Panelists

Coleen H. Sullins
Water Quality Section Chief, NC DENR
Coleen is responsible for providing program management and direction for the Water Quality Section of the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources. The Water Quality Section develops and implements programs designed to keep North Carolina's water environments clean and to ensure compliance with state and federal water quality standards. Coleen began working for the Water Quality Section in 1990, after being in several other branches of NC DENR, including the NPDES Group and the Stormwater Group.  She has a bachelors degree in environmental and water resources engineering from Vanderbilt University.

Richard Byron Whisnant
Director, Environmental Finance Center at UNC-Chapel Hill
In addition to directing the Environmental Finance Center, Dr. Whisnant is also an Associate Professor of Public Law and Government at the School of Government. He holds a J.D. and a masters degree from Harvard University. From 1993 to 1998, he was General Counsel to the N.C. Dept. of Environment, Health and Natural Resources. Not only has he practiced environmental law in the private sector as well as on behalf of public interest environmental law firms, but he is a director of The Environmental Education Fund, Inc. and the Conservation Trust of North Carolina, Inc.; a member of the Orange County Environmental Protection Advisory Committee; and a member of the North Carolina Bar Association: Environmental Law Section Council.

Joseph S. Ramus
Professor of Biological Oceanography, Duke University
A professor in the Coastal Systems Science and Policy division, Dr. Ramus researches estuaries in the Pamlico Sound system. Currently he is collecting information on one large estuary and plans to use the information to create a predictive model to guide policy and management actions with regard to river basins. Using the FerryMon program to measure water quality parameters, he can fast track the status and trends of the Sound. His expertise is in algal ecological physiology, especially photosynthesis, estuarine and coastal ocean productivity, wastewater management, and marine ecology.

Stanley R. Riggs
Distinguished Professor, College of Arts and Sciences, East Carolina University
Dr. Riggs is a coastal and marine sedimentologist and stratigrapher who has been doing research on modern coastal systems since 1964. His area of research extends from the inland riverine and lacustrine environments, to the estuarine and barrier island systems, and seaward across the continental shelf. Dr. Riggs has been actively involved in numerous technical coastal and mineral resource issues at the Federal, State, and local levels including appointments to many commissions, task forces, panels, and committees. His experience deals directly with integrating scientific understanding, utilization and management of various coastal systems including shoreline erosion, hazard zone delineation, utilization of mineral resources, inlet dynamics, water quality, and habitat preservation.