Former Independent Panel Reviewers and History
The following individuals have served on either the Independent Social Economic Technical Review Panel or the Independent Science Advisory Panel.
Adrian H. Farmer, Ph.D.
Principal Scientist
Wild Ecological Solutions
Independent Science Advisory Panel
Area of Expertise: Least Tern / Piping Plover Specialist
Dates Served:
Dr. Farmer conducts shorebird research, with an emphasis on effects of global change on migration schedules and fitness. As an integral part of his research
on shorebird migration, he has collaborated with other scientists from North America and Europe to develop applications of dynamic programming in the study
of bird migration. Management of large river systems is of particular interest to Dr. Farmer. He has had considerable experience over the last 30 years
with water and habitat management issues of the Platte River of Nebraska. Most of this work has been on modeling relationships between hydrology and crane
habitat. For many years, he conducted migratory shorebird research along the Missouri River in the state of Missouri, and is familiar with the system
dynamics as well as the general issues affecting bird use of that system. He has developed habitat models for both Least Terns and Piping Plovers for the US
Army Corps of Engineers and US Bureau of Reclamation for purposes of habitat management in the Platte River and along the beaches of Fire Island, NY.
William L. Graf, Ph.D.
Foundation University Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Geography
University of South Carolina
Independent Science Advisory Panel
Area of Expertise: River Hydrologist/Geomorphologist
Dates Served:
Dr. Graf is University Foundation Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of South Carolina. His B.A., MSc, Certificate in Water Resources
Management, and Ph.D. in geography are from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. His research addresses geomorphology and hydrology of rivers, and
the intersection of science and policy for public land and water. He has conducted research and served in science review and oversight positions
associated with water quality, water quantity, aquatic and riparian habitats, river dynamics, and endangered species in a variety of ecosystems including
the Klamath River of California and Oregon, streams of the Colorado Plateau, Colorado River, Rio Grande in New Mexico, Platte River in Nebraska, and the
Everglades, as well as rivers in the Southeastern United States including the Savannah. He is a National Associate of the National Academy of Sciences,
and he has chaired or been a member of more than a twenty National Research Council committees and boards. He is a Past President of the Association of
American Geographers; he was appointed to the Presidential Commission on American Heritage Rivers; and he has been a member and Chair of the Environmental
Advisory Board to the Chief of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. His several books and more than 140 papers and book chapters have resulted from funding
by agencies such as the National Science Foundation, National Park Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Geological
Survey, U.S. Department of Justice, and a variety of state and local agencies. His work has been recognized by awards from the Association of American
Geographers and Geological Society of America. He has been awarded Guggenheim and Fulbright fellowships and appointed to the Presidential Commission on
American Heritage Rivers, and to briefing teams for the Executive Office of the President.
Gary Lamberti, Ph.D.
Professor of Biological Sciences
Director, Stream and Wetland Ecology Laboratory (SWEL)
University of Notre Dame
Independent Science Advisory Panel
Area of Expertise: Aquatic/Riverine Ecologist
Dates served:
Dr. Lamberti is Professor of Biological Sciences and Director of the Stream and Wetland Ecology Laboratory at the University of Notre Dame, where he teaches
Biostatistics, Stream Ecology, and Restoration Ecology. He also directs the interdisciplinary GLOBES Graduate Program in Environment and Society. Dr. Lamberti
has conducted research in complex terrestrial-aquatic systems from South Florida to Alaska and points in between. He served a a 6-year term as department chair
from 2008-2014, and has held many professional and leadership positions as editor, officer, chair, board member, panelist, reviewer, judge, organizer, member,
and volunteer in professional societies and university and community service. He serves on several advisory boards for aquatic research institutes around the
Great Lakes. Dr. Lamberti is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a past-President of the Society for Freshwater Science.
Dr. Lamberti’s primary research interests are in stream and wetland ecology, and include identifying and remediating human impacts on aquatic ecosystems;
the ecology of native and introduced Pacific salmon; and the control of invasive aquatic organisms. Of possible interest to MRRIC, Dr. Lamberti’s research
includes: (1) factors that regulate nutrient cycling in streams, such as the decomposition of salmon in nutrient-poor streams of Alaska and the processing
of organic carbon, (2) the ecological integrity of coastal wetlands in the Great Lakes and Alaska under climate change, (3) the biological transport of
contaminants by anadromous fish, (4) the historical ecology of aquatic ecosystems in the Great Lakes watershed, and (5) the role of ecosystem restoration
in modifying the impacts of human disturbance on streams and wetlands. He and collaborators are establishing and implementing a monitoring and assessment
program to aid in adaptive management of coastal wetlands across the Great Lakes basin. Dr. Lamberti has over 175 publications dealing with various aspects
of aquatic ecology, and has edited the Elsevier book entitled Methods in Stream Ecology, now in its 3rd edition.
Martin W. Doyle, Ph.D.
Director, Water Policy Program
Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions
Duke University
Independent Science Advisory Panel
Area of Expertise: river hydrology, geomorphology
Dates Served: January 2011-November 2015
Martin Doyle is an environmental geographer with training in hydrology and engineering, specializing in rivers. His research is at the interface
of science, economics and policy of environmental management and restoration, particularly focusing on the use of market mechanisms for environmental
management and restoration. His research on infrastructure includes decommissioning dams and levees, as well as research on financing rehabilitation
of aging drinking water and wastewater treatment infrastructure.
Dr. Doyle works collaboratively with ecologists, engineers, and economists, as well as with state and federal agencies, and private industry. He has
developed long-term research programs in which he and his students work alongside entrepreneurial mitigation bankers in order to more fully understand
the realities and financial motivations for private investment in environmental markets.
David L. Galat, Ph.D.
Emeritus Associate Professor
Department of Fishery and Wildlife Sciences
University of Missouri
Independent Science Advisory Panel
Area of Expertise: Aquatic/Riverine Ecologist
Dates Served: July 2013 - June 2014
David Galat's professional interests include ecology and restoration of large rivers and floodplain wetlands, ecology and conservation of native riverine
fishes, science informing natural resource policy, and application of collaborative adaptive management to socio-ecological sustainability. David has pursued
each of these throughout a broad career in research, teaching, and technical assistance.
David received his undergraduate degree in natural resources from Cornell University and master’s degree and Ph.D. in aquatic ecology from Colorado State
University. He is author of over 100 professional publications and over 90 invited presentations in aquatic and restoration ecology.
For over two decades, David worked for the U.S. Geological Survey in Missouri as a research fishery biologist and fisheries unit leader. Concurrently he
served as a cooperative associate professor at the University of Missouri, where he remains as emeritus associate professor. He recently assisted The
Nature Conservancy’s Great Rivers Partnership as science advisor, helping develop a global network of river scientists and policy experts.
Dr. Galat has served on numerous national and international committees and science advisory boards related to river-floodplain ecology and restoration.
Among these are the U.S. Interagency Floodplain Management Review Committee—which was formed after the devastating flood of 1993 on the Upper Mississippi
River to examine existing management policies and make recommendations for improvement, the Upper Mississippi River System Navigation and Ecosystem
Sustainability Program‘s Science Panel, the National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council Committee on Missouri River Recovery and Associated
Sediment Management Issues, and the Platte River Recovery Implementation Program Independent Science Advisory Committee.
David is familiar with MRRIC, having served for two years as alternate member for Fish and Wildlife, and as a member of the Science and Adaptive Management
Work Group.
Margaret A. Palmer, Ph.D.
Professor of Entomology and Biology
University of Maryland
Professor and Director
Chesapeake Biological Laboratory
Independent Science Advisory Panel
Area of Expertise: Aquatic/Riverine Ecologist
Date Served: January 2011- June 2013
Margaret Palmer received her Ph.D. in oceanography, but in the last 20 years has turned her attention to freshwater systems. The broad objective of
Palmer's research is to understand what controls stream ecosystem structure and function. She specifically focuses on how land use and urbanization
influence stream ecosystems and on producing the best science to guide ecologically effective restoration of rivers and streams.
Palmer has more than 90 peer reviewed publications and numerous awards including American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow and Aldo
Leopold Leadership Fellow. She currently has an active research lab of 12 graduate students, postdocs, and research technicians working on various
aspects of stream ecosystem science, and is a national coordinator of the National River Restoration Science Synthesis Project.
Dr. Palmer has served on numerous advisory boards and scientific panels including for the Grand Canyon Research and Monitoring Program, National Center
for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, Freshwater & Marine Ecology Faculty of 1000, EcoHydrology Science Agenda Committee, National NEON Design Consortium
and National Network Design Committee, and National Research Council Committee on River Science. Palmer led the Ecological Society of America’s committee
to develop an action plan for the ecological sciences for the 21st century. She was Program Director of Ecology at the National Science Foundation from
1999-2000. She also has been actively involved in scholarly work on women in science.
Leonard A. Shabman, Ph.D.
Resident Scholar
Resources for the Future
Independent Social Economic Technical Review Panel
Area of Expertise: Economic analysis in the formation of water and related land resource policy, development of evaluation protocols
for large-scale ecosystem restoration projects
Date Served: May –September 2014
After three decades on the faculty at Virginia Tech, Len Shabman joined RFF in 2002 as a resident scholar. His research and communications efforts
are focused on programs and responsibilities for flood and coastal storm risk management, design of payment for ecosystem services programs, and
development of evaluation protocols for ecosystem restoration and management projects, with special focus on the Everglades, Coastal Louisiana, and
the Chesapeake Bay. Among the specific topics related to these broader themes is applied research on permitting under Section 404 of the Clean Water
Act, creating market-based incentives for water quality management and provision of ecosystem services, and design of collaborative water management
institutions. In2004 Len was named an Associate of the National Academy of Sciences.
Christopher S. Guy, Ph.D.
Assistant Unit Leader
Affiliate Associate Professor
U.S. Geological Survey – Biological Resources Division
Montana Cooperative Fishery Research Unit
Montana State University
Independent Science Advisory Panel
Area of Expertise: Sturgeon Biology / Ecology
Dates Served: January 2011 – January 2020
Dr. Guy designs and conducts research funded by Federal, State, and private contracts and directs the research of graduate students and other personnel.
He also leads research teams and serves as a bridge among resource managers and other researchers assuring appropriateness of research questions and
hypotheses. The overall mission of the MTCFRU encompasses fish ecology, physiology, population dynamics, limnology, hydrology, wildlife, endangered species,
habitat and landscape ecology, and environmental contaminants.
Dr. Guy’s research contributes to understanding ecosystem-level issues that are scientifically challenging because of scale, complexity, and spatial and
temporal dynamism. Most of his research falls within the broad mission of ecology of fishery and aquatic resources. A major, consistent research theme
has been on native fish assemblage restoration, a prominent ecological and societal issue in Rocky Mountain and Great Plains ecosystems. Habitat degradation,
introduction of non-native species, and overexploitation have caused widespread decreases in ranges and abundances of native fish species at the same time
that anglers and agency administrators are becoming aware of ecological concepts, biodiversity issues, and the importance of maintaining naturally
structured and functioning ecosystems. He has a comprehensive native species research program involving life history, movements, habitat use, population
ecology and dynamics, exploitation, hybridization, non-native eradication, and disease components. His research includes evaluation of post-stocking dispersal
of hatchery-reared pallid sturgeon; movements, diet, and habitat use of pallid sturgeon and shovelnose sturgeon; spawning locations and early life history
of shovelnose sturgeon; effects of spawning location on survival of pallid sturgeon and shovelnose sturgeon; impacts of flow modifications on distribution and
spawning by pallid sturgeon and shovelnose sturgeon; interactions between sauger and sympatric non-native walleye; distribution and population characteristics
of non-native lake trout in Lake McDonald, Glacier National Park, with implications for suppression; landscape factors affecting the distribution and genetic
diversity of bull trout and sympatric non-native lake trout in Glacier National Park; movement of resident and non-resident anglers and implications for
transferring aquatic nuisance species; effects of angling on salmonids during high water temperatures; biogeographical and human influences on fish assemblages
in prairie streams; and spatiotemporal dynamics of fishes in prairie streams.
Steven M. Bartell, Ph.D.
Principal Scientist
E2 Consulting Engineers, Inc.
Independent Science Advisory Panel
Area of Expertise: Quantitative Ecology / Statistical Methods
Dates Served: January 2011 – January 2020
Formerly a research scientist in the Environmental Sciences Division at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Dr. Steven M. Bartell is currently a Senior
Principal and Practice Group Manager for Ecological Modeling with Cardno, Inc. He is also an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary
Biology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Dr. Bartell’s areas of expertise include systems ecology, ecological modeling, ecological risk analysis, risk-based decision analysis, vulnerability analysis,
numerical sensitivity and uncertainty analysis, environmental chemistry, and environmental toxicology. He works with public and private clients in ecological
risk assessment, environmental analysis, ecological planning, and ecosystem restoration. Dr. Bartell has conducted ecological risk assessments for a diverse
set of environmental stressors: ecological disturbances from oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico (BP), commercial navigation on the Upper Mississippi and
Illinois Rivers (USACE); risk of invasive species establishment (USDA); habitat alteration and degradation (USDOE, USACE); multiple chemical stressors in
the Patuxent River and estuary (NOAA, USEPA); radionuclides and toxic metals (several Canadian mining companies); and herbicides and pesticides (Syngenta).
Bartell has also managed and technically contributed to large-scale projects in adaptive management and restoration for the Florida Everglades (USDOI), the
Lower Columbia River (USACE), and the Upper Mississippi River (USACE).
Background Materials
“Best Practices in Peer Review Assure Quality, Value, Objectivity” by Robert S. Turner, PhD.
“Independent Science Review Concepts and Practices.” Presentation to MRRIC, Partner Agencies, and the National Center, February 3, 2010, Robert Turner, Ph.D.
National Academy of Sciences. 2003. Policy and Procedures on Committee Composition and Balance and Conflicts of Interest for Committees
Used in the Development of Reports. May 2003.
This page was last updated 1/11/2021.