In January 2009, Food & Water Watch hosted a Sustainable Aquaculture Summit in Washington D.C., a collaborative discussion among leading businesses, researchers, health professionals and government officials to discuss in-land, closed-loop recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS).  The ASA was founded by several of the individuals in attendance at the Summit with the purpose of working to further RAS in the United States through research, education, legislative work and advocacy. 

Summit Attendees

Susan Bedwell is a fourth generation American farmer and co-founder of Premier Organic Farms.  She has over twenty years experience in business management and finance in multiple industries. In addition to agri-economics, she held a Series 3 Commodities Futures and Options license for many years as Managing Director of Arroyo Commodities, specializing in hedge strategies.  As Executive Vice President of The Dwyer Group National Accounts, Inc. she developed national chain service relationships to support franchisee business.   A California native, she was the CFO of Reynolds Farms, a grower, packer, shipper of over a dozen vegetables and fruits, before moving to Texas where she was General Manger of Pederson Natural Pork which produces anti-biotic and hormone free pork products using all natural ingredients.  As Co-Founder of Premier Organic Farms, she hopes to be a leader in restoring and renewing U.S. agriculture in harmony with the environment using 21st century clean technologies.
sbedwell@premierorganicfarms.com
www.premierorganicfarms.com


Dr. Steven Craig received his M.S in Marine Science from Corpus Christi State University in 1989 and his doctorate from Texas A&M University in 1994.  After seven years as an Associate Professor of Aquaculture Nutrition in the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, he joined Virginia Cobia Farms/Low Salinity Incorporated as a Senior Research Scientist. His research program focuses upon alternate protein and lipid sources and their impacts upon growth, health, final product quality and sustainability.  In his position with VCF/LSI, he is responsible for all dietary formulations for cobia, tilapia, marine shrimp, rainbow trout and Atlantic salmon—all of which will be cultured by VCF/LSI in recirculating aquaculture systems.
scraig@virginiacobiafarms.biz

Dr. Wayne Dorband has been an entrepreneur, researcher and educator for over 35 years in the aquaculture industry.  He has a Masters in Aquatic Ecology from Scripps Institute of Oceanography and San Diego State University working with aquaculture in power plant effluent.  He received his PhD in Fisheries from the University of Idaho working on the impact of impoundments on the Snake River system.  He is currently active as the President of an environmental non-profit, the Institute of Ecolonomics, as well as a principal in the environmental development firm, Mountain Sky Group.  Dr. Dorband currently is working with recirculating aquaculture systems in shrimp culture and temperate aquaponics.
wdorband@irgco.com

Guy Furman obtained a Bachelors and Masters of Engineering from Cornell University in 2002, where he focused on indoor recirculating Aquaculture.  In 2003 he co-founded Marvesta Shrimp Farms in Hurlock Maryland. Marvesta is a completely indoor recirculating operation that that is committed to using sustainable aquaculture methods and providing a safe and fresh product to the domestic market.
guy@marvesta.com

Martin Gardner has ten years experience in Business Development and Marketing Efforts.  He has worked in several other industries identifying a potential market, and developing a product and marketing plan to supply that demand.  This work has taken him to several supplier countries, building relationships in China, Vietnam, Philippians, Thailand, Mexico, and Honduras.  He holds an International MBA from the Business School of Vienna (Austria) and the University of South Carolina, and a Bachelors Degree from College of Charleston.
info@blueridgeaquacultrue.com

David Gerhold is President of Coldwater fisheries. He has been active in aquaculture for over 20 years.  He has a business degree from University of Nebraska and taken many advanced classes and seminars on aquaculture. 
redhook10@hotmail.com

Dr. David E. Guggenheim is president of 1planet1ocean as well as a consultant in conservation policy and science based in Washington, DC, with clients in the nonprofit sector, governmental agencies, and private industry.  Guggenheim works to advance next-generation sustainable aquaculture practices as an alternative to fishing’s ongoing depletion of wild fish stocks and disruption of ocean ecosystems. Guggenheim draws from nearly 25 years of multidisciplinary experience in environmental research, policy analysis, advocacy and environmental education. Guggenheim holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Science and Public Policy from George Mason University in Virginia. He holds Masters degrees in Population/Aquatic Biology from the University of California, Santa Barbara and in Regional Science from the University of Pennsylvania, where he also received a Bachelors degree in Environmental Studies.
dguggenheim@1planet1ocean.org   

Joseph A. Hankins is a Vice President of The Conservation Fund based in Arlington, Va., and is the Director of The Freshwater Institute, a field office and program of The Fund.  Mr. Hankins earned a BS in General Science from Purdue University in 1979 and a Masters in Environmental Biology from Hood College.  In 1992, Mr. Hankins joined the Fund and the research team at Freshwater Institute to lead or manage projects in aquaculture, sustainable rural economic development and technology outreach, constructed wetland treatment systems, community and on-site waste-water engineering and acid mine drainage treatment.  Mr. Hankins currently serves on the Board of the West Virginia Natural Capital Investment Fund and the Jefferson County Public Service District and is personally active in local and statewide workgroups focused on the strategic importance of water, water quality standards and community water infrastructure planning.  Mr. Hankins lives in Rockymarsh Run watershed and works in Shepherdstown, WV.

Dr. Terry Hanson, Auburn University, holds a Ph.D. in Natural Resource Economics, a Masters degree in Agricultural Economics and a Masters degree in Aquaculture.  He is an Associate Professor in the Fisheries and Allied Aquacultures Department at Auburn University. His research includes economic analysis of issues related to aquaculture production, processing, and marketing for fish and shellfish species, and aquaculture marketing. Other research interests include natural resource economics, specifically water resources as related to water conservation, river/stream flow, and ecosystem viability.  He is a reviewer for the World Aquaculture Society, International Association of Aquaculture Economics and Management, the Aquaculture Journal, Southern Regional Aquaculture Center, and the Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
trh0008@auburn.edu

Becca Klein is the Public Health & Agriculture Policy Program Manager for the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future. She has been working in public health research for almost a decade. She recently completed an MS in Food Policy and Applied Nutrition at The Friedman School at Tufts University. Her food systems-related work has ranged from research on child nutrition in rural Mexico, to running a learning garden at a food bank in Oregon, to initiating a GIS map of Baltimore's regional food system. She co-chairs the policy sub-committee of the American Public Health Association's Food and Environment Working Group.
rklein@jhsph.edu

Dr. David D. Kuhn graduated from Saint Lawrence University (Canton, NY) in 2000 and Clarkson University (Potsdam, NY) in 2001 with Bachelor of Science degrees in Mathematics and Civil Engineering.  After earning his Masters degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Clarkson University in 2003, he went on to Virginia Tech (Blacksburg, VA) to pursue a Ph.D. degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering, which he earned in the spring of 2008.  Since then, he has been a research faculty member at Virginia Tech.  He has been involved in numerous aquaculture research projects with tilapia, perch, cobia, mussels, and shrimp.  Research interests include water and wastewater treatment/reuse, toxicology, and nutrition using alternative proteins.
davekuhn@vt.edu

Dr. Richard Lee is an emeritus professor of oceanography at the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography located in Savannah, Georgia. He received a Ph.D in marine biology in 1970 from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California followed by a post-doctoral fellowship in food science at Penn State University.  For the past decade he has been associated with projects on marine diseases and farming of the black sea bass.  He has visited fish farms in the United States, Korea, Norway, Philippines, Canada, Costa Rica, Japan and Virgin Islands.  Culture of the black sea bass, a popular fish along the Atlantic coast, involves production of juvenile tilapia as food, solar heating/geothermal cooling and filters of microbial mat/seaweeds.  Such work will provide conditions needed for efficient fish farming in recirculating systems, which will relieve some of the pressure on ocean fish stocks. 
dick.lee@skio.usg.edu

Dr. Lori Marsh is an Associate Research Professor in the Department of Food Science and Technology at Virginia Tech. She received her Ph.D. in agricultural engineering from Cornell University. She has been involved in recirculating aquaculture research since 1990.  Her research interests include aquaculture waste/byproduct utilization and system optimization.
marshes@vt.edu   

William R. Martin, Jr. is a native of the Commonwealth of Virginia and possesses a longstanding successful career in aquaculture. Prior to beginning his interest in aquaculture, Mr. Martin was a highly successful commodity trader in the New York Commodity Exchange, a newspaper publisher, and a commercial real estate broker. Mr. Martin is the founder of Blue Ridge Aquaculture which was established in 1992. The technical developments that have enabled continuous rearing of fish under high density recirculating conditions without the use of antibiotics, hormones or genetically modified fish have been refined by Mr. Martin and his staff for more than 20 years. As a result, Blue Ridge Aquaculture has become North America’s largest tilapia producer. Blue Ridge Aquaculture currently operates facilities in Virginia and West Virginia which produce fish for the eastern US. There are five seafood species in production and development by Blue Ridge Aquaculture that include tilapia, shrimp, trout, Atlantic salmon, and cobia. Mr. Martin is a member of multiple US aquaculture organizations including National Aquaculture Association (NAA), Member of the Board of Directors of Southern Regional Aquaculture Association (SRAC) as well as The Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS). He is also Chairman of the Board and a Founding Member of the US Aquaculture Coop. Lastly, Mr. Martin has served as an operational consultant to multiple aquaculture companies where he has evaluated both large and smaller aquaculture production entities on a global basis in North America, Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
info@blueridgeaquacultrue.com

Dr. Shaun Moss received his doctoral degree in Zoology from the University of Hawaii in 1992.  From 1993-1994, Dr. Moss was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to conduct marine biological research in the Republic of Indonesia.  He was an Assistant and Associate Professor in the Marine Science Program at Hawaii Pacific University from 1994-1997.  In 1997, he became Director of the Shrimp Department at Oceanic Institute in Hawaii where he currently works.  His primary responsibility is providing oversight of the USDA-funded shrimp program which focuses on shrimp breeding and the development of biosecure, super-intensive shrimp production systems.
smoss@oceanicinstitute.org

Dr. Sharon Nappier is an environmental microbiologist whose primary research focuses on the fate and transport of infectious agents in the environment, quantitative microbial risk assessment, and the public health risks associated with the introduction of a non-native oyster species into the Chesapeake Bay.  Dr. Nappier has additionally worked to provide and teach microbial detection techniques in South America and Africa.  Dr. Nappier earned her BS degree in biology and in environmental studies from The George Washington University, MSPH degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and completed her PhD from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Division of Environmental Health Engineering.  She now works as a Research Assistant Professor at Drexel University's Department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering.
snappier@drexel.edu

Dr. Timothy Pfeiffer is an Agricultural Engineer with the USDA Agricultural Research Service. Dr. Pfeiffer has been with USDA/ARS for over ten years starting his service with the Aquacultural Systems Production Unit in Pine Bluff, AR and currently stationed in Fort Pierce, FL as the Aquacultural Engineer for the Sustainable Marine Aquaculture Systems Project based out of H.K. Dupree Southern National Aquaculture Center in Stuttgart, AR. Dr. Pfeiffer has over 20 years of aquaculture experience starting with a stint as a Peace Corps Aquaculture Volunteer in Nepal, and including shellfish and algal culture production and system design, and most recently recirculating aquaculture system design and evaluation for inland marine finfish production. Dr. Pfeiffer is on the Board of Directors for the Aquacultural Engineering Society, the Editorial Board for the Journal of Aquacultural Engineering, and serving as the Secretary/Treasurer for the Aquacultural Engineering Society. 
timothy.pfeiffer@ars.usda.gov

Dr. James Rakocy is the Director of the University of the Virgin Islands (UVI) Agricultural Experiment Station and a Research Professor of Aquaculture. He obtained his Ph.D. in aquaculture from Auburn University in 1980 and has been at UVI since then. His research has concentrated on the development of production systems for tilapia that conserve and reuse water and recycle nutrients. He and his colleagues have developed aquaponic and biofloc systems, which intensify production and utilize dissolved nutrients for hydroponic vegetable production and solid organic waste for the production of field crops. Since 1999 the UVI Aquaculture program has offered an International Course on Aquaponics and Tilapia Aquaculture. The course has attracted 362 participants from 37 states, four U.S. territories, and 44 other countries and foreign territories.   
jrakocy@uvi.edu

Mills Rooks currently performs consulting activities for various startup and business development projects.  He is a part owner and serves as CEO of Ocean’s Bounty Partners, LLC, a shrimp aquaculture company in development in South Carolina.  He is also part owner and COO of Wellness Center Partners, LLC, which owns and is developing an adolescent substance abuse and eating disorder hospital in Georgia. He is on the Advisory Board of SC Shrimp Processing & Biotechnologies, Inc., a shrimp processing and chitosan manufacturing facility to be built in SC.  Mr. Mills graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology with a degree in Industrial Engineering.  Mr. Mills attended U.S. Army Air Defense School, Ft. Bliss, Texas, Honorable Discharge, Captain, USAR.
info@oceansbountyseafarms.com

Dr. Tzachi M. Samocha
1980:   Ph.D. from Tel Aviv University, Israel.
1980-1988:  Senior Scientist, Head, Shrimp Research Unit, National Center for Mariculture, Eilat, Israel.
2002-present: Regents Fellow, Project Leader and Professor, Texas AgriLife Research Mariculture Laboratory at Flour Bluff, Corpus Christi, Texas.
Areas of research: Induced maturation, larval rearing, nursery and grow-out of penaeid shrimp. Development of biosecure, sustainable and cost effective shrimp culture techniques. Development of fishmeal and fish oil free shrimp diets and development of methods to reduce negative environmental impact by effluent water from shrimp farms.
 Research funds acquired: about $5,000,000 since 1990.
 Published 43 peer review papers, 67 popular articles and more than 264 oral presentations in international and national meetings.
t-samocha@tamu.edu

Dr. Martin Paul Schreibman is founder and Director Emeritus of Brooklyn College’s Aquatic Research and Environmental Assessment Center (AREAC), a 2.5 million dollar state-of-the-art teaching and research institute that studies aquatic organisms and the environments that they inhabit. Credited with over 190 scientific published citations and seven books. Current passion and research is on urban aquaculture (fish farming in the city) and its impact on global environmental and social issues, such as economic development, job training, world fisheries management, feeding the hungry of the world and ecosystem sustainability. Attained an international reputation; expertise is sought after by many established and developing countries as well as international agencies such as the World Bank and the World Health Organization to bring quality food and economic stability through modern sustainable aquaculture technology.  Dr. Schreibman’s career in teaching and research spans 50 years.
martins@brooklyn.cuny.edu

Dr. Jeffrey Silverstein is the National Program Leader for the US Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Research Service, Aquaculture National Program since October 2007.  USDA-ARS is the intramural agricultural research arm of the USDA. The ARS Aquaculture program is represented by 61 scientists in 13 locations across the United States.  As National Program Leader, Jeffrey Silverstein is leading development of the next five year action plan which will encompass the research activities for the 2010 to 2014 period. Silverstein first joined ARS in 1997, as a Research Geneticist in aquaculture.
jeff.silverstein@ars.usda.gov

Dr. Steven Summerfelt, Professional Engineer, Director of Aquaculture Systems Research, The Conservation Fund's Freshwater Institute, Shepherdstown, West Virginia. Conservation Fund employee since 1992.  Project Leader of USDA-ARS project titled, "Development of Sustainable Land-based Aquaculture Production Systems".  Research focus on water treatment unit processes, water reuse systems, waste management systems, and optimization of fish production. Contributed to the design of several large commercial fish-farms and fish culture facilities for state and federal agencies.  Education:  Ph.D., Civil Engineering (Environmental Emphasis), Iowa State University; M.S., Chemical Engineering, Michigan State University; B.S., Chemical Engineering, Iowa State University.
s.summerfelt@freshwaterinstitute.org

Gary Wells is the retired Chief Executive Officer for Wells’ Dairy, Inc. based in Le Mars, Iowa and currently serves as Chairman of the Board.  Wells joined the family business in 1970 and served in the capacities of cost accountant, information services manager and vice-president of marketing.  In 1985 he was promoted to Executive Vice President before being named CEO in January 2001. A native of Le Mars, Wells received his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Marquette University in 1970, with a major in Marketing and Finance.  Wells currently sits on the following boards of directors: First National Bank of Le Mars, Harkers Distribution, Inc., International Ice Cream Association, International Dairy Foods Association and the Iowa Business Council.  He is also a member of the Advisory Board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.  In 2006 Wells was honored by Marquette University’s College of Business Administration as their Distinguished Alumni of the Year.
gmwells@bluebunny.com

Dr. Yonathan Zohar is the Director of the Center of Marine Biotechnology (COMB), University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute (since 1997), where he leads a comprehensive multidisciplinary research and development program that applies the tools of modern biology and biotechnology to study, protect and enhance marine and estuarine resources. Dr. Zohar’s own basic and applied research focuses on the physiology, endocrinology and molecular biology of reproduction using finfish and other marine animal models, and includes developing technologies for broodstock management and the exogenous manipulation of reproduction and spawning in farmed fish. Dr. Zohar initiated and has led COMB's interdisciplinary and highly productive research programs on developing new generations of fully-contained, environmentally-compatible technologies for sustainable and cost-effective marine aquaculture and on blue crab biology, hatchery technologies and responsible stock replenishment.
Dr. Zohar received his B.Sc. in Biology and M.Sc. in Oceanography/Marine Biology from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel. He received his Ph.D. in Comparative Endocrinology in 1982 from the University of Paris. During his 30-year research career, Dr. Zohar has published over 200 scientific papers, reviews and book chapters, covering both basic and applied aspects of fish physiology and aquaculture and has been issued eight patents, including two process patents.
He has received numerous awards and honors, including the Einstein Professorship from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He has also organized multiple scientific symposia and is regularly invited to deliver keynote presentations in international conferences. In addition, Dr. Zohar has worked closely with industry and federal and state agencies, served on numerous international, national and state committees and boards, and been active in multiple educational and training programs.
zohar@umbi.umd.edu

Food and Water Watch Staff

Marianne Cufone, Esq. is Food & Water Watch's Fish Campaign Director. She has been involved in natural resources management, and specifically fisheries management for the past 15 years. Before coming to Food & Water Watch, she was the Managing Partner of Environment Matters, a private environmental consulting firm in Tampa, Florida. Previously, Ms. Cufone was a Program Manager for a national conservation organization.  She has worked with law firms, educational facilities, government entities and organizations throughout the United States on a wide range of issues including: fisheries, pollution, impacts mitigation, stewardship and outreach.  She also teaches courses and guest lectures at assorted academic institutions. She currently maintains positions on assorted natural resource advisory boards for Hillsborough County, the State of Florida and the federal government and sits on several non-profit Boards of Directors. Ms. Cufone received her J.D., Cum Laude from the University of Miami School of Law through a joint Masters program in Marine Science and Policy at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami. She received her BA, from Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.

Eileen Flynn is a researcher for Food and Water Watch. She conducts research and writes for the fish team.  Much of her previous work experience is in husbandry at public aquariums.  She holds a B.S. in Environmental Science from Lynchburg College and is pursuing a master's degree in Environmental Policy from George Mason University.

Wenonah Hauter is the executive director of Food & Water Watch. She has worked extensively on energy, food, water and environmental issues at the national, state and local level. Experienced in developing policy positions and legislative strategies, she is also a skilled and accomplished organizer, having lobbied and developed grassroots field strategy and action plans. From 1997 to 2005 she served as Director of Public Citizen’s Energy and Environment Program, which focused on water, food, and energy policy. From 1996 to 1997, she was environmental policy director for Citizen Action, where she worked with the organization's 30 state–based groups. From 1989 to 1995 she was at the Union of Concerned Scientists where as a senior organizer, she coordinated broad–based, grassroots sustainable energy campaigns in several states. She has an M.S. in Applied Anthropology from the University of Maryland.

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