Larry Hartig
Commissioner, Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation Mr. Hartig is an attorney with more than 20 years experience in environmental law, regulations, permits and land use issues. Prior to his appointment in 2007 by Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation, he was in private practice as an attorney with the Anchorage law firm of Hartig Rhodes Hoge & Lekisch, PC. Joining the firm in 1983, Mr. Hartig worked primarily on environmental, natural resources, and commercial matters. His practice included assisting clients in obtaining environmental and other permits for natural resource development projects, as well as projects involving environmental compliance, and cleanup of contaminated properties. Clients included government, private developers, industry and Native Corporations, among others. He also worked as a landman in the Land/Legal Department of Alyeska Pipeline Service Company between 1972 and 1976.

Mr. Hartig has a B.A. from the University of Utah and received his J.D. from Lewis and Clark College. He is a member of the Alaska Bar Association, and a former member of the State Board of Forestry.

Cairine MacDonald
Deputy Minister, British Columbia Ministry of Environment Cairine MacDonald was appointed Deputy Minister of Ministry of the Environment in October 2010.

Cairine served as Deputy Minister of Housing and Social Development from June 2008 to October 2010.

Cairine also served as Deputy Minister of Employment and Income Assistance from 2005 to 2008 and as the Deputy Minister of Management Services and Chief Executive Officer of Solutions BC from August 2003 to June 2005. Prior to joining the B.C. government, Cairine was responsible for the transition from regulation to competition for the largest retail electricity company in Alberta during the period from 1997 to 2002 as Vice President, Distribution and Transmission, and then as President, EPCOR Energy Services Inc. She co-founded the Sustainable Buildings Symposium, now in its 13th year. During the first half of 2003, she was EPCOR Executive in Residence at the Centre for Applied Business Research in Energy and the Environment at the University Of Alberta School Of Business. Cairine spent 14 years in telecommunications, culminating as President, TELUS Advertising Services (Edmonton) Inc. Cairine took her undergraduate degree at the University of Alberta, MBA at the University of Western Ontario and the Advanced Management Program at Harvard.

Captain Scott D. Schaefer
Acting Administrator, California Office of Spill Prevention and Response Captain Scott Schaefer was appointed Deputy Administrator of the California Department of Fish and Game's Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR) by Governor Gray Davis in 2000. In 2004, he was recalled to active duty and served as the U.S. Coast Guard Eleventh District's acting Chief of the Marine Safety Division, Chief of the Incident Management Branch and Acting Chief of the Prevention Division. He returned as Deputy Administrator at OSPR in 2009. Captain Schaefer was recalled to active duty in May 2010 and served as the Deputy Incident Commander at ICP Mobile for the Deepwater Horizon response for 60 days. He led a response including 26,000 personnel, 4,500 vessels and an area of responsibility including Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida panhandle. CAPT Schaefer received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Management from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and his Masters Degree in Business Administration from the University of California Berkeley.

Gary Gill
Deputy Director for Environmental Health, Hawaii Department of Health Mr. Gill was born in Honolulu and educated in the Hawaii public school system. At the age of 26, he successfully ran for a seat on the Honolulu City Council; he served two terms representing District 6 (Downtown Honolulu) including two years as Chair of the Council. In 1994 Gary was appointed as the Director of the Office of Environmental Quality Control and as Deputy Director of Health for the Environment during the administration of Governor Ben Cayetano. The State of Hawaii joined the Pacific States/British Columbia Oil Spill Task Force under his leadership. Following that government service, Mr. Gill worked as Development Director for the Hawaii Sierra Club, Program Manager for Kokua Kalihi Valley (a community health clinic) and as Executive Director of Waimea Valley on the North Shore of Oahu. He also served as the Program Director for the Blue Planet Foundation of Hawaii, an organization dedicated to promoting energy independence for Hawaii.

In January of 2011, Governor Neil Abercrombie appointed Gary to once again lead the environmental protection programs for the State of Hawaii. As Deputy Health Director for the Environment, Gary oversees a diverse set of programs including Hazard Evaluation and Emergency Response as well as the Clean Air, Water and Solid Waste programs delegated to the State by the U.S. EPA, Sanitation, Food and Drug, Indoor and Radiological Health, Vector Control and the State Laboratory programs.

Dick Pedersen
Director, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality Dick was named Director of DEQ in June, 2008. He had served as Deputy Director since March 2007. Dick served as Administrator of DEQ's Northwest Region since April 2003, and was Division Administrator for DEQ's Land Quality Division since August 2002. He started his career with DEQ in September 1996 as Manager of the Environmental Cleanup program. He also was manager of the DEQ Water Division's Watershed Management Section. From 1993 to 1996, Dick was the U.S. Department of Interior's project manager for a major natural resource damage assessment of a mining area in Northern Idaho. Prior to that, Dick worked 18 years for the State of Montana. His last position there was Manager of the State's Superfund and Natural Rescue Damage programs. Pedersen holds a bachelor of art and combined science degree in Biology and Chemistry from Carroll College, Helena, Montana.

Dale Jensen
Program Manager, Department of Ecology Spill Prevention, Preparedness & Response Program Dale Jensen has been appointed by Ted Sturdevant, Director of the Department of Ecology, to represent Ecology on the Oil Spill Task Force. Dale was appointed the Program Manager for the Washington State Department of Ecology Spill Prevention, Preparedness and Response Program in August 2001. The Spills Program is a statewide program responsible for activities that include spill prevention, preparedness, response, and natural resource damage assessment. There are approximately 71 program employees and 25 after-hours responders located at four regional offices, two field offices, and headquarters with a two-year budget of about $29 million. Dale spent nine years as manager in the Department of Ecology's Air Quality and Toxics Cleanup programs. Prior to Ecology, Dale spent three years implementing the Governor's Efficiency Commission Study. Many of the results from that study are still in place today. Prior to state service, Dale was a small business owner/operator in retail, agriculture, and environmental consulting. Dale grew up in Montana and now lives in Olympia with his wife Laura. They have three children. Dale has a degree in Business Administration from the University of Montana. He enjoys spending time outdoors, biking, hiking, and boating with friends and family. Dale places importance on establishing and maintaining good stakeholder relationships, and a high priority on partnerships to protect the environment. He believes if we hold our regulated community to a high standard, we need to hold ourselves to that same standard. Accountability and performance are essential to our success.