Speakers
David Ainsworth
UN Convention on Biodiversity
David Ainsworth is the focal point for the International Year of Biodiversity and the programme officer responsible for Communication, Education and Public Awareness (CEPA) at the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity in Montreal, Canada. Since joining the Secretariat in 2003, David has been responsible for many of the communication initiatives of the Secretariat. He was the principle author of the implementation strategy for the International Year of Biodiversity. For years he has steered the design and implementation of the annual campaign for the International Day for Biological Diversity. Mr. Ainsworth was a contributor to the Secretariat's Global Biodiversity Outlook 2, and is part of the production team for Global Biodiversity Outlook 3. David has been the spokesperson at the eighth and ninth meetings of the Conference to the Parties on Biological Diversity. As programme officer for CEPA, he assists in capacity-development for communication and education for sustainable development. In this regard he has participated in the 5th World Environmental Education Congress, the 4th Annual International Conference of Regional Centres of Expertise and the UNESCO mid-term conference for the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. He is a member of the steering committee of the Commission for Education and Communication of IUCN. Prior to joining the Secretariat David was a product manager for an information technology firm that developed content management solutions for online newspapers. He also worked for the the Canadian NGO Rights and Democracy. A graduate of the Lester B. Pearson United World College of the Pacific, he obtained his Bachelor of Arts in History and Political Science at the University of Toronto. He went on to obtain a Ph.D in Political Science from McGill University, focusing his research on the role of civil society organizations in democratic development.
Peter Annin
Institutes for Journalism & Natural Resources
A veteran conflict and environmental journalist, Peter Annin spent more than a decade at Newsweek. For many years he specialized in coverage of domestic terrorism, including the Oklahoma City bombing. His environmental coverage has included droughts in the Southwest, hurricanes in the Southeast, wind power on the Great Plains, forest fires in the mountain West, and recovery efforts on the Great Lakes.
Since January 2000 Annin has worked as Associate Director of the Institutes for Journalism and Natural Resources, a nonpartisan national nonprofit that organizes educational fellowships for mid-career environmental journalists. (www.ijnr.org) In September 2006 he published his first book, The Great Lakes Water Wars, which has been called the definitive work on the Great Lakes water diversion controversy (www.greatlakeswaterwars.com). In 2007 the book received the Great Lakes Book Award for nonfiction.
He has a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a master's in international affairs from Columbia.
Roberta Bowman
Senior Vice President & Chief Sustainability Officer, Duke Energy
Roberta Bowman is Duke Energy's senior vice president and chief sustainability officer, where she is responsible for the company's integrated strategy to operate in a way that is good for people, the planet and profits. She serves in the Office of the Chairman to represent the company to key stakeholders and works with a number of national, international and industry groups to advance issues important to Duke Energy. The company's corporate communications function also reports to her.
Bowman has over 30 years of experience in the energy industry. She served as the company's chief communications officer for 10 years and led the corporate communications, public affairs and community relations functions, including The Duke Energy Foundation. Following the merger with Cinergy in 2006, she was named the company's first corporate officer in sustainability as vice president of sustainability and community affairs. During her career, Bowman has also had responsibility for public policy; government and regulatory relations; and environment, health and safety. Prior to joining the company, she served as manager of nuclear information for Northeast Utilities in Hartford, Conn.
Bowman is a member of the North Carolina Public Relations Hall of Fame. She serves on the Board of Trustees for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, North Carolina's largest health insurer. She co-chaired the Executive Committee of the 2007 U.S. Women's Open and raised charitable funds to benefit a number of North Carolina nonprofits important to women's health and leadership. Bowman serves on the advisory board for The North Carolina Governor's Conference for Women. She is a member of both Women Corporate Directors and Women Executives. Bowman has also served on the boards of directors of the Public Affairs Council, Afro-American Cultural Center and Communications Council of the United Way.
Herbert T. Buxton
U.S. Geological Survey Toxic Substances Hydrology Program
Herb Buxton coordinates the USGS Toxic Substances Hydrology Program. The Program provides scientific information on the behavior of toxic substances in the Nation's natural environments. He serves as the agency's senior technical expert on hazardous substances in hydrologic systems and serves on numerous interagency committees and working groups on environmental contamination and environmental health risks. He serves as the USGS Human Health Coordinator, leading efforts to promote the use of USGS environmental and wildlife science information for public health decision-making. Herb received a B.S. in Geology from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and an M.S. in Geology from the State University of New York at Fredonia. After working as a research associate at the University of South Carolina, Hydrogeology Program, he joined the USGS, where he has served as a scientist and manager. His special interests include groundwater system analysis and emerging issues in water quality environmental contamination.
Marla Cone
Environmental Health News
Marla Cone is one of the nation's most experienced environmental journalists, working as a reporter for 30 years. She was an environmental writer at the Los Angeles Times for 18 years before leaving in 2008 to launch a non-profit journalism enterprise at Environmental Health News, where she is editor in chief. In 1999, Cone was named a Pew Fellow, becoming the only journalist to be awarded the fellowship usually reserved for scientists. For her fellowship, she studied the buildup of contamination in the Arctic. This research led to her book, Silent Snow: The Slow Poisoning of the Arctic, which was named a finalist in the National Academy of Sciences' Communication Awards in 2006. Cone taught two semesters at University of Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism and served as a board member of the Society of Environmental Journalists for nine years. She has twice won the national Scripps Howard Meeman Award for Environmental Reporting.
Donald L. Correll
American Water
Donald L. Correll is president and chief executive officer (CEO) of American Water, the largest investor-owned U.S. water and wastewater utility company. For more than 30 years, Mr. Correll has held leadership roles in the water industry and is known for developing a high-quality, customer-oriented culture in the companies he manages.
Mr. Correll leads a team of more than 7,000 dedicated professionals who provide drinking water, wastewater and other related services to approximately 16 million people in 35 states and Ontario and Manitoba, Canada.
Mr. Correll was the President of the National Association of Water Companies (NAWC) in 2009, and currently serves on the boards of a variety of civic, professional and business organizations, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Environmental Financial Advisory Board of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In addition, he is a member of the board of directors of HealthSouth Corporation and New Jersey Resources.
John Cronin
Director and CEO, Beacon Institute for Rivers and Estuaries
Senior Fellow for Environmental Affairs, Pace Academy for Applied Environmental Studies at Pace University
For 35 years, John Cronin has dedicated his career to environment and innovation. For his accomplishments, Time magazine named him a "Hero for the Planet" and People magazine described him as "equal parts detective, scientist and public advocate."
Cronin is Director and CEO of Beacon Institute for Rivers and Estuaries, which is developing real-time technologies and observatories for waterways around the world. He is also Senior Fellow in Environmental Affairs at Pace University where he is helping develop the next generation of environmental and economic policy for water.
Cronin has worked as an advocate, legislative and congressional aide, commercial fisherman, professor, author and filmmaker. He is known internationally for his Hudson River work, for which the Wall Street Journal called him "a unique presence on America's major waterways." He served as Hudson Riverkeeper from 1983-2000, a position that has inspired a legacy of 200 Waterkeeper programs that fight pollution on six continents.
Cronin co-authored The Riverkeepers with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., published by Scribner with an introduction by former Vice President Al Gore. He has written numerous articles, including for the Op Ed page of The New York Times. He wrote and co-produced the film The Last Rivermen, named an outstanding documentary by the Motion Picture Academy Foundation. His essay, "Where Human and Nature Meet," is featured in the book, Oceans, recently released on Earth Day by Public Affairs Books to accompany the Disney nature motion picture, Oceans.
Cronin has been the subject of three books and extensive major media print and broadcast news stories, documentaries and profiles. The Knight-Ridder newspapers praised him as a "hero in one of the great success stories of the modern environmental movement."
David Dzombak
Carnegie Mellon University Steinbrenner Institute for Environmental Education and Research
David Dzombak is the Walter J. Blenko, Sr. Professor of Environmental Engineering in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, where he has been a faculty member since 1989. He is also Faculty Director of the Steinbrenner Institute for Environmental Education and Research. The focus of his research and teaching at Carnegie Mellon is on water quality engineering and environmental remediation.
Dr. Dzombak received his Ph.D. in Civil-Environmental Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1986. He also holds an M.S. in Civil-Environmental Engineering (1981) and B.S. in Civil Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University (1980). In addition, he received a B.A. in Mathematics from Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, PA (1980). He is a registered Professional Engineer in Pennsylvania, a Diplomate of the American Academy of Environmental Engineers, a Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and a member of the National Academy of Engineering.
Dr. Dzombak has served as a member of the EPA Science Advisory Board since 2001, and on various committees of the National Research Council. He currently serves on the NRC Committee on Clean Water Act Implementation Across the Mississippi River Basin, and the NRC Commitee on U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Water Resources Science, Engineering, and Planning. He also is an associate editor of the journal Environmental Science and Technology.
Marc Edwards
Virginia Tech
Marc Edwards is currently the Charles Lunsford Professor of Civil Engineering at Virginia Tech, where he teaches courses in environmental engineering and applied aquatic chemistry. His research group is currently emphasizing research on water sustainability and public health-- this work has been featured in Time Magazine, Materials Performance, National Public Radio, Prism, Salon, Good Housekeeping, Environmental Science and Technology, Public Works, Earth and Sky, Parents Magazine, and in newspaper articles around the country. Awards include a Presidential Faculty Fellowship from the White House in 1996, Outstanding Science Paper awards from 3 different journals, a Walter Huber Research Prize from the American Society of Civil Engineers, State of Virginia Outstanding Faculty Award, a MacArthur Fellowship (2008-2012), and the 2010 Praxis Award in Professional Ethics.
Juliet Eilperin
The Washington Post
A born-and-bred Washingtonian, Juliett Eilperin graduated in 1992 magna cum laude from Princeton University, where she received a bachelor's in Politics with a certificate in Latin American Studies. In the fall of 1992 she went to Seoul, South Korea on a Luce Scholarship, which allowed her to cover politics and economics for an English-language magazine. Returning to Washington, Ms. Eilperin wrote for Louisiana and Florida papers at States News Service and then joined Roll Call newspaper after the Republicans took control of Congress in 1994. In March 1998 she joined The Washington Post as its House of Representatives reporter, where she covered the impeachment of Bill Clinton, lobbying, legislation, and several national congressional campaigns.
Since April of 2004 she has covered the environment for the national desk, reporting on science, policy and politics in areas including climate change, oceans, and air quality. In pursuit of these stories she has gone scuba diving with sharks in the Bahamas, trekking on the Arctic tundra with Selma Hayek and Jake Gyllenhaal, and searching on her hands and knees for rare insects in the caves of Tennessee. She covered the 2008 presidential race, traveling with GOP nominee John McCain and his vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, while continuing to serve as the Post's national environmental reporter. She launched the blog Post Carbon on the paper's website to help readers track developments in climate policy, politics and science in real time.
During her first year at the Post Ms. Eilperin was the most prolific writer on the news staff, writing more than 200 stories. In the spring of 2005 she served as the youngest-ever McGraw Professor of Journalism at Princeton University, teaching political reporting to a group of undergraduate and graduate students. In the spring of 2006 Rowman & Littlefield published her first book, "Fight Club Politics: How Partisanship is Poisoning the House of Representatives." Her book has been featured on several radio and television shows, including Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and NPR's "Fresh Air with Terry Gross." Ms. Eilperin is currently working on a book on sharks, to be published by Knopf-Pantheon in 2011.
Bill Flanagan
Allegheny Conference on Community Development
Bill Flanagan is Executive Vice President - Corporate Relations for the Allegheny Conference on Community Development and its Affiliates: the Pennsylvania Economy League of Southwestern Pennsylvania LLC, the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance and the Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce.
At the Conference, Bill supervises Investor Relations activities including fund-raising, membership services and educational programming, and he oversees organizational communications. In this role, Bill also hosts Our Region's Business, a business affairs television program produced by the Conference in partnership with Cox Television. The show airs weekly on WPXI-TV, WJACTV, WTOV-TV and the Pittsburgh Cable News Channel (PCNC).
As president of The Pittsburgh G-20 Partnership, Bill helped to organize the public-private partnership of organizations from across southwestern Pennsylvania that came together to welcome the world for the Pittsburgh Summit. With the City of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County and VisitPittsburgh, the Allegheny Conference was one of the four founding members of the G-20 Partnership.
Amy Fraenkel
UNEP Regional Office for North America
Amy Fraenkel has more than 20 years of experience in environmental and maritime law and policy. She has worked in both the executive and legislative branches of the United States government, inter-governmental organizations, and the private sector. Her areas of expertise include climate change, ocean and coastal issues, endangered species, chemicals, trade and environment, and international law.
She joined UNEP's Regional Office for North America (UNEP RONA) from the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation where she served as Senior Counsel of the Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and Coast Guard Subcommittee. There she worked on legislation related to a wide range of issues, including climate change, ocean acidification, maritime industry pollution, invasive species, marine mammals and sea turtles, coral reefs, and coastal conservation, as well as implementing legislation for international agreements.
Prior to joining the U.S. Senate, Ms. Fraenkel worked as a senior policy advisor in the Office of International Affairs within the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in Washington, D.C. There she served as coordinator for UNEP, and negotiated agreements in UNEP, the International Maritime Organization, the World Trade Organization and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), including the Persistent Organic Pollutants Convention. Prior to joining the EPA, Ms. Fraenkel worked for seven years on international, corporate, environmental and pipeline safety issues in private law practice at the law firms Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen and Hamilton in New York, and LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene and MacRae in San Francisco. She has also served as a consultant to the United Nations and to the OECD.
Ms. Fraenkel graduated from Grinnell College with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and completed a concentration in environmental studies. She obtained her Law Degree from Harvard. She also holds a French language certificate from l'Institut Catholique de Paris.
Dr. Kathryn J. Jackson
Senior Vice President & Chief Technology Officer, Research and Technology, Westinghouse Electric Company
Dr. Kathryn J. Jackson is senior vice president and chief technology officer at Westinghouse Electric Company, leading research and development as well as environmental sustainability initiatives.
Dr. Jackson joined Westinghouse from Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), where she was the executive vice president of River System Operations and Environment and the corporate environmental officer. In her 17 years with TVA, she was responsible for the management of the 6,000 megawatt hydropower system, flood control, navigation, dam safety, public lands management, environmental services, and research and development activities.
Dr. Jackson serves on the board of directors for ISO New England, Inc., which runs the region's bulk power system and electricity market. Dr. Jackson is on the advisory board of the Carnegie Mellon Electricity Industry Center.
Dr. Jackson earned a bachelor's degree in Physics from Grove City College, holds a master's degree in Industrial Engineering Management from the University of Pittsburgh and master's and doctorate degrees in Engineering and Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University.
Gregory J. Koch
The Coca-Cola Company
Greg joined The Coca-Cola Company in 1996. He has over 20 years of experience in the environmental and engineering fields. His educational background includes a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Columbus College, a Bachelor of Civil Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and a M.S. in Civil Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Currently Greg manages the global water stewardship initiative of the Company. This work addresses the assessment and mitigation of water risks facing the global, Coca-Cola business and includes setting strategic direction, development of standards and support in the areas of plant performance, water and wastewater treatment technologies, social engagement, communications, watershed management and key partnerships including Coca-Cola's global partnership with WWF.
His experience at Coca-Cola includes two years as the executive assistant to the Vice President of Environment & Water Resources, and managing the Company's global due diligence and wastewater programs. He has also led and managed several, strategic water resources projects including partnerships with several public and private entities.
His prior experience includes nine years in environmental consulting and engineering design.
Mike Magee
Positive Medicine Inc.
Mike Magee, MD., is a physician, speaker and author known for his leadership in connecting health and environmental issues, corporate social responsibility and championing a holistic vision for health system reform in the U.S. He is the author of eight books, including Health Politics: Power, Populism and Health.
He launched "Health Commentary" in 2007 after several years as host of the popular multimedia program "Health Politics with Dr. Mike Magee," which included a weekly video examining megatrends and "hidden stories" in health care. The award-winning program produced more than 180 videos on topics ranging from obesity to global warming for an audience of more than 200,000 subscribers. The programs are still available for viewing at HealthPolitics.org.
In his role as host of Health Politics, Dr. Magee articulated a new vision of health populism—advocating a system in which "the people and the people caring for the people" have equal responsibilities and are vested together in health outcomes. Dr. Magee continues to share his views on these topics at HealthCommentary.com.
Richard A. Meeusen
CEO, Badger Meter Company; Milwaukee 7 Water Council
Richard Meeusen graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater in 1976 with a BBA in accounting. He immediately joined the audit division of the Milwaukee office of Arthur Andersen & Co. He received his CPA certificate in 1978. In 1988, he became vice president of finance and treasurer of Zenith Sintered Products, Inc., a powder metal parts manufacturer located in Germantown. Mr. Meeusen received his MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University in 1995. He joined Badger Meter, Inc., in 1995 as vice president-finance and chief financial officer. In April 2002 he was elected president and chief executive officer and was elected chairman in April 2004.
Mr. Meeusen is currently a director of Menasha Corporation, a consumer packaging company. He is a past director of Waukesha Foundry, Town Bank and State Financial Services Corporation.
In his volunteer activities, Mr. Meeusen serves on the boards of Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Wisconsin, Inc., the Greater Milwaukee Committee, the Milwaukee County Council Boy Scouts of America, the Milwaukee Public Museum, The Nature Conservancy and the United Performing Arts Fund. He also serves as co-chair of the Milwaukee 7 Water Council.
With regard to professional associations, Mr. Meeusen is a director of the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce and the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce. Mr. Meeusen also serves on the advisory boards for the Business Schools at both the University of Wisconsin — Whitewater and the University of Wisconsin — Milwaukee.
Rich and his wife Maribeth live in Pewaukee, Wisconsin. They have two grown children, Matthew and Juliet.
Kathleen Miller, Ph.D.
Climate Science and Applications Program, National Center for Atmospheric Research
Dr. Kathleen Miller is an economist who works with the Climate Science and Applications Program at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. She served as a lead author of Chapter 3, "Water Resources and Their Management," in the IPCC Working Group II, Fourth Assessment Report, and as a lead author of the IPCC Technical Paper on Climate Change and Water. She also co-authored a book on the implications of climate change for urban water utilities: Climate Change and Water Resources: A Primer for Municipal Water Providers (Awwa Research Foundation, 2006).
Her research focuses on human exploitation of climate-sensitive natural resources, and the socioeconomic and institutional factors affecting resource management decisions in the context of uncertainty and competing interests. She received a B.A. in anthropology and M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from the University of Washington.
Carl Safina, Ph.D.
Blue Ocean Institute, Stony Brook University
Carl Safina explores how the ocean is changing, and what those changes mean for wildlife and for people. His writing conveys the scientific dimensions as well as moral and social implications of our relationship with nature.
His earlier work focused on seabird ecology, then on policy. In the 1990s he helped lead campaigns to ban high-seas driftnets, re-write U. S. federal fisheries law, work toward international conservation of tunas, sharks, and other fishes, and achieve passage of a United Nations global fisheries treaty.
Safina, whose Ph.D. in ecology is from Rutgers University, is author of several books, and more than a hundred scientific and popular publications on ecology and oceans, including featured work in National Geographic and The New York Times, and a new Foreword to Rachel Carson's The Sea Around Us.
Peggy Shepard
Executive Director, Co-Founder, WE ACT For Environmental Justice
Peggy Shepard is executive director and co-founder of West Harlem Environmental Action, Inc. (WE ACT). Founded in 1988, WE ACT was New York's first environmental justice organization created to build community power to improve environmental health, policy and protection in communities of color. She has been honored as an innovative and effective Environmental Justice Leader and received an Honorary Doctorate from Smith College in May 2010, the Jane Jacobs Medal for Lifetime Achievement from the Rockefeller Foundation in 2008, the 10th Annual Heinz Award For the Environment, the Dean's Distinguished Service Award from the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health in 2004, and the Rachel Carson Award from Audubon.
A former Democratic District Leader, she represented West Harlem from 1985 to 1993, and served as President of the National Women's Political Caucus-Manhattan from 1993-1997. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, Committee on America's Climate Choices which is publishing reports of recommendations to Congress. WE ACT hosts the Environmental Justice Leadership Forum on Climate Change, a national coalition of 40 organizations representing 16 states that have convened to develop a unified voice and position on climate change policies. Ms Shepard has served as guest editor of a special issue of the journal Environmental Justice focused on Climate Justice, published in December 2009. WE ACT coordinates the NYS Transportation Equity Alliance, a statewide coalition of 60 groups working to ensure equitable transportation policy locally and nationally.
WE ACT is a nationally recognized organization in the field of community-based participatory research in partnership with the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University. Ms. Shepard is a co-investigator of the Columbia Children's Environmental Health Center, community partner of the NIEHS Center for Environmental Health In Northern Manhattan at Columbia, and member of the Mt. Sinai Centers for Community and Academic Research Partnerships Board.
Peggy Shepard, a former journalist, was a reporter for The Indianapolis News, a copy editor for The San Juan Star, and a researcher for Time-Life Books. She has served as an editor at Redbook, Essence, and Black Enterprise magazines. Ms. Shepard began a career in government as a speechwriter for the New York State Division of Housing & Community Renewal and Director of Public Information for Rent Administration. She served as the Women's Outreach Coordinator for the New York City Comptroller's Office.
Ms. Shepard is a board member of the national and NYS Leagues of Conservation Voters, Environmental Defense, NY Earth Day, Audubon NY, the Children's Environmental Health Network, and the Public Health Association of New York. She is a Co-Principal Investigator of the Columbia Children's Environmental Health Center and is a member of Mt. Sinai's Children's Environmental Health Center.