Dr. Hany Elwany is among the world’s foremost scientists and engineers in the nearshore environment, with specialized experience in coastal processes, sediment transport and estuarine dynamics. He founded Coastal Environments in 1988 to provide unprecedented professional services to meet coastal challenges. Dr. Elwany has authored and employed unique mathematical and computer techniques to study optimal design structures under various dynamic constraints. His work includes dynamic response of mechanical systems, design of offshore structures, data analyses, simulation, modeling of ocean and coastal conditions and the interaction between currents, waves and structures. Dr. Elwany holds a Ph.D. from the University of Dundee in the United Kingdom, a B.S. in Mathematics and Statistics from Alexandria University, and has worked extensively with the Center for Coastal Studies at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

Mr. James Peeler specializes in site assessment, site maintenance, regulatory compliance, fieldwork oversight, and project management, pertaining to lagoons groundwater, surface water, stormwater, soil, and soil vapor sampling. He conducts aquifer testing, GPS site surveying, geologic mapping and  drilling activities, including hollow-stem, geo-probe, air, mud, and sonic. A published scientist, his writing experience also includes multiple Phase I and II reports, surface and groundwater monitoring reports, RI and FS reports, and site conceptual models.  He has a M.S. in Geology from San Diego State University.

Ms. Emily Callahan specializes in biological oceanography, marine law, environmental compliance, and multi-faceted sampling programs. She has participated in marine environmental impact assessments worldwide for governmental agencies and private sector clients. Her work has focused on the development of offshore technologies, biodiversity baseline management studies, and ecological assessments of offshore resources. A certified PADI dive master, Ms. Callahan has worked as a field technician collecting sediment and biota samples on oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico. She received her M.A.S. from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation, examining the ecological, socio-economic, regulatory/policy, and advocacy issues surrounding the implementation of the Rigs-to-Reefs program in California to repurpose offshore oil and gas platforms as artificial reefs.

Ms. Amber Jackson experience includes habitat and coral reef restoration, sample collecting, research analysis, multi-beam bathymetry and acoustic backscatter data. She has engineered and launched intelligent map layers in Google Maps for the creation of the virtual seafloor in Google Earth. A former National Science Foundation Researcher at the California Academy of Sciences, she designs, implements, and conducts site assessments and has authored numerous reports and grants. She co-founded the Rigs-to-Reefs program, which won the Tribeca Film Festival Disruptive Innovation Award. She has a B.A. in Marine Science from UC Berkeley, and her M.A.S. from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation.

Mr. William Speidel specializes in the acquisition, processing and interpretation of coastal data, and is both an engineer and certified professional geologist. Among prior positions, Mr. Speidel has served as oceanographer at the U.S. Navy Electronics Laboratory and was the founder and president of the Pelagos Corporation providing engineering, surveying, infrastructure design, and integrated geotechnical, subsea and geoscience services. He has unprecedented experience in harbor and port construction. Experienced in high-resolution shallow marine geological and multi-channel seismic surveys, he has planned and directed coastal and offshore surveys in all areas of the Pacific Ocean, Southeast Asia, Europe, West Africa, Europe, Australia, Central and South America, Caribbean and the Arctic Ocean.

Dr. Mark Legg directs subsurface geophysical investigations and data processing, and manages geology and geophysical studies, seismicity studies, and projects involving deterministic and probabilistic seismic hazard assessment and risk characterization, and Geographic Information System (GIS).

Mr. Lawrence Lovell has over 25 years of experience in the areas of invertebrate systematics and benthic ecology in estuarine, bay, intertidal, and subtidal benthic communities from Alaska to Peru, and South Carolina to Massachusetts. Mr. Lovell acts as field leader, laboratory manager and polychaete taxonomist for benthic studies, including 316b waiver studies, biological assessment for oil platform and pipeline studies, dredge disposal, port expansion, oil spill monitoring, and biological baseline studies.

Dr. Janice Callahan performs statistical data analysis and numerical modeling for a wide variety of high-technology applications. She develops statistical designs, methods, protocols, models, and analysis plans. From data entry, calculations, manipulations, samplings, interpretations, verifications and validations to analyses, she also prepares studies, plans, and statistical reports. She holds a B.S. in Applied Mathematics & Engineering Physics from the University of Wisconsin and a Ph.D. in Mathematical Statistics from Johns Hopkins University.

Dr. Stephen Schroeter’s experience includes demographic studies of marine plants and animals and experimental studies on the effects of competition and predation on marine communities. His team conducted a large research program for the California Coastal Commission (CCC) that examined the potential impacts of an open coast nuclear power plant. Dr. Schroeter has worked on population dynamics and competitive interactions among three species of sea urchins on Catalina Island and on the effects of different guilds of predators on sea urchin populations in Nova Scotia. He received a B.S. in Zoology, and an M.S. in Zoology with a minor in Statistics at Brigham Young University. At the University of California, Santa Barbara, he received a Ph.D. in Ecology with a minor in Mathematical Biology.

Dr. William O’Reilly is a specialist in the study of coastal waves. He has developed a very successful and informative refraction-diffraction program utilizing directional wave information to model surface gravity waves in the Southern California Bight. Dr. O’Reilly received a Ph.D. and M.S. in Oceanography from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and a B.S. in Environmental Engineering and a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Michigan.

Mr. Phil Walen specializes in survey design, data acquisition, interpretation, and computer modeling. He provides reports on geological conditions for engineering, mining, and environmental projects, proficient in the latest geophysical data acquisition systems used for seismic reflection and refraction, GPR, gravity, magnetics, electrical, and electromagnetics. He received a B.S. in Geosciences from the University of Arizona.

Mr. James Elliott is a biologist specializing in ecology and marine invertebrate taxonomy and all aspects of nearshore marine life, water quality and effects of sedimentation. His experience includes data collection and sampling of invertebrates, kelp, algae, marine plants, and fish, and projects that monitor the impact of thermal and sewage discharges, pipelines and other underwater structures.

Dr. Peter Bromirski serves as a strategic consultant to Coastal Environments.  He is among the world’s leading scientists on sea level change, and coastal response, with over thirty scientific publications on topics related to climate change and vulnerability. His talents include the integration of scientific principles to make calculated assessments on the effects of varying wave climate on coastal communities.

Dr. Howard Chang is a registered civil engineer in California and Arizona and specializes in hydraulics, hydrology, sedimentation, fluvial processes, flood plain mapping, channel design, river channel erosion and sedimentation, hydrological simulation and watershed analysis. He has developed the HHC-1 program for the modified rational method in hydrology and made extensive use of HEC-1, HEC-2, HEC-RAS, TR20 and other programs in hydraulics and hydrology. He works with local, state and federal governmental agencies and the United Nations.

Mr. Jerome Wanetick is a leading expert in oceanographic data acquisition systems, systems programming, and computer graphics and display. He works on projects involving the acquisition, analysis, and display of oceanographic data collected both in the nearshore and shelf regions and works as chief systems manager and scientific programmer for the Center for Coastal Studies at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Mr. Wanetick designed automated data acquisition system programs funded by the Office of Naval Research to measure wave field in the surf zone off the coast of North Carolina. He helped to develop hardware for the Coastal Data Information Program and the California Storm and Tidal Wave Study, and has managed the San Onofre Beach Study, and the San Diego Beach Profile Program funded by the California Department of Boating and Waterways.