Thomas W. Simpson, Ph.D.
President
Dr. Simpson was a Professor in the Department of Environmental Science and Technology at the University of Maryland from 1992-2008 and has a BS from Virginia Tech and an MS and Ph.D. from Penn State, all in Soil Science. From 1980 to 1992, he was Assistant to full Professor of Soil-Environmental Quality at Virginia Tech. While at the University of Maryland, Dr. Simpson coordinated science-policy activities regarding nonpoint source pollution in the Chesapeake Bay watershed for Maryland. In the last 10 years, he has chaired the Chesapeake Bay Programs Nutrient Subcommittee and served as Regional Coordinator for the nine-university Mid-Atlantic Water Program.
Kevin G. Sellner, Ph.D.
Treasurer
Dr. Sellner is the Director of the Chesapeake Research Consortium, Inc. (CRC), a nonprofit Maryland corporation comprising six institutions that research problems affecting the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed. As CRC Director, Dr. Sellner is responsible for identifying and expanding research activities in or relevant to the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Before joining the CRC in 2001, Dr. Sellner spent 20 years of active research in plankton ecology at the Academy of Natural Sciences. He has also done extensive research on the fate of primary production in aquatic systems, particularly algal blooms. Dr. Sellner received his Doctorate from Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, an M.S. in marine science from the University of South Carolina, and a B.A. in Biology from Clark University in Massachusetts.
Richard G. Pritzlaff
Secretary
Since 1999, Richard Pritzlaff has served as the President of the Biophilia Foundation. From 1993 to 2002, Mr. Pritzlaff raised funds and helped to manage many wildlife habitat restoration and conservation projects while working for Chesapeake Wildlife Heritage. In 2002 and 2003, he was a Project Manager for the Trust for Public Land. Since 2004 he has been the full time President of the Biophilia Foundation.
Mr. Pritzlaff holds a M.S. degree in Environmental Sciences and Policy from Johns Hopkins University, and a B.S. in Engineering from Vanderbilt University. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the University of Maryland's Harry R. Hughes Center for Agro-Ecology, the Ploughshares Fund, Defenders of Wildlife, and is the past Chair of the Board of Directors of the Institute for Shipboard Education, which operates the Semester a Sea program in partnership with the University of Virginia. He is also a member of the Bay Bank Advisory Board. The Bay Bank is a multi-partner collaborative working to bring about an Ecosystem Services Marketplace for the Chesapeake Bay region.
Andew Sharpley, Ph.D
Dr. Andrew Sharpley is Chair of the Division of Agricultures Environmental Task Force and Associate Director of the Watershed Research and Education Center in the Department of Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences at the University of Arkansas. He received degrees from the University of North Wales, United Kingdom in 1973 and Massey University, New Zealand in 1977, and spent 25 years with the USDA-ARS in Oklahoma and then Pennsylvania. His research investigates the cycling of phosphorus in soil-plant-water systems in relation to soil productivity and water quality and includes the management of animal manures, fertilizers, and crop residues. Dr. Sharpley has developed decision making tools for agricultural field staff to identify sensitive areas of the landscape and to target management alternatives and remedial measures that have reduced the risk of nutrient loss from farms. These tools are now widely accepted by US EPA, NRCS, and the Comprehensive Nutrient Management Planning Strategy. Most recently, Dr. Sharpley has served on National Academy of Sciences Committee on Causes and Management of Coastal Eutrophication and EPAs Scientific Advisory Board Hypoxia Advisory Panel. In September of this year, he was inducted into the USDA-ARS Hall of Fame.
Jim Toomey
For the past 15 years Jim Toomey has been writing and drawing the daily comic strip Sherman's Lagoon, which is syndicated to over 250 newspapers in North America, including the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the Toronto Star. It also appears in over 30 foreign countries, in French, Portuguese, Spanish, Norwegian and Swedish. Jim has just completed his sixteenth book. He has also illustrated "50 Ways to Save the Ocean," a book written by environmental author David Helvarg, and recently published by Island Press.
Sherman's Lagoon combines two of Mr. Toomeys life-long passions: art and the sea. In addition to drawing his comic strip, Jim is active in marine conservation. The conservation message in his comic strip earned him the Environmental Hero Award, presented by NOAA on behalf of Vice President Al Gore "for using art and humor to conserve and protect our marine heritage." He has also contributed his comic characters and other illustrations to educational materials published by NOAA for the purpose of raising environmental awareness.
Mr. Toomey holds a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from Duke University, a Master of Arts from Stanford University, and recently went back to Duke to earn a Masters of Environmental Management through its Environmental Leadership executive program.
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