John M. Ringelberg. President and CEO, Ocean Technology Foundation. President and CEO, JMS Naval Architects & Salvage Engineers. Graduate, New York Maritime College, and Webb Institute of Naval Architecture. Captain and Engineering and Diving Officer, United States Navy.  Commanding Officer, Navy Experimental Diving Unit. Chief Engineer, Aircraft Carrier, John F. Kennedy. Multiple positions in the marine field, as well as in the power and energy area of a multinational manufacturing company. Member of a number of technical and professional societies including Sigma Xi.  Registered professional engineer.

Dr. Richard A. Cooper. Founder. Director of Special Projects, and Professor of Marine Sciences, University of Connecticut at Avery Point.  U.S. Navy and NOAA certified Aquanaut. Former Associate Director, NOAA’s National Undersea Research Center, University of Connecticut at Avery Point. Former Program Director, Manned Undersea Research and Technology/National Marine Fisheries Service, Northeast Fisheries Center.

Andrew N. Davis, Ph.D., Esq.  Partner, Environmental Practice Group, international law firm of Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP.  Counsel ship owners and their insurers on major U.S. casualties, including oil spills, collisions and explosions, handling cleanup efforts and natural resource damage claims under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 and state laws. Adjunct Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies, Connecticut College.  Author of numerous scientific and environmental law articles and:  The Home Environmental Sourcebook: 50 Environmental Hazards to Avoid When Buying, Selling or Maintaining a Home (Henry Holt & Co. 1996); ISO 14001 - Meeting Business Goals Through an Effective Environmental Management System (Simon & Schuster 1998); and Environmental Law Practice Guide, Chapter 36, Asbestos (Matthew Bender & Co. 2003).  Member of several national and international environmental organizations and frequent speaker on a variety of environmental/health and safety topics.  Former project scientist/research diver on Baffin Island Oil Spill (BIOS) Project and marine biological expeditions to Greenland and South Africa.

Dr. Sylvia Earle. Chairman, Deep Ocean Exploration and Research. Honorary President, Explorers Club, Executive Director for Global Marine Conservation for Conservation International, and Program Coordinator & Advisory Council Chair for the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies. Adjunct scientist, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), Director of Kerr-McGee Inc.  Author, "Sea Change," "Exploring the Deep Frontier" and others. Explorer-in-Residence, National Geographic Society. Research Associate, Smithsonian Institution. Former Chief Scientist, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.

Dr. Alexander Malahoff. Professor of Geological Oceanography, University of Hawai'i. Director, NOAA's National Undersea Research Center, University of Hawai'i (Hawai'i Undersea Research Laboratory). President, University of Hawai'i Professional Assembly. Chairman, Faculty Senate, UH-Manoa. President-elect, International Marine Minerals Society. Former Program Director, Marine Geology and Geophysics Program, Office of Naval Research. Former Chief Scientist, National Ocean Survey, NOAA. Recipient, Medal for Meritorious Service, U.S. Department of Commerce.

Dr. William M. Simpson, Jr.  Captain, US Coast Guard (retired). Professional Engineer. Professor, Engineering Department, U. S. Coast Guard Academy. President, East Haddam Naval Architecture, Inc.  Former Commanding Officer, U.S. Coast Guard Research and Development Center.  Past Chair, New England Section, Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers.  Past Chair, Southern New England Section, American Society of Naval Engineers.

Dr. Howard Weiss.  Senior Marine Scientist, Project Oceanology. Adjunct Faculty for the University of Connecticut, Avery Point Marine Sciences Dept.  Recipient of numerous awards and honors from: Connecticut Dept. Environmental Protection and Sea Grant College Program Environmental Education Award, J. W. Fulbright Senior Scholar Award,  Governor’s Environment/2000 Award, and Connecticut Science Teachers Association and the Connecticut Science Supervisors Association.  Present governmental appointments include: Thames River Research Advisory Council and Citizens Advisory Committee for EPA Long Island Sound Study.  Member, American Association for the Advancement of Science, National Marine Educator’s Association and New England Estuarine Research Society.

Robert Wicklund. Director of Federal Programs, University of North Carolina at Wilmington (UNCW). Former Director, National Undersea Research Program (UNCW). Founder and Former Director, Caribbean Marine Research Center. Former Director, Hydrolab Undersea Research Program.