PLENARY SPEAKERS
SEETHA COLEMAN-KAMMULA, Ph.D.
President, PFAS SolutionsNew Castle, DE USA
Biography
Seetha Coleman-Kammula, Ph.D., is the President and co-founder of PFAS Solutions, an independent not-for-profit organization committed to doing good science for a healthy environment. She is a serial entrepreneur and a former Senior Vice President of Basell, a Royal Dutch Shell and BASF joint venture.
Dr. Coleman-Kammula started as a research scientist in Amsterdam and held diverse positions in 4 countries managing R&D, strategy and business units. After retiring from Shell she served on Dow Chemical Company’s sustainability external advisory board and founded Simply Sustain LLC, a management consulting company in sustainability. She currently leads the Center for PFAS Solutions.
The Center for PFAS Solutions specializes in trace level analysis of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS), a group of chemicals of concern. Through research and development of innovative test methods, they offer their clients products and solutions to problems resulting from the production, formulation, and end-use applications of PFAS.
MAŽEIKA PATRICIO SULLIVÁN, PH.D.
Director, Baruch Institute of Coastal Ecology and Forest Science Professor, Department of Forestry and Environmental Conservation Clemson UniversityChair, SFS JEDI Task Force; Member, SFS Board of Directors
Biography
Dr. Mažeika Patricio Sulliván is a Professor in the Department of Forestry and Environmental Conservation and Director of the Baruch Institute for Coastal Ecology and Forest Science at Clemson University. He received a Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology and Native American Studies from Dartmouth College, and earned his Master’s degree in Biology and Ph.D. in Natural Resources from the University of Vermont. Subsequently, he was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Idaho. From 2008-2022, he was faculty in the School of Environment and Natural Resources (SENR) at The Ohio State University (OSU), and the Director of the Ramsar-designated Schiermeier Olentangy Wetland Research Park from 2014-2022. Dr. Sulliván’s research focuses on community and trophic ecology; water quality and quantity; and land-water linkages in watershed, wetland, and coastal ecosystems. His work integrates ecology, fluvial geomorphology, and biogeochemistry. He is particularly interested in approaches that apply science to conservation, restoration, and policy. Dr. Sulliván conducts research in multiple geographic regions of the U.S. and internationally in Eastern Europe, the Caribbean, and South America. Research in the Streams, Rivers, and Estuaries (STRIVE) Lab are consistently linked to outreach activities that serve broad and diverse populations.
Dr. Sulliván has authored 73 peer-reviewed journal articles, five book chapters, and 210 presentations. National leadership includes serving as a member of the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Science Advisory Board (2013-2014) and on the Board of Directors for the Society for Freshwater Science (2019 to current). Dr. Sulliván was recognized as a Distinguished University teacher and a Distinguished College researcher at OSU, and was a Fulbright Distinguished Chair of Biodiversity and Sustainable Development (Colombia, 2014-2015). His research has been funded by several sources, including the USFWS, CDC, USEPA, USDA, NSF, NOAA, and Ohio Departments of Transportation and Natural Resources.
Dr. Sulliván is actively engaged in promoting and supporting equity, inclusion, and diversity in ecology and natural resources through teaching, research, and service activities. In addition to having served as Chief Diversity Officer in SENR at OSU, he currently leads the JEDI Task Force for the Society for Freshwater Science and works with the US Department of Justice, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the Coeur d’Alene Tribe of northern Idaho on issues relative to Native American water rights. His most recent NSF award - EVOLVED - contributes to a collaborative effort to catalyze cultural change towards JEDI principles at multiple organizational levels within Consortium of Aquatic Sciences Societies (CASS).
Alison M. Meadow, Ph.D.
Associate Research ProfessorOffice of Societal Impact
University of Arizona
Biography
Alison M. Meadow is an Associate Research Professor in the Office of Societal Impact at University of Arizona. She received a Bachelor's degree in Native Studies and Anthropology from Trent University in Ontario, Canada; a Master's in American Indian Studies from University of Arizona; and a Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Her Ph.D was completed through the interdisciplinary Resilience and Adaptation Program at UAF. Alison's research focuses on the process of linking scientists with decision makers to improve the usability of climate science, with a particular emphasis on evaluating the societal impacts of research. She works with researchers and research programs to plan effective engaged research efforts and assess the outcomes and impacts of their work. Alison also works, through the NOAA-funded Climate Assessment for the Southwest, to support communities in the Southwest as they undertake climate change adaptation planning efforts. Outside of work, Alison can usually be found outside! She is an avid open water swimmer, hiker, and runner (in a family of mountain bikers) and loves the mountains, deserts, and lakes of Arizona.
Erik L. Silldorff, Ph.D.
Restoration Director at the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, Bristol, Pennsylvania
Biography
Erik is the Restoration Director and senior scientist at the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, a fierce environmental advocacy organization working to protect and restore streams and rivers throughout the Delaware River watershed. Erik’s research and professional career span government agencies, research universities, natural history museums, consulting firms, and NGOs throughout the United States. For the last 20 years, Erik has probed the corners of the Delaware Basin through biological assessments, research on freshwater mussel declines, exploiting native migratory fish for controlling invasive species, and following the geologic trail into past as well as surprisingly contemporary ecological threats. In policy and regulatory arenas, Erik has played central roles in nutrient criteria development, ecological flow standards, wastewater permitting, and anti-degradation policies. His research into nutrient criteria helped reinitiate long-stalled policies to eliminate hypoxia in the Delaware estuary, and turn the tide for our critically endangered Atlantic sturgeon. Erik continues to enjoy the murky challenges of applied research and restoration ecology, and bringing science into environmental advocacy. He received his undergraduate degree from Cornell University, and both his master’s in applied statistics and his PhD in ecology from UC Santa Barbara.