April 22, 2015
801 University Blvd SE, Rotunda Room
Science and Technology Park @ UNM
SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES
Richard J. Berry
Mayor Richard J. Berry was first sworn into office on December 1st,
2009. Prior to serving as Albuquerque's chief executive officer, he was
twice elected to the New Mexico Legislature.
Mayor Berry is also an accomplished business entrepreneur with over
two decades of experience in New Mexico and throughout the
Southwest United States. He earned his degree in finance and
administration at the University of New Mexico and was a letterman
on the Lobo track and field team, specializing in the decathlon.
Since his first election in late 2009, Mayor Berry has successfully
worked to drop the crime rate in Albuquerque to some of the lowest
levels in 20 years and has brought the City to the national forefront for transparency and
accountability.
He has cut the size of local Government while keeping city employees on the job and services to
the community intact. He has accomplished this without raising taxes and has consistently
worked to provide value for taxpayers.
Robert G. Frank
Dr. Robert G. Frank became the 21st president of The University of
New Mexico in June 2012. Dr. Frank served as Provost and Senior
Vice President for Academic Affairs at Kent State University from
2007 to 2012 where he helped establish the College of Public Health
and improved first year retention by 4.5%. From 1995 - 2007, he
was Dean of the College of Public Health and Health Professions at
the University of Florida, where he also served as a professor in the
Department of Clinical and Health Psychology. At the University of
Florida, he oversaw the establishment of the Public Health College,
and the creation of four new doctoral programs, the Masters of
Public Health and the Honors program. Dr. Frank holds a doctorate
in clinical psychology from the University of New Mexico.
Dr. Frank is a Diplomat in Clinical Psychology from the American Board of Professional
Psychology. He is past president of the Division of Rehabilitation Psychology of the American
Psychological Association and a Fellow in Rehabilitation Psychology, Clinical Psychology, and
Health Psychology. He formerly chaired the Florida Developmental Disabilities Council, the
Legislative Committee of the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine, and American
Psychological Association's Committee on Professional Continuing Education (1997) and its
Board of Educational Affairs (2000). Dr. Frank's scholarship focuses on two areas:
psychological adjustment to catastrophic injury and health policy.
Henry Charrabé
Henry J. Charrabé, as President and Chief Executive Officer of RWL
Water, LLC, has been instrumental to the growth of RWL Water, more
than doubling its revenue in less than a year through strategic
acquisitions and organic growth. He is also responsible for creating the
integrated sales structure in North and South America, Australia and
Europe, as well as the establishment of partnership agreements in other
strategic territories and industries.
Prior to his leadership role at RWL Water, Mr. Charrabé was a senior
executive at RSL Investments Corp. in the United States and Europe.
From 2003 to 2005, Mr. Charrabé served as Chief Operating Officer of
W2W, an electrocoagulation wastewater technology company. Mr.
Charrabé received a B.A. from the Freie Universität in Berlin and Tel Aviv University. He
earned an M.A. in Political Science and an M.A. in International Economics and Finance, both
from Brandeis University, as well as an M.A. in Public Administration from the John F.
Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Ryan Flynn
Ryan Flynn serves as the Secretary of Environment and the Natural
Resources Trustee for the State of New Mexico leading the regulatory
agency that restores and protects the environment while fostering a
healthy and prosperous future for the state.
As Environment Secretary, Flynn brokered several key agreements with
federal and state agencies, foreign governments, and Native American
tribes and pueblos to safeguard the environment and protect health, now
and in the future. He successfully negotiated a landmark settlement agreement with the United States
Environmental Protection Agency and the Navajo Nation over regional haze regulations in the coal
and power producing Four Corners region of New Mexico and initiated a historic Memorandum of
Understanding between the Environment Department and the Consulate of Mexico, enabling
NMED’s Occupational Health and Safety Bureau to provide information and training on OSHA
standards and workers’ rights via the Consulate of Mexico for Mexican nationals.
With Secretary Flynn’s leadership, the Environment Department also developed a number of critical
environmental regulations, such as the first-ever water quality standards for New Mexico’s lakes and
the first-ever ground water quality regulations for discharges from copper mines and dairies. Flynn
also conceived and executed a number of significant non-regulatory initiatives to improve the
environment, including the River Stewards Initiative, and spearheads Governor Martinez’s efforts to
mitigate drought damage and improve New Mexico’s water and wastewater infrastructure.
Secretary Flynn graduated from Harvard University, where he concentrated in English and American
Literature. He received his juris doctor from the University of Arizona. Flynn proudly serves our
nation as an Assistant Judge Advocate General in the United States Air Force Reserve at Schriever
Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Bob Marley
Bob Marley has been providing environmental and water resource
consulting services in New Mexico for 25 years. His educational
background includes a M.S. in Hydrology from the University of
Arizona, and a B.S. in Geology from Northern Arizona University.
Employed by Daniel B. Stephens & Associates, Inc. located here in
Albuquerque, Bob’s focus is on water reuse and managed aquifer
recharge applications, and water supply development for New Mexico
municipalities.
Sam Fernald
Sam Fernald was appointed interim director of the New Mexico Water
Resources Research Institute (NM WRRI) in January 2011. As interim
director, he will lead the institute in its mission to develop and
disseminate knowledge that will assist the state, region, and nation in
solving water resources problems.
The NM WRRI, one of 54 water institutes in the nation, encourages
university faculty statewide to pursue critical areas of water resources
research while providing training opportunities for students, and
provides an outlet for transferring research findings to the academic
community, water managers and the general public. Professor Fernald
also is a faculty member in the Department of Animal and Range Sciences at New Mexico State
University.
Dr. Fernald's earned degrees include a 1987 B.A. in international relations from Stanford
University, an M.E.M. in 1993 in water and air resources from Duke University, and a Ph.D. in
watershed science from Colorado State University in 1997. Dr. Fernald currently is leading a
multi-institutional, five year, $1.4 million water research project funded by the National Science
Foundation. In addition to NMSU, partners in the study include the University of New Mexico,
New Mexico Tech, Sandia National Laboratories, the New Mexico Acequia Association, and the
Maxwell Museum.
Andrew Nunez
Andy Nunez is a Representative in the NM Legislature for Don͂a Ana
County, District 36, and is Vice Chairman of the Agriculture, Water,
and Wildlife Committee. He has a BS and MS from New Mexico State
University and retired from there, serving in many positions such as the
Director of International Programs and Assistant to the Dean and
Director of several short-term training programs. He worked as District
Director for the NM Farm and Livestock Bureau, served 2 years in
Puerto Rico establishing a Farm Bureau Organization, and served as
Legislator Liaison for the NM Farm Bureau. Other positions included
Executive Director with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, District
Director of the Cooperative Extension Service, and Superintendent of
the Agricultural Science Center in Alcalde. He is currently the Mayor
of Hatch, NM.
Debbie Abrego
Debbie Abrego has been in Clovis, NM for 8 years as the Environmental,
Health and Safety Director of Southwest Cheese. In her position she has
worked with the team at Southwest Cheese to re-engineer the facility to
reduce water consumption by nearly 50%. Previously Debbie has
worked in the Environmental and Safety field in corn wet milling to
produce high fructose corn syrup, semiconductor industry, beef industry
and diesel engine business. In her career at Cargill, Cummins Diesel and
X-Fab Texas, Debbie’s environmental focus was on water conservation
and water and soil remediation.
David Martin
F. David “Dave” Martin is Cabinet Secretary of the New Mexico
Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department in Santa Fe, NM.
He holds a BS degree in chemical engineering from Texas Tech U. and a
MS degree in petroleum engineering from New Mexico Institute of
Mining and Technology (NMIMT). Martin has more than 50 years’
experience in industry and academia.
T. Greg Merrion
T. Greg Merrion is the President of Merrion Oil & Gas, a second
generation, family-owned independent producer based in Farmington,
NM. Merrion Oil & Gas is the 34th largest producer of natural gas in
New Mexico, and also has operations in Colorado and Wyoming. Prior
to coming to work for Merrion Oil & Gas in 1985, T. Greg worked as a
production engineer for Superior Oil and Mobil.
T. Greg has a Petroleum Engineering degree from Colorado School of
Mines and a Master’s degree in Business from New Mexico State
University. He is involved in many state and local organizations, and
has a particular passion for economic development.
Jeffrey Smith
Jeffrey Smith, Chief Operating Officer, THEMAC Resources, is a
Licensed Professional Engineer with a Master’s Degree in Management
and is a Qualified Person under Canadian NI 43-101. Mr. Smith has 35
years of experience in the mining industry and managing large, complex
mining operations and construction projects and held various technical
and executive positions with Echo Bay Mines, Coeur d’Alene Mines and
Pan American Silver.
Mr. Smith has also worked for three years with Quintana Minerals Corp
where he was the mine engineer at the original Copper Flat Mine, and
assisted with its construction and operation.
Mike Greene
Mike is the Water Resources Manager for the Public Service Company
of New Mexico, New Mexico’s largest electric utility. He wakes up
every day and works to ensure there is a sustainable supply of water
for PNM’s generating facilities that use water for cooling. Mike is
very proud of the fact that PNM uses 24% less fresh water today than
in 2002 to generate a megawatt hour of electricity. Now in his 17th
year with PNM, Mike has worked in Economic Development,
Generation Asset Development and now in Water Resource
Management. Prior to that he did a tour of duty with the U.S. Navy,
graduated from New Mexico State University, and worked for IBM.
Kerry Howe
Dr. Howe is an Associate Professor in Environmental Engineering at
UNM and Director of the Center for Water and the Environment. He
has 25 years of experience in water treatment engineering. His areas of
specialty are physical-chemical treatment processes, desalination,
membrane treatment technologies, water reuse, and engineering design.
His research focuses on improving the recovery from desalination
systems and fouling of reverse osmosis membranes when used in
wastewater reuse applications. He is a co-author of the textbooks
Principles of Water Treatment and MWH’s Water Treatment: Principles
and Design. He is a Registered Professional Engineer and holds a
patent on a technology to selectively recover salts from desalination
waste streams.
Philippe Laval
Philippe Laval has been appointed Chief Operating Officer, Global
Operations for RWL Water and is primarily responsible for the
Company’s global business and operational development. He has
over 24 years of leadership experience in operations and technology
companies in the environmental industry in Europe, the UK,
Australia, North- and Latin America. Mr. Laval has worked more
than 20 years for Veolia Water and has extensive experience in the
global water and wastewater industry.
In 2002, Mr. Laval served as Managing Director of United Water
International, a joint venture between Veolia, Thames Water and
KBR, based in Adelaide, Australia. In 2005, he was appointed Chief Operating Officer of Veolia
Water North America, based in Houston, TX where he was responsible for 3,000 employees and
a $600 million municipal and industrial business in the USA and Canada. In 2007, Mr. Laval
served as Veolia’s Chief Executive Officer of Industrial Solutions in North and Latin America.
In his most recent position, Mr. Laval was appointed Managing Director of Industrial
Outsourcing in Europe and Turkey to lead the growth and transformation of the industrial
outsourcing activities.
Philippe Laval earned his Master of Science in Fluid Mechanics at the National Polytechnic
Institute of Toulouse and his Master in Business Administration at the University of Economics,
also in Toulouse.
Michael Hightower
Mr. Michael Hightower is a Distinguished Member of the
Technical Staff in the Military and Energy Systems Analysis
Department at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New
Mexico. He is a civil and environmental engineer and has over 35
years of experience in research and development projects. His
current efforts include research and evaluation of innovative
environmental and energy technologies and the security and
protection of critical water and energy infrastructures. He conducts
research on the use of distributed and renewable energy
technologies and distributed water and waste water systems to
enhance sustainable economic development, global public health,
and infrastructure resiliency and security. Since 2006 he has supported the US Department of
Energy in developing a science and technology program for addressing energy and water
interdependencies. Most recently he has supported the US Senate on energy water legislation
considerations, authored a research program plan on energy and water for the National Science
Foundation, and assisted the National Research Council in identifying key energy water
challenges and needs.
Mike holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in civil engineering from New Mexico State
University. Mike has published over 120 technical papers and reports including articles in
NATURE; three Reports to Congress one on the design of a national brackish groundwater
desalination research center, another on emerging water and energy interdependencies
challenges, and a third on liquefied natural gas safety and security; and has authored chapters in
two books, one on advanced desalination technologies, and one on global energy and water
challenges.
Sullivan Graham
Dr. Sullivan Graham obtained her Ph.D. from New Mexico Tech in
Earth and Environmental Sciences (Hydrology). She is a
hydrogeologist and geochemist at Los Alamos National Laboratory,
in the Chemical Diagnostics and Engineering Group. She has
developed patented technology for removal of organic compounds
from oil and gas produced water and other industrial waters, and is
currently the Water-Energy program manager for LANL. Dr.
Sullivan is a science advisor to Secretary F. David Martin of the
Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources Department of New
Mexico, and is the coordinator for the Brackish Water Work group,
a part of the Governor’s Drought Task Force.
Tom Blaine
Tom Blaine is well-versed in the critical water issues facing New Mexico, bringing more than 28
years of engineering experience in the private and public sectors to the Office of the State
Engineer. Blaine recently held the position of director of the Environmental Health Division in
the New Mexico Environment Department.
His background includes extensive experience in civil and transportation engineering, with
service to the City of Albuquerque as a senior civil engineer as well as to the State of New
Mexico with both the Department of Transportation and the Office of the State Engineer, and in
the private sector.
Between his years of public service, Blaine also owned and operated his own engineering firm,
focusing on surface and groundwater hydrology and water distribution systems. He holds a
Bachelor of Science in Engineering from New Mexico State University in Las Cruces.
John Utton
John W. Utton is a water lawyer and partner in the Santa Fe, New
Mexico office of Sheehan & Sheehan, P.A., where his primary
responsibilities include water rights administrative law and water
planning, federal and state water rights litigation, including stream
system adjudications, and endangered species litigation. He is a board
member of the Rio Grande Agricultural Land Trust and a former board
member of the Santa Fe Watershed Association. Before entering
private practice, John served as a an assistant attorney general under
New Mexico Attorney General Tom Udall, from 1992 to 1995, and
before that as a law clerk in the U.S. District Court, District of New Mexico, to the Honorable
James A. Parker, 1990 to 1992. He received his J.D. from Stanford University and his B.A. in
economics from the University of Virginia. He grew up in Corrales, New Mexico and now lives
in Santa Fe with his wife Rose and sons Daniel and James.
Maria O’Brien
Maria O’Brien is a shareholder with the Modrall Sperling law
firm in Albuquerque and is Chair of the firm’s Natural Resources
Department. Her primary focus is on water resources, water
quality, and related regulatory matters. She assists municipalities
and other water suppliers in securing sustainable rights to both
ground and surface water and advises energy and extractive
industry clients regarding all aspects of water-related operations
from assessing demand to disposal. She is involved in interstate
issues dealing with rights to both ground and surface water, and
represents a variety of diverse stakeholders in the context of
Indian water rights settlements and adjudications involving tribal
water claims.