Dr.
Nancy E. Kinner is a Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
at the University of New Hampshire (UNH). She received an A.B. from Cornell
University in Biology (Ecology and Systematics) in 1976 and an M.S. and
Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the University of New Hampshire in 1980
and 1983, respectively. She received an NSF Dissertation Fellowship to
study protists at the Water Research Centre (UK) in 1983. Prof. Kinner
joined the faculty of Civil Engineering at UNH in 1983. She has conducted
funded research projects for agencies and research organizations including
USEPA, NSF, AWWARF, CICEET and the NH Department of Environmental Services.
She and her graduate students have authored numerous peer reviewed publications
and technical reports. Prof. Kinner's research explores the role of bacteria
and protists in the biodegradation of petroleum compounds and chlorinated
solvents. Prof. Kinner currently serves as an advisor to the State of
New Hampshire on hazardous waste bioremediation and is a member of the
State's Waste Management Council. She is also a member of the editorial
board of Microbial Ecology. Prof. Kinner teaches courses on environmental
microbiology, marine pollution and control, the fundamentals of environmental
engineering, and environmental sampling and analysis. Prior to becoming
the UNH Co-Director of the Coastal Response Research Center in June 2004,
she has served as the Director of the UNH Bedrock Bioremediation Center
since 1998. She recently completed a CICEET-funded project on enhanced
bioremediation of oil-contaminated salt marshes and will be continuing
work in this area as part of her Coastal Response Research Center duties.
Dr.
Amy Merten is an environmental scientist for the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R)
in Seattle, WA, where she assesses the biological and shoreline impacts
of oil and chemical spills. Dr. Merten has recently worked on several
major spills, including the M/V ATHOS (Delaware River), the M/V SELENDANG
AYU (Unalaska, AK), and several spills on the Mississippi corridor caused
by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Prior to her current position, Dr. Merten
was a technical science advisor to the Director of OR&R (Silver Spring,
MD), providing expertise on ecological risk assessment, Brownfields redevelopment,
contaminated sediment issues, and emergency response to oil spills in
coastal environments. From 1992-1996, she was a natural resource analyst
for PCCI Environmental Engineering, Inc. (Alexandria, VA), writing oil
spill contingency plans for U.S Navy facilities and commercial oil transport
clients. In that position, she served as the Navy's representative on
the National Response Team's Science and Technology Committee, developing
policy guidance on the use of alternative response techniques such as
dispersants and in-situ burning.
Dr. Merten received her doctorate (2005) and masters (1999) degrees in Marine, Estuarine and Environmental Sciences with a specialization in Environmental Chemistry from the University of Maryland. Her research focused on the sublethal impacts of long-term exposures of dietary PAHs on the bioenergetics of and PCB bioaccumulation in a model fish, Fundulus heteroclitus and the differences in bioavailability of PAHs associated with petrogenic and pyrogenic sources. She earned a B.A. in Environmental, Population, and Organismic Biology from the University of Colorado, Boulder in 1992.
Joseph Cunningham received his Master’s degree in Civil (Environmental) Engineering from the University of New Hampshire in 2008, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Science with a minor in Marine Biology from the University of New Hampshire in 2003. Prior to joining the Center, Mr. Cunningham worked as a field technician at the University of New Hampshire’s Bedrock Bioremediation Center and has worked for the State of New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services as a Coastal Water Quality Intern (2004) and Shellfish Program Intern (2005). Mr. Cunningham joined the Coastal Response Research Center in the fall of 2007, and provides scientific support for the center.
Kathy
Mandsager received her B.A. in Education, Psychology & Sociology from
Wartburg College, Waverly, IA. Just prior to joining the Center Staff,
she was the Administrative Assistant in the Office of the Vice President
for Research & Public Service at UNH where she coordinated the Undergraduate
Research Conference and the Outreach Scholars Program. In September 2005,
Ms. Mandsager joined the Center to assist in the numerous administrative
and operational activities of the Center, such as RFP review processing
and Workshop planning. One of her extracurricular passions is raising
puppies for Canine Companions for Independence.
Colleen
Mitchell received a B.A. in English from Nyack College in Nyack, NY and
a Master's in Education from SUNY College at Plattsburgh. Before coming
to the University of New Hampshire, she was the Systems Manager at Hospice
of the North Country in upstate New York and the Assistant to the Director
of Broadcasting at New Hampshire Public Television. Ms. Mitchell began
working with the Environmental Research Group (ERG) in 1999 as the Program
Coordinator for the Recycled Materials Resource Center. In 2002, she became
the Communications Coordinator for ERG and all of its centers.