Natural Resources Symposium

KEGAN BROWN, Partner, Lowenstein Sandler LLP

Kegan A. Brown is a partner at Lowenstein Sandler LLP in New York City.  He develops and implements proactive, strategic solutions to the most complex environmental, health, and safety challenges companies face.  Kegan has extensive experience relating to contaminated sites across the country, including addressing and defending against government subpoenas and information requests, unilateral administrative orders, cost recovery/contribution claims, investigation and remediation obligations, and natural resource damages.  He also counsels clients regarding environmental risks in transactional matters. 

ROBIN BULLOCK, PH.D., Director, Center for Environmental Remediation and Assessment and Faculty, Environmental Engineering, Montana Technical University

Robin Bullock is the Director for the Center of Environmental Remediation and Assessment, and faculty at the Montana Technological University in Butte, Montana. She has over 30 years of industry experience in pulp and paper, mining and oil and gas prior to spending the past ten years in academia at the Colorado School of Mines and Montana Tech. During her industry time, she served as BP’s Director for the Deepwater Horizon Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Atlantic Richfield’s manager for the Montana Natural Resource Damage Assessment and claim resolution, in addition to her role as Decommissioning Manager. She also has extensive experience in engineering design and operations, critical mineral recovery, decommissioning and risk management.

WILLIAM H. DESVOUSGES, Ph.D., President, W.H. Desvousges & Associates, Inc.

William H. Desvousges, Ph.D., is the founder and president of W.H. Desvousges & Associates, Inc., located in St. Augustine, FL. Dr. Desvousges has conducted economic valuation studies (especially environmental) for more than 30 years. He specializes in natural resource damage assessment (NRDA), having worked on more than 35 assessments since 1987. Dr. Desvousges led major damage assessments for the hazardous-substance releases into the Clark Fork River (MT), Lavaca Bay (TX), and Fox River (WI). He has been retained on several PFOS/PFAS cases in the United States and in addition, has been admitted as an expert in measuring natural resource damages in federal court and qualified as an expert on NRDA and natural resource economics. Dr. Desvousges has been actively involved in the regulatory process for NRDA beginning with his co-authorship of the economics handbook for the DOI regulations. He has co-authored 4 books on natural resource economics and 69 peer-reviewed articles. He received his B.A. in Economics from Stetson University and his M.S. and Ph.D. from Florida State University.

BRIAN FERRASCI-O’MALLEY, Partner, Nossaman LLP

Brian Ferrasci-O’Malley is an environmental and natural resources attorney whose practice spans both transactional work and litigation. Based in Seattle, he regularly advises clients across the United States on energy development and federal wildlife law issues, including matters under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA), the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (BGEPA), the Clean Water Act (CWA), and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Mr. Ferrasci-O’Malley has particular experience with natural resource damages (NRD) matters under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) and the Oil Pollution Act (OPA). Prior to joining Nossaman, Mr. Ferrasci-O’Malley was an attorney with the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of the Solicitor, where he managed a nationwide docket of NRD cases under CERCLA and OPA. He holds a B.S. from Boston College, an M.S. from the University of Montana and a J.D. from the University of Washington School of Law.

ANNIE GIBBS, Partner, Environmental Scientist, Windward Environmental

Annie Gibbs is a Partner at Windward Environmental in the Ann Arbor, Michigan office. She leads Windward’s natural resource damage assessments (NRDAs) practice area, in which she provides expertise in assessing injury to natural resources and their services, developing compensatory restoration, and determining overarching project strategy. Ms. Gibbs has served as both a testifying expert and consulting expert on NRDA matters. Specific NRDA tasks include habitat and resource equivalency analysis, case strategy development, coordination with natural resource trustees, analysis of toxicological and other biotic effects data, and literature review. Ms. Gibbs also has extensive experience working with federal, state, and local agencies; tribes; and stakeholder groups to engage them on various topics including remediation processes, restoration projects, and oil spill planning and response. In her previous role as a contractor to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Ms. Gibbs provided support to NRDA trustee councils. She provided technical support on multiple NRDA cases on behalf of NOAA, including cases concerning Kalamazoo River, St. Louis River Interlake/Duluth Tar, and Sheboygan River and Harbor. She holds a B.S. in Aquatic and Fisher Science from the University of Washington and a M.S. in Environmental Sciences, Toxicology and Chemistry from Western Washington University.

BARBARA J. GOLDSMITH, Executive Director, Ad-Hoc Industry Natural Resource Management Group; President, Barbara J. Goldsmith & Company LLC

Barbara J. Goldsmith is Executive Director of the Ad-Hoc Industry Natural Resource Management Group and facilitated its founding in 1988 with a group of major multinational corporations. She is also President of Barbara J. Goldsmith & Company LLC, which has provided consulting services to major companies, law firms and others for over 25 years on high-level national and international energy and environmental policy matters and corporate environmental management strategy. In 2005, Ms. Goldsmith was appointed by the Interior Secretary to serve on the Department’s Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration (NRDAR) Advisory Committee.  Ms. Goldsmith has had substantial experience with business and industry associations, major companies in all industrial sectors, the US Government, international agencies, EU Member States and other countries worldwide. She is a frequent speaker on environmental, energy, and natural resource topics and collaborates with a wide set of both public and private sector entities. She has worked for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris, France, and she is the author of numerous publications on environmental regulatory issues affecting industry. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from The George Washington University and a Master of City Planning in Environmental Analysis from Harvard University, a joint degree program between the Harvard Schools of Public Health and Design and she is also an alumna of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.

DANIEL HAHN, PH.D., Regional Resource Coordinator, Assessment & Restoration Division, SE Region, US Department of Commerce/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

Dr. Daniel (Dan) Hahn is in NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration and for the past two decades has been conducting Natural Resource Damage Assessments (NRDA) for oil and chemical spills throughout the Southeast region. Currently, Dr. Hahn is the primary NOAA NRDA spill coordinator for cases in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, the U.S. Caribbean, and the offshore waters of the Gulf. Dr. Hahn works with multidisciplinary teams of biologists, chemists, economists, and lawyers, and in coordination with federal, state, and local agencies to assess injuries resulting from oil spills and chemical releases. As the strategy advisor for the Deepwater Horizon Offshore NRDA, Dr. Hahn’s worked with a team to develop a sampling strategy that could inform the injury assessment for the Deepwater Horizon incident. His background in Ecology has taken him coast to coast twice with some time in the middle getting a MS from the University of Minnesota. From the rocky shores of California, to the mangroves of the Florida Keys, to the seagrasses of the Pacific Northwest and back to the Gulf Coast of Florida, the ocean and coast is ever present in Dan’s professional and personal endeavors. Dr. Hahn hold a B.A. from UC Berkeley and a Ph.D. from the University of Washington.

KATHERINE HAUSRATH, Lead Counsel, Montana Natural Resource Damage Program 

Katherine Hausrath is the Chief Legal Counsel at the Montana Natural Resource Damage Program in Helena, Montana. At NRDP, she provides legal support for pursuing new natural resource damage claims for the State of Montana and in implementing restoration actions with recovered settlement funds. She has been at NRDP since May of 2016. Prior to that, she was an attorney for the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, working primarily on state and federal Superfund cleanups. Previously, she was an Assistant Attorney General conducting environmental enforcement for the State of Illinois. Katherine is a 2002 graduate of the University of Montana and a 2005 graduate of the Chicago-Kent College of Law and is admitted to practice in Montana and Illinois (inactive). Katherine does pro bono work in rural Montana through the Montana Legal Services Association. She has two children and loves to raft, ski, camp, and spend as much time as possible in Montana’s mountains and rivers.

TIMOTHY HOELZLE, Deputy Director, Office of Restoration and Damage Assessment, US Department of the Interior

Tim Hoelzle is the Deputy Director of the Office of Restoration and Damage Assessment (ORDA) at the US Department of the Interior (DOI). Tim has been with the ORDA since 2016, where he focuses on coordinating the work of the DOI Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration Program (NRDAR Program) in partnership with other federal agencies, states, tribes, and industry. Before joining ORDA, Tim was Vice President at Great Ecology where he served as a client and sales manager for large-scale restoration and remediation projects in the energy and mining sectors across the country. He received his B.S. and M.S. in restoration ecology from Colorado State University.

MIKE JOHNS, Ph.D., Partner Emeritus, Windward Environmental

Mike Johns, Ph.D., is Partner Emeritus at Windward Environmental. Dr. Johns is an aquatic toxicologist and ecologist specializing in aquatic ecological risk assessments, natural resource damage assessments (NRD), and site restoration planning. Experience gained during his 40+ years of professional experience has given him a broad knowledge base on issues pertaining to the effects of toxic pollutants on aquatic organisms; on development of risk-based cleanup levels, NRD injury assessments, and methods and approaches to improving habitat function and resource services through restoration. Dr. Johns has worked in the NRD arena since 1986, with an early injury assessment at the Butte-Anaconda Superfund site. Since then, he has provided NRD analysis and strategic advice to clients at numerous sites across the US. Dr. Johns NRDA project experience includes cooperative assessments with site natural resource trustees, technical support durring successful settlement negotiations, and serving as both a consulting expert and a tetifying expert in NRD claim litigation. Recently, Dr. Johns was a testifying expert in both criminal and civil litigation related to the environmental consequences of the emerging contaminant, 6PPD-quinone. He holds a BS, Biology from The Citadel, 1972; a MS, Zoology, from the University of South Carolina, 1974; a PhD, Oceanography from the University of South Carolina, 1980 and a MBA, Management from the University of Rhode Island, 1985.

EMILY JOSEPH, Director, Office of Restoration and Damage Assessment, US Department of the Interior

Emily Joseph has been with the US Department of the Interior for the past 20 years and became Director of the Office of Restoration and Damage Assessment (ORDA) in April 2022.    ORDA is responsible for overseeing the Department’s Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration (NRDAR) program.  Before becoming Director, Ms. Joseph’s main responsibilities were supervising the annual allocation process for cases working on damage assessments, as well as managing the office’s Information Management System which houses information about all of the Department’s NRDAR cases.  Prior to joining the office in 2014, Ms. Joseph was in the Office of Environmental Policy and Compliance working on environmental and disposal liability issues.  Before joining the Department, Ms. Joseph worked at the University of Miami in the area of special education, where she also completed a Master's Degree in Public Administration.  Originally from the Washington, DC area, Emily received her undergraduate degree from American University, majoring in psychology with a minor in sociology. 

STEPHANIE MAGGIO, PH.D., Ecological/Environmental Risk Assessor, GHD

Dr. Stephanie Maggio specializes in ecological risk assessments and is adept in conducting human health risk assessments, quantitative environmental modeling, and litigation support. She is an ecotoxicologist that is experienced in conducting quantitative research, aquatic toxicity testing, statistical analyses, and advanced data analysis. With a diverse professional background spanning the fields of toxicology, chemistry, and environmental science, she is adept at collaborating with interdisciplinary teams to address complex environmental issues. Dr. Maggio earned her PhD from Oregon State University where she conducted research in the field of aquatic toxicology.

JEAN MARTIN, Senior Counsel, BP

Jean Martin is Senior Counsel, Litigation and Dispute Resolution with BP.  Ms. Martin advises the company’s in-house remediation management team, collaborating with in-house specialists, external experts, and legal counsel to evaluate, litigate, and resolve environmental remediation and natural resource damage claims against bp and its subsidiaries.  She has defended the company against some of the largest and most complex natural resource damage claims brought in the US, including claims arising from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.  She also defends the company against remediation and restoration claims at complex mega-sites, including mining, smelting, refining and multi-party river contamination sites.  Ms. Martin has negotiated several settlements that coordinated remedy and restoration, in circumstances where coordination provided a cost-effective solution to disputed claims that also enabled restoration to begin at an earlier date.  Ms. Martin has been providing legal advice on remediation and natural resource damage issues to bp and its subsidiaries for over 20 years, working in their Los Angeles, Chicago, London and Houston offices.  Before that, she was an associate attorney at Sidley Austin and at Pillsbury Madison & Sutro (now Pillsbury Winthrop). Ms. Martin received her undergraduate degree in history from Cornell University and her J.D. from Harvard Law School.

THOMAS PEARCE, Counsel, Latham & Watkins LLP

Thomas Pearce is an associate in the New York office of Latham & Watkins. Mr. Pearce is a member of the Environment, Land & Resources Practice and Litigation & Trial Department. He represents clients in environmental, commercial, products liability, and toxic tort litigations. He also advises clients on environmental regulatory and transactional issues relating to federal environmental laws, including the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), the Clean Air Act (CAA) and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), as well as their state equivalents. He has represented clients across a variety of sectors, including manufacturing, chemicals, paint and coatings, and oil and gas. Mr. Pearce is also an active member of the firm’s pro bono program and was a recipient of the firm’s 2020 Robert M. Dell Prize for Extraordinary Pro Bono Service as part of a team that successfully litigated Voting Rights Act claims in the East Ramapo Central School District in New York. He holds a B.A. from the University of North Carolina and a J.D. from the New York University School of Law.

JEFFREY TALBERT, J.D., Partner, Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP

Jeffrey Talbert is a Partner with Arnold & Porter in their Boston, MA office. He is accomplished trial attorney and environmental lawyer who focuses on environmental litigation, permitting, and risk management. Mr. Talbert also serves as a mediator and allocator of costs at Superfund Sites and has significant experience in all major environmental statutes. Prior to joining the firm, he led the environmental group at a Chambers-ranked law firm and was a Trial Attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice’s Environmental Enforcement Section. At the U.S. DOJ, he led one of the largest Clean Water Act cases in U.S. history, the first Clean Air Act case under EPA’s pulp and paper initiative related to New Source Review, the largest Natural Resource Damages case under the Park Service Resource Protection Act, and numerous CERCLA and RCRA cases. Mr. Talbert received numerous awards for his work, including EPA's Gold Medal for exceptional service. He holds a B.A. from Kalamazoo College and a J.D. from University of Michigan Law School.

EVA VRANA, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Environmental Management, US Department of the Interior 

Eva Vrana is currently the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Environmental Management at the Department of the Interior. Previously, she served as Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management, and Budget during the first Trump Administration and worked in the Office of Policy Analysis in 2014. In addition to her federal experience, Ms. Vrana has extensive legislative experience, most recently as District Director for Conference Chairwoman Lisa McClain and as a Policy Advisor with the Michigan House of Representatives’ Republican Policy Office. Prior to her work in the state legislature, Ms. Vrana worked for Congressman John Moolenaar, focusing on health policy and the congressman’s portfolio on the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations subcommittee. Ms. Vrana began her career on Capitol Hill working for the late Congressman Dan Benishek. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the College of Forest Resources and Environmental Sciences from Michigan Technological University and a Master of Science degree in Environmental Science from American University.

TARA WHITTLE, NRDA Biologist, Texas General Land Office

Tara Whittle has worked with the Texas General Land Office for more than ten years, serving as a Natural Resource Trustee and NRDA Biologist. Her work includes managing projects and supporting broader natural resource damage assessments and restoration efforts across Texas, partnering with other agencies and communities to restore habitat, improve hydrology, and protect public trust resources. Earlier in her career at the GLO, she was a Coastal Biologist and led area storm debris response projects. Additionally, she currently serves as Chair of the States NRD Alliance and as Quality Assurance Officer for the Texas Beach Watch program. Tara earned her B.S. in Biological Sciences from the University of Texas at San Antonio and is dedicated to practical conservation, science-driven restoration, and public service.

JON J. WIEBE, Program Manager, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries

Jon Wiebe is a restoration biologist focused on identifying, investing and addressing resource needs through active engagement and data-driven solutions. Many of these activities have centered on avian resource injury assessment and restoration in relation to coastal oil spills with emphasis placed on Deepwater Horizon. By design, these activities are highly collaborative amongst a diverse stakeholder community with the goal of realizing real-world Resource benefits. Mr. Wiebe has extensive experience evaluating the effects of environmental stressors (e.g., chlorinated hydrocarbons, triazine herbicides, paper mill effluents, wastewater effluents and human health care products) and habitat modification on select wetland species throughout Florida and the broader United States. Mr. Wiebe received his M,S. in Environmental Toxicology from the University of Florida.