Appendix A
Committee Member and Staff Biographical Sketches
William A. Hopkins, Chair, is a professor in the Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation at Virginia Tech. He is also the Associate Executive Director of the Fralin Life Sciences Institute, the founding Director of the Global Change Center at Virginia Tech, and the founding Director of one of the graduate school’s largest interdisciplinary Ph.D. programs. Prior to joining the faculty at Virginia Tech, Hopkins was faculty at the University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory. Hopkins’s research focuses on how anthropogenic disturbances such as climate change, pollution, and habitat loss affect wildlife. He has considerable experience evaluating how activities such as fossil fuel extraction, combustion, and accidental spills affect the environment. He regularly provides guidance to state and federal agencies, industry, and other stakeholders on issues related to environmental degradation and threats to biodiversity. He is an award-winning educator, researcher, and leader, including the highest awards offered to faculty at both Virginia Tech and in the Commonwealth of Virginia. He received a B.S. in biology from Mercer University, an M.S. in zoology from Auburn University, and a Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina. He has previously served on four National Academies committees, one of which he chaired, addressing issues related to freshwater resources, mining, management of wastes from fossil fuel combustion, and research data quality in federal agencies.
Kwame Awuah-Offei is currently the Union Pacific/Rocky Mountain Energy Professor in Mining Engineering and the Chair of the Department of Mining & Explosives Engineering at Missouri University of Science and Technology. He has served as a mining engineering academic fellow for the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission and an alternate member of the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Royalty Policy Committee. His research revolves around improving our understanding of the effects of mining on the environment and society in order to develop sustainable mining practices. He is a Fellow of the West African Institute of Mining, Metallurgy, and Petroleum; a two-time Henry Krumb Lecturer of the Society of Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration; and a past Carnegie African Diaspora Fellow. He holds a Ph.D. and a B.S. in mining engineering from the Missouri University of Science & Technology and the University of Mines & Technology, respectively. In the past 5 years, Awuah-Offei has consulted for Rio Tinto and received research funding from Komatsu Mining Corp.
Joel D. Blum (NAS) is the John D. MacArthur, Arthur F. Thurnau and Gerald J. Keeler Distinguished Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Michigan. His research expertise is in the sources, transport, and fate of toxic trace metals in the environment. He has experience in gold deposit exploration and the environmental consequences of gold and mercury mining and smelting of other metals. He was the recipient
of the Patterson Medal given by the Geochemical Society for excellence in environmental geochemistry. He is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America, the American Geophysical Union, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Geochemical Society, and is a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Blum has a B.A. in political science and geological science from Case Western Reserve University, an M.Sc. in geological science from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and a Ph.D. in geochemistry from the California Institute of Technology.
Robert J. Bodnar is the C.C. Garvin Professor and University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Geosciences at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia. Bodnar’s research focuses on the role of geofluids in various geologic processes, including the formation of mineral deposits and extraction of energy and mineral resources. Bodnar’s group has worked on gold, silver, copper, and other metal deposit types in various geological environments around the world, and recently led a multidisciplinary and multiyear study examining uranium deposits and environmental impacts of mining in Virginia’s Piedmont region. Bodnar has been awarded the Society of Economic Geologists Lindgren Award and Silver Medal, the American Geophysical Union’s N.L. Bowen Award, and the Thomas Jefferson Medal from the Virginia Museum of Natural History, and he was named Virginia’s Outstanding Scientist in 2010. Bodnar has been an elected Fellow of the Geological Society of America, the Geochemical Society, the Society of Economic Geologists, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Mineralogical Society of America, the American Geophysical Union, the Geological Society of London, and was elected an honorary member of the Geological Society of India and the Italian Mineralogical Association. Bodnar earned a B.S. in chemistry from the University of Pittsburgh, an M.S. in geology from the University of Arizona, and a Ph.D. in geochemistry and mineralogy from The Pennsylvania State University.
Thomas Crafford recently retired from the U.S. Geological Survey, where he served as the Mineral Resources Program Coordinator. He previously worked for the State of Alaska as the Associate Director of State–Federal Relations in the Governor’s Office and as the Director of the Office of Project Management and Permitting, the Mining Coordinator, and the Chief of the Mining Section in the Alaska Department of Natural Resources. Prior to his employment with the State of Alaska he worked as an independent minerals industry consultant; the Manager of Minerals and Coal for Cook Inlet Region, Inc. (CIRI), an Alaska Native corporation; as a mine geologist at the Greens Creek Mine; and an exploration geologist for multiple employers. He previously served as a Trustee of the Northwest Mining Association and the President of the Alaska Mining Association and remains a member of those associations. He is also a member of the Geological Society of America and the Society of Exploration Geologists. Crafford holds an M.S. in geology from Dartmouth College and a B.S. in geology from the University of Washington.
Fiona M. Doyle (NAE) is the Donald H. McLaughlin Professor Emerita in Mineral Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley). Previously, she has served as the Chair of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and as the Executive Associate Dean of the College of Engineering at Berkeley. Doyle’s research expertise includes the application of chemical thermodynamics, chemical and electrochemical kinetics, transport phenomena, and colloid and interfacial science to develop a fundamental mechanistic understanding of minerals and materials processing operations and materials–solution interactions, with a goal of developing a foundation for ensuring sustainability and economic competitiveness in the supply of resources and energy. She was the program leader of the Singapore Berkeley Research Initiative on Sustainable Energy from 2013 to 2015. Doyle served as the Vice Provost for Graduate Studies and the Dean of the Graduate Division at UC Berkeley from 2015 to 2019. Her honors include the Milton E. Wadsworth Award of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration; election as a Fellow of the Minerals, Metals, and Materials Society; and membership of the National Academy of Engineering. Doyle received her B.A. from the University of Cambridge and her M.Sc. and Ph.D. in hydrometallurgy from Imperial College, London.
Jami Dwyer is a licensed professional engineer with nearly 30 years of experience in the mining industry specializing in rock mechanics, blasting, operational efficiency, health and safety, maintenance strategies, mine design, and mine planning. She recently retired from Barr Engineering where she was responsible for business development
for its Engineering and Design Business Unit. Previous to that, Dwyer worked for Barrick Gold Corporation for nearly 11 years where she served in a variety of roles including management of the engineering, maintenance, and mine operations departments. While at Barrick, she received a Corporate Environmental Excellence Award and a Corporate Social Responsibility Award. Dwyer spent 15 years employed by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Office of Mine Safety and Health Research (formerly U.S. Bureau of Mines) in Spokane, Washington, where she led and developed several rock mechanics research projects related to innovative geotechnical monitoring technologies, blast damage assessments, and evaluation of ground support. She was also instrumental in developing early versions of software to locate and analyze mine seismicity and rock bursts in deep underground hard rock mine. Dwyer has served on the board of directors for the American Rock Mechanics Association, a past Chair of the Society of Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration’s Mining & Exploration Division’s Executive Committee, and a member of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Standing Committee on Geological and Geotechnical Engineering (COGGE). She holds a B.S. in applied computer science and a B.S. in mining engineering from Montana Technological University and an M.S. in mining engineering from the University of Missouri–Rolla. Dwyer was employed by Barrick Gold Corporation from 2007 to 2017 and Barr Engineering Company from 2018 to 2021.
Elizabeth Holley is an associate professor of mineral exploration and mining geology in the Department of Mining Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines, where she studies the processes responsible for ore deposit genesis, as well as the geologic characteristics that determine how ore bodies are developed, mined, and reclaimed. Her interdisciplinary work examines the intersections between technical and social risks in mining. She is a Fellow of the Payne Institute for Public Policy at the Colorado School of Mines, as well as the Site Director for a mining and mineral exploration-focused National Science Foundation (NSF) Industry–University Collaborative Research Center. Holley is an NSF Career Awardee, as well as the lead investigator for an NSF Growing Convergence Research project on responsible approaches to critical mineral supply. Her Mining Geology Research Group has been supported by NSF, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the U.S. Geological Survey, the Gates Environmental Fund, as well as major and mid-tier mining companies. Holley has worked in the industry on five continents, and she contributed to the discovery of the White Gold deposit in the Yukon. She is also a fellow of the Society of Economic Geologists (SEG) and has organized more than 175 professional development short courses as the SEG Education and Training Program coordinator. Holley holds a B.A. in geology from Pomona College, California; an M.Sc. in geochemistry from the University of Otago, New Zealand; and a Ph.D. in geology from the Colorado School Mines.
Paul A. Locke is an associate professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering. In addition to his teaching and research, he co-directs the Bloomberg School’s Dr.P.H. concentration in environmental health sciences and a certificate program in humane sciences and toxicology policy. Locke is an experienced environmental health professional with expertise in environmental health risk assessment, radiation risk communication, environmental law, and occupational health and toxicology policy. He is a National Associate of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s National Research Council and has chaired two National Academies committees—the Committee on Uranium Mining in Virginia and the Committee to Study the Potential Health Effects of Surface Coal Mining in Central Appalachia—and served as a committee member on at least seven other National Academies committees. Locke is admitted to practice law in the District of Columbia, the State of New York, and before the U.S. Supreme Court. Locke holds an M.P.H. and a Dr.P.H. from Yale University and Johns Hopkins, respectively, and a J.D. from Vanderbilt University.
Scott M. Olson is a professor and Faculty Excellence Scholar in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at the University of Illinois. Prior to joining Illinois, Olson worked in practice for more than 7 years for Woodward-Clyde Consultants and URS Corporation. For more than 25 years, Olson has been involved in dozens of research and consulting projects involving static and seismic liquefaction; geotechnical earthquake engineering; tailings dam engineering; in situ, laboratory, and centrifuge testing; soil–foundation–structure interaction; and paleoliquefaction and geohazards analysis. From these activities, Olson has published more than 150 journal papers,
book chapters, conference articles, and reports, and has received numerous awards, including the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Walter L. Huber Civil Engineering Research Prize, the ASCE Arthur Casagrande Award, and the Canadian Geotechnical Society R.M. Quigley Award. Olson serves in various capacities for the Geo-Institute, the U.S. Universities Council on Geotechnical Education and Research, Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, and the Transportation Research Board. Recently, Olson became a Founding/Steering Committee member of the U.S.-based Tailings and Industrial Waste Engineering Center. Olson holds a B.S., an M.S., and a Ph.D. in civil and environmental engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In the past 5 years, Olson has consulted with Vale S.A., PolyMet Mining, and AECOM.
Brian S. Schwartz is a physician, environmental health scientist, and environmental and occupational epidemiologist. He joined the faculty at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in 1990 and has spent his entire career on the faculty there, where he is currently a professor of environmental health and engineering, epidemiology, and medicine within the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He has done extensive epidemiologic research on the human health effects of metals exposures in occupational and environmental settings. He has also published recent studies on the human health effects of unconventional natural gas development, industrial farm animal production, and abandoned coal mine lands in Pennsylvania. He received an M.D. from the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University and an M.S. in clinical epidemiology from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He completed an internal medicine residency and general internal medicine fellowship at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, and a fellowship in occupational and environmental medicine at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He is board certified in internal medicine and occupational and environmental medicine.
M. Garrett Smith is currently the Geochemist with the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), Hard Rock Mining Section. Having previously served as an assistant research professor with the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology, his areas of interest include geochemical and hydrogeologic characterization of active and abandoned mines, stable isotope dynamics in riparian environments, tailings facility design and management, digital mapping and modeling, and the characterization and development of geothermal systems. This technical background supports the permitting and regulatory duties of his current role at DEQ, which include implementing state regulations to analyze operation plans, reclamation plans, and bonding for hard rock mines and mills; producing interdisciplinary environmental impact review documents; engaging with mine operators through site inspections and evaluating compliance with state and federal regulations; and conducting meetings with the public and other stakeholders. Smith’s education and training include an M.S. in geoscience-geochemistry and a B.S. in chemistry from Montana Tech of the University of Montana, the U.S. Department of the Interior and Office of Surface Mining: Acid-Forming Materials Technical Training, Montana Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) Training, 40-Hour OSHA-HAZWOPER Certification, 20-Hour MSHA Certification, and repair and performance training for field and laboratory analytical instruments.
Shiliang Wu is a professor at Michigan Technological University with a joint appointment in the Department of Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences and the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geospatial Engineering. His primary research areas include the interactions between anthropogenic emissions, land use/land cover, climate and atmospheric chemistry; the impacts of extreme events (such as heat waves, temperature inversion, etc.) on atmospheric chemistry and air quality; and the transport and cycling of emerging pollutants (such as arsenic, mercury, and selenium) in the global environment. He has published extensively in these areas. Wu holds a Ph.D. in atmospheric chemistry from Harvard University.
STAFF
Stephanie Johnson is a Senior Program Officer with the Water Science and Technology Board. Since joining the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in 2002, she has worked on a wide range of water-related studies, on topics such as desalination, wastewater reuse, contaminant source remediation, coal and uranium
mining, coastal risk reduction, and ecosystem restoration. Johnson received her B.A. from Vanderbilt University in chemistry and geology and her M.S. and Ph.D. in environmental sciences from the University of Virginia.
Margo Regier is a Program Officer with the Board on Earth Sciences and Resources and the Water Science and Technology Board at the National Academies. Regier received her B.S. from Beloit College, M.S. from Arizona State University, and Ph.D. in geology from the University of Alberta.
Miles Lansing is a Program Assistant with the Board on Earth Sciences and Resources and the Water Science and Technology Board at the National Academies. Lansing received his B.A. in political science from the University of Pittsburgh.
Clara Phipps was a Senior Program Assistant with the Board on Earth Sciences and Resources and the Water Science and Technology Board at the National Academies. Phipps is a graduate from the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington, with a B.S. in geology.
Chioma Onwumelu is a Ph.D. candidate in geology at the University of North Dakota and was a Fellow of the Christine Mirzayan Science & Technology Policy Graduate Fellowship Program.
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