Speakers

For all speakers, please click here for "Speaker Instructions"

 

Rich Aronson
Department Head, Biological Sciences, Florida Institute of Technology
150 W. University Blvd., Melbourne, FL 32901
Phone: 321 674 8034

 

Richard B. Aronson, Ph.D., is head of the Department of Biological Sciences at Florida Tech. Aronson replaces Mark Bush, Ph.D., who served as interim department head since Gary Wells, Ph.D., retired in July 2007. Aronson grew up in New York City. He received his bachelor's degree in Biological Sciences, summa cum laude, from Dartmouth College in 1979 and his doctoral degree in biology from Harvard University in 1985. In 1994, after completing a NATO postdoctoral fellowship in the UK and postdoctoral experiences at the Smithsonian Institution and Rutgers University, Aronson joined the faculty of the Dauphin Island Sea Laboratory in Alabama. He left his positions as senior marine scientist at the Sea Lab and professor of marine sciences at the University of South Alabama to join Florida Tech. Aronson continues to hold adjunct appointments at the Smithsonian Institution, the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He is president of the International Society for Reef Studies.
Aronson's research focuses on the effects of climate change on marine communities. He uses the fossil record in combination with ecological studies to predict how climatic warming will promote disease outbreaks on coral reefs and biological invasions in Antarctica. Related interests include work on the efficacy of marine-protected areas in the Florida Keys during a time of rapidly changing climate, and the salt marshes of the southeastern U.S. He was recently invited to give the keynote address at the meeting of the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force in Washington, D.C., on February 25, 2009.

Gerhard Banse
Senior Scientist, Institute for Technology Assessment & Systems Analysis at Research Center Karlsruhe
Email: gerhard.banse@itas.fzk.de





Dr. Gerhard Banse studied chemistry, biology, and pedagogics at the University of Education Potsdam, and philosophy at Humboldt University zu Berlin. In 1969, he received an MSc (germ "diplom"), in 1974 dissertation (PhD, germ Dr. phil.") and in 1981 habilitation (Dr. sc.) on philosophical problems of technology. Dr. Banse, 1974 - 1990, served as scientist and senior scientist at the Institute of Philosophy of the Academy of Sciences of GDR in the field of philosophy and history of technology; in 1988 as professor for philosophy; in 1993 - 1999 as senior scientist at the Department of Philosophy of Technology at the Technical University Cottbus. His work is in the field of philosophy of technology and general technology. He lectures in the domains of history and philosophy of technology, general risk research, technological change, theory of technical sciences and technology assessment, especially information and communication technologies, and information technology security. Since October 1999, he has served as senior scientist at the Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis (ITAS) at Research Centre Karlsruhe at Helmholtz Society (FZK). From May 2004 to February 2007, he was delegated as senior scientist at the Fraunhofer application centre of logistic system planning and information systems (FhG-ALI), Cottbus; as guest professor at faculty of humanities at Matej Bel-University Banská Bystrica (Slovak Republic); as professor of general technology at Technical University of Brandenburg Cottbus; as lecturer at Potsdam University and Silesian University Katowice (Poland); as vice-chairmen of the International Centre of Sustainability and Information Society at Silesian University and as member of Leibniz-Societät Berlin. Dr. Banse has served as co-editor of the book series "e-Culture/Network Cultural Diversity and New Media" (Berlin) and as a member of the scientific boards of the journals "Problems of Ecology" (Poland), "Theory of Sciences, Journal for Theory of Sciences, Technology and Communication" (Czech Republic). He has more than 200 publications in books and journals.

 

Isabella D. Bunn
The Robert L. Long Professor of Ethics at the College of Business, Florida Institute of Technology
150 W. University Blvd., Melbourne, FL 32901
Phone: 321.674.7332
Email: ibunn@fit.edu

Isabella D. Bunn is affiliated with Regent's Park College, Oxford University, where she specializes in ethical aspects of international economic law and serves as Associate Director of the Oxford Centre for Christianity and Culture. Dr. Bunn also directs the University of San Diego's Oxford Institute on International & Comparative Law, and teaches in the area of public international law and human rights. She divides her time between England and the United States, and holds a professorship in ethics at the Florida Institute of Technology, College of Business.

Dr. Bunn has worked as a legal advisor in the public and private sectors, including as General Counsel to the California World Trade Commission. Dr. Bunn holds a B.S.F.S. from Georgetown University, M.A. in International Relations and J.D. cum laude from the University of San Diego, a Postgraduate Diploma and M.Phil in theology from Oxford University, and a Ph.D in human rights law from Bristol University. She is currently completing a book on the right to development. Dr. Bunn serves on the executive council of the Society for International Economic Law and as Co-Chair of the Committee on Corporate Social Responsilbility for the American Bar Association's Section of International Law.

 

Cliford Bragdon, AICP
Associate Provost, Dean, University College, Florida Institute of Technology
150 West University Boulevard, Melbourne, Florida 32901
Phone: 321.674.8821

 

Dr. Bragdon is the Associate Provost, Dean of University College, and Distinguished Research Professor at Florida Institute of Technology. Previously, Dr. Bragdon served at Florida Atlantic University, located in Boca Raton Florida, from 2001 until 2005. He was a Distinguished Professor in the College of Architecture, Urban and Public Affairs there. In addition, he was the Executive Director of the University Consortium for Intermodal Transportation Safety and Security (UCITSS), which is a Florida system wide center, (representing all 11 public universities). Currently, there are active research projects involving six universities: University of South Florida (Tampa, FL), University of Central Florida (Orlando, FL), Florida International University (Miami, FL), University of Florida (Gainesville, FL), Florida State University (Tallahassee, FL) and Florida Atlantic University (Boca Raton, FL). This center received $10,000,000 via the US Department of Transportation.

Prior to that, Dr. Bragdon was Director and Vice-President of the National Aviation and Transportation Center and Dean, School of Aviation and Transportation, Dowling College in New York. For 21 years, Dr. Bragdon served as Professor, Associate Dean and Associate Vice President and Assistant to the President at Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Bragdon, while at Georgia Tech, was also the Executive Director of AMCEE, a consortium of engineering based universities involved in distance learning including MIT, Stanford University, Purdue University, University of Florida, Arizona State University, among others.

Dr. Bragdon has lectured widely on subjects like sustainability of safety and security, urban planning, intermodal transportation, simulation and historic futurism throughout the world. His specialties are in the fields of transportation, land use/space use, simulation, environmental planning, sustainability, safety and security, and envisioning. Dr. Bragdon has published five books as well as over 100 articles. In 2008 his book, Transportation Security, was published by Elsevier-Academic/Butterworth Press, Boston, Massachusetts. He holds a U.S. Government Patent for inventing the Intermodal Transportation Simulation System (ITSS). This system is capable of simulating all transportation modes by air, land, and sea in both 3D/4D, and was recognized by Newsday as one of the 21 most important new inventions.

 

Mark Bush
Professor, Florida Institute of Technology
150 W. University Blvd., Melbourne, FL 32901
Phone: 321.674.7166
Email: mbush@fit.edu

Mark B. Bush is Professor of Biology and Chair of the Ecology Program at the Florida Institute of Technology. His education includes a B.Sc. (1979) and Ph.D. (1986) from the University of Hull, U.K., and a Masters in Environmental Management (Duke University 1996). His research focuses on fossil pollen analysis of Neotropical settings and environmental reconstructions of past climates and vegetation communities, and human responses to climate change. He has more than 20 years experience of working in tropical systems and in leading expeditions to remote areas of Amazonia, the Andes, and Krakatau, Indonesia. Bush has had an equally long involvement in conservation and is active at both the local level where he serves on the Environmentally Endangered Lands selection and management committee for Brevard County, Florida, and at an international level in the policy forming Karoo Group for Conservation International. Bush has also served as an educational consultant for the World Bank. Bush has written an undergraduate textbook "Ecology of a Changing Planet" 3rd edn, Prentice-Hall, and edited a research level book "The Responses of Tropical Rainforest to Climate Change", Praxis-Springer. He has published more than 90 scholarly articles in international refereed journals.

Sue Carlson
Brevard County Commissioner 1999-2006
Email: scarlson@cfl.rr.com

 

 

Sue Carlson, Brevard County Commissioner from 1998 to 2006. Prior to elected office, Ms. Carlson had 15 years business experience with her family owned computer consulting business. She was employed by Electronic Data Systems as a Systems Engineer and Brevard Community College as an adjunct for the Computer Science Department. Ms. Carlson is best known for her leadership as County Commission Chairwoman in 2001 when she spearheaded the community based visioning initiative that resulted in a Strategic Plan entitled "Brevard Tomorrow, a Preferred Future."

A significant contribution of the Brevard Tomorrow implementation is a publication entitled "Getting to Smart Growth" modeled off the Urban Land Institute's 10 Smart Growth Principles. This document is used by Brevard County in their efforts to grow responsibly and sustain the quality of life.

Ms. Carlson serves on LEAD Brevard Board of Directors and Executive Board, Brevard Cultural Alliance Board of Directors, St. Johns River Alliance Board of Directors and is a member of the Brevard Branch of the Central Florida Chapter of the United States Green Building Council. Through her work on numerous planning, transportation and environmental boards Ms. Carlson has amassed considerable experience working at all levels of government, business, and nonprofit organizations on issues relating to growth management, strategic planning and natural resource protection. Currently, Ms. Carlson is a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Accredited Professional and works as a green building consultant with her own firm, Integrated Green Systems, LLC.

 

Anthony J. Catanese
President, Florida Institute of Technology
150 W. University Blvd., Melbourne, FL 32901
Email: Catanese@fit.edu

 

Anthony James Catanese is the president of Florida Institute of Technology, a major research institution with 5,000 students. Florida Tech emphasizes academic and research programs in engineering, the sciences, liberal arts, business, psychology and aeronautics. It has a major distance learning program using advanced technology. Such groups as the Carnegie Foundation and U.S. News and World Report rate it amongst America's top universities.
Dr. Catanese was previously president of Florida Atlantic University, which grew to 25,000 students on seven campuses during his leadership tenure. He was the provost of Pratt Institute in New York City, dean of the College of Architecture at the University of Florida, dean of the School of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, associate dean of the School of Engineering and Environmental Design and James A. Ryder Professor at the University of Miami, and professor and director of the Center for Planning and Development at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Dr. Catanese also was a Senior Fulbright Professor at the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogota, Colombia.

He holds a bachelor's degree from Rutgers University, a master's degree from New York University and a doctoral degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. A prolific writer, he has published 13 books, 18 chapters in books and more than 100 articles and monographs.

A member of the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Certified Planners, Dr. Catanese previously maintained a private practice in design, planning and development. His consulting contracts numbered over 50 clients, including coastal zone planning and development in Hawaii and native land claims in Alaska. As a developer, he built several projects for the single- and multi-family markets in Atlanta, Georgia.

Dr. Catanese has been a public servant as well. He was appointed by President Jimmy Carter to the National Urban Policy Task Force. He served as chair of the Milwaukee City Planning Board and the Gainesville City Planning Commission. Dr. Catanese was the 2006 campaign chair for United Way of Brevard.

Dr. Catanese was president of the Park West Development Corporation, a not-for-profit group that planned and developed a major area in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was the founding president of the Florida State University Presidents Association. He also served as president or chair of the Florida Association of Colleges and Universities, Florida Campus Compact and Atlantic Sun Athletics Conference. He has served on numerous boards, including the National Collegiate Athletics Association, Sunshine State Athletics Conference, Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida, John Cabot University (Rome), Orange Bowl Committee, AvMed (South Florida), Wachovia Bank (Florida), Securit-E.com and Modus Operandi Inc.

He is the recipient of numerous awards, the most recent of which include the Chief Executive Leadership Award from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, Trailblazer Award from Rotary International, Diversity Champion Award from the Urban League and Outstanding College President's Award from the All-American Football Foundation.

 

Fan Chunliang
Professor, Institute of Policy and Management, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Zhong Guan Cun Dong Lu No.55, Beijing 100190, P.R.China
Phone: 8610+62542624
Email: fcl@mail.casipm.ac.cn
Organization Website: www.casipm.ac.cn



Fan Chunliang is Professor in the Institute of Policy and Management , Chinese Academy of Sciences. He received his Ph.D. from the Beijing University .His research focus on Science policy, Science and Society. He Published a book about Science and Technology Policy and more than 30 articles in Journals.

Craig Connors
Senior Vice President of Business Development, The Pugilese Company & Destiny, Florida
101 Pugliese's Way, Delray Beach, FL 33444
Phone:(561) 454-1715
Organization Website: www.destinyflorida.com

Craig brings to the Destiny project significant experience in finance, enterprise development and planning as well as real estate development and construction. He began his professional career serving as a member of the FBI Directors' Staff in Washington D.C. He later worked for Price Waterhouse performing audits/financial reviews and strategic planning. Mr. Connors has specialized in the development stages for companies. He was VP of Finance for a national privately held company, moving on to a similar position with a publicly-traded company, where he was part of the IPO team. After leaving the financial environment, Mr. Connors formed a real estate company that focused on community development and home construction. He has since returned to the financial world and gained valuable public and private experience with Prudential and Wachovia Bank. Mr. Connors has also served throughout his career on Boards of Directors ranging from banks to not for profits.

Paul J. Cosentino
Professor, Florida Institute of Technology
150 W. University Blvd., Melbourne, FL 32901
Email: cosentin@fit.edu

Dr. Paul J. Cosentino is a Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at Florida Tech. He received his Ph.D. from Texas A&M University in 1987. Dr. Cosentino has a unique combination of industrial and academic experience, which lends real-world knowledge to his classroom teaching. He has worked on numerous geotechnical and geo-environmental consulting projects; reviewed papers and proposals for national research organizations and is a registered Professional Engineer in Florida. He is a member of ASCEs (American Society of Civil Engineers) Airfield Pavements Committee, the Transportation Research Board's Soil and Rock Instrumentation Committee and TRBs University Representative. He has served as a lecturer for short courses on landfill design, and pavement design with shallow and deep foundations.

 

Joseph R. Dwyer
Professor, Physics and Space Science Department, Florida Institute of Technology
150 W. University Blvd., Melbourne, FL 32901
Phone: 321 674 7208

Dr. Joseph R. Dwyer is a Professor of Physics & Space Sciences at Florida Institute of Technology. He received a B.S. from the University of California - Irvine in 1986, an M.S. from the University of Chicago in 1988, and a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1994. He joined Florida Tech in 2000 as an Assistant Professor and rose through the ranks to Professor in 2006. Prior to coming to Florida Tech, Dr. Dwyer served as a Research Scientist and lecturer in the Department of Physics at the University of Maryland. Dr. Dwyer also served as a Research Scientist in the Department of Physics at Columbia University from 1993 - 1995.
Dr. Dwyer is a world authority on lightning and his research interests include x-ray observations of lightning, runaway breakdown of air, thunderstorm physics, and terrestrial gamma-ray flashes (TGFs). His research tools include the kilometer square Thunderstorm Energetic Radiation Array (TERA) at the UF/Florida Tech International Center for Lightning Research and Testing at Camp Blanding, FL.

 

Rob Fontaine

President
Fontaine Auto Group Inc
Electric Avenue of Central Florida
1624 South Babcock St
Melbourne, FL  32901
Phone:  (321) 537-0486

Rob Fontaine is President of Electric Avenue of Central Florida. The company that he represents as a dealer has a website at http://www.ElectricCityMotors.com. Electric City Motors was founded in 2007 by S.T. Tripathi, an experienced automotive professional with 30+ years background managing dealerships and a thorough understanding of the automotive industry. His mission: to fill the niche of distributing a line of affordable, highway-approved low emission vehicles. After an exhaustive search for an existing vehicle, the best solution was to design and manufacture his own EV that would run at highway speeds for a reasonable distance/charge and still be affordable to the average consumer. Electric City Motors is now distributing their EV, the Current.

 

Miklos Fule
Associate Professor, Budapest University of Technology & Economics
Email: fulem@eik.bme.hu




Dr. Miklos Fule is an Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental Economics and Law at the Budapest University of Technical and Economic Sciences (BME). He received his dr. univ. in 1987 and his Ph.D. in 1997. He has been on the faculty of BME since 1981. His teaching experience includes environmental economics (at the graduate and post graduate levels), environmental economics of transport, environmental strategies in Hungary and local environmental programs. His international experience includes one month of research work in 1997 at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Energy and Environment Division. The topic was economics of greenhouse gas mitigation. In 2000, he completed research work at the Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia. The topic was environmental regulation tools. Finally, one months research work took place in 2002 and 2004 at the Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne. The topic was feasibility studies for ecotourism.

Roz Gatewood
Vice President of Business Development, The Pugilese Company & Destiny, Florida
101 Pugliese's Way, Delray Beach, FL 33444
Phone: (561) 454-1646
Organization Website: www.destinyflorida.com

Ms. Roz Gatewood spearheaded many of the sustainability components and vision of Destiny since the land was purchased in 2005. Roz's experience and talents span a wide spectrum of accomplishments including as President of Mallworks International, Publisher of a Gannett Newspaper in the Northeast, Director of Specialty Marketing for 10 daily newspapers and Publisher of three of her own magazines. Roz also served as Director of Retail Product Development for the Newspaper Association of America. Ms. Gatewood also has a keen interest in technology; she served in Senior Executive positions for Global Health Network, BlueKey Wireless, Video Protein and on the Board of Director for a Pharmaceutical firm. Ms. Gatewood is very active in community charities and was nominated for Wachovia's Women of the Year and March of Dimes' Volunteer of the Year.

 

Imre Hronszky
Professor, Budapest University of Technology & Economics
Email: hronszky@eik.bme.hu

 

 

Professor Imre Hronszky has an MSc in chemistry and MSc in philosophy from Eötvös Lorand University in Budapest, Hungary and a Dr. rer. nat., PhD in philosophy and Dr. Habil. in engineering sciences. Dr. Hronszky is Professor at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME) in the Department of Management and Corporate Economics. He was chairperson of the Joint Commission of the IUHPS (Int. Union of Hist. And Phil. of Science) in 1984-86. He has provided high level expertise for EC DG Research and expertise for UNIDO. He has been a member of the advisory board for the Science and Society programme for the 7th framework programme of the European Union, 2006-2009. Dr. Hronszky's main recent research interest is innovation studies (especially different sorts of "open innovation", responsible innovation and uncertainty management). He represents Hungary on a variety of international boards and committees. He has conducted research work at several universities abroad. His last invitation was to work 3 months at ITAS/Forschungszentrum/Karlsruhe on Roadmapping as an alignment tool, especially for the "hydrogen economy".

Professor Hronszky was co-PI with Dr. Gordon Nelson on a US State Department University Partnership Program grant with Hungary in the area of Environmental Studies. During the grant period, 2001-2004, some two dozen faculty each from Florida Tech and the Budapest University of Technology and Economics visited and worked at the partner institutions. The present forum is the sixth in a series which is an outgrowth of that partnership.

 

Frank Jackalone
Senior Field Organizing Manager, Sierra Club - Southeastern United States
Email: frank.jackalone@sierraclubfl.org

 

 

Frank Jackalone is Senior Regional Representative of the Sierra Club in the southeastern United States. He supervises the Sierra Club's field staff in Florida and Puerto Rico on campaigns to restore the Everglades; preserve Florida and Puerto Rico's beaches, forests and wetlands; educate the public about the consequences of global warming and promote renewable energy and conservation solutions; and to secure cleaner air and water for people and wildlife. Jackalone served in 2001-2002 as the national chair of the Everglades Coalition, composed of 41 environmental organizations.

Prior to joining the Sierra Club in 1997, Jackalone served as the southeast regional director of the consumer advocacy organization Public Citizen. In this position, Jackalone coordinated Public Citizen's work in 7 southeastern states on health care, consumer protection, civil rights, election reform and international trade issues. In the 1980's, Jackalone was executive director and chief lobbyist of the Florida Consumers Federation, a coalition of 160 groups representing 600,000 Floridians. A decade earlier he served as executive director of the National Student Lobby and the founding president of the United States Student Association, representing three million college and university students.

 

Pierce Jones
Director, Program for Resource Efficient Communities, University of Florida
PO Box 110940, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611
Phone: 352.392.8074
Email: piercejones@ufl.edu
Organization Website: http://www.buildgreen.ufl.edu/

Dr. Pierce Jones graduated from UF in 1980 with a PhD in Mechanical Engineering. He is a Professor in the Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department in the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences at the University of Florida. He directs the Program for Resource Efficient Communities, an interdisciplinary, self-funded, entrepreneurial group that promotes the adoption of "best design, construction and management practices" in new, master planned residential developments. The Program for Resource Efficient Communities develops and delivers continuing education workshops for built environment professionals on "green" topics including energy, water, indoor air quality, windstorm and others. The Program's most recent workshops target Low Impact Development and smart irrigation technologies, Finally, the program directly participates in land development and building projects that adopt and demonstrate "green" practices.

 

Philip C. Laurien, AICP
Executive Director, East Central Florida Regional Planning Council
631 N. Wymore Rd., Maitland, FL 32751
Telephone: 407.623.1075
Email:plaurien@ecfrpc.org
Organization Website: www.ecfrpc.org

Mr. Laurien earned a Bachelor of Arts from Miami University (Ohio) and a Masters in Community Planning from the University of Cincinnati.

His thirty five year career includes planning, city management, and real estate development. He has authored numerous white papers, comprehensive plans and zoning codes in Ohio, Kentucky, Florida and New Hampshire, and been director of three Regional Planning Councils.

As a partner in his own planning firm from 1982-1990, he designed over 350 developments in four New England states, pioneered conservation development codes, and designed and marketed four successful NH conservation subdivisions.

In partnership with myregion.org he led the "How Shall We Grow?" regional vision, which won three 2007 APA awards and Collins Center for Sustainable Florida Best practices award.

His approach is to:
• build relationships with officials, business and citizens
• teach them the planning process
• help them develop a common vision for their community
• demonstrate creative best conservation and development practices

 

Steven Lazarus
Assistant Professor, Florida Institute of Technology
150 W. University Blvd., Melbourne, FL 32901
Email: slazarus@fit.edu

Dr. Lazarus completed his master's and Ph D. work at the University of Oklahoma. His work in the areas of modeling severe convection and data assimilation was augmented by tornado chasing during his graduate student years in Oklahoma. As a post-doc at the University of Utah, he was involved in several projects including real-time weather analysis work in support of the Winter Olympic games, GCM (cloud) evaluation with the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program (ARM), and served as the local AMS chapter president--representing groups from the University of Utah, the National Weather Service and Western Region Headquarters. In 2004, Dr. Lazarus was a visiting scientist at the National Centers for Environmental Prediction in Washington, D.C. and currently serves on a national committee that is overseeing an operational mesoscale analysis project referred to as the Real-Time Mesoscale Analysis (RTMA).

Dr. Lazarus joined the Florida Tech Faculty in 2001. He is a member of the Florida Academy of Sciences, the American Meteorological Society and the American Geophysical Union. Dr. Lazarus currently has $500K in active research and has published a dozen articles in refereed journals. Dr.Lazarus' research interests include mesoscale analysis and modeling. Other areas of interest include climate change and hurricanes, coastal meteorology, and terrestrial gamma ray flashes/thunderstorms.

 

Frank Leslie
Adjunct Professor, Florida Institute of Technology
150 W. University Blvd., Melbourne, FL 32901
Email: fleslie@fit.edu
Website: http://my.fit.edu/~fleslie

Mr. Frank R. Leslie has a B.S.E.E. and an M.S. in Space Technology (Florida Institute of Technology, 1968). Frank began his engineering career as a Sperry Polaris field engineer installing inertial navigation systems on 18 Polaris nuclear missile submarines. He moved in 1965 to Florida to work for the RCA Missile Test Project on the Air Force Eastern Test Range, supporting tracking ship navigation systems and the Apollo Moon Program. In 1978, he joined Harris Corporation as a systems engineer and worked on a multitude of primarily Government contracts.

After retiring, Mr. Leslie became an adjunct professor in Florida Tech's Department of Marine and Environmental Systems, where he developed and has taught the Renewable Energy course for five years at the senior/graduate level. He develops energy instrumentation and works with meteorologists on wind resources in keeping the data on the internet. During this time, he has designed and installed wind and solar equipment at the Florida Tech campus on Roberts Hall and a mobile system, added a small hydropower demonstration system to the Botanical Gardens stream, and served as advisor to the Green Campus Group.

 

Ken Lindeman
Executive Director, Coastal Science and Policy, Inc.
485 Glenwood Ave., Satellite Beach, FL 32937
Phone:  321.271.7547  
Email:  lindeman@fit.edu
Organization Website:  https://www.fit.edu/faculty/profiles/profile.html?value=463



Dr. Ken Lindeman has worked in the academic, private, non-profit, and agency sectors on emerging issues in coastal habitat management since 1980.  He currently manages the consulting firm Coastal Science and Policy, Inc. with research projects on Florida coastal fishes, Brazilian marine parks, and regional sustainable tourism.  Formerly with the National Marine Fisheries Service, the University of Miami, and the Environmental Defense Fund, consulting experience includes the Smithsonian Institution, National Geographic, and UN FAO.  Co-author of Ecology of the Marine Fishes of Cuba (Smithsonian Institution Press), the Duke University Press book Living with Florida's Atlantic Beaches, and over 50 journal articles/book chapters on fish biology and coastal management.  Adjunct faculty at FIT (Dept. of Marine and Environmental Systems, Dept. of Business, and Dept. of Biological Sciences), the Univ. of Puerto Rico's Dept. of Marine Sciences, and the University of Miami's  Div. of Marine Affairs and Policy.  Current service includes the board of the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute, panels of the South Atlantic and Caribbean Fishery Management Councils, and the World Bank's Coral Reef Targeted Research Connectivity Workgroup.

 

George A. Maul
Department Head, Marine and Environmental Systems, Florida Institute of Technology
150 W. University Blvd., Melbourne, FL 32901
Phone: 321 674 7453

 

Since 1994, George A. Maul has been a Professor of Oceanography and Head of the Department of Marine and Environmental Systems for the College of Engineering at Florida Tech. He earned a Ph.D. from the University of Miami and is a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society and of the Marine Technology Society.

After graduating with honors from the State University of New York Maritime College at Fort Schuyler and earning a U.S. Merchant Marine Officer's License, George Maul spent nine years on active duty and held ranks from ensign to lieutenant commander as a commissioned officer in the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey. For the next twenty-five years he was research oceanographer with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration at their Atlantic Oceanographic and Metrological Laboratory.

Dr. Maul served two terms as vice chairman of the Subcommission for the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions (IOCARIBE) of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO. He was founding chairman of the IOCARIBE Group of Experts on ocean processes and climate, is chairman of the IOCARIBE Tsunami Science Steering Group of Experts, founded the regional IOCARIBE sea level network, and was chairman of the United Nations Environment Programme Joint Task Team on Climatic Changes in the Wider Caribbean Region. He has served as a consultant to the Organization of American States for CPACC - Caribbean: Planning for Adaptation to Climate Change, and to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - the IPCC.

Professor Maul has published over 100 refereed articles and book chapters on oceanography and meteorology, 30 technical reports, 60 abstracts, and seven books.

Dr. Maul is active in developing Florida's coastal ocean observing system. He is the 2008-2009 chairman of the Florida COOS Consortium, serves on the Board of Advisors of the Southeastern Coastal Ocean Observing Regional Association (SECOORA), is a member of the SURA (Southeastern Universities Research Association) Coastal Research Committee, is the Florida Tech representative to the Florida Institute of Oceanography, and to the Florida Ocean Alliance.

Dr. Maul's current research interests include quantifying the impact of climate and global change on society, establishing operational forecasts of coastal ocean circulation, particularly in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea, developing an integrated global sea-level/weather network for climate studies and sustained economic development, designing the Intra-Americas Sea Tsunami Warning System, and satellite altimetry research. His most recent book, published by the American Geophysical Union in 1996, Small Islands: Marine Science and Sustainable Development, reports the deliberations of a United Nations conference on the role of ocean and climate change on the sustainable economic development of small island developing states.

 

Lawrence Maxwell, AIA
President, Spacecoast Architects, P.A.
333A Fifth Avenue
Indialantic, FL 32903
Phone: 321-728-4422
Email: Larry-spacearc@cfl.rr.com
Organization Website: www.spacecoastarchitects.com

President and owner of Spacecoast Architects, P.A., of Indialantic, Florida, a firm with a 20 focus on sustainable design, holds degrees including Masters Degree in Architecture (1983), Bachelors Degrees in both Architecture and Geography (with an Urban and Regional Planning emphasis) (1980), and an Associates Degree in Architecture (1977). The architectural practice has allowed the opportunity to design numerous buildings embodying sustainable design principles with a focus on energy efficiency. Projects include libraries, schools, offices, commercial buildings, residences, movie theatres, and a radio station. Expertise has also allowed the ability to provide consulting services to other architects in incorporating sustainability into their project designs. Previously, held a research faculty position as Director of the Building Design Assistance Center at the Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC), a research entity of the University of Central Florida. Presently, is Vice-President of The Florida Association of the American Institute of Architects, and Chair of the Commission On The Environment for the association.

 

Chad Nelsen
Environmental Director, Surfrider Foundation
PO Box 6010, San Clemente, CA 92674 USA
Phone: 949-492-8170x408
Email: cnelsen@surfrider.org
Website: www.surfrider.org

Chad Nelsen is the Environmental Director at the Surfrider Foundation where he has worked since 1998. At the Surfrider Foundation, Chad is responsible for strategic guidance on environmental campaigns and programs ranging from local to international in scale. He oversees a network of regional staff working on coastal environmental and policy issues around the country. Prior to joining Surfrider, Chad was a NOAA Coastal Zone Management Fellow working with Oregon¹s state coastal zone management program. He is an alumni of Brown University and Duke¹s Nicholas School of the Environment and is currently pursuing is Doctorate at UCLA in the Environmental Science and Engineering program on the economics of surfing. Through his work on coral reef conservation in Puerto Rico, he earned recognition from the US Coral Reef Task Force. Chad is on the Advisory Board of the Save The Waves Coalition. Chad is an avid surfer, swimmer, and beach enthusiast who lives in Laguna Beach with his family.

 

Gordon L. Nelson
Dean College of Science, Florida Institute of Technology
150 W. University Blvd., Melbourne, FL 32901
Email: nelson@fit.edu

 

Gordon L. Nelson is Professor of Chemistry and Dean of the College of Science (and Liberal Arts, 1989 - 2005) at Florida Institute of Technology. Dr. Nelson is also Director of Florida Tech's Materials Science & Nanotechnology Institute. He was 1992 Chair of the Council of Scientific Society Presidents (59 societies, 1.4 million members). He was 1988 President of the American Chemical Society (ACS) and a member of its Board of Directors for fifteen years (150,000 members, 2000 employees, $220 million budget). A native of Palo Alto, California, Nelson received his undergraduate degree in Chemistry from the University of Nevada, Reno, in 1965 and his M.S. and Ph.D. from Yale University in 1967 and 1970, respectively. Before joining Florida Tech in 1989, Dr. Nelson was Professor and Chairman of Polymer Science at the University of Southern Mississippi, Vice President of Springborn Laboratories and a manager at GE Plastics.

Dr. Nelson has been actively involved in committee and standardization work in ASTM, the International Electrotechnical Commission, and the Information Technology Industry Council. Dr. Nelson received the Society of the Plastics Industry Structural Foam Division's Recognition Award for 1979. The Mississippi Legislature passed a Concurrent Resolution in his honor in 1987. Dr. Nelson was the American Institute of Chemists Members and Fellows Lecturer in 1989 and was the recipient of the Charles Holmes Herty Medal presented by the Georgia Section of the ACS in 1998.

Dr. Nelson is the editor/co-editor of 20 books and the author/co-author of 31 book chapters, 162 papers, and 3 patents, primarily in the areas of polymer flammability, smoke and toxicity studies. Dr. Nelson was co-PI with Professor Imre Hronzsky on a US State Department University Partnership Program grant with Hungary in the area of Environmental Studies. During the grant period, 2001-2004, some two dozen faculty each from Florida Tech and the Budapest University of Technology and Economics visited and worked at the partner institutions. The present forum is the sixth in a series which is an outgrowth of that partnership. Dr. Nelson has also worked in or visited some 45 countries.

 

David Nolan
Associate Professor, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science University of Miami
4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL 33149
Phone: 305-421-4930
Organization Website: www.rsmas.miami.edu

After attending Phillips Exeter Academy, David Nolan recieved a B.A. in Physics from Harvard College in 1990 and a Ph.D. in Earth and Planetary Sciences in 1996. His first research position was in the Mathematics Division of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, California, where he worked on vortex dynamics and computational fluid dynamics. This was followed by research positions at Colorado State University and the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory in Princeton, where his work became focused on the processes of hurricane formation and intensification. In 2002 he joined the faculty of the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science at the University of Miami. He continues to work on hurricane dynamics, as well as tropical meteorology and the effects of climate change.

 

Randall W. Parkinson
President, RWParkinson Consulting, Inc.
2018 Melbourne Court Suite 205, Melbourne, FL 32901
Phone:(321) 373-0976
Organization Website: www.rwparkinson.com

Randall W. Parkinson is president of RWParkinson Consulting, Inc., a firm specializing in geological issues associated with the management and protection of coastal resources. He received a BS in Environmental Science from Cornell College (1979), MS in Geology from the University of Iowa (1982), and Ph.D. in Marine Geology and Geophysics from the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami (1987). He is an Eagle Scout, Fulbright Scholar, NASA Summer Faculty Fellow, Registered Professional Geologist (State of Florida), and Associate Editor of the Journal of Coastal Research. Prior to starting his own business in 2006, Parkinson was an Associate Professor of Geological Oceanography at the Florida Institute of Technology (1987 - 2000) and thereafter employed as a Senior Geologist and Laboratory Director for a coastal engineering firm (2000 - 2006).

 

Michael H. Slotkin
Associate Professor, Florida Institute of Technology
150 W. University Blvd., Melbourne, FL 32901
Phone: 321.674.7267
Email: mslotkin@fit.edu

Dr. Michael H. Slotkin is an Associate Professor of Economics in the College of Business at the Florida Institute of Technology. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His research interests include ecotourism, economic impact studies, and strategic trade policies. Professor Slotkin is part of an ecotourism research team that has conducted more than ten economic impact studies of various nature and wildlife events in the state of Florida, including the renowned Space Coast Birding & Wildlife Festival as well as the Centennial Celebration of the National Wildlife Refuge System. He is the co-author of a Journal of Vacation Marketing article dealing with ecotourism and environmental advocacy as well as the co-author of a forthcoming feasibility study assessing the potential for an ecotourism micro-venture in eastern Hungary. Professor Slotkin is currently completing a study examining community willingness to pay for enhanced storm water protection.

 

Michael W. Sole
Secretary, Department of Environmental Protection
3900 Commonwealth Blvd., MS 10, Tallahassee, FL 32399-3000
Phone: 850.245.2011
Organization Website: www.dep.state.fl.us.

As Secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Michael Sole oversees Florida's environmental regulatory and law enforcement programs, the acquisition, conservation and management of public lands and regulation of water resources through the state's water management districts.

Secretary Sole recently served as Chairman of the Governor's Action Team on Energy and Climate Change. On October 15th, the Action Team delivered the Florida Climate Change Action Plan which includes strategies to reduce emissions including recommendations for proposed legislation.

Secretary Sole has served the Department since 1991, beginning his career as a biological scientist. During his tenure, he has undertaken responsibilities ranging from marine turtle protection and invasive plant management to beach preservation, wetland protection and petroleum cleanup.

Secretary Sole was a Captain in the United States Marine Corps. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Marine Biology from the Florida Institute of Technology.

 

Janos Szlavik
Professor, Budapest University of Technology & Economics
Email: szlavikj@eik.bme.hu

Dr. Janos Szlavik is head of the department and Professor of Environmental Economics at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME). He received his M.Sc. degree in economics from the Budapest University of Economics in 1972. His academic credentials include Doctor of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in 2003, Dr. habil in 1996, Ph.D. in 1984 and university doctor in 1974. He has been head of the Institute of Economics at BME since 2004.
His research areas include environmental economics, environment assessment, environment management theory and practice, ecological economics, sustainable development on a regional level, Local Agenda 21, and economics of greenhouse gas mitigation.
His memberships include vice president of the Environmental Management and Law Association (EMLA) from 1992 - 2005; president for the Hungarian Committee of UNEP, LA 21; president of the Pro Renovanda Cultura Hungarie Foundation ("Environment Culture Trade Advisory" ); and a member of the Environment-Management Subcommittee for the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA).

 

Alexander R. Vamosi
Associate Professor, Florida Institute of Technology
150 W. University Blvd., Melbourne, FL 32901
Phone: 321.674.7392
Email: avamosi@fit.edu

Dr. Alexander R. Vamosi is an Associate Professor of Economics in the College of Business at the Florida Institute of Technology. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and his research interests include ecotourism, economic impact assessment, and monetary policy. Professor Vamosi has co-authored eight economic impact studies of various nature and wildlife events in the state of Florida, including the renowned Space Coast Birding & Wildlife Festival as well as the Centennial Celebration of the National Wildlife Refuge System. He is the co-author of a forthcoming Journal of Vacation Marketing article which explores the relationship between enhancive sustainability and environmental activism. He is also co-author of a forthcoming feasibility study assessing the potential for an ecotourism event in the Hortobágy National Park (Hungary), a designated World Heritage Site. That project was made possible by a U.S. State Department Educational Partnership Grant between Florida Institute of Technology and the Budapest University of Technology and Economics in which Professor Vamosi participated. In November 2006 Professor Vamosi co-presented a paper examining structured ecotourism in the plenary session of the International Scientific Conference REGIONAL COMPETITIVENESS - SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY at Esterházy Károly College in Eger, Hungary.

 

Robert van Woesik
Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, Florida Institute of Technology
150 W. University Blvd., Melbourne, FL 32901
Phone 321 674 7475
Organization Website: https://services.fit.edu/profiles/profile.php?value=169

Dr. Robert van Woesik received a Ph.D. from James Cook University, Australia in 1993 and a B.Sc. from the University of Queensland, Australia, in 1983. Dr. van Woesik has worked on the coral reefs of the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans since 1982, and has written more than 100 scholarly research articles on coral reefs. His area of expertise is in the population and community ecology of scleractinian corals. Van Woesik is the Environmental Editor of the international journal Coral Reefs, and was the Scientific Chair of the Science Committee for the 11th International Coral Reef Symposium held in the USA in 2008. Dr. van Woesik is currently a Professor in the Biological Sciences Department at Florida Tech. His research interests are broad but ultimately linked to population ecology of scleractinian corals. His approach uses a combination of empirical and mathematical techniques to examine processes underlying coral community structure and diversity at multiple spatial and temporal scales. He is particularly interested in understanding coral-reef processes associated with climate change, thermal stress, coral bleaching and predictive modeling of coral population trajectories under different climate-change scenarios, and the application of that ecology to the management of coral reefs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Speaker Instructions

Please submit via email the following items to Linda Ward, Executive Asst to the Dean at lward@fit.edu

1. Photo (as a separate file)
2. 150-200 word Bio
3. Organization
4. Position
5. Address, City, State/Province, Zip/Postal Code, Country
6. Telephone #
7. Organization Website