Overview Sponsors Honorary Congressional Committee Register

Member of Congress
The Honorable Brian Baird
U.S. House of Representatives
Chair, Subcommittee on Energy & Environment
of the Committee on Science & Technology
Congressman Brian Baird is beginning his 6th term in the United States House of Representatives. As Chairman of the Energy and Environment Subcommittee, Congressman Baird plays a leading role in crafting the policies that will help lead America and the world to address the 21st century problems of energy and global warming. Congressman Baird is a leading advocate for science diplomacy, especially as it relates to issues facing the Middle East. He also serves on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. A licensed clinical psychologist, Dr. Baird received his B.S. from the University of Utah, graduating Phi Beta Kappa in 1977. He continued on to the University of Wyoming, receiving his M.S. and PhD in clinical psychology.
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Moderator:
Stephen Hammond, PhD
Chief Scientist
NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research
Dr. Stephen R. Hammond is the Chief Scientist of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA’s) Ocean Exploration and Research Program and Division Leader for the Ocean Environment Research Division of NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory. Dr. Hammond has been involved in marine geophysics and submarine volcanic and hydrothermal research for more than 40 years. He has also led the NOAA Vents ocean exploration program for more than 25 years. Dr. Hammond received his B.S. from the University of Missouri at Kansas City and his M.S. and PhD. from the University of Hawaii.

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Panelists:
Larry Mayer, PhD
Director
Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping
Dr. Mayer is a Professor and the Director of the Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping at the University of New Hampshire. Larry's present research deals with sonar imaging and remote characterization of the seafloor as well as advanced applications of 3-D visualization to ocean mapping problems and applications of mapping to Law of the Sea issues, particularly in the Arctic. He serves on many advisory groups including co-chair of the NOAA’s Ocean Exploration Advisory Working Group. He received a bachelor’s degree in Geology from the University of Rhode Island in 1973 and a Ph.D. from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in Marine Geophysics in 1979.

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Elliott Norse, PhD
President
Marine Conservation Biology Institute
Dr. Norse is the President of the Marine Conservation Biology Institute in Bellevue WA. The MCBI is a conservation advocacy organization focusing on ecosystem-based management including marine reserves, destructive fishing methods and ocean zoning as ways to protect, recover and sustainably use places in the sea. Since receiving his Ph.D. in marine ecology in 1978, he has focused on progressing environmental policy. He has worked with the US Environmental Protection Agency and White House Council on Environmental Quality before founding MCBI in 1996.

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Tim Richardson
Chief Operating Officer
Liquid Robotics, Inc.
Mr. Richardson sits on the Board of Directors of Liquid Robotics where he also serves as the Chief Operations Officer. Liquid Robotics develops unmoored, station-keeping data buoys such as the Wave Glider. Previously, he was President and CEO of Micro Linear Corporation, a public traded company which was acquired by Sirenza Micro Devices in 2006. At Sirenza, he served as the Chief Strategy Advisor. Mr. Richardson has been a guest lecturer at Georgia Institute of Technology and was on the Technology Advisory Board to the Speaker of the house of the United States of America.

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Richard Spinrad, PhD
Assistant Administrator
NOAA Office of Oceanic & Atmospheric Research
Dr. Spinrad earned his Bachelor’s degree from the Johns Hopkins University and then earned an M.S. in physical oceanography and a Ph.D. in marine geology in 1982 from Oregon State University. He is the Past President of The Oceanography Society and served as Editor in Chief of Oceanography magazine. Spinrad also served on the faculty of the U.S. Naval Academy and George Mason University. His experiences include working as a research scientist at Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, serving as the President of Sea Tech, Inc., managing oceanographic research at the Office of Naval Research (including serving as the Navy’s first manager of its ocean optics program), and directing research and education for the Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE).

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