Wednesday, January 19, 2011 Gulf of Mexico Oil Disaster Symposium

Location: Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center

Keynote Address/Interview, Honorable William Reilly, Former administrator, Environmental Protection Agency and Senator Bob Graham, Co-Chairs, National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling, interviewed by Ray Suarez, PBS

Plenary 2: Root Causes of Incidents and Responses
Moderator: Cutler Cleveland, Boston University
Marcia McNutt, Director, US Geological Survey
Charlie Williams, Shell, Chief Scientist Well Engineering and Production Technology
Adm. Thad Allen, (Ret.) Former Coast Guard Commandant, National Incident Commander of the BP Oil Spill, RAND Corporation
Dr. Nancy Leveson, Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Plenary 3: Impacts: Short-term and Long-term

Moderator: Richard Harris, National Public Radio
David Yoskowitz, Harte Research Institute's Chair of Socio-Economics, Texas A&M University
Charles "Pete" Peterson, Alumni Distinguished Professor, Marine Sciences, Biology and Ecology, University of North Carolina
Ed Overton, Professor Emeritus of Environmental Sciences, Louisiana State University's School of the Coast & Environment
John (Wes) Tunnell, Associate Director, Harte Research Institute, Texas A&M Corpus Christi

 Keynote Address - Restoration Plan for the Gulf - Charles "Chip" Groat, University of Texas

 Plenary 4: Restoration
Moderator: John Hankinson, EPA Gulf Coast Restoration Task Force
Jim Tripp, Senior Counsel, Environmental Defense Fund
Steve Murawski, Director of Scientific Programs and Chief Science Advisor, NOAA Fisheries
Jim Ayers, Former Executive Director of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustees Council, Former Chief of Staff for Alaska Gov. Knowles
Cynthia "Cindy" Dohner, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Regional Director

Plenary 5: Visions for the Future
Moderator: Ira Flatow, Host of "Science Friday," National Public Radio
Major General Michael Walsh, Army Corps of Engineers
Dr. Donald Boesch, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, President
Dr. William Walker, Mississippi Department of Marine Resources, Gulf of Mexico Alliance, Executive Director
Cindy Brown, Director, Gulf of Mexico Program, The Nature Conservancy

Plenary 1: The Changing Oceans Will Touch Our Lives No Matter Where We Live
Moderator: Dr. Anthony Michaels,Managing Partner and Director, Proteus Environmental Technologies, LLC
Sherri Goodman, Senior Vice President & General Counsel, CNA
Dr. Geraldine Knatz, Executive Director, Port of Los Angeles
Dr. Carl Safina, President, Blue Ocean Institute

Paul Holthus, Executive Director, World Ocean Council

Plenary 3: Changing Oceans and Human Health
Moderator: Paul Sandifer, Senior Science Advisor to the NOAA Administrator, National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration
Dr. Linda Birnbaum, Director, National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences
Dr. Donald Anderson, Senior Scientist, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Christopher Portier, Director, National Center for Environmental Health and Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, CDC

Breakout Sessions (concurrent)

Oceans and Carbon
1. Sea Level Rise, Uncertainty and Policy
2. Ocean Hypoxia and Climate Change
3. Blue Carbon: Carbon Sequestration in the Marine Environment

Coastal Ocean Change and Potential for Adaptation
4. Avoiding "Maladaptation" of the Coast
5. Ocean Acidification Threats to Fisheries and Aquaculture
6. An Effective Law and Policy Framework for Coastal Adaptation

Oceans and Living Marine Ecosystems
7. What is the Baseline? Developing Research and Monitoring Efforts in Near-pristine Marine Ecosystems to Measure Global Change
8. Ecosystem-based Marine Spatial Planning in U.S. Waters: Managing the Ocean Mosaic
9. Sustainable Fisheries and Food Security
10. Marine Bioinvasions

Oceans and Human Health
11. Human Health Effects of the Impact of Climate Change on Our Oceans
12. Public Engagement and Education
13. Monitoring for and Forecasting Health Threats from the Oceans

Oceans Affect Everyone
14. Kilowatt-hours and Ocean Breezes: Making Decisions about Offshore Wind Projects
15. Security and the Ocean
16. Cities, Economics and Oceans

Tipping Points
17. Lessons from Two Potential Tipping Points: Arctic Summer Sea-Ice and Acidification

White Arctic/Blue Arctic
18. Balancing Multiple Uses of Natural Resources
19. Governance of a Rapidly Changing Arctic

Observing and Measuring Ocean Changes for Improved Stewardship
20. Attaining an Operational Marine Biodiversity Observing Network: Transforming Recommendations into Action
21. Essential Data for Marine Spatial Planning
22. Measuring What Counts And Valuing Marine Ecosystems

Cross-cutting
23. Increasing Diversity in Ocean Leadership
24. Improving Ocean Governance through Multi-scale Ocean and Coastal Management

NCSE Lifetime Achievement Award
Dr. Sylvia Earle, Explorer-in-residence, National Geographic; Founder, Mission Blue; Chairman & CEO, Sylvia Earle Alliance

 Reception

Friday, January 21, 2011
(Location: Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center)

Keynote Address: Global Governance of the Changing Oceans - A Science-Policy Disconnect
Introduction by Ambassador Richard Benedick, President, NCSE
Wendy Watson-Wright, Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, UNESCO

Plenary 5: Toward a National Ocean Policy
William Ruckelshaus, 1st and 5th Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency; Co-Chair, Joint Ocean Commission Initiative
John Podesta, President and CEO, Center for American Progress; Member, Joint Ocean Commission Leadership Council;
Nancy Sutley, Chair, White House Council on Environmental Quality and Hon. John P. Holdren, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, Director, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy; Co-Chairs, National Ocean Council