National Sea Grant Advisory Board - Biographies
Frank Beal is the Executive Director of Metropolis Strategies. He previously served as president of Ryerson International Inc., an operating unit of the former Inland Steel Industries. He worked in many other capacities at Inland Steel for two decades, including president and CEO of Ryerson/West. Prior to joining Inland Steel, he served as director of the Illinois Department of Energy and Natural Resources under Governor James Thompson, and, as the state's first deputy director of the Institute for Environmental Quality under Governor Richard Ogilvie.
Patricia Birkholz
Saugatuck, MI
Senator Patty Birkholz is director of the Michigan Office of the Great Lakes. Previously, she served as a member of the Michigan State Senate from 2002 to 2010. In the Senate, she represented the 24th District comprising of Allegan, Barry and Eaton Counties. Prior to her terms in the Senate, she represented the 88th District in the Michigan House of Representatives from 1996 to 2002. She was the Allegan County Treasurer from 1992 to 1996. Birkholz began her career in politics as a trustee for Saugatuck Township
Jeremy Harris
Honolulu, Hawaii
Mayor Harris began his career as a marine biologist serving as a Sea
Grant Extension Agent at the University of Hawaii. His graduate training
is as an environmental scientist specializing in urban ecosystems. Mayor
Harris served as Managing Director of the City of Honolulu for 9 years
before being elected Mayor for three terms from 1994 to 2005. During this
time he worked to develop Honolulu, the 12th largest cities in the country,
into a model of sustainability. While chief executive, the City &
County of Honolulu received the gold award as the most livable large city
in the world and was recognized as one of the best managed cities in the
U.S.. Mayor Harris has received numerous awards, including: “Outstanding
Achievement Award for Sustainability” from the U. S. Conference
of Mayors, and the “Keystone Award” from the American Architectural
Foundation. Harris has served as visiting senior faculty at the Royal
Institute of Technology in Stockholm, as a member of the Sustainability
Roundtable for the National Academy of Sciences and as Distinguished Irving
Professor in the School of Architecture and Planning at Ball State University.
He consults for governments and NGOs around the world on issues related
to sustainable urban development, and he is currently on the Adaptation
to Climate Change Panel of the National Academy of Science. Jeremy is
a former member of the National Board of the AIA, and he is recognized
as one of the leading urban strategists and foremost authorities on sustainable
planning and growth. He is the author of the book, “The Renaissance
of Honolulu: The Sustainable Rebirth of an American City”.
Dr. Michel Orbach is a Professor of the Practice of Marine Affairs and
Policy in the Division of Marine Science Conservation at the Nicholas
School of the Environment at Duke University. He has performed research
and has been involved in coastal and marine policy on all coasts of the
U.S. and in Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, Alaska and the Pacific,
and has published widely on social science and policy in coastal and marine
environments. He has worked as a Cultural Anthropologist with the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and has held several Governor's
appointments to environmental Boards and Commissions as well as appointments
to National Academy of Sciences Boards and Committees. He has been the
President of The Coastal Society, and Chairman of the Board of Directors
of the Surfrider Foundation.
Nancy Rabalais (Vice Chair)
Chauvin, Louisiana
Dr. Nancy Rabalais is a Professor at the Louisiana Universities Marine
Consortium. Dr. Rabalais' research interests include the dynamics of hypoxic
environments, interactions of large rivers with the coastal ocean, estuarine
and coastal eutrophication, benthic ecology, and environmental effects
of habitat alterations and contaminants. Dr. Rabalais is an AAAS Fellow,
an Aldo Leopold Leadership Program Fellow, a Past President of the Estuarine
Research Federation, a National Associate of the National Academies of
Science, a member of the Scientific Steering Committee of LOICZ/IGBP,
and currently is Chair of the Ocean Studies Board of the National Research
Council, National Academy of Science. She received the 2002 Bostwick H.
Ketchum Award for coastal research from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
and was the Ian Morris Scholar in Residence at the University of Maryland
Center for Environmental Studies in 2004. Her work on the causes and consequences
of Gulf hypoxa 3 have garnered several citations—the Blasker award
shared with R.E. Turner, and a NOAA Environmental Hero, Clean Water Act
Hero, and Gulf Guardian award. She earned a Ph.D. in Zoology from the
University of Texas at Austin in 1983, and her B.S and M.S. in Biology
from Texas A&I University, Kingsville.
Rollie Schmitten
Leavenworth, Washington
Rolland A. (Rollie) Schmitten has been a natural resources manager for
the past 38 years; focusing on marine fish and mammals for the last 25
years. He has served as the Washington State Director of Fisheries. The
federal (National Marine Fisheries Service) West Coast Regional Director
of 6 states; the National Director of Marine Fisheries; the US Department
of Commerce Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Affairs (NOAA),
and the National Director of Marine Habitat Conservation. During his career
he served 4 presidents with Presidential appointments as the: US Tuna
Commissioner, US Atlantic Salmon Commissioner, and served 10 years as
the US International Whaling Commissioner. Among his many awards and recognitions
include: Presidential Merit Award, Trout Unlimited Washington Sportsman
of the Year, Presidential award for outstanding achievement of a Vietnam
veteran, and the Department of Transportation (USCG) Commandant’s
Award for Meritorious Public Service. In 2005, Mr. Schmitten retired and
moved back to Sockeye Point Lodge in Washington State where he continues
to work on marine and fresh water resource issues.
Harry Simmons
Caswell Beach, North Carolina
Harry Simmons has been Mayor of the Town of Caswell Beach, North Carolina
since 1999 and was recently named “Elected Official of the Year”
by Cape Fear Council of Governments. He currently serves as a Coastal
Cities member of North Carolina’s Coastal Resources Advisory Council,
as chairman of the Brunswick (County) Beaches Consortium, as executive
director of North Carolina Beach, Inlet & Waterway Association, as
President of the American Shore & Beach Preservation Association,
and was recently named treasurer of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway
Association. Previously, Mayor Simmons also served on the Board of Directors
of the NC League of Municipalities and on the National League of Cities’
Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Policy Committee. He is often
called upon to testify before Congress and Federal agencies on a variety
of coastal issues. Prior to his involvement in shaping coastal policy,
Harry Simmons owned a music management firm and was primarily engaged
in guiding the careers of record producers, songwriters and recording
artists at record labels and publishing companies in New York, Los Angeles
and Nashville. He is a member of the National Academy of Recording Arts
& Sciences, which continues to give him a vote for the prestigious
Grammy Awards each year. Mayor Simmons is a graduate of the Kenan-Flagler
Business School at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. .
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Bill Stubblefield
Martinsburg, West Virginia
In 1999 Rear Admiral Stubblefield retired from his position as the Director
of the Office of NOAA Corps Operations. Prior positions include Executive
Director of NOAA’s Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research; Special
Assistant, Office of the Chief Scientist, where he received the Department
of Commerce Silver Medal; Commanding Officer of the NOAA Ship SURVEYOR;
Chief Scientist for NOAA’s Undersea Research Program; Program Monitor
within the Office of Sea Grant; Deputy Director for Marine Geology and
Geophysics Laboratory of the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological
Laboratory (AOML); research oceanographer in coastal processes at AOML;
and 5 years of active service in the U.S. Navy. Rear Admiral Stubblefield
has served as an advisor to the Department of Geology, University of Iowa,
and is/was a member of the Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists,
the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, the American Association
for Advancement of Science, and the Geological Society of Washington.
Rear Admiral Stubblefield is currently a member of the Board of Directors
of Military Officers Association of America; Chairman of the Board of
Directors for the Public Service Commission Water District, Berkeley County,
West Virginia; co-chair for Berkeley County’s Source Water Protection
Study; member of Virginia-West Virginia Regional Water Policy Committee;
Chairman of the Berkeley County Comprehensive Plan, and founder and President
of Berkeley Community Pride (a county beautification non-profit organization).
He is a candidate for the Berkeley County Commission. Rear Admiral Stubblefield
received his Ph.D. from Texas A&M University in geology.
Dick Vortmann
La Jolla, California
Richard H. Vortmann recently retired after a 30 year career with National
Steel and Shipbuilding Company (NASSCO) based in San Diego, California
where he served as President for 22 years. He also retired after six years
as Vice President of General Dynamics (GD). He most recently completed
an assignment as Interim President and CEO of the San Diego Regional Chamber
of Commerce. He is currently Chairman of Scripps Health, a $1.8 billion
San Diego hospital system; Vice Chairman of the National Academies of
Science Marine Board and a ber of Council, American Bureau of Shipping.
Dick West (Past Chair)
Coventry, Rhode Island
Admiral West (U.S. Navy, Reitred) served as President/CEO of the Consortium
for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE) from August 2002 until
December 2007. As President of this DC-based non-profit organization,
he led efforts to promote ocean research and education within the U.S.
federal government on behalf of the academic and private ocean research
community. Admiral West significantly expanded the membership of CORE
and was instrumental in promoting several ocean initiatives and the establishment
of a U.S. integrated ocean observing program. He has testified before
the U.S. Congress on several marine related policy issues and has addressed
the United Nations on 5 Safety of Life at Sea. Admiral West serves on
two marine related U.S. Federal Advisory Committees and continues as a
consultant on national and international maritime issues. Admiral West
served as Oceanographer and Navigator of the Navy where he managed a $400
million program providing oceanographic, meteorological, geospatial and
navigation support to the U.S. Navy from 1999 to 2002. As the first Navigator
of the Navy, he led the Navy’s transition to electronic navigation.
As Oceanographer of the Navy, he was the Department of Defense representative
to the U.S. Ocean Commission. Admiral West was a career Surface Warfare
Officer serving on several ships. Admiral West served in Vietnam with
the riverine forces and commanded three ships, two during hostilities
in the Arabian Gulf.