheries in Solidarity and Hope (GO FISH). She retired in April 2022 as the Diocesan American Indian liaison at the Catholic Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux. Her work now is to get her community protected and homes rebuilt. She also does volunteer work in and around her community.

Brenda Dardar Robichaux was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, and is a prominent figure in the United Houma Nation, having served as the principal chief. She spent her childhood in the south end of Golden Meadow and has lived most of her adult life in Lafourche Parish and Raceland. Her connection to Louisiana’s wetlands is deeply rooted in her family’s history and traditions. Her grandfather was a trapper, hunter, and farmer who used plants from the local environment for traditional medicine. Her father was a fisherman and oysterman, further strengthening her ties to the land and the wetlands. As the former principal chief of the United Houma Nation, she has been a vocal advocate for the preservation of the wetlands and the cultural identity of her community. She has expressed concern about the impacts of environmental changes and coastal land loss on her community.

Tyronne Edwards is the founder of the Zion Travelers Cooperative and a pastor at Zion Travelers Missionary Baptist Church. He serves as the Elected District 1 councilman and port commissioner of Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana. Reverand Dr. Edwards has spent more than 40 years developing and running programs that benefit the community, lobbying, and community organizing. He directed and coordinated rebuilding of the southern East Bank of Plaquemines Parish after Hurricane Katrina. He coordinated the rehabilitation of homes and created an affordable housing program that built new homes; recruited, trained, and coordinated thousands of volunteers from youth entrepreneurship; and organized youth to develop community parks/playgrounds. He received his doctorate in theology from

Slidell Baptist Seminary and his master’s and bachelor’s of theology from Christian Bible College of Louisiana.

Beth Gendler is president and CEO of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach Tourism. She joined the destination marketing organization in September of 2002, serving as the director of sales and vice president of sales and sports, before being named the second president and CEO of the organization in 2021. During her tenure at Gulf Shores and Orange Beach Tourism, she and her team were responsible for developing the meetings market along the Alabama Gulf Coast and establishing the Gulf Shores and Orange Beach Sports Commission (now Gulf Shores and Orange Beach Sports and Events). As CEO, she has continued to grow and build on the steady success of the Convention and Visitors Bureau over the past 31 years.

Sandy Ha Nguyen is the founder of Coastal Communities Consulting, Inc. (CCC), where she has supported more than 2,100 coast-dependent businesses in Southeast Louisiana since 2010. A daughter of a first-generation Vietnamese fisherman, she grew up in the industry and is fluent in Vietnamese and English. She established CCC to provide free technical and disaster recovery assistance—especially for limited English-speaking and generational fishermen—helping clients secure over $50 million after disasters such as the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, COVID-19, and Hurricanes Ida and Zeta. A Tulane University business graduate and New Orleans East resident, she has received numerous honors, including City Business Woman of the Year, ASBDC (America’s Small Business Development Centers) State Star, and the City of New Orleans “Notable Vietnamese Women” Award.

Dave Kennedy is a commissioner for the U.S. Arctic Research Commission with more than 50 years of experience in science, environmental management, and national policy. He is a Global Fellow at the Wilson Center’s Polar Institute, serves on the board of the Friends of the World Maritime University, and chairs the External Advisory Board for Marine Science at the University of New Hampshire. He began his career at the University of Alaska’s Geophysical Institute and led the Spilled Oil Research Team. He spent 30 years at NOAA, finishing as senior Arctic policy advisor. He played key roles in major oil spill responses including Exxon Valdez and Deepwater Horizon, and international incidents such as IXTOC I and the Persian Gulf War spills.

Program. Formerly Stantec’s science director for climate solutions, he has worked across sectors to address complex socio-ecological challenges through system science, resilience, adaptive management, and environmental policy. His work emphasizes practical solutions to real-world issues shaped by climate and other anthropogenic stressors. Dr. Wiese is a technical reviewer for more than 20 international journals and serves on numerous national and international science panels, committees, and working groups. He is committed to bridging science and action through collaboration, innovation, and long-term strategic thinking.

WORKSHOP 2: THIBODAUX, LOUISIANA

Rosemary Ahtuangaruak is an Inupiaq teacher, activist, and former mayor and health aide of Nuiqsut, Alaska. She is the founder and executive director of Grandmothers Growing Goodness, which works to protect Inupiat culture amid oil development and climate change. A lifelong advocate for Arctic communities, she has been a leading voice on the health and environmental impacts of nearby oil and gas activities. Her work supports the mission of Native Movement, promoting grassroots-led efforts for Indigenous self-determination and environmental stewardship. Her advocacy centers on protecting clean air, water, and the sacred lands vital to Indigenous ways of life.

Lauren Alexander Augustine is executive director of the National Academies’ Gulf Research Program. She oversees the management and use of criminal settlement funds from the Deepwater Horizon disaster entrusted to the National Academies. She joined GRP in 2018 after serving as director of the Resilient America Program, which helps communities build resilience to extreme events through science and stakeholder engagement. Since joining the National Academies in 2002, she has worked on water, disaster, and resilience issues in multiple roles, including director of the Disasters Roundtable and study director for the Water Science and Technology Board. She also led the African Science Academy Development Initiative, a decade-long effort to build scientific capacity in national academies across Africa. Outside the National Academies, Dr. Alexander Augustine has advised the World Economic Forum and American Geophysical Union, served as a juror for national resilience design competitions, and is a NATO civil protection expert. She holds degrees from the University of Virginia and a Ph.D. from Harvard University.

Prevention, and director of Total Worker Health at the Southwest Center for Occupational and Environmental Health. Her research focuses on labor rights and the use of evidence in policymaking, with an emphasis on precarious employment among migrant and low-income workers. She is particularly interested in understanding power, influence, and social change using participatory research methods, including ethnography and photovoice. She is on the board of SAVIR (Society for Advancement of Violence and Injury Research) and a governing councilor for APHA (American Public Health Association), and was recently a visiting scholar in health policy at the Robert Graham Center in Washington, D.C. Her work has been featured in the American Journal of Public Health, New York Times, National Public Radio, TIME Magazine, and Texas Monthly, among others.

Ann Hayward Walker is a coastal zone planner and founder of Scientific and Environmental Associates (SEA Consulting Group), with more than 40 years of experience in environmental response and planning. She has responded to more than 250 oil and hazardous materials incidents and has worked extensively in contingency planning, risk communication, training, and incident command. As a NOAA scientific support coordinator in the 1980s, she supported the Exxon Valdez oil spill response, and during the Deepwater Horizon spill, she provided scientific coordination and stakeholder engagement for dispersants and shoreline cleanup. Her recent work focuses on the intersection of environmental and human disasters. She holds an M.B.A. from Golden Gate University and a B.F.A. in architecture/environmental planning from the University of Hawaii.

Jacqueline Michel is a multidisciplinary scientist who addresses coastal and marine resources protection and management. She has worked in 34 countries. Much of her expertise is based on 46 years of emergency response to oil and chemical spills, dealing with the spill behavior, fate, and effects; response strategies; shoreline cleanup; and natural resource damage assessment. She is currently the president of Research Planning Inc. and a non-academic affiliate at the School of Earth, Ocean, and Environment at the University of South Carolina. She holds a Ph.D. in geology from the University of South Carolina.

Lloyd Montgomery is an elder from the Native Village of Eyak. He has been fishing as a way of life as a commercial fisherman for more than 60 years. He has been completing annual oil spill training since 1997. He had

the honor to go to Washington, D.C., to testify in front of the Alaska State Legislature along with Congressman Dave Reichart about the impacts of the Exxon Valdez oil spill on Cordova fishermen. He also was asked to witness the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 2008. When Deepwater Horizon oil spill occurred, he traveled to Louisiana and worked on cleanup for 7 weeks for approximately 12 hours a day.

Frank M. Paskewich is president of Clean Gulf Associates, a not-for-profit oil spill cooperative serving the Southern Gulf’s exploration and production industry. He has more than 40 years of experience in coastal disaster response, including oil spill management. A retired U.S. Coast Guard captain, he served as captain of the port in New Orleans and as incident commander during Hurricane Katrina. He holds a B.S. from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and an M.S. in marine and mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan, where he is also a licensed professional engineer. Since 2007, he has led efforts to enhance oil spill preparedness and response across the region.

Rosina Philippe is an elder of the Atakapa-Ishak/Chawasha Tribe of Louisiana and vice president of the board for the Lowlander Center. Her work focuses on building alliances with community leaders and organizations to support the environmental sustainability of coastal, traditional, and historied communities. She addresses challenges such as climate change, economic instability, environmental justice, gentrification, and coastal restoration. As a guest lecturer, she emphasizes accountability and the power of collective action. A strong advocate for informed collaboration, Ms. Philippe believes communities facing similar struggles can shape resilient, self-determined, and sustainable futures through shared knowledge and unity.

Colette Pichon Battle, a native of Bayou Liberty, Louisiana, is the founder and co-executive director of Taproot Earth (formerly Gulf Coast Center for Law and Policy). She leads work on climate justice, equitable disaster recovery, migration, and energy democracy. She has supported communities across the Gulf South through recovery efforts following Hurricane Katrina and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and helped lead Gulf South Rising 2015. Her honors include the Echoing Green Climate Fellowship, White House Champion of Change for Climate Equity, an honorary doctorate from Kenyon College, and the Obama Fellowship. She serves on the boards

of the U.S. Climate Action Network and Highlander Center and advises multiple environmental justice initiatives.

Kelly Samek holds a J.D. from the University of Florida and an LL.M. in environmental law and policy from Florida State University, and she practiced law for the State of Florida for several years before entering program administration. This professional background informs her present role as the Gulf regional lead and federal program officer supporting the Sea Grant Legal Network. Prior to joining NOAA in 2016, she served as the coastal program administrator at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and as the Gulf Restoration coordinator at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Before attending law school, she began her career in those same agencies in sea turtle research and management. As a “double Gator,” Ms. Samek also holds a master’s in fisheries and aquatic sciences and a graduate certificate in ecological restoration from the University of Florida.

Susan Saupe is a life-long Alaskan and currently works as director of science and research for the Cook Inlet Regional Citizens Advisory Council (CIRCAC) from her office in the coastal community of Homer, Alaska. She has a B.S. in chemistry and M.S. in oceanography from the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF). Following research on east coast estuarine systems, she returned to Alaska to conduct Exxon Valdez oil spill damage assessment studies for UAF. Since 1996, Ms. Saupe has conducted a multidisciplinary science program for CIRCAC focused on nearshore habitats, physical oceanography, and oil fate and effects. She was also lead scientist for Alaska’s first Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program surveys and initiated a web-based ShoreZone coastal mapping program in Cook Inlet that has since developed into a state-wide program.

Jeffrey Short is retired from a 31-year career as a research chemist at NOAA, where he worked primarily on oil pollution and other contaminant issues. He was the leading chemist for the governments of Alaska and the United States for the natural resource damage assessment and restoration of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, and guided numerous studies on the distribution, persistence, and effects of the oil. These studies led to discovery of an oil toxicity mechanism hundred-fold more effective than realized previously, garnering him a bronze medal from the U.S. Department of Commerce, and to the first fully quantitative assessments of oil remaining on beaches

anywhere. The founder of JWS Consulting, Dr. Short has consulted on numerous major oil spills worldwide following his retirement from NOAA, including the Deepwater Horizon blowout in the waters along the Southern Gulf.

Cynthia Sarthou, a native of the Southern Gulf region, served as executive director of Healthy Gulf (formerly Gulf Restoration Network) for 26 years until her retirement in 2022. Under her leadership, the organization empowered communities through research, advocacy, and coalition-building to protect the Gulf’s natural resources. Her work included stopping the Yazoo Pumps project, reducing the Dead Zone, protecting wetlands, and holding oil companies accountable for spills. She has testified before Congress on the Deepwater Horizon spill and environmental justice issues. She previously worked as a nonprofit attorney in Seattle and holds an LL.M. in law and marine affairs from the University of Washington.

Danielle Verna is the environmental monitoring project manager for the Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council. In coordination with the council’s Scientific Advisory Committee, she works with researchers to monitor the environment and promote community well-being in the Exxon Valdez oil spill region. She earned her Ph.D. in environmental sciences from Portland State University in 2021 and values place-based research, partnership building, and working at the intersection of science and policy. She is an affiliate faculty member at Alaska Pacific University and an adjunct faculty member at Prince William Sound College. Born and raised in Pennsylvania, she moved to Alaska in 2008, primarily residing in the Prince William Sound communities of Cordova and Valdez.

Francis Wiese is an applied systems thinker and ecologist with 30 years of global experience leading large interdisciplinary science programs focused on climate change, ocean systems, and human-environment interactions. He is senior scientific scholar for the National Academies’ Gulf Research Program. Formerly Stantec’s science director for climates solutions, he has worked across sectors to address complex socioecological challenges through system science, resilience, adaptive management, and environmental policy. His work emphasizes practical solutions to real-world issues shaped by climate and other anthropogenic stressors. Dr. Wiese is a technical reviewer for more than 20 international journals and serves on numerous national and international science panels, committees, and working groups. He is

committed to bridging science and action through collaboration, innovation, and long-term strategic thinking.

WORKSHOP 3: WASHINGTON, D.C.

Lauren Alexander Augustine is executive director of the National Academies’ Gulf Research Program. She oversees the management and use of criminal settlement funds from the Deepwater Horizon disaster entrusted to the National Academies. She joined GRP in 2018 after serving as director of the Resilient America Program, which helps communities build resilience to extreme events through science and stakeholder engagement. Since joining the National Academies in 2002, she has worked on water, disaster, and resilience issues in multiple roles, including director of the Disasters Roundtable and study director for the Water Science and Technology Board. She also led the African Science Academy Development Initiative, a decade-long effort to build scientific capacity in national academies across Africa. Outside the Academies, Dr. Alexander Augustine has advised the World Economic Forum and American Geophysical Union, served as a juror for national resilience design competitions, and is a NATO civil protection expert. She holds degrees from the University of Virginia and a Ph.D. from Harvard University.

Jereme Altendorf is a retired U.S. Coast Guard commander and associate director for Arctic programs and strategy implementation at the University of Alaska Anchorage, where he advances research and strategic engagement on Arctic security and sustainability. He previously served as chief of the director’s Action Team at the Ted Stevens Center for Arctic Security Studies and spent 6 years as program manager for Arctic operations at U.S. Coast Guard Sector Anchorage. With 28 years of federal service, he is an expert in marine environmental protection, oil and chemical spill response, and regulatory enforcement. He holds degrees in chemistry, environmental engineering, and business, and is a certified CHMM and PMP.

Tom Barrett is a retired U.S. Coast Guard vice admiral and is the former president of Alyeska Pipeline Service Company, which operates the Trans Alaska Pipeline System. He previously served as deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation and was the first administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. As a Coast Guard vice admiral, he commanded operations in Alaska and the North Pacific

and later served as vice commandant. A Vietnam veteran, he holds a B.S. in biology from LeMoyne College and a J.D. with honors from George Washington University. He lives in Anchorage and serves on several boards, including the Alaska Community Foundation and First National Bank Alaska.

Adriana Bejarano is an environmental scientist. She was previously a senior ecotoxicologist at Shell Oil Company and at Research Planning, Inc. Dr. Bejarano has broad experience in computational toxicology, environmental modeling, environmental statistics, and applied eco-toxicology. She has studied the toxicological effects of organic pollutants on marine and estuarine organisms at multiple levels of biological organization (i.e., from hormones to populations), and has worked on integrating scientific knowledge into tools for use in chemical and oil spill preparedness and response. She holds a Ph.D. in environmental health sciences from the University of South Carolina, an M.S. in marine sciences from the University of South Carolina, and a B.S. in marine biology from the Universidad del Valle, Colombia.

Ken Castner has lived in Homer, Alaska, for 52 years. He recently concluded his third term as the city’s mayor. A recognized lifelong learner, he has served on a variety of boards, commissions, and task forces. His vocational involvement in the Alaskan commercial fisheries, and bent towards advocacy, led to his lobbying issues with state and federal governments and agencies. His work in the field of oil spill prevention and response began with the introduction of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 and carried on for many years as a member of one of the two councils that were mandated by the act. His experience as a “COVID mayor” who served with the memories of living in a spill-affected town, shaped his participation in these workshops.

Tom Coolbaugh is the founder of Coolbaugh Associates and is a leading expert in oil spill response with more than 30 years of experience. He spent 32 years at ExxonMobil as technology and advocacy advisor in emergency preparedness and response, advancing tools such as dispersants, in situ burning, and remote sensing. In 2020, he joined Applied Research Associates as program and facility manager for Ohmsett, the National Oil Spill Response Research and Renewable Energy Test Facility. There, he led operations, testing, and training. He holds a B.A. in chemistry from Amherst College, an M.S. in management of technology from New York University,

and a Ph.D. from Caltech, and is widely recognized for his expertise in spill response and environmental safety.

Karolien Debusschere is the deputy coordinator at the Louisiana Oil Spill Coordinator’s Office. She obtained a B.S. in geography from the University of Ghent, Belgium, and a doctorate degree in geomorphology from Louisiana State University. She has more than 35 years of experience working on oil spills, starting with the 1989 spill in Prince William Sound, Alaska. She currently chairs the RRT6 Preparedness Committee and has been heavily involved with drafting policy and planning documents dealing with dispersants, in situ burning, bioremediation, and surface washing agents, to name a few.

Mike Drieu is the emergency preparedness and response manager for Occidental Petroleum, specializing in subsea source control, spill response, and disaster preparedness. He previously led response preparedness at Wild Well Control, developing subsea well control procedures and managing equipment for 16 operators, including post-hurricane recovery efforts. A retired U.S. Coast Guard officer with 21 years of service, he commanded the Pacific Strike Team and Marine Safety Unit Savannah. He holds a U.S. patent for subsea dispersant injection and has published more than 20 papers on spill response. He holds a B.S. in civil engineering from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and serves on multiple industry boards and working groups.

Melissa Finucane is vice president of science & innovation at the Union of Concerned Scientists. In her role, she ensures UCS positions and solutions are informed by robust, independent, and equity-informed scientific analysis, and works to identify leading-edge research opportunities that contribute to the organization’s mission. Prior to joining UCS, Dr. Finucane was a senior social and behavioral scientist at the RAND Corporation, where her research focused on understanding the human dimensions of environmental health risks and designing policies that take them into account. She also directed the Consortium for Resilient Gulf Communities, which aims to assess and address community impacts from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Ann Hayward Walker is founder of SEA Consulting Group and a coastal zone planner with more than 40 years of experience. She has responded to more than 200 oil and hazardous materials incidents and led projects in contingency planning, ICS, risk communication, and training. During the

Exxon Valdez spill, she served as a NOAA Scientific Support Coordinator, and during the Deepwater Horizon spill, she supported BP’s incident command with scientific coordination and community engagement on dispersants. She has led oil spill risk communication research and chaired the National Academies’ 2017 workshop on rapid response. She co-authored a 2021 synthesis on Deepwater Horizon impacts funded by GoMRI.

Maureen Lichtveld is dean of the School of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh, Jonas Salk Chair in Population Health, and professor of environmental and occupational health. With more than 35 years of experience, she is a nationally and globally recognized expert in environmental health, climate and health, and disaster resilience. Her research addresses health disparities, climate-related impacts on food safety, and forced migration due to coastal erosion. She serves as vice chair of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) Council and contributes to numerous NAM and National Academies initiatives. Honors include Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Environmental Health Scientist of the Year and Woman of the Year of New Orleans.

Gabrielle McGrath is a portfolio manager and spill response specialist at RPS Ocean Science/TetraTech in Rhode Island. She manages technical and international modeling projects, including Tactical Response Plans for Deep Water Port applications and oil spill response capability assessments for the European Union. Ms. McGrath led a multi-year Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) project to improve offshore response planning in the Gulf of Mexico, Pacific, and Alaska, and developed the first BSEE-approved Oil Spill Response Plan. A retired U.S. Coast Guard officer with 26 years of service, she responded to hundreds of oil and hazmat incidents, including Deepwater Horizon. She is a Federal Emergency Management Agency-certified master exercise planner and type 1 certified in Incident Command System roles, with extensive experience in planning, training, and leading full-scale exercises nationwide.

Sandy Ha Nguyen has more than 36 years of experience supporting coast-dependent businesses in Southeast Louisiana. A daughter of a first-generation Vietnamese fisherman, she co-founded Coastal Communities Consulting, Inc. (CCC) following the 2010 BP Oil Spill to expand small business and disaster assistance, particularly for immigrant and generational fishermen with limited formal education. Fluent in Vietnamese

and English, Ms. Nguyen has led CCC in helping more than 2,200 clients secure more than $50 million in aid at no cost to them. A Tulane business graduate and New Orleans East resident, her honors include receiving City Business Woman of the Year and America’s Small Business Development Center State Star, and meeting President and First Lady Obama for her Katrina response work.

Kristina Peterson is an applied social scientist and co-founder of the Lowlander Center, which partners with coastal communities to address the social and environmental impacts of a changing coast. A lifelong community activist, she focuses on inclusive, community-driven disaster response and sustainable development. Her work has shaped national responses to environmental, economic, and racial crises and contributed to founding the Natural Hazards Mitigation Association and the Gender and Disaster Network. She advocates for land stewardship, climate adaptation trusts, and a federal Department of Climate Adaptation. Ms. Peterson is active in the National Science Foundation’s Coastlines and People program and collaborates with the UN on internal displacement and justice.

Liesel Ritchie is a professor of sociology at Virginia Tech and coordinator of the Hub for Community Response to Crisis. With more than 30 years of research experience, her work focuses on the social impacts of disasters, especially technological hazards, social capital, and rural resource communities. She has studied major events including the Exxon Valdez, Deepwater Horizon, and Wakashio oil spills. Formerly assistant director at the Natural Hazards Center at the University of Colorado Boulder, she has led or contributed to over 100 projects with agencies such as NASA, NSF, FEMA, and NOAA. She has also served as a NIST Disaster Resilience Fellow and on multiple National Academies committees.

Donna Schantz is executive director of the Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council, where she has served since 1999 and in leadership since 2016. She works closely with communities, industry, and regulators to enhance environmental protections and the well-being of Alaskans. Her accomplishments include helping pass legislation for dual tanker escorts in 2010 and receiving U.S. Coast Guard recognition in 2015 for her contributions to spill preparedness. Ms. Schantz also served on the Valdez City Council from 2012 to 2014. Originally from New York, she holds a B.A. in fine arts from Providence College.

held at Ohmsett in June 2023, which aimed to enhance understanding of dispersant use among stakeholders. Mr. Steffek has also contributed to discussions on regulatory authorizations for subsea dispersant injection in the Gulf of Mexico, reflecting his commitment to advancing collaborative research and policy initiatives within the oil spill response community.

Elaina Thompson is the executive director of the Islands’ Oil Spill Association (IOSA), a volunteer-powered nonprofit dedicated to oil spill response in Washington state’s remote San Juan Islands. She leads IOSA’s training programs, manages response equipment, coordinates local outreach, and directs responses to 15–20 pollution incidents annually. With more than 20 years in the maritime industry, a decade in nonprofit management, and a U.S. Coast Guard 100 Ton Master License, Ms. Thompson brings deep expertise and hands-on leadership. She lives off-grid on Vendovi Island with her family, where she has developed strong self-sufficiency and resilience—values that guide her community-focused stewardship.

Charlie Williams is an executive consultant in energy and safety management with more than 40 years of experience in the offshore energy sector. He retired as executive director of the Center for Offshore Safety after 9 years, following a distinguished career at Shell, where he served as global chief scientist and VP of global R&D. A registered professional engineer and honors graduate of the University of Tennessee, he played key roles in post-Deepwater Horizon reforms, including service on the Department of Interior Ocean Energy Safety Advisory Committee, Marine Well Containment Company Board, and as a technical advisor to national commissions. He is a distinguished member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers and recipient of multiple industry awards, including the Offshore Technology Conference Special Citation and the National Ocean Industries Association “Safety in the Seas Award”.

Anne Zink is a physician and public health leader recognized for advancing innovative healthcare strategies. She served as Alaska’s chief medical officer from 2019, leading the state’s nationally recognized COVID-19 response and driving improvements in health agency structure and mental health services. In 2022, she was elected the 80th president of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, focusing on health data integration. In 2024, she joined the Yale School of Public Health as a lecturer and senior fellow in health policy and management. A practicing emergency physician, Dr. Zink earned her medical degree from Stanford and trained at the University of Utah.

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