WORKING GROUP CO-CHAIRS
The following are confirmed co-chairs for each of the five working groups:
Environmental Governance Working Group
Dr. Stuart Chapin is Professor of Ecology in the Department of Biology and Wildlife at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. He directs the Bonanza Creek Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) Program and an interdisciplinary (IGERT) program in Resilience and Adaptation. His research focuses on ecosystem ecology and on the resilience of social-ecological systems. The social-ecological systems research emphasizes the resilience of northern regions to recent changes in climate and fire regime. This research entails studies of human and climatic effects on fire regime, the resulting effects on ecosystem services, wages, and cultural integrity, and the effects of local opinions about fire and national fire policy on the fire policies developed and implemented at regional scales. Most of his current research focuses on Alaska and eastern Siberia. Dr. Chapin received his BA in biology at Swarthmore College and PhD in Biology at Stanford University.
Dr. Neil Hamilton is the Director of the WWF International Arctic Programme, and Leader of the WWF Arctic Network Initiative. He worked initially in the mining industry before turning to research in coastal geomorphology and marine and coastal conservation planning. He has led projects examining possible futures for Australia, and worked with leading international research institutes to investigate options for dealing with climate change. He was founding research director of the Institute for Sustainable Futures at the University of Technology (Sydney), and established the Co-operative Research Centre for Greenhouse Accounting, a large multi-institution research programme based at the Australian National University, to understand how the biosphere could be managed to better sequester carbon and instruments such as carbon taxes could be used to combat climate change. Dr. Hamilton Neil trained initially as a geologist (B.Sc.(Hons)) and later as a geographer (M.App.Sc., Ph.D) and a strategic analyst (M.A.).
Fisheries Working Group
Ambassador David Balton is the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Oceans and Fisheries in the Department of State’s Bureau of Oceans, Environment and Science. Ambassador Balton is responsible for coordinating the development of U.S. foreign policy concerning oceans and fisheries, and overseeing U.S. participation in international organizations dealing with these issues. He also oversees U.S. foreign policy relating to the Arctic and Antarctica. He has functioned as the lead U.S. negotiator on a wide range of agreements in the field of oceans and fisheries and has chaired numerous international meetings. In 2006, he served as President of the Review Conference for the 1995 United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement. Ambassador Balton received his A.B. from Harvard College in 1981 and his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in 1985. He has also appeared as a soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C. (juggling oranges).
Mr. Kjartan Hoydal is the Secretary of the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC). Prior to becoming Secretary in 2001, he was the head of the Faroese Fisheries Administration and represented the Faroese Government as a Head of Delegation, mediator and observer in a variety of negotiations. He has also worked with the Nordic Council of Ministers as Secretary for Nordic Atlantic Cooperation, and has served on the board of various organisations including the Danish Institute of Marine Research and the Faroese Aquaculture Research Station. He chaired the North Atlantic Marine Mammals Commission (NAMMCO) and served as President of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO). He has chaired the Advisory Committee on Fisheries Management of the International Council for Exploration of the Sea and worked as Fisheries Statistician in the same organisation. He trained in Biology and Marine Ecology at the University of Copenhagen and subsequently specialised in the areas of fish biology, fish stock assessment and fisheries management.
Indigenous Peoples Working Group
Ms. Patricia Cochran serves as Chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC), an international organization representing 155,000 Inuit of Alaska, Canada, Russia and Greenland. ICC is dedicated to protecting and advancing Inuit rights and interests on the international level. She also serves as Chair of the Indigenous Peoples' Secretariat to the Arctic Council and as Executive Director of the Alaska Native Science Commission, an organization created to bring together research and science in partnership with Alaska Native communities.
Dr. Mark Nuttall is a social anthropologist. He holds the Henry Marshall Tory Chair in the Department of Anthropology, University of Alberta, Canada, and is also Academy of Finland Distinguished Professor at the University of Oulu, Finland. He has carried out research in Greenland, Canada, Alaska, Scotland, and Finland. His current work focuses on the political ecology of human-environment relations, resource development, climate change, and energy and culture, with a particular focus on northern Canada, Greenland, and the Barents Euro-Arctic Region. He was a Lead Author for the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment. He is editor of the Encyclopedia of the Arctic (Routledge, 2005), co-editor of Anthropology and Climate Change: from encounters to actions (Left Coast Press, forthcoming), and author and editor of several other volumes.
Offshore Hydrocarbon Working Group
Dr. Cutler Cleveland is Professor in the Department of Geography and Environment at Boston University. Dr. Cleveland is Editor-in-Chief of the Encyclopedia of Energy, winner of an American Library Association award and the Dictionary of Energy, and is the founding Editor-in-Chief of the Encyclopedia of Earth. Dr. Cleveland is a member of the American Statistical Association’s Committee on Energy Statistics, an advisory group to the Department of Energy, and a participant in the Stanford Energy Modeling Forum. He is the recipient of the Adelman-Frankel Award from the United States Association of Energy Economics for “unique and innovative contributions to the field of energy economics.” Dr. Cleveland has won publication awards from the International Association of Energy Economics, the American Library Association, and the National Wildlife Federation, and has been a consultant to numerous private and public organization. Dr. Cleveland holds a BS in Ecology from Cornell, a MS in Marine Science from LSU and a PhD in Geography from the University of Illinois.
Mr. Kevin O’Carroll is Head of Environmental Policy for the UK’s Department of Business (BERR) Energy Resources and Development Group. He is also currently vice-chairman of OSPAR’s Offshore Industry Committee (OIC). He has worked in the past as a consultant to the offshore oil and gas industry, as staff environmental adviser to oil companies and also to the service industry. He holds degrees in Ecological Science and Applied Microbiology and also qualified as a teacher (experience which he says has proved useful in chairing meetings in later life!).
Shipping Working Group
Dr. Lawson Brigham is Alaska Office Director of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission in Anchorage, Alaska. He is currently Vice Chair of the Arctic Council's working group on Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment (PAME) and Chair of the Council's ongoing Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment (AMSA). As a U.S. Coast Guard officer for nearly three decades, he sailed on icebreaker expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic, and served as captain of the Coast Guard icebreaker Polar Sea (1993-95). He has also served as a researcher at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the U.S. Naval War College, and the Naval Postgraduate School, and he was a contributor to the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment. His research interests have included studies on the Russian Arctic, ice navigation, polar marine transportation, and remote sensing of Arctic sea ice. Dr. Brigham received his PhD in polar oceanography from Cambridge University.
René Piil Pedersen is Head of Department of Trade and Shipping Policy at the Danish Shipowners' Association. He serves as a member of the European Community Shipowners’ Association Policy Committee, External Relations Working Group and Security Working Group. He is also an adviser to the Danish Government in international organizations, among others, the EU, WTO, IMO, OECD, WCO, ILO and OSCE. Mr. Pedersen received a Master of Science in economics from the University of Copenhagen.
