Biographies of Plenary Speakers

The Reverend Sally Grover Bingham is the founder and executive director of The Regeneration Project, a nonprofit ministry, at this time, focusing on a response to global climate change. This particular initiative is called Episcopal Power and Light. The Episcopal model has developed into an interfaith one in several states in the US and Canada. The mission is to mobilize the community of faith to lead by example in reducing green house gas emissions.

Rev. Bingham is a Priest in the Diocese of California currently working as the Environmental Minister at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco.  She has been the chair of the Episcopal Diocesan Commission for the Environment for the last eight years.

She has been active in the environmental community for twenty years and serves on the national board of Environmental Defense Fund. She has brought widespread attention to the linkage between ecological issues and the Christian Faith and was appointed by Mayor Willie Brown to serve on the Commission on the Environment for the City and County of San Francisco.

In July 2001 Rev. Bingham received the Green Power Leadership Pilot Award from the Center for Resource Solutions, the US EPA and the US Dept of Energy. Episcopal Power and Light was recognized as a Sacred Gift to the Planet by the World Wildlife Fund in November 2000 at a ceremony in Kathmandu, Nepal. The Regeneration Project received international Global Energy Award in 2002. This “Energy Oscar” was presented to Rev. Bingham in Austria by President Mikhail Gorbachev in March 2002.

Rev. Bingham has three children, Sarah, Stephen and Lock. She is an active and competitive tennis player, loves to hike and be outdoors. A cancer survivor, she brings her experience and passion to her ministry, connecting human health and the environment.

Marilyn Brown is the Deputy Director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Energy Efficiency andRenewable Energy Program. During her 15 years at ORNL, she has researched the design and impacts of policies and programs aimed at accelerating the development and deployment of sustainable energy technologies. Prior to coming to Oak Ridge, Dr. Brown was a tenured Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In addition to teaching graduate and undergraduate seminars on technological change, resource geography, and statistical analysis and modeling, she received two NSF grants and funding from other sources to support her research on the diffusion of energy innovations.

Dr. Brown sits on the boards of several energy and environmental organizations, including EPA's Board of Scientific Counselors and the Alliance to Save Energy, and on the editorial boards of several journals. She has served on advisory committees to NSF, EPA, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the University of Tennessee, and the Iowa Energy Center. She is also a member of the National Commission on Energy Policy and is a Certified Energy Manager.

Dr. Brown has a Ph.D. in geography from the Ohio State University where she was a University Fellow, a Masters Degree in resource planning from the University of Massachusetts, and a BA in political science (with a minor in mathematics) from Rutgers University. She has authored more than 140 publications and has received awards for her research from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, the Lockheed Martin Corporation, the Association of American Geographers, the Technology Transfer Society, and the Association of Women in Science.

Ralph J. Cicerone , president of the National Academy of Sciences, is an atmospheric scientist whose research in atmospheric chemistry and climate change has involved him in shaping science and environmental policy at the highest levels nationally and internationally.

His research was recognized on the citation for the 1995 Nobel Prize in chemistry awarded to University of California, Irvine colleague F. Sherwood Rowland. The Franklin Institute recognized his fundamental contributions to the understanding of greenhouse gases and ozone depletion by selecting Cicerone as the 1999 laureate for the Bower Award and Prize for Achievement in Science. One of the most prestigious American awards in science, the Bower also recognized his public policy leadership in protecting the global environment. In 2001, he led a National Academy of Sciences study of the current state of climate change and its impact on the environment and human health, requested by President Bush. The American Geophysical Union awarded him its 2002 Roger Revelle Medal for outstanding research contributions to the understanding of Earth’s atmospheric processes, biogeochemical cycles, or other key elements of the climate system. In 2004, the World Cultural Council honored him with another of the scientific community’s most distinguished awards, the Albert Einstein World Award in Science.

During his early career at the University of Michigan, Cicerone was a research scientist and held faculty positions in electrical and computer engineering. In 1978 he joined the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego as a research chemist. From 1980 to 1989, he was a senior scientist and director of the atmospheric chemistry division at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado. In 1989 he was appointed the Daniel G. Aldrich Professor of Earth System Science at the University of California, Irvine and chaired the department of earth system science from 1989 to 1994. While serving as dean of physical sciences for the next four years, he brought outstanding faculty to the school and strengthened its curriculum and outreach programs. Prior to his election as Academy president, Cicerone was the chancellor of the University of California, Irvine from 1998 to 2005.

Cicerone is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society. He has served as president of the American Geophysical Union, the world's largest society of earth scientists, and he received its James B. Macelwane Award in 1979 for outstanding contributions to geophysics. He has published about 100 refereed papers and 200 conference papers, and has presented invited testimony to the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives on a number of occasions.

Cicerone received his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he was a varsity baseball player. Both his master's and doctoral degrees are from the University of Illinois in electrical engineering, with a minor in physics.

David Conover was appointed by President Bush as Director of the Climate Change Technology Program (CCTP) at  the U.S. Department of Energy in January 2003.  The CCTP is an ongoing, integrated and comprehensive Federal R&D portfolio review.  Coordinated across 13 key Federal R&D agencies, it is aimed at focusing Federal technology R&D more effectively on the President’s climate change goals, near- and long-term.  It provides an opportunity to develop a coherent, multi-year R&D program, tied to specific climate change goals and objectives. 

In December 2003, DOE Secretary Abraham appointed Mr. Conover as a Senior Policy Advisor to the Secretary.  As Senior Policy Advisor, he provided counsel to the Secretary on a range of climate change and energy policy matters.

In February 2005, DOE Secretary Bodman appointed Mr. Conover to the position of Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Policy and International Affairs.   Policy and International Affairs (PI) is the primary policy advisor to the Secretary, Deputy Secretary, and Under Secretary on domestic policy development and implementation, as well as international energy policy analysis and activities.  PI’s role is to deliver unbiased advice to Departmental leadership on existing and prospective energy-related policies, based on integrated and well-founded data and policy analysis.  PI represents the Department in interagency discussions on energy and related policy, and addresses all aspects of U.S. energy, including energy availability and reliability, and the economic efficiency of the Nation’s energy sector.

As Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Mr. Conover continues to serve as Director of the U.S. Climate Change Technology Program.

Previous to this assignment, Mr. Conover served as Staff Director of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.  He holds a J.D. cum laude from the Georgetown University Law Center and a B.A. with highest honors from the University of Virginia, and is licensed to practice law in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Reid Detchon is a consultant for the United Nations Foundation in Washington, D.C., working on domestic and international energy policy issues. Previous to June, 1999, he spent six years at Podesta Associates, a government relations and public affairs firm in Washington, D.C. Mr. Detchon provided public policy and government relations consulting on matters relating to energy and environmental issues and technology development. He founded and served as executive director of the Biomass Energy Alliance, a coalition of businesses, utilities, and farm and environmental groups promoting the potential benefits of using biomass for energy, and was co-director of the American Bioenergy Association, a trade association and advocacy group. From 1989 to 1993 Mr. Detchon served as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Conservation and Renewable Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy. He led the transition team at the Energy Department for the incoming Bush administration and acted as a consultant to Secretary James Watkins during the initial months of his tenure. Mr. Detchon worked for five years in the U.S. Senate, advising Senator John Danforth of Missouri on energy and environmental issues. He is a 1970 graduate of Yale University.

Robert Donkers  is counselor for environmental affairs at the European Commission delegation inWashington, D.C.

Prior to his current position, Donkers served as acting and deputy head of the chemicals unit in the Environment Directorate-General (DG) of the European Commission, where his responsibilities included the coordination of the development of a new European Union (EU) chemicals policy and legislative framework.

He also served as the chief EU negotiator on the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, took part in the International Maritime Organization negotiations on the International Convention on the Control of Harmful Anti-fouling Systems on Ships, the Rotterdam Convention on Prior Informed Consent and other United Nations negotiations and conferences related to chemical substances and sustainable development issues.

At Environment DG, Donkers was the co-author of the Fifth European Commission Environment Action Program (1993-2000) titled “Towards Sustainability,” and coordinated the Review of the Fifth Program from 1995 to 1998.

Before joining the commission in 1990, Donkers held several positions in the Dutch administration, including deputy director for international environmental affairs in the Ministry of the Environment, and EU environment counselor for the Netherlands in Brussels.  Mr. Donkers holds Master's degrees in economics and in public and international law from the Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands. (pdf - European Union brochure on funding for projects regarding energy, sustainable development and environmental protection)

Robert Greco is Director of Policy Analysis for the American Petroleum Institute (API), a national trade association representing 400 companies involved in all aspects of the petroleum and natural gas industry.  Bob leads a staff that integrates economic and environmental policy analysis and development.  Prior to this position, Bob was Director of Global Climate Programs at API, and over his 15-year career at API he has also managed issues such as marine transportation, refining, the production of gasoline and jet fuels, and the implementation of the Clean Air Act.

Before API, Bob was an environmental engineer with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency with expertise in automotive emission control technologies.  Bob has a M.S. degree in Environmental Engineering from Cornell University and a B.A. in Biology from Colgate University.

Chip Groat is Director of the Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy, Director of the Energy and Mineral Resources Graduate Program, and holds the John A. and Katherine G. Jackson Chair in Energy and Mineral Resources in the Department of Geological Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin. He assumed these positions in June 2005 after serving 6 ½ years as Director of the U.S. Geological Survey, having been appointed by President Clinton and retained by President Bush.

Prior to his position with the U.S. Geological Survey, he was Associate Vice President for Research and Sponsored Projects at The University of Texas at El Paso following a term as Director of the Center for Environmental Resource Management and Professor of Geological Sciences there. His previous experience includes Associate Director and Acting Director of the Bureau of Economic Geology and Associate Professor of Geological Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin; Chairman of the Department of Geological Sciences at The University of Texas at El Paso; State Geologist and Director of the Louisiana Geological Survey; Assistant to the Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources administering the Coastal Zone Management  and Coastal Protection programs; Professor of Geology and Geophysics and Director of the Center for Coastal, Energy and Environmental Resources at Louisiana State University; and Executive Director of the American Geological Institute.

He has been a member of the National Research Council Board on Earth Sciences and Resources and the Outer Continental Shelf Policy Board. He is a past President of the Association of American State Geologists and of the Energy Minerals Division of American Association of Petroleum Geologists.

His degrees in geology are from the University of Rochester (A.B.), University of Massachusetts (M.S.), and The University of Texas at Austin (Ph.D.)

His current interests focus on advancing the role of science and engineering in shaping policy and informing decisions, and on ways to increase the integration of the science disciplines as a means of improving the understanding of complex resource and environmental systems.

Hank Habicht  possesses an extensive environmental and energy background in both the public and private sectors.  He served as Deputy Administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and was Senior Vice President with Safety-Kleen Corporation.  He also served as Assistant Attorney General of the U. S. Department of Justice under the Reagan administration where he directed the Environment and Natural Resources Division.

Mr. Habicht serves as Chief Executive Officer of the Global Environment & Technology Foundation (GETF), a 501(c)3 not-for-profit corporation that fosters innovation in environmental management and applications of clean technology that make business and environmental sense.  He is a founding Principal of Capital E, LLC, a firm that promotes investment in new energy technology and also serves as Commissioner on the National Commission on Energy Policy.

Previously, Mr. Habicht was Senior Vice President of Safety-Kleen Corporation, a provider of industrial and recycling services to 400,000 customers with sales of over $1 billion. Mr. Habicht's responsibilities included the three business and functional units of Corporate Development, Corporate Account sales and Environment, Health and Safety operations.  Mr. Habicht acquired or assisted in the startup of several successful businesses which helped grow sales by over $100 million.  His team also established environmental performance indicators and made dramatic improvements in all categories.

Prior to his position with Safety-Kleen, Mr. Habicht was Chief Operating Officer of U.S. EPA under Administrator William K. Reilly. Mr. Habicht’s responsibilities included budget and program management authority for a $7 billion budget and 18,000 employees.  Direct reports included all regional, financial and program operations.  Mr. Habicht initiated quality-oriented management improvements to improve planning and integrate U.S. EPA's diverse science, policy and enforcement functions.  In addition, Mr. Habicht chaired or served on several interagency work groups concerning risk assessment, energy, transportation, trade, and technology promotion.

From 1987 to 1989 Mr. Habicht was with William D. Ruckelshaus Associates as Vice President and Counsel.  Mr. Habicht’s responsibilities included counsel for companies on environment-related operational, legal and financial issues along with assisting in development of new business ventures.  Prior to this position, Mr. Habicht was Assistant Attorney General of the United States where he directed the Land and Natural Resources Division with responsibility for all federal environmental enforcement, energy and natural resource litigation.

Mr. Habicht is a member of numerous boards and advisory councils.  He serves as a Member of the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board; Chairman of Board of Resolve, Inc.; Director of 3E Company; NREL Advisory Board; and as a Member of President’s Advisory Committee on Trade Policy and Negotiation; and the Steering Committee of the Energy Future Coalition.  He also serves on the Dow Chemical Corporate Environmental Advisory Council, the Princeton Environmental Institute and the National Pollution Prevention Roundtable Advisory Boards.

Education:  J.D., University of Virginia; A.B., Princeton University

Philip Harter is an Earl F. Nelson Professor of Law at the University of Missouri.  Harter joined the faculty in 2003 after serving as the Director of the Program on Consensus, Democracy and Governance at Vermont Law School which was funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation to explore democratic approaches to increasing the role of the private sector in making decisions with public implications.

Professor Harter served as chair of the Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice of the American Bar Association in 1995-1997 and was co-chair of the ABA's Task Force on Regulatory Practice to the Uniform Mediation Act, the reporter for multi-section committee that developed Standards for Ombuds which were adopted by the ABA, and a member of the Section of Dispute Resolution.

From 1980 until 2002 he was a mediator specializing in complex, controversial, multi-party issues involving government policy.  Mr. Harter has been a pioneer in both the theory and practice of the use of consensus and other forms of dispute resolution involving governmental agencies. His article "Negotiating Regulations: A Cure for Malaise" formed the theoretical basis for negotiated rulemaking and has served as the foundation for the subsequent practice. His writing also formed the basis of the Administrative Procedure Act.  The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit appointed him as a mediator to assist the court in the resolution of its cases.  Previously, he has practiced law with the Washington office of Weil, Gotshal & Manges as well as with the DC based firm, Shea & Gardner.

His awards include the Federal Bar Association's prestigious Gellhorn Award for "improving the fairness and efficiency of the administrative process" and the Center for Public Resources' for "outstanding achievement for excellence and innovation in alternative dispute resolution." He is also listed in "Who's Who in America."

Mr. Harter has taught Administrative Law for 30 years at The American University's Law School of Public Affairs and Vermont Law School and has taught Public Policy Dispute Resolution for 15 years at Vermont Law School. Mr. Harter holds an AB from Kenyon College and a MA and JD from the University of Michigan. 

Volker Hartkopf is the director of the Center for Building Performance and Diagnostics at Carnegie Mellon University.  Since 1972, Professor Hartkopf has been teaching and conducting research at Carnegie Mellon University. His work covers a broad range of activities: international initiatives, funded research and professional consulting on building systems integration, advanced technology, building performance, energy conservation, urban revitalization, third-world housing and disaster prevention. He has realized as an architect building projects in Germany, Bangladesh, Peru and the United States. He also led masterplanning efforts for Volkswagen A.G. and the City of Wolfsburg, Germany; EXPO 2000 Hanover and Berlin-Lichtenberg, Germany.

In 1975, Prof. Hartkopf co-initiated and subsequently directed the first multi-disciplinary program in Architecture, Engineering and Planning in the United States. In 1981, he co-founded the Center for Building Performance and Diagnostics (CBPD) at Carnegie Mellon. Prof. Hartkopf has created and directs the Advanced Building Systems Integration Consortium (ABSIC), which focuses on the impact of advanced technology on the physical, environmental, and social settings in office buildings to create high performance work environments. ABSIC, in cooperation with Carnegie Mellon, has designed, constructed and maintained the Robert L Preger Intelligent Workplace, officially opened in the winter of 1997.

An award winning teacher and frequent keynote speaker in Australia, Europe, Asia and the Americas, Dr. Hartkopf has authored over 100 technical publications. He continues his consulting with such organizations as DaimlerChrysler, Volkswagen, Thyssen Krupp, Electricite de France, U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of Energy, and Siemens.

Dr. Hartkopf holds a Master of Architecture degree from the University of Texas at Austin and a Ph.D. in Architecture from the University of Stuttgart, Germany. 

U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee can see majestic Mount Rainier from his home on Bainbridge Island in Washington state on a clear day.  He wants to keep it that way for his three sons and generations to come.
 
That's why Inslee, who is a leading voice on environmental issues in Congress, has filed a 400-page bill aimed at developing clean and secure sources of energy.  Named after President John F. Kennedy's initiative to get humans to the moon and back, the New Apollo Energy Act relies on the technological genius of Americans to meet today's great energy challenges.  If enacted, it would address the problem of global warming, break our nation's addiction to Middle Eastern oil, increase national security and create millions of high-paying jobs in the United States.
 
Inslee has represented Washington's 1st Congressional District since 1999 and currently serves on the House Resources and Energy and Commerce committees.  He earned his undergraduate degree in economics from the University of Washington and law degree from Willamette University.  He's been married to his high-school sweetheart Trudi since 1972 and has three grown children Joe, Connor and Jack.

Daniel M. Kammen is Professor in the Energy and Resources Group (ERG) , Professor of Public Policy in the Goldman School of Public Policy and is Professor of Nuclear Engineering in the Department of Nuclear Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley . He is also the founding Director of the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory (RAEL).

Dr. Kammen's research interests include: the science, engineering, management, and dissemination of renewable energy systems; health and environmental impacts of energy generation and use; rural resource management, including issues of gender and ethnicity; international R&D policy, climate change; and energy forecasting and risk analysis. He is the author of over 90 journal publications, a book on environmental, technological, and health risks (Should We Risk It?, Princeton University Press) and numerous reports on renewable energy and development. He has been featured on radio, network and public broadcasting television and in print as an analyst of energy, environmental, and risk policy issues and current events. In 1993, Dr. Kammen received the 21st Century Earth Award, which recognizes contributions to rural development and environmental conservation. Kammen is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and a Permanent Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences.

From 1993 - 1998 Dr. Kammen was an Assistant Professor of Public and International Affairs in the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, where he played a key role in developing the interdisciplinary Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy (STEP) Program.  In July of 1998 he joined the faculty of the University of California, Berkeley as an Associate Professor of Energy and Society. Dr. Kammen also advises the U. S. and Swedish Agencies for International Development, the World Bank, and the President's Committee on Science and Technology (PCAST), and is a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Dr. Kammen received his undergraduate degree in physics from Cornell University and his masters and doctorate in physics from Harvard. (links to Kammen's recently published papers: "Ethanol can Contribute to Energy and Environmental Goals" (Science January 26, 2006), " Reversing the Incredible Shrinking Energy R&D Budget" and " Science and Engineering Research That Values the Planet ." 
  
Dr. James Lake is the Associate Laboratory Director for Nuclear R&D Programs at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory (INL). INL was established on February 1, 2005 by the merger of the Idaho National Engineering & Environmental Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory–West, and is DOE’s lead laboratory for nuclear reactor technology. Dr. Lake is responsible for leadership and management of nuclear energy R&D programs; technical support for the nuclear power industry; nuclear science and engineering research; advanced reactor design; fusion safety; reactor and nuclear physics; thermal-fluid systems and heat transfer; advanced nuclear fuels and materials; nuclear safety analysis; risk, reliability, human factors, and regulatory support for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission; space nuclear power systems development and testing for NASA and DOE, DOE-NE irradiation test programs in the Advanced Test Reactor; and advanced fuel cycle research.

Dr. Lake's personal technical work has been in the areas of reactor physics, advanced reactor design, and reactor safety. He holds 2 patents on advanced reactor technology, and is the author of more than 35 refereed technical publications on reactor physics, nuclear engineering, and reactor design. He has published in Scientific American, the Washington Post, and other magazines and newspapers. Dr. Lake is an elected Fellow and 2000-01 President of the 11,000-member American Nuclear Society.

Dr. Lake is a graduate and Distinguished Engineering Alumnus of the Georgia Institute of Technology with MS and PhD degrees in Nuclear Engineering.

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