Create. Enhance. Sustain. AECOM Climate Change/Adaptation Thought Leaders
AECOM Thought Leaders in Climate Change/Adaptation Gary Lawrence Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer Dale Sands Senior Vice President, Technology and Practices Environment Business Line Claire Bonham-Carter Principal, Climate Change Planning and Sustainability Mr. Lawrence is Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer for AECOM Technology Corporation (NYSE: ACM), an $19-billion global provider of professional technical and management support services. AECOM s 100,000 employees including architects, engineers, designers, planners, scientists and management professionals serve clients in more than 150 countries around the world. In this role, Mr. Lawrence leads AECOM s sustainability efforts by managing AECOM s extensive resources and skills in sustainability for projects across the enterprise. He is also an AECOM spokesperson and thought leader on sustainability issues. During his 30-year-plus career in public and private policy and management, his leadership skills have contributed to various global initiatives engaging in research and practice to mitigate climate change and adaptation strategies. With more than 30 years senior environmental management experience, Mr. Sands, based in Chicago, Illinois has lived and worked internationally with experience in 50 countries. Most recently, Mr.Sands returned to the USA after a two years as Managing Director, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, of the Environment Business Line. In his Practices role, he oversees and coordinates the firm s technical experts in Sustainability, Climate Adaptation, Air Quality, Environmental Health & Safety Management, Impact Assessment & Permitting, Remediation Services, and EHS Management Information System. Appointed Vice Chair of the UN Private Sector Advisory Group for Disaster Reduction after the Global Platform in 2012, Sands leads AECOM s collaborative partnership with IBM in developing the Disaster Resilience Scorecard for the UN. The Resilience scorecard assists major cities around the world in integrating sustainability and assessing preparedness and resilience to natural disasters such as severe storms, sea level rise, floods, droughts, wildfires, earthquakes, etc. Mr. Sands is an invited speaker to many International environmental conferences. With more than 40 publications and presentations. Ms. Bonham-Carter has 18 years experience working on climate change planning, strategy and sustainable design and construction projects for public and private sector clients. Her experience spans policy planning for municipalities, sustainability frameworks and feasibility studies for mixed use communities to minimize environmental, social and economic impacts. She has worked on climate mitigation and resiliency plans for many US cities including Seattle, Baltimore, New York, and for multiple transportation agencies including the Port of Long Beach, LA Metro, numerous state transportation agencies and the FHWA. Ms. Bonham-Carter manages AECOM s partnership with the 100 Resilient Cities Program for whom AECOM is now working in 13 cities globally., as well as AECOM s Carbon Disclosure Project s Global Cities Program providing data analyses and informational design. She is on the ULI National Sustainability Advisory board. She collaborated on the AECOM and IBM resiliency scorecard project for the UNISDR. Her most recent speaking engagements include the CDP Global Cities 2014 launch event, the ICLEI Livable Cities Forum, Vancouver, and Identifying Climate Risk & Building Resilience, Climate Leadership Conference, San Diego.
Michael Nolan Global Environment Lead Climate Adaptation, Technical Director, Sustainability Allan Klindworth Project Manager, Climate Adaptation T. David Chinn Senior Vice President and Global Director Drinking Water Program Mr. Nolan has 20 years of experience managing sustainability and climate change outcomes for business and government organizations in the United States, Canada, China, India, Brazil, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. A frequently invited speaker on Climate Adaptation and Sustainability, he recently presented at the World Urban Forum, UN Pavillion in Medellin, Colombia, the Global Cities Summit, Singapore and the 4th International Conference on Building Resilience, UK. Mr. Nolan leads the Resilient Cities activity stream for the United Nations R!SE initiative focused on risk sensitive investment. He developed the UN Disaster Resilience Scorecard in collaboration with IBM. Mr. Nolan has led over 120 climate risk, adaptation and resilience projects for national, regional, state and local government agencies and cities, as well as for major power, mining, water, facilities and transportation (ports, road, rail) interests. He represented the Infrastructure Sustainability Council of Australia in developing the Australian Standard AS5334 Climate Change Adaptation for Settlements and Infrastructure and led major climate adaptation economic and cost benefit analyses for the Garnaut Climate Change Review. A recent transfer from Australia to Boston, Mr. Klindworth has 12 years of climate adaptation and sustainability management experience helping government and private sector organisations understand the risks presented by climate change and build resilience through adaptation planning. His signature climate adaptation projects and analyses in Australia include the award-winning Garnaut Climate Change Economic Review of Impact of Climate Change on Infrastructure, and assisting the Australia Commonwealth with climate risk and adaptation planning by assessing risks of sea level rise, flooding, and erosion to governmental assets. Mr. Klindworth was a founding member of the Western Alliance for Greenhouse Action where he collaborated with the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) Cities for Climate Protection (CCP) Program and Water Campaign. His recent thought leadership activities include contributing to the 2014 Urban Implications of Living with Water report (ULI/ Boston New England), and presenting at the Rhode Island Executive Climate Change Council, and 2014 Rising Seas Summit in NYC. Mr. Chinn is the Global Director of AECOM s Drinking Water Program. With more than 35 years experience, his background includes special expertise in water and wastewater treatment; planning and design, water policy and regulation development, analysis, and compliance. He is a highly regarded expert in the use of membrane technology for water treatment and leads AECOM s efforts in delivering new water supplies to climate-impacted, water scarce regions - including Seawater Desalination and Water Reuse. Based in Austin, Texas, he is also a member of the Engineering Faculty at Texas A&M University. Prior to joining AECOM, Mr. Chinn was the Assistant Director for Governmental Affairs for the American Water Works Association (AWWA) in Washington, D.C. The AWWA is a major non-profit, scientific and educational society for more than 57,000 water supply professionals and organizations. As a spokesman for the Association on water policy in 1990, Mr. Chinn was quoted and is credited with coining the often-repeated phrase; Water is to the economy of the 21st Century as Oil was to the economy of the last century. It is the fuel of our economic engines of the future.
Erin Ashley, PhD, LEED AP Group Lead, Infrastructure Resiliency and Security Engineering Scott Edelman Director, Water Resources - North America Arthur C. Miller, PhD Expert in Hydrology, Hydraulic Engineering, Dam Safety, and Water Resource Management Dr. Ashley currently serves as the lead for the infrastructure resilience and security engineering group for AECOM. Her experience includes incorporating resilience into the building codes and standards, developing sustainable and resilient community frameworks and providing mitigation guidance for a variety of stakeholders. She has a history of leading complex multi-disciplinary postdisaster resilience based engineering projects including the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Mitigation Assessment Team during the 2011 Spring Tornadoes, Hurricane Isaac and Hurricane Sandy. She specializes in bridging the gap between the science of resilience, engineering and risk with the art of staff mentorship and a strong customer focus. She received her degree in Fire Protection Engineering, a MS and PhD in Reliability Engineering with a focus on risk assessment. Prior to joining AECOM in Infrastructure and Environment, she worked in fire protection consulting and sustainable development for a major building trade association. Mr. Edelman is the director of the AECOM Water Resources team in North America. He has 27 years of experience devoted to flood insurance studies and floodplain mapping. Mr. Edelman has been responsible for overseeing AECOM s floodplain mapping and mitigation work for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as well as many state and local agency Cooperating Technical Partners. He was a key contributor to FEMA projects such as the initial Multi-Year Flood Hazard Identification Plan, developing the initial concepts for the Mapping Information Platform and contributing to Guidelines and Specifications. Mr. Edelman recently spoke at the United Nations special thematic session on water and disasters, an initiative of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. The event which sought to raise awareness, share best practices and experiences, and discuss future global actions on water and disasters was the first high-level U.N. event of its kind dedicated to the topic. Dr. Miller is a nationally recognized expert in hydrology, hydraulic engineering, dam safety, and water resource management. His over 40 years of water resources experience includes research, consulting, and publishing in hydrology, hydraulics, floodplain delineation, dam safety, bridge scour, river mechanics, sediment transport, and impacts of climate change. Dr. Miller is renowned for his expertise in numerical modeling of open channel flow; unsteady flow; hydraulic design techniques for dams, bridges and culverts; river mechanics; and sediment transport. He has received numerous awards from research, academic, and professional organizations for his achievements, especially in water resources and dam safety. Dr. Miller currently leads the Climate Change Initiative for AECOM. He is part of a panel charged with providing guidance to the research team by reviewing research results and written reports relating to the impacts of climate change through 2050.
Jon Philipsborn Climate Adaptation Director - Americas Jae Park, PhD CFM Hazard Mitigation and Recovery Planning Program Development Manager Mathew Francis, PE, M ASCE, F EERI Infrastructure Resilience Manager Mr. Philipsborn has over 10 years of experience working on a variety of climate change, environmental, and sustainability projects, performing roles including project manager, capacity builder, and scientific researcher. Mr. Philipsborn currently serves as Climate Adaptation Director for the Americas as part of AECOM s Environment Business Line, advising clients on the strategic integration of climate change into planning, project development, and management decisions. Throughout his career, Mr. Philipsborn has worked on innovative projects across the United States and internationally that produce environmental, economic, and community benefits, and has effectively communicated technical information to decision makers and non-scientists. Project experience ranges from incorporating climate change into hazard mitigation plans in Alaska and Florida, to supporting gas utilities with vulnerability assessment, to developing forest carbon projects in multiple countries that support mitigation and adaptation objectives. Mr. Philipsborn has worked on climate change initiatives for the federal government, NGOs, academic institutions, and the private sector. Dr. Park has more than 23 years of experience in natural hazard analysis, hazard mitigation planning, policy analysis, and developing community resilience through sustainable disaster recovery. He has supported many local, state and federal governments in rebuilding after disasters including hurricanes Fran, Floyd, Isabel, Katrina, and Sandy. Recently he worked on the State of New York Community Reconstruction Plan researching the effects of storm damage, analyzing the future risk from coastal storms, and evaluating redevelopment alternatives for 15 communities. Prior to joining AECOM, he worked at the Mississippi Governor s Office of Recovery and Renewal. This involved developing long-term sustainable community recovery plans; and housing and infrastructure reconstruction, economic revitalization, and hazard mitigation policies in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Internationally, Dr. Park has been advising the Korean National Emergency Management Agency and National Security Council in developing a national framework and strategic plan for disaster management. Mr. Francis brings 22 years experience in disaster risk reduction (DRR) and recovery of buildings & infrastructure systems throughout Asia-Pacific and the Americas, working in over twenty nations. He specializes in geo-engineering design and construction, with expertise in tsunami, coastal erosion, coral liquefaction, volcanics and ground stabilizations. He performs numerous post-disaster & failure assessments, infrastructure evaluations, hazards mapping, loss modeling, outreach and exercises. Mathew provides technology transfer of US hazards expertise and community lifeline infrastructure resilience collaborating with many Asian research institutions. He authored over 30 publications including Indonesia s tsunami recovery guidelines for Sumatra and the UN-ASCE infrastructure studies of the 2011 Tohoku tsunami. For USAID, he is DRR lead on the Pacific- American Climate Fund adaption grants and is AECOM s small business program manager for the Global IDIQ Making Cities Work. For FEMA he led Sandy MAT studies of climate resilient recovery guidance and related flood reports to Congress and White House input.
Select Recent Climate Change Adaptation and Sustainability Presentations Gary Lawrence Multi-Sector Partnerships for Better Urbanization - UN Economic and Social Council, February 2015, New York Water, Food, Energy and Security Relationships in Changing Climates International Union for the Conservation of Nature and the International Water Association, November 2014, Beijing Dale Sands An Innovative Scorecard for Evaluating Resiliency in our Cities for presentation at the 5th International Disaster and Risk Conference IDRC Davos, Switzerland, August, 2014 Improving Natural Disaster Resilience as a Priority Actions and Activities of the Public and Private Sector presented at American Hazard Control Conference, Saratoga, New York; June, 2014 Claire Bonham-Carter CDP Global Cities 2014 launch event, keynote address, July 2014 Cities Preparing for Extreme Events, ICLEI Livable Cities Forum, Vancouver, April 2014 Michael Nolan City Disaster Resilience Scorecard for United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction Presented at UN Pavilion, World Urban Forum, 7 April 2014 Medellin Columbia Adapting Infrastructure to a Changing Climate, Climate Adaptation Forum, 20 March 2014, Melbourne Australia Allan Klindworth Planning and Implementation for Infrastructure Resilience Rising Seas Summit, September 2014 New York Disaster resilience scorecard Coasts Oceans, Ports Rivers Institute ASCE, Leadership Summit, September 2014, Boston Jae Park Climate change and sustainable disaster recovery: challenges and opportunities, 2012 NCAPA, Wilmington, NC Implementing the National Disaster Recovery Framework in an Increasingly Stormy World, ASFPM Annual Conference, 2012. San Antonio, TX
AECOM has a leading global climate change and adaptation practice. It has received numerous EBJ and CCBJ Climate Change/Adaptation Awards (2009-2014).
About AECOM AECOM is a premier, fully integrated professional and technical services firm positioned to design, build, finance and operate infrastructure assets around the world for public- and private-sector clients. With nearly 100,000 employees including architects, engineers, designers, planners, scientists and management and construction services professionals serving clients in over 150 countries around the world, AECOM is ranked as the #1 engineering design firm by revenue in Engineering News-Record magazine s annual industry rankings. The company is a leader in all of the key markets that it serves, including transportation, facilities, environmental, energy, oil and gas, water, highrise buildings and government. AECOM provides a blend of global reach, local knowledge, innovation and technical excellence in delivering customized and creative solutions that meet the needs of clients projects. A Fortune 500 firm, AECOM companies, including URS Corporation and Hunt Construction Group, had revenue of approximately $19 billion during the 12 months ended Dec. 31, 2014. More information on AECOM and its services can be found at www.aecom.com.