River Diversion Exert Panel members Loretta Battaglia, Southern Illinois University Carbondale Ph.D. Ecology, University of Georgia 1998 Dr. Battaglia is currently in the Department of Plant Biology at Southern Illinois University Carbondale as an Associate Professor working in the Battaglia Lab and was previously an Assistant Professor in the same department. She is currently working with NRC Everglades. Dr. Battagalia was previously an Instructor and Post-doctoral Associate in the department of biological sciences at LSU. She is a community ecologist working primarily in floodplain and coastal wetlands. Interested in the effects of climate change and disturbance on wetland ecosystems. Looking at dynamics of wetland ecosystems and ecological processes that link them with the surrounding landscape. Our projects are conducted in coastal wetlands along the northern Gulf of Mexico and floodplain forests in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley. Major research themes include: 1) effects of climate change on the structure and function of coastal wetlands; 2) the role invasive species play in dynamics of native communities; 3) restoration of coastal communities subject to sea level rise and hurricane disturbance; and 4) restoration of bottomland hardwood communities. She is particularly interested in developing restoration targets that confer resiliency to communities experiencing rapid climate change. Phil Berke, University of North Carolina 1981 Texas A&M University, Urban and Regional Science, Ph.D. Phil Berke has both academic and administrative experience with the University of North Carolina. He is currently an associate professor in the department of City and Regional Planning and an adjunct professor in curriculum of ecology. His previous academic experience was as a faculty fellow with the Lincoln Institute of Land policy (Cambridge, MA) and an associate professor in the Department of landscape Architecture and Urban planning (Texas A&M). His current administrative experience is as the deputy direct of the Institute for the environment (IE) and as the director of the Center for sustainable community design (IE). Phil Berke's previous administrative experience was as a coordinator with the department of landscape architecture and Urban Planning (Texas A&M) as well as associate director with the Hazard Reduction and Recovery Center (Texas A&M). The central focus of his research is to develop a deeper understanding of the connections between human settlements and the natural environment. His ultimate goal is to seek solutions to complex urban development problems that enhance the transition to sustainable communities. He has presented seminars at 12 universities throughout the United States, and lectured in Belgium, Canada, China, Ecuador, England, France, Guadeloupe, Jamaica, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Thailand, Switzerland, and Taiwan. Jim Boyd, Resources for the Future Ph.D., Applied Microeconomics, Wharton Business School, University of Pennsylvania, 1993. Jim Boyd's administrative experience began with Resources for the Future, first as a Fellow moving up to Director of the Energy and Natural Resources Division and currently is a Senior fellow and Director for the Center for the Management of Ecological Wealth. In addition, he is also currently the Director of Social Science and Policy with the National Science Foundation's Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center. Jim Boyd's research lies at the intersection of economics, ecology, and law, with a particular focus on the measurement and management of ecosystem goods and services. Improve the practical performance of green incentives, markets, and investments. He advocates and works on the practical design of a "green GDP"-national environmental accounts to capture and track the status of environmental public goods and services. He has served on National Academy of Science and other advisory panels, including most recently the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Committee on Valuing Ecological Systems and Services. He has been a visiting professor at Stanford University (20072008) and Washington University in St. Louis (1996). Bill Espey, RPS Espey Inc. Ph.D., (1965) in Civil Engineering, University of Texas Dr. William H. Espey, Jr., Ph.D., P.E., D.WRE, founding American Academy of Water Resources Engineers (AAWRE) board member and trustee. Received the engineer of the year award from the Texas Society of Professional Engineers (TSPE). Dr. Espey was appointed to the National Committee on Levee Safety (NCLS) Review Panel by the American Council of Engineering Companies. His pioneering work in urban hydrology is documented in a number of text books, design manuals and various professional publications and has been utilized in various parts of the country (City of Austin, Tennessee Valley Authority, State of Pennsylvania, and Denver Urban Drainage and Flood Control District) in terms of design and floodplain delineation. Dr. Espey cofounded Espey, Huston & Associates, Inc. (EH&A) in 1972 and served as President and Chairman of the Board until 1993. EH&A was an engineering and environmental consulting firm with over 1,000 employees ranking of 56th of the top 500 engineering firms in the United States by Engineering News Record at one time. He received the EWRI/ASCE 2006 Lifetime Achievement Award "In recognition of his lifelong and eminent contribution to the environmental and water resources engineering disciplines through practice, research, and public service." Linda Deegan, Marine Biological Lab Ph.D., (1985) Marine Sciences, Louisiana State University Dr. Deegan is currently a senior scientist at the ecosystem center marine biological laboratory. She is the director of the comparative analysis of marine ecosystem organization (CAMEO) program office which is looking at how climate and fishing interact to affect marine ecosystems. Dr. Deegan is an a professor, both at the University of Massachusetts and at Brown University in natural resource conservation and ecology and evolutionary biology respectively. Her research focuses on aquatic ecosystems as they connect landscape elements. She has looked at nutrient and carbon export from estuaries, habitat degradation effects on fish communities and upper trophic level response to an increase in nutrients. Currently Dr. Deegan is looking at the ways animals in feeding, building homes and migrating regulate and modify biogeochemical cycles. Liviu Giosan, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute 2001 - Ph.D. Marine and Atmospheric Sciences SUNY Stony Brook An Associate research scientist, recently getting tenure at the Wood Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) since 2003, Dr. Giosan has led investigations in a number of deltas worldwide, including the Yukon, Ebro, Mackenzie, Indus, and Danube. In addition to his interest in morphodynamics and sedimentation, he also has research interests in human, climate, and landscape interactions and paleoceanography. Dr. Giosan served on the Science and Engineering Special Team (SEST), an advisory group of leading scientists and engineers, to provide objective, independent input on issues related to coastal restoration of the Mississippi River Delta. He was on this committee for two years, and contributed immensely based on his interdisciplinary knowledge of deltaic systems worldwide, and experience in the Mississippi Delta. Will Graf, University of South Carolina (emeritus) Ph.D. - University of Wisconsin, Madison, in physical geography and water resources management Foundation University Distinguished Professor Emeritus in Geography at the University of South Carolina, and Senior River Scientist at The Nature Conservancy. His specialties include fluvial geomorphology and policy for public land and water, with emphasis on river channel change, human impacts on river processes and morphology, contaminant transport and storage in river sediments, and the downstream impacts of large dams. He has served as an officer in the Geological Society of America, and has been President of the Association of American Geographers. President Clinton appointed him to the Presidential Commission on American Heritage Rivers to advise the White House on river management; the Secretary of Defense has recently appointed him as Chair of the Environmental Advisory Board of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Matt Kirwan, Virginia Institute of Marine Science Ph.D. 2007, Duke University, Earth and Ocean Sciences He is currently an Assistant professor at VIMS at the College of William and Mary. Previously he was a research Assistant Professor at the University of Virginia, Department of Environmental Sciences. He aims to better understand how environments exhibiting rapid geomorphic change, landscapes evolve by a combination of physical, biological, and anthropogenic forces. He also look at how these processes influence the formation and survival of large scale landscapes, and how they respond to climate change. The couplings are particularly strong in tidal marshes, where he concentrates most of his research. Of course, these ecogeomorphic couplings apply to landscapes beyond marshes, and he is particularly interested in exploring their relevance to deltas, river floodplains, and Appalachian hillslopes. Tom Minello, NOAA NMFS Ph.D., 1980, Texas A&M University, Biology, "The neritic zooplankton of the northwestern Gulf of Mexico". Dr. Minello is currently the Chief of the Fishery Ecology Branch of NOAA's Southeast Fisheries Science Center as well as a Senior Scientist (2008present), National Marine Fisheries Service, SEFSC. Visiting Member of the Graduate Faculty, Texas A&M University (1986-present). Lecturer at Texas A&M University at Galveston in Marine Ecology (1976, 1996), Wetlands Management (2002-2003), and Marine Fishery Management (2004-present). The Fishery Ecology Branch conducts research on relationships between estuarine and coastal ecosystems and fishery species. A major goal is to identify and quantify linkages between habitats and production of commercially-important fishes, crabs, and shrimps. He lead a team of researchers investigating predator-prey interactions and their role in penaeid shrimp mortality, comparative ecology of created and natural salt marsh habitats, and the relative value and function of various estuarine habitats for penaeid shrimps, blue crabs and commercially important fishes. Martha Sutula Ph.D. (1999) Aquatic Ecology, Louisiana State University Dr. Sutula is head of the biogeochemistry department at the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project (SCCWRP). Her research focus is on eutrophication and harmful algal blooms in streams, estuaries and nearshore waters. Dr. Sutula's work involves water quality modeling and recently she provided technical support to the California State Water Board, this effort was to determine nutrient criteria for California water bodies. She has worked on regional and statewide work on water quality and natural resource issues which include wetland restoration, regional storm water monitoring and TMDL development. John Teal, WHOI (emeritus) Ph.D. Harvard University, 1955 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution: Associate Scientist, 1965-1971, Senior Scientist, 1971-1994; Scientist Emeritus, 1995-present, Chairman of Biology, 1982-1985, Biology Johnson Chair 19861989. With the Conservation Law Foundation of New England: Board of Trustees, 1978-present; Vice-chair of Board, 1980-present. Dr. Teal's areas of expertise include: Wetland ecology such as salt marsh ecosystem structure and function in addition to wastewater treatment by wetlands; physiological ecology of fishes as well as fish nursery value; and groundwater contamination with nutrients and its influence on water bodies. John Teal has been a part of a variety of committees and panels including: Science Board for Louisiana Coastal Area (LCA) Ecosystem Restoration program, 2006-; Invitee for Symposium "Envisioning the future of the Gulf Coast: a symposium for action"2006.; South San Francisco Bay Salt Pond Restoration Science Panel, 20032007; National Research Council Panel on "Restoration and Protection of Coastal Louisiana, 2002-2005. John Wells, Virginia Institute of Marine Science Ph.D., Marine Sciences (minor in Statistics), Louisiana State University As Dean and Director of VIMS, Wells has administrative responsibilities to provide the vision, strategic planning and overall leadership for the Institute. Managing an operating budget of $40 million with VIMS being currently among the largest marine research and education centers in the United States. The focus of his research for the past 25 years has been in the field of coastal Marine Geology, with emphasis on the sedimentology and morphology of clastic sedimentary environments and the physical processes that shape their evolution. Specific topics of research include: dynamics of fine-grained sediments; estuarine and deltaic sedimentation; and, beach and shelf processes. His field sites are/were located on the North Carolina coast, lower Neuse River and Pamlico Sound, the Mississippi Delta, along the west coast of Korea, and in Lake Malawi in east Africa and the Amazon river. Wells has been the Editor-in-Chief of Marine Geology since 2000. He currently serves as a member of the Strategic Science Peer Review Panel for restoration of Puget Sound and served as a member of the Louisiana Coastal Area Science Board from 2005-2011.