External Affiliates

Expertise: climate change adaption, science communication

Dr. Lynne Carter is presently an adjunct faculty at Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA. She has just returned from 2.5 yrs as the Chief of Party for the USAID/Uganda Education and Research to Improve Climate Change AdaptationActivity, a capacity building effort to support establishment of the Makerere University Centre for Climate Change Research and Innovations (MUCCRI) at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda.  Prior to that she was the Associate Director for the Southern Climate Impacts Planning Program (SCIPP) and the Associate Director for the Sustainability Agenda at Louisiana State University.  She has authored and contributed to numerous documents around climate change including all three of the US National Climate Assessments and is a convening lead author for the Southeast chapter of the 4^thassessment in preparation. She was also the director of a non-profit organization: the Adaptation Network, a project of the Earth Island Institute, and continues to work with communities and others to build resiliency by increasing knowledge and understanding as well as developing adaptations to a changing climate.

Lynne began her career as a marine biologist and earned advanced degrees in marine science (MS), science policy (MMA), and science education (Ph.D.) with the focus on climate change. With the US Global Change Research Program, she became the Regional Liaison to all of the 20 regions for the 1st U.S. National Assessment of the Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change.  Among many other climate change related efforts, she has testified before a US Senate Committee on climate change program issues, participated as an advisor to many organizations and boards, developed and taught semester long and short courses on climate change issues for both formal education (teaching faculty and college students) and informally for the interested public and informal educators (e.g. museums, nature centers, etc), including the Public Understanding of Scienceas an invited teaching fellow at the Environmental Change Institute at Oxford University.  
 

West Virginia University
Expertise: policy implementation, evaluation

A native of Morgantown, WV, Dr. Eller received his MPA from WVU and went on to complete his PhD in Political Science at Texas A&M University. His academic appointments include prior positions with Texas A&M University and Louisiana State University.

Dr. Eller was recently at the University of North Carolina Pembroke, where he served as Department Chair and MPA Director for the Department of Public Administration.

Dr. Eller’s expertise is in the implementation and evaluation of public policy, and he conducts research on crisis and disaster management, response, and recovery. His research includes multiple funded studies and diverse partnerships, many of which are within the State of West Virginia. He works actively with non-profits and many government agencies that focus on disaster relief efforts.

Dr. Eller was chosen by Governor Tomblin to Chair the West Virginia Joint Advisory Council on Limited Prescriptive Authority through June 30, 2017.
 

Witt O'Brien's
Expertise: emergency management, homeland security, special events

Brad has been working for more than 25 years in local, national, and international emergency management and homeland security. He has experience in both government and the private sector in key leadership positions, including deployment to scores of disasters, emergencies and special events.

For example, Brad served as Federal Recovery Officer in New York following 9/11 and as Deputy Commissioner of New York City’s Office of Emergency Management.

 

Hersh Consulting, LLC
Expertise: risk management, homeland security, nuclear threats, aerospace and defense

Melissa (Mel) Hersh brings 20 years of experience operating at the nexus of commercial and public-sector policy. As a noted risk and strategy expert, Ms. Hersh regularly advises governments, IGOs and Fortune 500 companies on the full risk spectrum across a variety of aerospace and defense, homeland security, energy, mining and global health issues. Ms. Hersh is currently Principal of Hersh Consulting, LLC based in Washington, DC. She is also an Affiliate of the Nuclear Economic Consulting Group (NECG) and an Academic Associate with Arizona State University’s Watts College of Public Service & Community Service. 

She previously held the position as Vice President of Supply Risk Management at Marsh Risk Consulting where she was responsible for helping global clients minimize their risk exposure and optimizing strategic partnerships and opportunities. Before that she worked as a technical expert for the United Nations and World Health Organization on health security and CBRNE issues. She has also been a researcher and consultant to various international think-tanks including the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). 

She was selected a 2014 Truman National Security Fellow. She frequently contributes with articles to publications such as The National Interest, Defense News, Defense One, European Energy Review, The Hill, The Diplomat and Hurriyet. She was educated at The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, The Medical College of Wisconsin, and Skidmore College.