Strengthening Our Cities:
Mayors Responding to Global Climate Change
September 16-18, 2006

SPEAKER LIST

Shannon Atkinson, Ph.D.
Shannon Atkinson is the Science Director of the Alaska SeaLife Center (ASLC), and Professor of Marine Science, University of Alaska Fairbanks.  She oversees all ASLC research programs and is the principal investigator on the Steller sea lion, harbor seal, and Spectacled and Steller’s Eider grants.  She has a Ph.D. in Veterinary Sciences from Murdoch University in Western Australia and a M.Sc. from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.  Her research specialty is in the field of understanding how and why animal fail to adapt to changes in their environment. These responses can manifest themselves in overall health of animals or specifically in their reproductive biology. 

F. Stuart (Terry) Chapin, III, Ph..D.
Terry Chapin is Professor of Ecology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. His major research focus is on the effects of climate change on ecosystems and society, especially the effects of warming on wildfires and their effects on rural communities. Most of his research is centered in Alaska and eastern Siberia.  Dr. Chapin received his B.A. in Biology from Swarthmore College and his Ph.D. in Biological Sciences, Stanford University.  In 2004, he was made a member  of the National Academy of Sciences.

Charles A. Christopher
Charles A. Christopher is CO2 Program Manager - Americas in the Upstream Technology Group of BP in Houston, Texas.  He has over 30 years industry experience in all phases of improved oil recovery and is an internationally recognized expert in the area.  He is co-leader of the Sequestration, Monitoring, and Verification team of the CO2 Capture Project and has initiated international networks in association with the IEA Greenhouse Gas Program on the subjects of monitoring and verification of geological sequestration sites and to study the integrity of wellbores in the presence of CO2.  Charles is the BP subsurface liaison for the BP-Ford Carbon Mitigation Initiative at Princeton University that involves carbon science, hydrogen economy, CO2 capture, and subsurface storage.  Charles helped coordinate three regional sequestration centers funded by the US DOE.  In addition, he is responsible for identifying options for geological storage for BP’s largest US CO2 sources and new business being formed in the U.S.

Patricia Cochran
Patricia Cochran is an Inupiat Eskimo born and raised in Nome, Alaska. Ms. Cochran was recently elected as chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference which represents over 150,000 Inuit people across the Arctic. Ms. Cochran also serves as Executive Director of the Alaska Native Science Commission (ANSC), a public, not-for-profit corporation. ANSC provides a linkage for creating partnerships and communication between science and research and Alaska Native communities.  Ms. Cochran currently serves as Treasurer and Past Chair of the American Indian/Alaska Native/Native Hawaiian Caucus of the American Public Health Association and has served in many capacities bridging the gap between the Alaska indigenous community and western science.

Lawrence Flowers
Mr. Flowers is a team leader at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s (NREL) National Wind Technology Center in Golden, CO, with principle responsibilities for Wind Powering America and Village Power.  He has been at NREL for 25 years, having had responsibilities in solar thermal, buildings, utility, industrial, international and currently wind applications.  He has spent the last 15 years in wind technology with an emphasis on village and utility systems.  He is currently the National Technical Director of DOE’s Wind Powering America initiative.  He has degrees in Engineering (Lehigh University) and Business Administration (University of Denver).

Margit Caroline Hentschel
Margit Hentschel is the Regional Director, Western States Regional Capacity Center, “ICLEI—Local Governments for Sustainability”, Fort Collins, Colorado – Currently working with local communities to develop sustainability action plans and climate adaptation strategies. She holds a Masters of Science from Colorado State University in natural resources management with a thesis focus on Tribal environmental programs. Before that she worked as Environmental Manager at the City of Fort Collins, and managed the $10 million Poudre River Superfund cleanup and Brownfields Redevelopment project with EPA Region 8.

Brendan P. Kelly, Ph.D.
Dr. Brendan P. Kelly is Vice Provost for Research and Dean of Arts and Sciences at the University of Alaska Southeast. He has degrees in Biology from the University of California Santa Cruz (B.A.), the University of Alaska Fairbanks (M.S.), and Purdue University (Ph.D.). Dr. Kelly has been studying polar marine mammals for the past 30 years. He spends spring months camped on the Arctic sea ice studying the ecology of ice-associated marine mammals. He serves on local, state, national, and international scientific panels and chairs the City and Borough of Juneau’s Scientific Panel on Climate Change.

Senator Lisa Murkowski
Senator Lisa Murkowski is only the sixth United States Senator from Alaska. Since joining the Senate in 2002, Senator Murkowski has already made many strides on issues facing Alaskans. As she advocates for legislation on the Senate floor, her passion for improving the state of health care, education, energy, Veteran’s affairs, and infrastructure development in Alaska is unquestionable.  A member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Senator Murkowski chairs its subcommittee on Water and Power, as well as serves on the subcommittees for Energy, National Parks, and Public Lands and Forests.  She earned a BA in economics from Georgetown University and a law degree from Willamette University. Murkowski was elected to three terms in the Alaska State House of Representatives and was named House Majority Leader during the 2003-2004 term. While serving in the State House, Murkowski sat on the Alaska Commission on Post Secondary Education and chaired both the Labor and Commerce and the Military and Veterans Affairs Committees.

Patrick Notar
Mr. Notar has been working in the energy business for over 10 years and has specifically worked in performance contracting for six of those years, focusing on working with Schools, Hospitals, and State & Local Governments to reduce their energy usage.  He is currently the Senior Sales Executive, with Siemens Building Technologies, for Performance Contracting in the State of Alaska. Notar also has worked with utilities and end users on developing alternative energy projects such as wind, hydro, and bio-diesel and have implemented many cogeneration projects on the east coast where emission standards have been begun to get strictly regulated. He is on the board of directors with the Renewable Energy Alaska Project and an active member with the Alaska Resource Development Council, American Association of School Board Officials and Alaska Chamber of Commerce.

CJ Rea
CJ Rea received her Masters degree in Biology from Western Washington University in 1991. She came north that year to work for the University of Alaska studying algal regrowth in Prince William Sound after the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill. This was followed by 4 seasons of work on 23 boats in 5 fisheries for the National Marine Fisheries Service examining the catch of commercial fisherman in the Gulf of Alaska.  In 1995 she moved to calmer waters and began working on tour boats for Kenai Fjords National Park.  Enthralled with the beauty of her surroundings CJ wrote two natural history books for children; There Have Always been Puffins -1997 and A Whale’s Tale from the Supper Sea -1999.  In 2005 she became the Education Specialist for Kenai Fjords National Park. Through out her 12 years with the park service CJ has followed the issue of climate change in Alaska, providing fellow rangers with the tools they need to discuss this important, topic. In late summer 2005 she was one of 2 rangers chosen to accompany the visiting Senators McCain, Clinton, Collins and Graham.

Sue Rodman
Ms. Rodman is a forester with the Anchorage Fire Department. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Forestry from the University of Minnesota. She also has a Master’s degree in Forestry from the University of Idaho. She has worked in the timber industry in Idaho, Montana and Washington for Weyerhaeuser Corporation and Stimson Lumber Company. In 1999, she conducted Forest Inventory and Analysis plots for the US Forest Service on the Kenai Peninsula to evaluate the progress of the spruce bark beetle infestation there. She became the first Executive Director of the Anchorage Soil & Water Conservation District in 2000. They partnered with local, state and federal agencies to obtain seed money to implement the Anchorage Wildfire Program. She was then hired by the Anchorage Fire Department to run the operational side of mitigating wildfire in the Municipality of Anchorage. Sue is a member of the Society of American Foresters and serves as vice-chair of the national fire working group.

Auden Schendler
Auden Schendler is Director of Environmental Affairs at Aspen Skiing Company (ASC), which has won over thirty awards for its environmental work. ASC offsets 100% of its electricity use with wind power credits, and pioneered such programs as the U.S. Green Building Council LEED system, onsite renewables, use of biodiesel in snowcats, sustainability reporting, and ISO 14001 certification. A LEED-certified professional, Auden was previously research associate in corporate sustainability at Rocky Mountain Institute. His writing on sustainable business and other topics has been published widely in journals ranging from Harvard Business Review to the L.A. Times. Auden speaks internationally on sustainable business issues, and has been profiled in Outside magazine, interviewed on Nightline and the Jim Lehrer News Hour, and was named a global warming innovator in TIME magazine’s 2006 climate change special issue. www.aspensnowmass.com/environment

Sean Skaling
Sean Skaling is the 7-year executive director of Green Star, a non-profit organization that provides a wide variety of pollution prevention, energy efficiency and recycling technical assistance to the Anchorage-area business community.  At the core of Green Star's programs are a Green Star and an Air Quality Awards program, whereby businesses earn awards for achieving Green Star's environmental excellence standards.  Green Star receives strong community support with about 300 businesses enrolled in the awards program, over 700 active volunteers supporting Green Star events, and dozens of sponsors and granting agencies.  Green Star started in Anchorage and has several independent chapters in Alaska and in the lower 49 states.  Skaling holds a BA degree from Colby College and a MA degree from the University of Colorado.  He has been named one of Alaska’s “Top 40 Under 40,” recognizing business leaders under 40 years old. 

Fran Ulmer
Fran Ulmer is the director of the University of Alaska, Anchorage Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER).  She was the first woman elected as Lieutenant Governor of the state of Alaska and served in that role from 1994 to 2002.  Ulmer worked with Jay Hammond, the Republican governor from 1975 through 1981. She served as mayor of Juneau from 1983 to 1985 and in the Alaska House of Representatives from 1987 to 1994 as a Democrat.  Most recently, Ulmer was a fellow at the Institute of Politics at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government and a Distinguished Visiting Professor of Public Policy at ISER where she taught a class on climate change.  Ulmer has a bachelor’s degree in economics and political science and a law degree both from the University of Wisconsin.

Megan Wagonner
Megan Wagonner is a sophomore at Mt. Edgecumbe High School where she is the co-chair of the school’s chapter of Alaska Youth for Environmental Action (AYEA).  Last year Megan was a leader in AYEA’s Global Warming Awareness campaign, in which AYEA students collected 5000 Alaska youth signatures on a letter to Congress to stop global warming.  She coordinated the students at Mt. Edgecumbe to get signatures and spoke at a couple of conferences about the campaign.  Presently, Megan se is working with AYEA at her school to ban styrofoam from the cafeteria and implement a recycling program.  Megan is interested in history, political science, drama and debate and plans to go to college to study political science and environmental studies.

Jeffrey Welker
Dr. Welker is the director of the Environment and Natural Resources Institute and Professor of Biology in the Biology Department at the University of Alaska, Anchorage.  He is currently the Principal Investigator on a National Science Foundation funded project studying the effects of climate change on high Arctic landscapes in northwest Greenland and in low Arctic tundra in northern Alaska. He has published over 30 articles addressing how changes in climate will effects on tundra and temperate ecosystems. Dr. Welker serves on NSF review panels and is the leader of the US Network for water isotopes in precipitation.

Dan White
Dan White is the Project Manager for the Alaska Center on Climate and Policy, which is part of the NOAA Regional Integrated Science Assessment Program. White is also Director of the Institute of Northern Engineering (INE) and the College of Engineering and Mines Associate Dean for Research and Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering. White joined the University in 1995. His interest in the traditional field of sanitary engineering lead him to conduct research in how climate change affects drinking water, water resources, and related infrastructure. Pursuing the need to better understand how climate change affects freshwater in the Arctic, Dr. White spends considerable time in rural villages and remote arctic locations. Dr. White's work has led to a better understanding of improved water resources for rural communities as well as the potential impacts of climate change on freshwater sources and infrastructure. In 2005, Dr. White accepted an appointment as Interim Director of INE. After a national search, he was hired as director of INE in July, 2006. Dr. White is a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Alaska.

Deborah L. Williams
Ms. Williams has been actively involved in conservation and sustainable community issues in Alaska for over 25 years. She received her B.A. from Pomona College and subsequently she graduated from Harvard Law School and was the principal founder of and co-editor-in-chief of the Harvard Environmental Law Review.  Ms. Williams was the Executive Director of the Alaska Consumer Advocacy Program, the Alaska Lung Association and the Alaska Conservation Foundation.  In addition, Ms. Williams has served on many boards and commissions, including Trustees for Alaska and the Municipal Health Commission.  During the Clinton Administration, In 1994, Ms. Williams became the Special Assistant to the Secretary of Interior for Alaska, in which position she advised the Secretary about managing over 220 million acres of national lands in Alaska and working with Alaska tribes and others associated with the Department’s broad natural and cultural resource jurisdiction.

Michelle Wyman
Michelle Wyman currently serves as Executive Director for the US Office of ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability. Prior to this position, she was the director of the Natural Resources Department for the City of Fort Collins (population 123,000), Colorado.  Ms. Wyman previously worked in Washington, DC, for the law firm of Reed Smith LLP establishing a practice for public sector clients on sustainable development and environmental resource management. Her areas of expertise include sustainable development, environmental management systems, and public management both domestically and internationally. Ms. Wyman has been a consultant to the United Nations Development Program, the United Nations Environmental Programme, the United States Agency for International Development, and the International City/County Manager’s Association. Ms. Wyman holds a master’s degree in public administration from New York University and an international diploma in urban ecology and sustainable development from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.