SAME RCOI Webinar: Sea Level Rise: Military Services Response and Action

Robin O’Connell is currently serving as the Director of the Climate Change Program Office at the Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command Headquarters (NAVFAC HQ) in Washington DC. Prior to this appointment, she served as the Director of Sustainability & Land Use and Senior Climate Change Advisor. During her 11-yr tenure as the Sustainability & Land Use Director, her focus was to develop a land use approach that struck a balance between sustaining military readiness, resource conservation and renewable energy development. Robin also served as the Director of Global and Strategic Planning, helping to expand NAVFAC’s planning portfolio to address the infrastructure needs of new weapons platforms and integrated global logistics. Prior to joining Headquarters, Robin lived and worked in East Asia and the Pacific for more than 20 years, where she held environmental policy and regional development positions in the US Federal government, private industry, academia, and international organizations. Robin received her AB in Asian Studies from Dartmouth College with a major in Chinese and a minor in Geography. She later received her MA in Geography and Regional Planning from the University of Hawaii while serving as a degree fellow at the East-West Center, Environment and Policy Institute.

Laurel Reichold is the Director of the Regional Sediment Management, Center of Expertise for the South Atlantic Division (SAD) of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). Ms. Reichold worked as a Project Manager in the Jacksonville, Florida USACE District for 12 years managing navigation, coastal and flood risk management projects all over Florida, Puerto Rico and the USVI. Currently, Ms. Reichold helps support USACE implementation of beneficial use of dredge material and regional sediment management practices across the South Atlantic Coastal Program. Ms. Reichold received her Bachelor of Science degree from Brown University, in Providence, Rhode Island, and Master of Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering from North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Mr. Ramiro Montes De Oca is a Navy Veteran and graduate of the University of Florida, Ramiro has served as a Civil and Environmental Engineer, and Facilities Manager for various branches of the Department of Defense and the Department of Veteran's Affairs. He currently serves as the Coast Guard Facilities Operation and Support Division Chief in the Office of Civil Engineering. Mr. Montes De Oca is the Facilities liaison for the Coast Guard Resilience Task Force. He is a member of the Department of Homeland Security Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience Working Group. Mr. Montes De Oca is a registered Professional Engineer in Illinois and Florida.

Garey Payne currently serves as a Community Planner for the Air Force Civil Engineer Center, Natural Disaster Recovery Division, at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, supporting the rebuild efforts of the installation after Hurricane Michael hit the installation in October 2018. As a retired Air Force Veteran, he has over 26 years of global experience in engineering operations, including engineering support, design, surveying, and construction management with comprehensive experience as a contracting officer's representative, including requirements definition and development, budgeting, and managing both pre- and post-award activities. Garey has skillfully managed projects and personnel around the world by leading culturally diverse, multidisciplinary teams to ensure individual and team success across the full spectrum of operations. In his current role, Garey serves as the Program Manager for the Tyndall AFB Coastal Resiliency Program, which is executing several pilot projects in the state waters around the installation. These projects include oyster reefs, saltmarsh enhancements, and living shorelines, and if proven to be successful, can be scaled up in the future up to bolster the resilience of Tyndall's 14+ miles of coastline from wave energy, erosion, and the effects of sea level rise, as well as be exportable to other coastal communities and DoD installations worldwide. Additionally, his team has developed a Coastal Resilience Implementation Plan that evaluates facility risk across the installation, caused by the combination of sea level rise with 100-yr flood events, through calendar year 2100. Implementation of this plan will help ensure the mission assurance of Tyndall AFB for generations of warfighters to come and solidify Tyndall and the premier "Installation of the Future".

Federal Programs Director for Michael Baker International focused on defense community infrastructure, military installation resilience, and coastal resilience. Current work includes a Military Installation Resilience Review Study, and several Energy Resilience and Conservation Investment Program (ERCIP) projects. Patrick holds a Master of Science degree in Environment Engineering from Missouri University of Science and Technology, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Virginia Tech. Patrick joined Michael Baker in 2022 after a distinguish career in the U.S. Army including service in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) South Atlantic Division, and the Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation (OLDCC). Patrick is a SAME Elected Director and SAME Fellow.