Storms, Flooding & Sea Level Defense November Conference 2024
Arvind Acharya
Past President, Society of American Military Engineers (S.F. Post)
Mr. Acharya currently serves as the Past President of the Society of American Military Engineers, San Francisco Post and coordinates programs and events locally with a focus towards security and infrastructure resiliency and related challenges. Mr. Acharya is an experienced Project Executive with GES-AIS (an ASRC Industrial Company, ANC) with over 30 years in managing large-scale multi-project contracts that involves Environmental and Civil infrastructure construction activities. He has managed varied regional and national contracts with several federal agencies including the US Navy, US Army Corps of Engineers, US Air Force, Department of Energy and GSA.
Sarah Atkinson
Hazard Resilience Senior Policy Manager, SPUR (San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research)
Sarah Atkinson (she/her) is the Hazard Resilience Sr. Policy Manager at SPUR, a non-profit public policy organization serving the Bay Area. SPUR works to create an equitable, sustainable, and prosperous region through research, education, and advocacy. Sarah leads SPUR’s work on hazard mitigation, climate adaptation, community resilience, and environmental justice. She has worked in research & advocacy, green construction, food access and education, and environmental communications in both the Bay Area and Massachusetts. Sarah received her master’s in city & regional planning and her bachelor’s in environmental sciences from UC Berkeley.
Julie Beagle
Environmental Planning Section Chief, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, San Francisco District
Julie Beagle is the Environmental Planning Section Chief for the US Army Corps of Engineers San Francisco District (SPN) and leads the District’s Engineering with Nature Proving Ground. She brings a focus on integrating nature-based approaches into USACE studies, projects, and operations. She is the technical lead on several Engineering with Nature pilot projects, including piloting strategic shallow water placement of dredged materials in SF Bay to support marsh and mudflat resilience to sea-level rise. Previously Julie was the Deputy Director of the Resilient Landscapes Program at the San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) where she led the Institute’s climate resilience and adaptation studies. Prior to her ten years at SFEI, Julie worked with land managers on the North Coast of California to reduce fine sediment runoff into salmonid streams, and on watershed-scale river restoration projects.
Summer Bundy
Climate Change Adaptation & Coastal Resilience Regional Sector Leader, Stantec
Summer Bundy is a Regional Sector Leader for Climate Change Adaptation at Stantec. She is an environmental engineer, climate scientist, and program manager with 25 years of experience in public water infrastructure. Summer has spent most of her career where technical challenges meet policy-driven solutions. These include projects such as the Port of San Francisco’s Waterfront Resilience Program, where she served as the consultant team’s planning lead to develop alternatives for adapting 7.5’ of waterfront to increase earthquake and coastal flood resilience. She is a passionate about stakeholder-driven climate action, with a primary focus on critical infrastructure adaptation to achieve equitable community resilience. She first fell in love with the San Francisco Bay in the 80s, when she visited Hayward Shoreline Interpretative Center on a grade school trip.
Summer has a B.S. in environmental resources engineering from Cal Poly Humboldt and is currently earning her M.S. in Energy Policy and Climate at Johns Hopkins University. She holds the Water Edge Design Guidelines associate certification from the Water Alliance.
Tami Church
Environmental Planning Section Chief U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, San Francisco District
Tami Church is the Environmental Planning Section Chief for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, San Francisco District (SPN). Tami has over 20 years of experience working on ecosystem restoration, stream enhancement and multi-benefit flood risk management projects in the Bay Area and beyond. Previously, Tami was a Water Resources Planner for Zone 7 Water Agency (Alameda County) a local flood district doing habitat enhancement, watershed stewardship, and flood planning. She also worked as an environmental consultant doing field-based research and riparian restoration planning and design. Tami holds a Masters Degree in Environmental Planning and a Bachelors Degree in Environmental Science from U.C. Berkeley.
Peter Dreyfuss
Peter and Jonathan Dreyfuss, Co-founders, Watermaster North America
Peter Dreyfuss and his brother Jonathan founded Watermaster North America, LLC, a US company which has the exclusive franchise for the US and Canada to import components of the Watermaster Amphibious Dredger from Finland, with a hull manufactured in Michigan. This Jones Act compliant dredger Finland is a 5th generation machine currently being used in over 70 countries.
The AMD 5000 can be driven to a worksite on a standard lowboy trailer, and can then walk off the trailer and into the water, where it is propeller driven to a work site. Powered by a Caterpillar Acert C7.1 Tier 4 engine, this suction cutter-dredger can pump 20-30% slurry up to a mile away through 10” piping, and further with booster pumps.
This machine can be viewed in action at our website www.watermasterna.com.
Sarp Ersoylu
Western U.S. Ports & Maritime Manager for Burns & McDonnell,
Based in Orange County, California, Sarp Ersoylu is a mechanical engineer with 25 years of experience. He serves as the Western U.S. Ports & Maritime Manager for Burns & McDonnell, a 100% employee-owned engineering and construction firm. He is responsible for leading a team, providing planning, engineering and construction services throughout the entire lifecycle of port infrastructure projects for a variety of public and private maritime clients. Sarp has been involved in various port infrastructure projects at all phases of delivery from feasibility to construction. His project experience includes a variety of terminals, waterfront infrastructure, rail, roadway and other infrastructure projects. Sarp has been an active participant in various organizations including American Association of Port Authorities, Offshore Wind California, Propeller Club, Harbor Association of Industry and Commerce and ASCE-COPRI.
Jessica Fain
Director of Planning BCDC
Jessica Fain is the Director of Planning at the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC), a California state coastal management agency. She oversees BCDC’s planning and policy program with a core focus on adapting to rising sea level. Prior joining BCDC in 2018, Ms. Fain worked in waterfront planning and coastal resiliency in New York City at the New York City Department of City Planning and the Science and Resilience Institute at Jamaica Bay. She has taught as part-time faculty at The New School and has been a guest lecturer at various schools. Ms. Fain holds a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and a Master of City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Carly Finkle
Senior Policy Manager, Canal Alliance
Carly Finkle is the Senior Policy Manager at Canal Alliance, a community-based organization located in the Canal neighborhood of San Rafael, which is one of the most vulnerable communities to sea level rise in the Bay Area. Canal Alliance provides direct services to the primarily Spanish-speaking immigrant community and advocates to remove barriers to their success. Carly’s work has focused on educating and engaging community residents in sea level rise planning, with a particular focus on how climate change will affect and exacerbate the existing housing crisis. Carly grew up in San Rafael.
Brian Garcia
Warning Coordination Meteorologist, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Brian Garcia is the Warning Coordination Meteorologist for the National Weather Service here in the San Francisco Bay Area. Brian has worked all over the country from Houston to Alaska, from DC to California. He has been part of incident responses from Deepwater Horizon to the 2017 Wine Country Fires. Through too many “once in a career events” and years of operational meteorology, Brian has seen the impacts of climate change become more pronounced. Outside of his professional world, Brian spends most of his time in the ocean, surfing.
Brenda Goeden
Sediment Program Manager, Bay Conservation and Development Commission
Brenda Goeden is the Sediment Program Manager for the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission. She supervises the day-to-day sediment related projects, including dredging, sand and oyster shell mining, flood protection, and wetland and subtidal habitat restoration. She is BCDC’s Program Manager for the Long Term Management Strategy for the Placement of Dredged Material in the San Francisco Bay Region (LTMS) a member of the Dredged Material Management Office (DMMO), which is responsible for the beneficial reuse of over 25 million cubic yards of dredged sediment in the Bay Area. She and the BCDC Sediment Management Team worked in partnership with the San Francisco Estuary Institute, San Francisco Estuary Partnership, and the SF Bay Joint Venture on Flood Control 2.0, a multi-benefit approach to flood protection. She is the BCDC project manager for large scale wetland restoration projects, including Hamilton, Bair Island, Montezuma, and the South Bay Salt Ponds, and works to maximize beneficial reuse of sediment in these projects whenever feasible, supporting rapid marsh vegetation development. She is a frequent speaker at conferences and workshops on the subject. She has twelve years of experience developing and facilitating California marine conservation programs, as well as teaching marine science. She has a Bachelor of Arts in marine biology from Occidental College. She participates in the Great Farallones National Marine Sanctuary Beach Watch Program and Oil Spill Response Team and is a wild bird rehabilitator.
Mike Jacob
President, Pacific Merchant Shipping Association
Mike Jacob currently serves as President of the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association (PMSA), assuming the role in April 2024. PMSA is the premiere, not-for-profit maritime trade association representing vessel and marine terminal interests in legislative, policy, and regulatory matters on the US West Coast, with offices in Oakland, Long Beach, and Seattle.
Mike joined PMSA in 2005. Before being selected as President, he served as Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary of PMSA. In this role he would regularly testify and appear on behalf of the maritime industry at administrative, legal, and legislative hearings and served as the association’s liaison with outside counsel and advocates. In his role with PMSA, Mike is a frequent lecturer and presenter at industry conferences and events, including for the Pacific Admiralty Seminar, California Maritime Leadership Symposium, the Maritime Law Association of the United States, International Bar Association, and for the US State Department. He is a member of the California Freight Advisory Committee and the CSU California Maritime Academy, School of Letters & Sciences Advisory Council.
Prior to joining PMSA, Mike provided strategic consulting to local transportation agencies in the Bay Area, including the Port of Oakland and the Bay Area Rapid Transit District, and served as staff in the California State Legislature, including as Chief Consultant in the state Assembly. He was an appointee to the Alameda County Planning Commission from 2003-2015, serving three terms as chair, and has been on the board of directors of the non-profit affordable housing development company Satellite Affordable Housing Associates since 2007.
Mike holds a JD from the University of California, San Francisco College of Law (Hastings) and a BA in Economics from UC Berkeley. He is a member of the Maritime Law Association of the United States, California Lawyers Association, State Bar of California, and the United States Supreme Court Bar.
Ellen Johnck
Ellen Johnck Consulting
Ellen Johnck, CEO of Ellen Joslin Johnck, RPA is a professional services’ consultant specializing in environmental and cultural resources planning, permitting and management for marine and shoreline construction projects. These services also include government and community relations and political, legislative and funding strategies for projects. Ellen has over 50 years of work and leadership experience in California, 28 of which have been as founding Executive Director of the (San Francisco) Bay Planning Coalition. This leadership has led to securing over $500 million in funding for programs, plans and securing permits for port, navigation dredging, and related shoreline construction for flood protection, parks and recreation facilities and fish and wildlife habitat restoration. Additional experience includes 12 years as a California gubernatorial appointee to the California Coastal Commission, North Central Region, and chairman; candidate for the nomination of Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works; and planning positions with the U. S. Department of the Interior’s National Park Service and the S. F. Bay Conservation and Development Commission.
Stendert Laan
Environmental Hydrodynamics, Deltares, Introducing FloodAdapt
Stendert has ample experience developing, calibrating, and validating advanced numerical models using Delft3D and other open-source software packages. He has been involved in the development of hydrodynamic models for operational forecasting systems and environmental impact assessments for the North Sea, Massachusetts Bay, San Francisco Bay and many other regions around the globe. Among other things, Stendert works on the quantification of regional ecosystem impacts under long-term offshore wind upscaling scenarios in the North Sea, provides design conditions for various offshore development sites, and advices on policy and operational guidelines for salt water intrusion.
Colleen Liang
Director of Environmental Programs and Planning, Port of Oakland
Colleen Liang is the Director of the Environmental Programs and Planning (EP&P) Division at the Port of Oakland (Port). She has been at the Port for 24 years and manages environmental compliance, planning, and permitting in support of development and operations at the Port. Currently she is managing the environmental planning process for the OAK Terminal Modernization and Development Project and supporting the Oakland Harbor Turning Basins Widening Project.
She also supports sustainability programs including the Port’s overall goal of achieving zero emissions (ZE) operations Port-wide. This includes collaborating with internal and external stakeholders on transitioning equipment to ZE, connecting with community stakeholders, pursuing grant funding opportunities to allow the Port to implement ZE initiatives, and participating in carbon/environmental reduction programs to further document the Port’s commitment of a ZE port. Colleen also manages climate resilience projects such as preparations of a Port-wide sea level rise and groundwater intrusion vulnerability assessment and adaptation plan and a sustainability management plan.
Colleen is excited to be a part of the Port’s mission of environmental stewardship and its goals of sustainability and ZE operations.
Justin Luedy
Senior Environmental Specialist, Port of Long Beach
Justin Luedy has worked as a Senior Environmental Specialist at the Port of Long Beach for over 15 years, where he’s responsible for projects and programs related to climate change adaptation and coastal resiliency planning, harbor-wide biological surveys, wildlife mitigation and management, water quality monitoring, compensatory wetland mitigation, and sustainability. Justin holds a B.S. in Marine Biology and a M.S. in Environmental Science.
Osvaldo Macias
Environmental Justice Fellow, Nuestra Casa
Osvaldo Macias is the Environmental Justice Fellow at Nuestra Casa, where he leads the water justice program, collaborating with community members on drinking water issues in East Palo Alto. He also partners with the Peninsula Accountability for Contamination Team (PACT) to address contamination and its relationship with rising groundwater. Osvaldo grew up in El Monte, CA and earned his Bachelor’s in Politics and Legal Studies from UC Santa Cruz. Prior to his role at Nuestra Casa, he served at the Environmental Protection Agency in the Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Relations.
Stas Margaronis
President, Propeller Club of Northern California
Stas Margaronis is the California Ports Reporter for the American Journal of Transportation (AJOT).
Michael McCormick
Director, Bay Area Climate Adaptation Network (BayCAN)
Michael McCormick, AICP is the Partnerships Lead, Founder, and President of Farallon Strategies, LLC, an advisory, policy, and management consulting firm based in California. Michael is also Director of the Bay Area Climate Adaptation Network (BayCAN). He founded Farallon Strategies to support the creation of transformative solutions to reduce society’s contributions to climate change and the needed resilience in communities to address the impacts of climate change. He has worked at the local, regional, state, federal levels, and in non-profit, business, and government. These perspectives allow him to see the interconnectedness of work across governance and organizations, and to help create the vision and strategy to affect change. Michael works on governance solutions for climate change initiatives at the local and regional scale and is passionate about national service as an important tool in helping to address the climate crisis.
Michael actively supports the evolution of the community of practice and is currently serving as an Advisor to Resilient Cities Catalyst, Mentor at 3rd Derivative, Advisor to BrightAction, Board Member for Community Climate Solutions, Board Member at the Cool Davis Foundation, Senior Fellow of the American Leadership Forum: Mountain Valley Chapter, and a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners. Michael is an instructor and visiting lecturer at various universities and institutes and teaches classes on climate change, land use, and resilience at UC Davis Continuing and Professional Organizations.
Kristi McKenney
Chief Operating Officer, Port of Oakland
Kristi McKenney was named Chief Operating Officer at the Port of Oakland Feb. 5, 2020. In her role she oversees Port operations with responsibility for Engineering Services, Environmental Programs and Planning, Utilities and Information Technology. Before receiving the COO title, Ms. McKenney had been Assistant Director of Aviation at the Port’s Oakland International Airport since 2014. A graduate of San Jose State University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Aeronautics, Ms. McKenney received a Master of Science Degree in Civil Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.
Adrienne Newbold
Assistant Chief Harbor Engineer at Port of Los Angeles
Adrienne Newbold serves as the Assistant Chief Harbor Engineer for the Port of Los Angeles, the nation’s busiest container port. Appointed to this position in 2024, Newbold oversees the Structural, Specifications, Electrical, and Architectural sections of the Engineering Division and is responsible for managing the Divisions $257M Capital Improvement Program.
Newbold has 20 years of experience with the Port of Los Angeles specializing in the planning, design, construction, and operation of container terminals, transportation networks, and waterfront development. Newbold is the program manager for the Port of Los Angeles Sea Level Rise Adaptation Study which assessed the vulnerability, adaptive capacity, and developed resiliency strategies for all port assets.
Newbold holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering from Loyola Marymount University, a Master’s degree in Civil Engineering from University of California Los Angeles, and a Project Management Certificate from University of California Los Angeles. She is a licensed Professional Civil Engineer, Project Management Professional, Senior Certified Professional from the Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM-SCP), and certified International Code Council California Building Plans Examiner. Newbold was awarded the ASCE LA Outstanding Civil Engineer.
Newbold is past Board Chair for the COPRI Technical Group, an active member of ASCE, Women In Transportation, Women’s International Shipping and Trade Association, Loyola Marymount Council for Industrial Partners, and the International Association of Ports and Harbors Risk and Resiliency Committee.
Jan Novak
Associate Environmental Planner and Scientist, Port of Oakland
Jan Novak is a professional wetland scientist who works as an associate environmental planner/scientist with the Port of Oakland. He is responsible for permitting water-based projects and dredging. He recently managed the Port’s AB 691 Sea-Level Rise analysis. Prior to starting at the Port, he worked for 16 years at several environmental consulting firms. He studied soil science at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.
Emily Parker
Senior Route Analyst, Routing Advisory Services, StormGeo
Emily Parker is a passionate meteorologist with over eight years of experience as a Route Analyst at StormGeo. In her role, she provides expert guidance to shipping vessels, helping them avoid heavy weather across global sailing routes. Additionally, Emily contributes to StormGeo Insights, the company publication, by writing articles. She is a member of the Route Analyst Technical Team, collaborating with the Development department to create a more efficient operating system.
Gail Payne
Project Manager, City of Alameda
Gail Payne is a project manager at the City of Alameda where she has worked as a planner for over 15 years. Ms. Payne is managing sea level rise adaptation and transportation improvement projects. Prior to working in Alameda, she worked for 12 years at several transportation and planning consulting firms. She has a Master in City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Arts from UC Davis.
Alexander Parker
Dean, School of Letters and Sciences & Professor of Oceanography, California State University, Maritime Academy
Alex Parker is a professor of oceanography and Interim Dean of the School of Letters and Sciences at California State University Maritime Academy. His research interests are in marine microbial biogeochemistry and especially studies of carbon and nitrogen processing in the surface ocean. Dr. Parker has an active research program in the San Francisco Estuary and has consulted for the State of California and the Philadelphia (PA) Water Department on issues related to municipal nutrient loading in urban watersheds. He has been a member of the Central and Northern California Ocean Observing System (CeNCOOS) Governing Council since 2014. In 2020, Dr. Parker oversaw the launch of Cal Maritime’s newest academic major, a Bachelor of Science in Oceanography. The program is designed to provide students with both a strong theoretical background in ocean science as well as professional development / workforce skills to serve as future ocean science professionals.
Suzanne Plezia
Chief Harbor Engineer, Port of Long Beach, ‘Pier Wind’ Offshore Wind Project
Suzanne Plezia, P.E., is the Senior Director/Chief Harbor Engineer for the Port of Long Beach, California. She was named to the position in April 2017 by the Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners, governing body for the Port. Ms. Plezia began her career at the Port of Long Beach in 1996 and previously served as the Port’s Director of Construction Management.
The Senior Director and Chief Harbor Engineer for the Port of Long Beach provides oversight for all administrative and technical activities for the Port’s Engineering Services Bureau. The Bureau comprises six divisions – Program Management, Construction Management, Project Controls, Survey, Engineering Design, and Maintenance. These six divisions are responsible for the development and maintenance of the Port’s infrastructure, which includes an extensive capital program to transition the Port’s operation to zero emissions and increasing the efficiency and velocity of goods movement through the Port.
A Long Beach native, Ms. Plezia is a California Registered Professional Civil Engineer and earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the University of California, Irvine.
The Port of Long Beach is the premier U.S. gateway for trans-Pacific trade and a trailblazer in innovative goods movement, safety and environmental stewardship. As one of the busiest container seaport in the United States, the Port handles trade valued at $200 billion annually and supports hundreds of thousands of jobs.
Kevin Roche
Research Engineer & Quantum Ambassador, IBM Research Almaden
Kevin Roche is a research engineer at IBM Research Almaden, specializing in materials for magnetoelectronics, spintronics, and other related fields. He is an expert in ultra-high-vacuum systems and thin-film deposition, data acquisition and laboratory automation.
A native of the San Francisco Bay Area, Kevin earned his Bachelor’s degree in Physics at the University of California, Berkeley in 1983. He first joined IBM Research in 1982 as an American Physical Society intern; after completing his degree, he returned to IBM Research.
Since 2002, Kevin has been introducing and explicating his work in physics and materials science publicly, making it accessible to audiences with a wide range of technical education; he was a featured expert on magnetic levitation for Episode 4 of Science and Star Wars. In 2017 he added quantum computing concepts to that role and is now both an official IBM Quantum Ambassador and a Qiskit Advocate.
Kevin has been a dedicated science fiction fan since he learned to read, and his hobbies include building bartending robots, designing and making costumes, and running science fiction conventions; he was Chair of the 76th World Science Fiction Convention in August 2018.
Henry Ruhl
Director of CENCOOS (Central & Northern California Ocean Observing System)
Henry Ruhl, CeNCOOS Director, joined the Central and Northern California Ocean Observing System (CeNCOOS) in January 2018. Working in the field of ocean biogeochemistry and ecosystems research since 1994, Dr. Ruhl has published more than 100 peer-reviewed papers on marine ecological research and ocean observing. Work has included investigating connections between climate, variations in conditions over daily to decadal scales, and changes in seafloor biogeochemical and ecological conditions, frequently developing and/or applying imaging methods. Dr. Ruhl contributes to several initiatives including the Global Ocean Observing System – Biology and Ecosystems Panel, the Marine Biodiversity Observation Network, the Deep Ocean Observing Strategy, the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary – Research Advisory Panel, and Synchro: a tech testbed to accelerate access to promising ocean observing technology.
Paul Schulman
UC Berkeley Professor Infrastructure Resiliency
Paul R. Schulman is Professor Emeritus of Government at Mills College and a Senior Research Associate at the Center for Catastrophic Risk Management at the University of California, Berkeley. He has written extensively on managing hazardous technical systems to high levels of reliability and safety, within organizations and across networks of organizations. His books include (with Emery Roe), Reliability and Risk: The Challenge of Managing Interconnected Critical Infrastructures (Stanford University Press, 2016), High Reliability Management (also with Emery Roe) (Stanford University Press, 2008), and Large-Scale Policy-Making (Elsevier, 1980). Recent relevant articles are “Organizational Structure and Safety Culture” (Safety Science, v.126, 2020), “Reliability, Uncertainty and the Management of Error: New Perspectives in the COVID-19 Era” (Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, vol. 30, 2022) and “Problems and Paradoxes of Managing Reliability and Reliance in Inter-Organizational Networks.” (Safety Science, v. 167, 2023). He has been a consultant to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, the California Independent System Operator, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Invitae (a genetic testing start-up) and was an advisor to the California Public Utilities Commission’s Office of the Safety Advocate.
Zoe Siegel
Senior Director of Climate Resilience, Greenbelt Alliance
Zoe Siegel (she/her) is the Senior Director of Climate Resilience at Greenbelt Alliance, a non profit that advocates, educates and collaborates to make sure communities around the Bay Area are resilient in the face of climate change. At Greenbelt Alliance, she leads the watershed resilience program, working across the region with CBOs, as well as local and regional governments to communicate the effects of sea level rise and ensure our most vulnerable communities are protected and prepared.
A Contra Costa native and current Oakland resident, Zoe (she/her) is passionate about making sure our local communities are able to respond, adapt and thrive in response to climate threats. She brings experience as a Program Manager for Resilient by Design, where she helped lead the year-long effort to come up with innovative strategies for resilience around the region.
Zoe has a masters in City and Regional Planning from Cornell University and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of British Columbia. She is on the board of East Bay for everyone, the steering committee for California Jobs First and an advisor for the Urban Land Institute’s Urban Plan youth training program.
Randy Truby
President, RL Truby & Associates
Randy Truby has been a professional in the field of membrane/desalination since January 1969 when he joined Reverse Osmosis General Atomic (ROGA)/Fluid Systems Corporation (FSC) as a researcher. He authored numerous papers on the development of the spiral wound element and applications for reverse osmosis technology. He was a key employee at FSC for over 24 years and was CEO when the business was acquired by Koch Industries in 1998.
Mr. Truby founded R L Truby & Associates in 1998 providing consulting services in the field of membrane desalination. He has been a key part of the teams that successfully transitioned innovative technologies to commercialization. This includes Energy Recovery Inc (ERI), a seawater energy recovery technology that went from start-up to an IPO in 2005. Mr. Truby served as Global Strategy Director for NanoH2O for three years until they were acquired by LG Chem in 2014 for $200 million.
Adam Varat
Deputy Program Manager – Planning, Waterfront Resilience Program, Port of San Francisco
Adam Varat is Deputy Program Manager for Planning for the Waterfront Resilience Program at the Port of San Francisco, where he leads a multi-disciplinary team in developing shoreline adaptation plans for the San Francisco waterfront through an inclusive, multi-stakeholder process. Prior to coming to the Port, Adam was Deputy Director of the San Francisco Planning Department’s Citywide Planning Division, where he oversaw the Department’s Resilience and Sustainability and Urban Design functions. Among many other projects, Adam has managed the award-winning Better Streets Plan and the San Francisco Sea Level Rise Vulnerability and Consequences Assessment. Adam has over 20 years of public sector urban planning experience.
Adam holds a Masters Degree in City Planning and Certificate in Urban Design from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of California at Berkeley. Adam originally hails from Los Angeles and in his free time can often be found biking, hiking, or urban exploring with his family.
Kristine Zortman
Executive Director, Port of Redwood City
Kristine A. Zortman is the executive director of the Port of Redwood City where she is responsible for implementing long-range organizational goals and policies for the seventh largest port in California.
While serving in this role, Zortman has spearheaded several key initiatives that have positioned south San Francisco Bay’s only deep-water port for long-term success. This includes developing the port’s first-ever strategic vision plan, which will guide the port’s development through 2025. The plan calls for maximizing land use, improving infrastructure, diversifying maritime and commercial business efforts, improving operations and protecting the environment – all with the overall goal of strengthening the port’s impact on the region’s economy and quality of life.
Zortman’s port experience also includes eight years at the Port of San Diego where she worked on commercial real estate negotiations for cargo and maritime trade growth. She also served as vice president of neighborhood investment for Civic San Diego, a non-profit economic development agency. She began her career working in the environmental and biological realms for the National Park Service and Heitman Financial, a real estate investment management firm in Los Angeles.
Zortman was named the 2021 Chamber San Mateo County’s Businesswoman of the Year; serves as vice president of the California Association of Port Authorities; and is a board member for the Bay Planning Coalition, California Marine Affairs & Navigation Conference, and the San Francisco Marine Exchange.
Her unique ability to navigate the complex intersection of public and private interests has led to the successful implementation of pioneering policies, including cost recovery initiatives, environmentally conscious practices and unique development opportunities.
She holds a degree in biology from George Mason University and has pursued graduate studies from the University of Utah and University of California Los Angeles.