Daniel F. Adams, P.E., is a Civil Engineer with the City of Virginia Beach Department of Public Works and serves as Program Manager for the City’s Coastal Section Capital Improvement Program. Dan is a lifelong resident of the City of Virginia Beach and earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering from Old Dominion University. He holds a Professional Engineering License with the Commonwealth of Virginia and has over thirty years of experience in construction, project, and program management.
Dale E. Beter is currently serving as Acting Regulatory Program Manager with the South Atlantic Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In this capacity, Dale coordinates regional regulatory issues with senior leaders and HQ. Prior to this assignment, Dale works as a Program Manager, Jacksonville District, where he provides guidance and leadership on program initiatives such as inter-agency efforts to protect endangered species, jurisdictional determinations, and managing the general permitting program. Prior to August 7, 2016, Dale served as Chief of the Wilmington Regulatory Field Office, Wilmington District.
Doug Bellomo is a civil engineer with the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Institute for Water Resources in Fort Belvoir, VA. Doug serves as a senior technical advisor for flood risk management with the US Army Corps of Engineers’ (USACE) Institute for Water Resources. Doug leads the Corps National Flood Risk Management program and works within the USACE Levee Safety Program. Previously Doug served as the Director of the Risk Analysis Division within the Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration at FEMA.
Edward (Ted) Boling is the Associate Director for National Environmental Policy Act at the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), a position he assumed in January of 2016 after upon his return to CEQ after five years at the Department of the Interior. Ted served as Deputy Solicitor for Parks & Wildlife at the U.S. Department of the Interior, where he supervised the work of the Solicitor’s Office in support of programs of the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Ted joined the Department in August of 2010, as Counselor to the Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management.
Derek Brockbank is the Executive Director of ASBPA. He has been an organizer and run conservation campaigns around the country and, for the past 10 years, in Washington, DC. His focus has been on climate change adaptation and restoring natural resources, most recently directing a campaign to restore the Mississippi River Delta and Coastal Louisiana through a coalition of conservation organizations including National Wildlife Federation, National Audubon Society and Environmental Defense Fund. He grew up in New York City and the beaches of Long Island, and ran along the Lake Michigan beach while at the University of Chicago, getting a degree in political science and environmental studies.
Jennifer Bucatari is an Oceanographer with Bureau of Ocean Energy Management within their Office of Environmental Programs. Jennifer obtained her PhD and Master’s degrees in from the Boston University Marine Program in Woods Hole, MA focusing on residual impacts from a No.2 fuel oil spill in coastal environments. Prior to coming to BOEM in 2011, Jennifer was faculty at the University of North Carolina Wilmington and with the US Army Corps of Engineers. Jennifer works in the oil and gas and marine minerals program and is the BOEM Headquarters lead for oil spill, water quality impact analyses and NEPA streamlining.
Mayor Jeff Collier is a lifelong (57 years) resident of Dauphin Island, Alabama. He has served the community as an elected official for 30 years—10 years as a Council Member and 20 years as Mayor. During his tenure as Mayor, he has guided the recovery of this barrier island community of 1300 residents following numerous tropical storms and hurricanes, including Hurricane Ivan in 2004 and Katrina in 2005, and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, the worst man-made disaster of its type in U.S. history. His professional career included serving 20 years as a member of the Professional Golfers’ Association of America.
Mayor Gail L. Coniglio, a resident in Palm Beach for 35 years, has spent 25 years providing public service. Ms. Coniglio was elected to Town Council in 2007. While on Council, she served on the Public Works Committee, where she became a champion for shore protection. As Mayor since 2011, she has focused on building and maintaining healthy relationships with the FDEP and the Corps of Engineers. In result, with commitment from the Town, inlet bypassing, improved use of inlet-dredged sand, beach nourishment, and dune restoration have placed more than 3 million cubic yards of sand on the Town’s beaches.
Donald E. Cresitello received his B.S. and M.S. in Ocean Engineering from Florida Institute of Technology. He has worked for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District for over 14 years as a Project Planner and Coastal Planning Regional Technical Specialist where his primary experience is with coastal storm risk management projects in NJ and NY. Donald oversees the USACE National Hurricane Program, is a hurricane evacuation subject matter expert and serves as one of USACE’s national HURREVAC trainers. Additionally, he is integral to hurricane planning and preparedness efforts for New York City and the NY metro region.
Nicole Elko, Ph.D., is President of Elko Coastal Consulting based in Folly Beach, SC. In addition to serving as Science Director for the ASBPA, she is presently one of the three civilian members of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Coastal Engineering Research Board. Elko also serves as the Executive Director of the South Carolina Beach Advocates. Dr. Elko has nearly 20 years of experience in coastal science and management. She received her Ph.D. (Geology) from the University of South Florida after working with the USGS Coastal Marine Geology Program, St. Petersburg, and while serving as the coastal coordinator for Pinellas County, FL.
Cesar Espinosa is a Planning Specialist for the County of Los Angeles Department of Beaches and Harbors where he has worked for over 10 years. He works in the Planning Division’s Capital Projects Section where he manages capital improvement projects, on owner side, from conceptual planning through construction. These include public improvement projects in over 25 miles of coastline and Marina del Rey including, beach nourishment, beach restrooms, parking lots, concession buildings, maintenance yards, and parks.
Josh Friedman, Director, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), NYC Emergency Management is a native New Yorker. He has worked in the field of GIS for the past 18 years. In 2008, Josh joined the GIS division of NYC Emergency Management as a Hazard Impact Modeler/GIS Specialist to support the development of NYC’s 2009 Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan. In 2013 he was a project manager for the update of NYC’s hurricane evacuation zones and in 2016 he was appointed as Director, Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Beginning in 2014, Josh participated in the National Hurricane Program’s Technology Modernization Working Group as a local emergency management subject matter expert.
Steve Goldbeck is Chief Deputy Director of the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) where he oversees staff operations, legislative affairs and the Commission’s sea level rise adaptation program. He has been on BCDC’s staff since 1985 specializing in technical planning and policy issues. He was a principal architect of the interagency Long Term Management Strategy (LTMS) dredging program including overseeing the beneficial reuse studies, creation of the award-winning Dredged Material Management Office (DMMO), and the Hamilton Wetlands Restoration Project.
Kate Gooderham, APR, CPRC , is a Managing Director of ASBPA. She has been involved with coastal issues for 35 years. She is president of Gooderham & Associates, Inc., a Fort Myers, Florida consulting firm established in 1986, specializing in public participation, issues management, public information campaigns, grassroots organizing, governmental lobbying and monitoring, coastal permitting and strategic planning. A cum laude graduate of the University of South Dakota majoring in English and history, she was accredited in public relations in 1999 and became a certified public relations counselor in 2008.
Rick Knabb, Ph.D., received his Bachelor’s Degree in Atmospheric Science from Purdue University (1990) and his Masters of Science and Doctorate in Meteorology from Florida State University (1993, 1999). He completed postdoctoral work at the University of Hawaii (2000). In 2001 he joined the National Hurricane Center and was a senior hurricane specialist during 2005-2008. He became Deputy Director of the Central Pacific Hurricane Center in Hawaii in 2008. He joined The Weather Channel in 2010 as their on-air Hurricane Expert. He rejoined the National Hurricane Center in 2012 as Director, and returned to The Weather Channel in 2017.
Eric Letvin serves as the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Deputy Assistant Administrator for Mitigation. Mr. Letvin directs FEMA’s pre- and post-disaster mitigation programs that support sustainable, disaster-resilient communities, to avoid or reduce the loss of life, property, and financial impacts of natural hazards. Mr. Letvin was appointed to the Senior Executive Service in 2016. Prior to joining FEMA, Mr. Letvin was the Director of Hazard Mitigation and Risk Reduction Policy with the National Security Council, The White House. Mr. Letvin holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Environmental Engineering from Syracuse University and Juris Doctor degree from the University of Maryland Baltimore.
W. Jeff Lillycrop is Technical Director, Civil Works R&D, Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He is responsible for Environmental, Flood Risk Management, and Navigation R&D including programs covering coastal infrastructure, channel dredging and performance, ecosystem restoration, coastal inlets and sedimentation, surveying and mapping, regional sediment management, and others. Jeff has worked for ERDC since 1986. From 1996 to 2007, he was at the Mobile District, as Chief, Spatial Data Branch, Operations and Director, Joint Airborne Lidar Bathymetry Technical Center of Expertise, a partnership between Navy, NOAA, USGS, and Corps. From 1984 to 1986, he worked at the Jacksonville District, Planning, Coastal Branch. Mr. Lillycrop holds a masters of science in coastal and oceanographic engineering from the University of Florida.
Linda Lillycrop is a Coastal Engineer with the USACE Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory, Engineer Research and Development Center. As Program Manager, National Regional Sediment Management Program, she works with USACE Programs, Districts, stakeholders, and partners to improve the management and use of sediments across coastal, inland, and estuarine projects and systems in order to increase economic, environmental, and social benefits. Linda received a BS, Aerospace Engineering, University of Florida, and an ME, Ocean Engineering, Texas A&M University.
Lawrence Malizzi has 28 years of experience. He provides consulting services in coastal restoration, spill response, and NRDA. Recently, Mr. Malizzi managed the OBG staff on responses to Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Mr. Malizzi served as the Program Manager MC252 Deepwater Horizon Response from 2010-2014. He has extensive experience providing environmental consulting services to the maritime, insurance, industrial, oil and gas, financial, and public sectors. He is the Board Secretary for the Spill Control Association of America and on the Board of the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary. Mr. Malizzi is a member of ASBPA, CERF, and AERS.
Tara Marden is a Senior Coastal Geologist at the Woods Hole Group and has more than 25 years of professional experience in the areas of coastal geology and coastal process evaluation. She earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Geology from Northeastern University in Boston and Master’s Degree from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. Her focus at Woods Hole Group is managing and implementing regional dredging and beach nourishment programs for local municipalities and private homeowners but also specializes in projects related to tidal inlet and sediment transport processes, coastal structures and bio-engineered projects.
Renee Orr has served for over 27 years in various roles within BOEM, BOEMRE and MMS, and has been a senior executive on the leadership team since the inception of BOEM in 2011. In her current position as the Chief of the Office of Strategic Resources, she oversees development and implementation of the nation’s Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Natural Gas Leasing Program, assessment and inventory of oil, gas, and other mineral resources, maintenance of official maps and geographic data, economic evaluations to ensure the receipt of fair market value for OCS resources, among other activities.
Mark Osler serves as an Associate Vice President for Michael Baker International where he leads the firm’s national Coastal Science and Engineering practice. His 15 years of professional experience have centered around the computer modeling of coastal hydrodynamics with a focus on the impacts of climate change, coastal flood hazard analysis and probabilistic risk assessment. He has worked with clients throughout the Atlantic, Gulf, Pacific and Great Lakes coasts, as well as in Alaska and Antarctica. Osler holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Lehigh University and a Master’s degree from the University of Delaware’s Center for Applied Coastal Research.
Christopher Penney, National Hurricane Program Manager, FEMA Headquarters- Response Directorate, received his Bachelor’s Degree in Geosciences from the University of Massachusetts in 2001. Christopher has since worked in the private sector, State, and Federal Government, and has 17 years of experience working with and for Federal, State, and Local Government Emergency Managers and Planners. For the past six years Christopher has been engaged in the management of the National Hurricane Program partnership, working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He has had responsibility for oversight of the technical assistance provided to emergency managers for hurricane evacuation planning and decision making.
Joan Pope retired from US Army Engineer Headquarters in 2012 after a career with the Corps involving a variety of practicing coastal geology and engineering, research, and management positions. At the time of her retirement she oversaw the Corps water resource research and development Program. During her career she directed several major projects including the development of the Coastal Engineering Manual, the National Shore Erosion Demonstration Program, and Regional Sediment Management. Since retiring she has been employed as a consultant with the Corps.
Tony Pratt is the Administrator of the Shoreline and Waterway Management Section within the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control where he oversees programs related to beach nourishment, beach construction regulation, coastal hazards mitigation, waterway management, and flood mitigation. He was a member of the National Research Council Committee on Beach Nourishment and Protection, and the Heinz Center Panel on Risk Vulnerability and the True Costs of Coastal Hazards. He currently serves on the Advisory Board to the Department of Homeland Security Coastal Resilience Center of Excellence based at UNC, Chapel Hill.
Peter Ravella is founder and owner Peter A. Ravella Consulting, LLC, a coastal consulting firm that offers a broad range of services to public and private sector clients, primarily in Texas, North Carolina, and Florida. Working with project engineers, planners, surveyors, architects, and state & local government staff, PARC assists local governments and businesses realize and execute their visions for coastal projects and programs. PARC is expert in a range of critical areas, including: Project Funding & Financing, creation of special tax and revenue districts and community engagement.
Kathleen A. Riely is Executive Director of N.C. Beach, Inlet and Waterway Association. She represents the Association’s members on the state and local levels advocating for sound environmental policies and ensuring coastal protection. She currently serves on the Advisory Council to the N.C. Coastal Resources Commission which establishes policies for the NC Coastal Management Program. Kathleen holds a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry and a Juris Doctor from Quinnipiac University and previously worked at a private law firm specializing in environmental law.
Michael Rogers is a policy advisor in the Legislative & Public Policy Group in Alston & Bird’s Washington, D.C. office. He focuses on assisting clients with legislative, public policy, and political compliance matters. Before joining the firm, Michael served as legislative assistant for Representative Frank Pallone, Jr. of New Jersey. While in Representative Pallone’s office, Michael handled a policy portfolio that included energy, environment, natural resources, and science and technology. Michael began his career in the office of Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island as a legislative correspondent.
Julie Dean Rosati, PhD, P.E. is Technical Director for Flood & Coastal Systems Research & Development at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory, Engineer Research and Development Center. In her role as Technical Director, Rosati oversees coastal, estuarine, and riverine research activities in support of the Corps’ Flood & Coastal Risk Management mission area. She has 30 years’ experience in coastal navigation, inlet, barrier island, regional sediment transport, and flood risk research & development, as well as applied coastal studies. She received a B.Sc. from Northwestern University in 1984, and M.Sc. from Mississippi State University in 1988, both in Civil Engineering. She received her Ph.D. in Oceanography from Louisiana State University in 2009.
Lynn Scarlett is the Global Managing Director for Public Policy at The Nature Conservancy. In this role, she influences climate and nature-based solutions policy—in the United States and the 72 countries in which the Conservancy influences conservation. Most recently, she was the Deputy Secretary and Chief Operating Officer of the U.S. Department of the Interior, Lynn also served at Interior as the Acting Secretary of the Interior in 2006.
Peter Seidle, P.E. is a Coastal Engineer for Applied Technology & Management, West Palm Beach, FL, Seidle has worked on numerous coastal projects in the U.S. and Caribbean. He has worked on feasibility studies, project design and permitting, and construction phase services for several projects ranging from beach nourishments to marinas to wetland restorations. His coastal engineering expertise includes shoreline analyses, sediment budget analysis, numerical modeling, wave analyses, etc. He received a MS in Coastal Engineering from University of Florida.
Mindy Simmons is a Senior Policy Advisor and has worked at Headquarters, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers since 2012. She currently manages the Corps’ Ecosystem Restoration program/budget, develops environmental and interdisciplinary policy, guides research and development, and tracks progress on mitigation for construction projects. She works with the Environmental Advisory Board, which provides independent recommendations to the Corps on environmental issues.
She has also supported the Corps’ Navigation program, and managed salmon-related programs in the Pacific Northwest, where she is from. Previously she worked for the NOAA on dam relicensing and Endangered Species Act issues. Her academic background is in Fisheries Science and Civil Engineering.
Gavin Smith, Ph.D., is the Director of the Department of Homeland Security’s Coastal Resilience Center of Excellence, a consortium of universities located across the country, and is a Research Professor in the Department of City and Regional Planning at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Following Hurricane Matthew, he was appointed as a Senior Recovery Advisor to the Governor of North Carolina and the Division of Emergency Management, advising on disaster recovery policy, assisting communities in developing recovery plans, and linking resources of the state university system with unmet recovery needs.
Cathy Tortorici is the Division Chief of the Interagency Cooperation Division in the Office of Protected Resources at NOAA NMFS. In this role Cathy manages and coordinates Biological Opinion and national policy development to support NMFS’s implementation of Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). After starting her career with the EPA, Cathy was hired by NMFS’s Northwest Region as their Columbia River Estuary Coordinator and as the Habitat Conservation Division’s Chief of the Oregon Coast/Lower Columbia River Branch. She then worked for the NMFS’s Southeast Region as the PRD Chief of the Interagency Cooperation Branch before coming to the Office of Protected Resources.
Michael P. Walther, P.E., D.CE. isVice-President of Coastal Tech – G.E.C., Inc, based in “mostly beautiful” Vero Beach Florida. Walther has over 38 years of practical experience in the national arena of beach and inlet management from planning to design, permitting and construction. As a professional engineer, avid surfer, beach user, and volunteer activist, Walther is familiar with coastal resources and policy throughout the nation.
Bradley Watson is Coastal States Organization’s Acting Executive Director. Spanning parts or all of four Congresses, Bradley worked for the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure under the late Chairman James L. Oberstar, as a member of the investigations team for the Senate Armed Services Committee under Senator Carl Levin, and as a senior legislative staffer for Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson. Bradley is a graduate of Gonzaga College High School in Washington, D.C., Tulane University in New Orleans, LA, and the evening program at the Columbus School of Law at the Catholic University of America.
Lee Weishar, Ph.D., PWS, Vice President for External Communications is Senior Scientist with the Woods Hole Group since 1989. He has more than 35 years’ experience in the fields of oceanography, coastal engineering, sediment transport, ecological restoration, environmental impact assessment, and project/program management. Prior to joining the Woods Hole Group, he was employed by the USACE Waterways Experiment Station (now ERDC). Weishar specializes in coastal engineering and wetland/marsh restoration and the integration of biological, ecological, and hydraulic data into wetland restoration designs to ensure that the design will meet the restoration objectives.
Spencer Wetmore is the City Administrator for the City of Folly Beach, South Carolina. She oversees the City’s beach nourishment and groin projects in coordination with the US Army Corps. Prior to joining the City of Folly Beach, she was a practicing attorney in Charleston.
Ken Willson, is a client program manager for APTIM (formerly CPE). Since 2003, he has assisted coastal clients in Massachusetts, Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana on coastal restoration and inlet management projects. His broad knowledge base of coastal geology, engineering, environmental science, policy, and finance has allowed him to assist numerous clients with designing, permitting, and constructing a wide array of beach and inlet management projects. He earned a BS and MS in Geology from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, and a Coastal Engineering Certification from Old Dominion University
Bartholomew Wilson, P.G., Ph. D. was the Project Manager for the Prime Hook Ecosystem Restoration Project, and works for the Coastal Delaware Complex as a geologist. He has a Doctorate in Coastal Geology from the University of Delaware, and has been a professional geologist for over 10 years. He focuses on assisting with coastal restoration project design, implementation, and monitoring throughout the region, with a specific focus on evaluating the performance of restoration techniques.