Director Executive
Resume:
Alan D. Thornhill, Ph.D.
Chief Environmental Officer
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
U.S. Department of the Interior
Washington D.C. 20240
****.*********@****.***
Employment summary
2011 - present - Chief Environmental Officer of the,
a bureau of the .
2010-2011 - Science Advisor to the Director of the,
a bureau of the .
2004-present - Part-time Assistant Professor, College of Natural Resources, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Lecture and write on conservation, natural resources, and social issues. Serve on candidates Master s advisory boards.
2001-2010 - Executive Director, Society for Conservation Biology (SCB). CEO responsible for building and managing a team of 16 staff and a $3 million budget supporting a membership of over 12,000 professionals worldwide.
2000-2001 - Director of Learning and Communications, Science Division of The Nature Conservancy (TNC-global). Directed a department with 12 staff and was the main contact between the Science Division and the rest of TNC, external partners, and other organizations.
1996-2000 - Assistant Professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Rice University. Lectured and wrote on conservation, natural resources, and social issues. Served on candidates Master s and Ph.D. advisory boards.Science Advisor to the Director, BOEM Selected Accomplishments Led a Department of Interior-wide writing team to develop the first-ever Scientific Integrity Policy for the Department; Public and interagency spokesperson for the Department on scientific integrity on several occasions including briefing congressional staff; Invited to consult with Department of State, USAID, CDC, on the development of their policy on scientific integrityRepresented the Department on several interagency working groups: Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee; Global Change Research Committee; National Ocean Council Ocean Resource Management Interagency Policy Committee.Participated in the Technical Review Panel to evaluate applications for DOI Climate Science Centers.Assisted in developing research study profiles for the Environmental Studies Program and presented studies to the Outer Continental Shelf Federal Advisory Committee. Represented BOEM on intra- and interagency committees: DOI Climate Change Working Group; DOI Coordination Team for the Gulf Coast Restoration Task Force; Representative for DOI MOU with American Indian Higher Education. Briefed congressional staff on the Environmental Studies Program and interaction and coordination with other agencies on science matters. Participated in several intra- and interagency ad-hoc science working groups that were assembled during the Deepwater Horizon Gulf oil spill. Represented BOEM on a recruitment tour to seven universities to increase the awareness and interest in environmental science related jobs in the Bureau. Executive Director, Society for Conservation Biology Selected Accomplishments Seven years experience as the first Executive Director of the largest professional association of conservation professionals in the world.Spearheaded and led the development of the Executive Office and established the leadership role of that office for the Society. Initiated business and marketing strategies that led to a three-fold increase in membership, budget, and staff over a 7 year period. Developed significant international network of relationships with senior academics and executives in the life and natural sciences. Successfully built global teams of professionals to develop and execute plans for publishing, conferences, fundraising, policy, and other programmatic areas.Served as liaison and spokesperson to external organizations including numerous US and outside US government agencies, non-profit NGOs, other scientific societies, and for-profit corporations. Worked effectively with the Society's elected Board of Governors to provide strategic direction, identify new projects and initiatives, and implement approved programs and priorities.Built and maintain positive working relationships with the 12 elected boards (over 110 elected representatives) of the semi-autonomous units of the global organization. Installed modern general ledger accounting systems, developed budget structure, initiated annual audits, and organized and executed capital investments.Successfully negotiated contracts with publishers, academic societies, and institutions.Facilitated strategic planning efforts working with international stakeholders.Incorporated business approaches to establishing programmatic priorities.Developed and oversaw implementation of business and operation guidelines for dozens of semi-autonomous units of the global organization. Successfully launched multiple new programs and absorbed programs from partners. Summary of other Experience Fifteen years of academic research, teaching and publishing. Award-winning teacher and experienced communicator of science to a wide range of audiences.Significant fundraising experience with successful track record of grant writing.Fifteen years of technology experience including conceiving and creating two successful business operations dealing with developing internet transaction applications.Over two dozen published papers and invited presentations at professional meetings. Education and TrainingUniversity of California, Irvine. Doctorate in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. 1996.University of California, Irvine. Bachelor s Degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. 1990.Current and Recent Professional Society Memberships:American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS)Council of Engineering and Scientific Society Executives (CESSE)North American Association of Environmental Educators (NAAEE)Society for Conservation Biology (SCB)Ecological Society of America (ESA)
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