Lisa DiPinto received her doctorate and marine science degrees in marine science from the University of South Carolina, and her Bachelor's degree in Microbiology from the Ohio State University. Her technical interests include sediment toxicology, bioaccumulation and environmental effects of oil and sediment associated contaminants in aquatic environments, and coastal habitat restoration. Currently, she is the Oil Spill Coordinator for NOAA's Office of Response and Restoration's Assessment and Restoration Division. She has 10 years of experience conducting environmental assessments to evaluate and quantify injuries to public trust marine resources resulting from oil and chemical releases into the environment, and coordinating with technical and economic experts, attorneys, resource agencies and responsible parties to recover damages to be used for environmental restoration in accordance with CERCLA, OPA and other relevant regulations. She has designed, coordinated and implemented assessments nationally and internationally, including ephemeral data collection during on-scene oil spill responses. Additionally, she is involved in developing scientifically sound research methods that can be used to quantify adverse environmental effects from contaminant releases and develop appropriate restoration activities in both cooperative and litigious natural resource damage assessments.
Dr. Diane L Foster is an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of New Hampshire (UNH). She received an B.S. from University of Massachusetts, Amherst in Mechanical Engineering in 1989, a M.S. from the University of Maine in Mechanical Engineering in 1991, and a Ph.D. from Oregon State University in Civil Engineering (Ocean Engineering) in 1996. She performed post-doctoral work at Dalhousie University in Physical Oceanography from 1996-1999. In 1999, Prof. Foster joined the faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Geodetic Science. She has conducted funded research projects for agencies and research organizations including NSF, Sea Grant, ONR, USGS, and the National Ocean Partnership Program. She and her graduate students research explores the fluid-sediment interaction in coastal and nearshore environments. They have obtained observations in both the field (North Carolina, Florida, and Oregon, and Ohio) and large laboratories (Oregon, TUDelft). Prof. Foster serves as an ocean advisor for the Center of Science and Industry (COSI), and as a Co-PI for the Coastal Sediment Transport Model (CSTM). She has served as an external Ph.D examiner or visiting scholar at the Danish Technical University, Université Bordeaux, France, and the Technical University of Delft. Prof. Foster has taught courses in fluid mechanics, water resources engineering, sediment transport, transport phenomena, ocean mechanics, and thermodynamics.
Michele Jacobi is an environmental scientist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R) in Seattle, WA. As part of the Technical Support Division she as experience regarding eco-risk assessment reviews, chemical data analysis, field sampling design, and the development of watershed database and GIS mapping projects. Michele is currently on assignment to the Coastal Response Research Center and is applying the concept of a watershed database and mapping project towards emergency planning and response for the Portsmouth Harbor Area. Prior to coming to OR&R she worked with the state of California to conduct extensive fieldwork and evaluations regarding contamination in the state’s bays and estuaries. Michele received a B.S. in Biology and Marine Science from the University of San Diego and a M.S. in Marine Science from California State University-Moss Landing Marine Labs.
Dr.
Jenna R. Jambeck is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Engineering at University of Georgia. Until recently, she was an an Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental
Engineering at the University of New Hampshire (UNH).
She received a B.S. in 1996 and her M.E. in 1998 in Environmental Engineering Sciences from the University of Florida. She worked as a consulting engineer for URS Corporation in Minneapolis, MN conducting hazardous waste site assessment and remediation work until 2000. She received her Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering Sciences from the University of Florida in 2004.
Before coming to UNH, she worked for the US EPA Office of Research and Development in Research Triangle Park, NC as an Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education Post-Doctoral Fellow. She joined the UNH Civil Engineering Department in 2005 as a Research Assistant Professor of Civil/Environmental Engineering and is a member of the Environmental Research Group and Coastal Response Research Center.
Her research interests include marine debris, contaminant fate and transport related to waste disposal and beneficial use, chemical processes within disposal systems, sustainable and innovative waste management practices and in-situ treatment of contaminated sediments. She has numerous publications and presentations on solid waste issues, including the leaching of arsenic, copper and chromium from chromated copper arsenate (CCA)-treated wood in various disposal environments. She spoke at the Air and Waste Management Association (AWMA) 2001 Annual meeting where she presented National Marine Debris Monitoring Program Data from Florida coastlines with GIS Mapping techniques for the first time. She also has expertise in construction and demolition (C&D) debris management, with experience in planning for disaster debris management, which relates to marine debris in the disaster and oil spill response setting. She is currently working on two NOAA funded projects researching marine debris: An Integrated PDA-GPS Protocol for Marine Debris and Oil Spill Cleanup, Mitigation and Decision-making with Amy Merten and A Systematic Approach to Marine Debris Reduction Efforts and Education in New Hampshire. These projects also include working with Blue Ocean Society for Marine Conservation, a New Hampshire non-profit organization.
David
is the Senior Policy Analyst for the Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource
Management (OCRM) within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA). He has been with OCRM since 1987. He is Team Leader for the National
Interest Team within OCRM's Coastal Programs Division, providing oversight
and guidance on numerous policy and legal issues under the federal Coastal
Zone Management Act (CZMA), including Federal Consistency; National Energy
Policy; Liquefied Natural Gas and Wind Power projects; Dredging; Federal
Legislation; American Indian & Alaska Native Policy; Military
Activities; and Changes to State CZMA Programs.
David's academic background includes a Bachelors degree in political science from UNH (1982); a Master of Arts in Marine Affairs degree from the University of Rhode Island (1988); and a Juris Doctor degree from George Washington University Law School (1994). He is a member of the Massachusetts Bar.
David is located at the Coastal Response Research
Center (CRRC) at Gregg Hall and will also assist in the integration of
NOAA programs at UNH; interface with the CRRC; and participate in marine
academic and programmatic matters at UNH.
Tom
Safford is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at University of New Hampshire
(UNH). He received his Ph.D. in Development Sociology from Cornell University
in 2004. Dr. Safford's research focuses on analyzing inter-organizational
relationships and, in particular, on understanding the roles different
public and private sector organizations play in environmental management.
He has conducted applied sociological research and developed methods for
integrating social and natural science information to support policy making
and natural resource management for both the United States Agency for
International Development (USAID) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA).
Prior to joining the Sociology Department at UNH, Dr. Safford was a post-doctoral fellow at the NOAA Coastal Services Center in Charleston, SC. While with NOAA, Dr. Safford served as a member of a team of social scientists that developed a new social science research plan for NOAA's National Ocean Service. Dr. Safford completed a number of applied sociological research projects while at NOAA. These included:
- A survey of coastal and emergency managers regarding
the use of storm surge models and forecast data to support land use
planning and emergency response
- An assessment of stakeholder involvement and socioeconomic
trends to support restoration efforts in the Deschutes Estuary in Olympia,
WA
- A collaborative project with the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe developing methods for integrating social and cultural information with natural and physical science data to support dam removal efforts on the Elwha River in Washington State
Currently, Dr. Safford is collaborating with social scientists at the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle to examine the institutional and organizational structure of water management and salmon recovery efforts across Puget Sound. This applied sociological research will help support on-going efforts by NMFS, the State of Washington, Native American Tribes, local governments, and community groups to implement an integrated ecosystem-based approach to salmon recovery across Puget Sound.