Appendix B
Committee Biographies
CHAIRMAN
Larry W. Lake (NAE) holds the W.A. Moncrief Centennial Endowed Chair in petroleum and geosystems engineering at the University of Texas, Austin. Dr. Lake is an expert in modeling flow in porous media. He chaired the Department of Petroleum Engineering at the University of Texas, Austin, from 1989 to 1997 and from 2006 to the present. His approximately 200 publications deal with the permeability characteristics of near-surface as well as deep geological formations and include uranium leaching. In addition to his research, he has served as a consultant to major national and international companies and taught specialized short courses throughout the United States and abroad. He served on committees of the National Research Council’s Board on Earth Sciences and Resources and Board on Energy and Environmental Systems. Dr. Lake was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1997. He received a B.S.E. degree from Arizona State University and a Ph.D. degree from Rice University, both in chemical engineering.
VICE CHAIRMAN
Rodney C. Ewing is the Donald R. Peacor Collegiate Professor in the Department of Geological Sciences with joint appointments in the Departments of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences and Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Michigan. Dr. Ewing is an expert in geology and geochemistry, and he has a broad knowledge of radioactive waste issues. Prior to his appointment at Michigan, he was Regents’ Professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the University of New Mexico. Dr. Ewing has served on several National Research Council committees and was a member of the Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board (formerly Board on Radioactive Waste Management) from 2001 through 2006. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Geophysical Union, the Geological Society of America, and the Mineralogical Society of America. Dr. Ewing received M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in geology from Stanford University.
COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Deanna S. Durnford is a professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at Colorado State University. Dr. Durnford is an expert in groundwater contaminant hydrology, mechanics of unsaturated and multiphase flow, and movement of water and contaminants. She has done consulting work for several major corporations and has an extensive list of publications. She is a fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and a member of the American Geophysical Union and the National Groundwater Association. Dr. Durnford received a B.S. degree in mathematics from the University of Wisconsin, Platteville, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in civil engineering from Colorado State University.
Rolf U. Halden is an assistant professor in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Department of Environmental Health Sciences. Dr. Halden is an expert in analyzing pollutants in water, determining their source, and estimating their health risks. In his research, Dr. Halden uses a variety of advanced methods for sampling and analysis of organic and inorganic pollutants, along with mass balance calculations, to track pollutants from their point of release to a given receptor. He served on the Maryland State Water Quality Advisory Committee from 2003 to 2005 and was an invited delegate to the Congress on Emerging Contaminants held in Washington, D.C., in 2005. Dr. Halden received an M.S. degree in biology from the Technical University, Braunschweig, Germany, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in civil engineering from the University of Minnesota.
Inez Hua is an associate professor of civil engineering and the founding interim head of the Division of Environmental and Ecological Engineering at Purdue University. Dr. Hua is
an expert in water treatment, fate and transport of chemical contaminants, inorganic and organic environmental chemistry, and groundwater and soil remediation. Three of her current research projects deal with contaminant detection and remediation. She has held temporary appointments with the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Dr. Hua received a B.A. degree in biochemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in environmental science and engineering from the California Institute of Technology.
Annie B. Kersting is director of the Glenn T. Seaborg Institute at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Dr. Kersting is an expert in isotope geochemistry and environmental chemistry. Her current research focuses on geochemical mechanisms that control actinide transport in the soil and groundwater, with special interest in how nanoparticles facilitate transport of contaminants in both saturated and unsaturated systems. She served as a scientific adviser on the Actinide Migration Committee for Rocky Flats from 2000 to 2003. She received a B.A. degree in geology from the University of California, Berkeley, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Michigan, both in geochemistry.
Anthony J. Knepp is a senior engineer and project manager at YAHSGS LLC, a technology management consulting firm located in Richland, Washington. Before joining YAHSGS in 2004, he had more than 20 years of experience at the Department of Energy’s Hanford site. Mr. Knepp is an expert in regulatory documentation and negotiations for both federal and state environmental statutes and their implementing regulations. He also has extensive experience with hazardous, radioactive, and mixed waste cleanups; site characterization; and groundwater investigations and remediation (with DOE from 1985 to 1989 and subsequently with Hanford site contractors). Mr. Knepp received a B.S. degree in engineering from Johns Hopkins University and an M.S. degree in environmental engineering from Clemson University.
Christopher J. Murray is a staff scientist in the Applied Geology and Geochemistry Group at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory where he leads a group of geostatisticians. Dr. Murray is an expert in applying statistics to problems of assessing subsurface contamination. His work focuses on resolving two questions: “Does a network of monitoring wells provide adequate sampling capability to understand and account for the heterogeneity in the subsurface hydrogeology?” and “Are the well-sampling data statistically valid?” Most of his work has involved the Hanford site; in addition, he has done work applied to mapping contaminated sediments off the coast of Southern California. Dr. Murray has more than 20 peer-reviewed publications and has given numerous lectures on his research. He received his B.A. and M.S. degrees in geology from the University of Montana and a Ph.D. degree in applied earth sciences from Stanford University.
Kenneth A. Rainwater is a professor of civil engineering, with a joint appointment in geosciences, and director of the Water Resources Center at Texas Tech University. Dr. Rainwater is an expert in groundwater sampling and well construction and groundwater modeling and monitoring. He has been an expert witness on environmental contamination, water rights issues, and groundwater well field design and management, and he has peer-reviewed groundwater modeling and risk assessment at the Pantex nuclear weapons site near Amarillo, Texas. He is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Geophysical Union, and the Universities Council on Water Resources. Dr. Rainwater received a B.S. degree in civil engineering from Rice University and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in water resources from the University of Texas, Austin.
Arthur W. Ray has his own consulting firm, Wiley Environmental Strategies, specializing in development of proposed public policy, standards, legislation, and regulations; promotion of innovative technologies; and environmental justice, brownfields, and sustainability. Mr. Ray is an expert in the aforementioned areas. Before starting his own firm in 2003, he was Exelon Generation Corporation’s assistant general counsel for environmental matters. From 1995 to 2001, he was deputy secretary of the Maryland Department of the Environment. He has done pro bono work for community groups and environmental organizations in New Mexico, including the Southwest Organizing Project and the Southwest Network for Economic and Environmental Justice, and has served as a guest lecturer at the University of New Mexico. Mr. Ray received a B.A. degree in psychology from Brown University and a J.D. degree from George Washington University.
John R. Smith is section head of Sustainable Production Technology at Alcoa, Incorporated and an adjunct associate professor in civil and environmental engineering at Carnegie-Mellon University. At Alcoa his responsibilities include early application of cost-effective and innovative solutions to address sustainability issues throughout Alcoa worldwide. Dr. Smith is an expert in remediation of both operating and closed facilities, including environmental fate and transport, application of innovative remedial technologies, and risk-based remedial approaches. Dr. Smith received a B.S. degree in civil engineering and an M.S. degree in civil and environmental engineering from the State University of New York, Buffalo, and a Ph.D. degree in civil and environmental engineering from Carnegie-Mellon University.
