International Scientific and Technology Advisory Board (ISTAB)
on Underwater Munitions (UWM’s), The Hague, The Netherlands
The ISTAB was originally appointed to IDUM at the request of the Foreign Minister of Lithuania during the 2010 Conference of States Parties of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). The ISTAB consists of diplomats, scientists, academics, and munitions experts representing more than 10 nationalities. ISTAB members work in their personal capacity and meet twice annually in The Hague, The Netherlands.
The ISTAB provides independent advice on scientific, technical, and organizational aspects in response to sea-dumped munitions and to promote dialogue and multilateral contacts among interested governments and international organizations. The ISTAB seeks new members annually, in particular from regions especially effected by underwater munitions, as well as relevant international and regional organizations.
IDUM received the Special Editor award from the Maritime Technology Society (MTS)
Board Members
The board consists of members who are scientists, academics, and officials representing ten nationalities and who act in their personal capacities. The ISTAB, officially provides independent advice to International Dialogues on Underwater Munitions (IDUM), United Nations, commissions, international bodies and organizations, universities and colleges, and the international community and public as a whole.
Mr. Terrance P. Long CPSM. SSM. CD. Chairman
Retired Canadian Military Combat Engineer, Canadian Forces School of Military Engineering (CFSME); Master’s Project Management, St. Mary’s University; Commissioned United Nations Officer (OUN); Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Canadian Forces School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering; Improvised Explosive Disposal (IED), Canadian Forces School of Aerospace and Ordnance Engineering (CFSAOE); NATO Advance Improvised Explosive Disposal (IED), United Kingdom British Army School of Ammunition, Felix Centre; Hazardous Materials Technician, Maritime Environmental Training Institute (METI); Advance Combat Intelligences, Maritime Command Atlantic; EOD Centre Chief Toronto; Program Director for Military Munitions Response Programs; Nuclear, Biological, Chemical “Warfare and Defense”, Special Services Forces (SSF); United Nations Indigenous (First Nations) Capacity-Building for Mine Actions in Mozambique, Egypt, Sudan, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bosnia- Herzegovina, Croatia, and Kosovo; International Commissions, Scientific and Technology Boards; Chaired International Panel Center for Disease Control (CDC), Atlanta Georgia on Human Health and Environment for Sea Dumped Weapons; Partner, Co-Director and Work Package Leader for “three” long-term European Union and NATO Scientific Programs to investigate Chemical and Conventional Weapons at Sea; Delegate High- Level United Nations Youth Summit, Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 13 Climate Action Summit, UN Indigenous Leader Summit, and UN Oceans of Communities for SDG 14 Life Below Sea.
Dr. Thomas Stock, DYNSAFE Germany, Co-Chairman
PhD, Chemistry, University Leipzig, 1982; Graduated Chemist, University Leipzig, 1977; Author of several books and more than 120 publications; Dr. Thomas Stock was Managing Director at Dynasafe Environmental Systems since 2002. He performs business development and sales management for munitions destruction systems and containment chambers for chemical and conventional weapons. Dr. Stock has a PhD in chemistry and is trained as analytical chemist. Dr. Stock has been working as an expert in chemical disarmament and arms control from 1987 to 1996. Between 1988 and 1996 he was researcher and project leader for the Chemical and Biological Warfare Project at Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) in Sweden.
Dr. Stock has been working as an expert in chemical disarmament and arms control from 1987 – 1996. Between 1988 and 1996 he was Researcher and Project Leader for the Chemical and Biological Warfare Project at Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). Here Dr. Stock conducted research in the following areas: old and abandoned chemical weapons (CW), toxic armament wastes, destruction of CW, alternative CW destruction technologies, toxicology of CW agents, industry verification, analytical verification techniques, national implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention, developments with respect to the strengthening of the Biological Weapons Convention and chemical terrorism.
He is in deep familiarized with the OPCW requirements for CW destruction, OCW and ACW, etc. Dr. Stock has extensively published on various issues of analytical chemistry, arms control and disarmament, old and abandoned CW and CW destruction. Besides his analytical background is has knowledge in toxicology questions and decontamination of CW.
Albert Marshall
is a long-time friends and Elders Advisory at Eskasoni First Nations on the bras d’or Lake and home of one of the Bombing Ranges that we plan to invite together as funding become available. Albert, was a Keynote Speaker for IDUM conferences in Halifax and Puerto Rico. Albert is a leading environmental voice in Unama’ki Cape Breton. He is advisor to and is a highly regarded spokesperson for Mi’kmaq natural resources and environmental issues. Albert advises and lectures internationally on a wide range of topics: the environment; tribal consciousness collaboration with non-Aboriginal society; traditional healing, traditional teachings; Mi’kmaq orthography and language and First Nations’ vision of science. He is the creator of the “Two Eyed Seeing” concept–Balancing Traditional Aboriginal Knowledge and Contemporary Science. Albert works to further positive work within Mi’kmaw communities, to seek preservation and understanding of cultural beliefs and practices among all communities and to effect a strong vision for his people and the future.
Chelbylynn Milton
is a Grade 11 high school student attending Newmarket, High School in the French Immersion program, in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada. She is the daughter of two Canadian military Veterans, and has a passion for animal life, biology, and human rights activism. Chelbylynn is York Region District School Board’s second ever elected Student Indigenous Trustee, as she aids the Board of Trustees in becoming more aware of FNMI student presence in schools, and brings light to indigenous struggles. She wants to address the environmental pollution on our planet, especially in the oceans and how pollution impacts on the implementation for United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 13 Climate Action and Sustainable Development Goals 14 Life below water. She is very concerned about decades of decaying Underwater Munitions releasing toxins that are killing coral reefs and marine-life in the ocean. Her passions include rugby, photography, boating and traveling to see different parts of the world. Chelbylynn continues to seek life experiences anywhere she may find and aspires for a brighter environmental and political futurefor the coming generations.
Dr. Andrzej Jagusiewicz, Co-Chairman
Former Chief Inspector of Environmental Protection in Poland, Co-Chairman, International Dialogue on Underwater Munitions (IDUM), International treaties and relations. A Polish representative in various negotiating and political bodies at United Nations and European Commission; CAFE Steering Committee; Air Quality Committee and Advisory Council of Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) Executive Body UNECE Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution and Vice-Chair. Moreover, an expert of United Nations and European Commission (TAIEX), a member of Scientific Committee of the French periodical “Pollution Atmospherique”; Numerous publications on various aspects of environmental protection in the era of globalization and regionalization, including the European integration in UN publications.
Retired, Col. Peter Courtney-Green, Consultant in the field of ammunition and explosives
•MBE (Member of the British Empire) (1983)
•OBE (Officer of the British Empire) (1987)
•NATO Meritorious Service Medal (2005)
Former UK Officer with first-hand experience dumping of conventional munitions in North Sea and Master Theses for Military War College on Dumping of Sea Dumped Weapons in the North Sea. Peter was an officer in the British Navy responsible for dumping munitions in the North Sea. Commanding Officer of battalion responsible for EOD/IEDD operations in Great Britain in support of the civil police and special forces. Chief Ammunition Technical Officer, United Kingdom Land Forces. Ministry of Defence: in-service manager of guided missiles, rockets and conventional artillery ammunition. Head of Ammunition Branch, Royal Military College of Science design and teaching munitions technology.
Military background:
- 1993–2009: NATO employee based in Luxembourg responsible for procurement and demilitarization of munitions for NATO countries; planning and execution of NATO outreach projects for demilitarization and security of munitions in Afghanistan, Albania, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Jordan, Mauritania, Moldova, Serbia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan.
- 1963–1992: British Army service including operational tours in Aden, Northern Ireland, Oman and Falkland Islands.
- Commanding Officer of battalion responsible for EOD/IEDD operations in Great Britain in support of the civil police and special forces.
- Chief Ammunition Technical Officer, United Kingdom Land Forces.
- Ministry of Defence: in-service manager of guided missiles, rockets and conventional artillery ammunition.
- Head of Ammunition Branch, Royal Military College of Science responsible for course design and teaching munitions technology.
- Commanded specialist unit responsible for battle area clearance in Falkland Islands.
Publications:
- Ammunition for the Land Battle, Brassey's, 1991.
(revised and expanded edition in preparation).
- The Politics of Destroying Surplus Small Arms: Inconspicuous Disarmament,
- Routledge, 2010, ed Aaron Karp, (with others).
Education:
- MSc (Explosive Ordnance Engineering); included research into deterioration of sea-dumped munitions.
Dr. Jacek Beldowski, Institute of Oceanology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Marine Chemistry & Ecology
Jacek Bełdowski obtained his masters degree in Marine Biology from the University of Gdańsk in 1998. Since 2000, he has been employed as a researcher in the Polish Academy of Sciences Institute of Oceanography. In 2004, he was awarded his PhD in Earth Sciences, specializing in mercury pollution of marine ecosystems. He has led several Baltic and Artic expeditions and participated in international research projects with the Institute of Oceanology and the Leibnitz Institute for Baltic Sea Research, Warnemuende. He has been a coordinator since 2011 of the European Union- funded Chemical Munitions Search & Assessment Project (CHEMSEA), dealing with chemical munitions in the Baltic. In 2013 he became the director of NATO SPS project Towards the Monitoring of Dumped Munitions Threat (MODUM), and in 2016 coordinator of EU project Decision Aid for Marine Munitions (DAIMON). Currently he coordinates another EU Project DAIMON2 – Practical Applications.
→ Dr. Jacek Beldowski’s citations on researchgate.net
→ Chemical Munitions – from Search to Monitoring
Dr. Kela Weber, Associate Professor, Royal Military College of Canada
Dr. Weber is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, and Director of the Environmental Sciences Group (ESG), at the Royal Military College of Canada. Kela is a practicing professional engineer and actively engaged in several scientific organizations including the International Water Association, the Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering, the American Chemical Society, and the Society of Wetland Scientists. Dr. Weber serves as a Board member for the Beaty Water Research Centre in Canada, and is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Military, Veteran and Family Health. As ESG Director Kela serves as a scientific resource and advisor to the Government of Canada through the Department of National Defence, and oversees a team of scientists and engineers tackling contaminated sites challenges across the country.
- Dr. Weber serves as a Board member for the Beaty Water Research Centre in Canada, and is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Military, Veteran and Family Health. Kela is the Canadian representative and observer for projects in the NATO Science for Peace and Security, and the European Cooperation in Science and Technology programs. Dr. Weber also serves as a scientific resource and advisor to the Government of Canada through the Department of National Defence.
- As a teacher Dr. Weber shows students how to apply fundamentals to engineering problems with a focus on chemical processes, process design, and methods of data and statistical analysis. As a researcher Kela focuses on the multi-physical aspects of environmental pollution, the role of microbial communities in water treatment and remediation, and quantifying the dynamic response of ecosystems to chemical or environmental stressors. As an applied researcher Dr. Weber’s multidisciplinary research group has contributed to the management and clean-up of over 150 contaminated sites across Canada, with a focus on emerging contaminants, remote locations, and sustainable cost effective solutions. Kela has published over 400 scientific journal articles, conference proceedings, and government reports.
Ms. Elisa Perpignan MSc., ISTAB Member
Elisa Perpignan is a Brazilian biologist with a great interest in everything related to conservation. During her Masters programme at the University of São Paulo, she studied animal behavior in a context of vulnerable habitat. She recently specialized in sustainability by the University of Cambridge, and she is now developing a research at TU Delft in this area. She has been working with science divulgation in zoos, science fairs, and NGOs for more than ten years because she believes increasing public awareness about underwater munitions.
Ms. Cherylynn Hunt BSc., MES.
Cherylynn Hunt graduated from the Royal Military College of Canada with a Bachelor in Applied Science and earned her Master’s Degree in Environmental Science and Planning from the University of Waterloo (ON). She served over 27 years as a Canadian Military Engineer as a senior officer and supervised the many trades, professions and consultants required to effect sound asset and environmental management with numerous large-scale projects. She also worked for Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) as a Regional Manager of Engineering Assets and as a Senior Project Manager. Cherylynn is IDUM’s Project Manager for IDUM’s contribution to DAIMON (Decision Aids for Marine Munitions) and continues to assist IDUM in its tasks to collaborate on international projects.
Dr. James W. Porter, Josiah Meigs Professor of Ecology, Emeritus Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia
Dr. James Porter is the Josiah Meigs Distinguished Professor of Ecology, Emeritus at the University of Georgia. Dr. Porter received both his Bachelor’s and Ph.D. degrees from Yale. He has testified before Congress three times about the effects of (1) climate change on coral reefs, (2) global biodiversity loss, and (3) munitions contamination on Puerto Rican coral reefs. In 2005 he received the Eugene P. Odum Award for environmental education from the Ecological Society of America, and in 2006, he was elected President of Sigma Xi, the Scientific Honor Society.
In 2020 in Bremen, Germany he will receive the Coral Reef Society’s top Eminence in Research Award. His work has been featured on the ABC World News, NBC Nightly News, and CNN. His documentary film, Chasing Coral, to which he contributed as the Chief Scientific Advisor and a Principal Cast Member, won the Audience Choice Award at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, and then went on to win a 2017 Peabody Award and the 2017 Emmy for Best Nature Documentary.
Dr. ProJanina Baršienė, Lead Scientist, Head of Genotoxicology LaboratoryInstitute of Ecology of Nature Research Center, Vilnius, Lithuania; Education: M.Sc. – Vilnius University, Department of Botany & Genetics, 1973; PhD – Institute of Cytology, Sankt Peterburg; 1979 Dr. habilitatus – Institute of Ecology, Vilnius, 1993; 2010 – present – Leading Scientist of the Institute of Ecology of Nature Research Center; 1993–2009 – Leading Scientist of the Institute of Ecology of Vilnius University; 1989 – 1993 – Senior Research Fellow of the Institute of Ecology; 1984 – 1989 – Senior Research Fellow of the Institute of Zoology & Parasitology. Janina has been a member of IDUM’s ISTAB from its conception. She has conducted detailed studies that identified impact in the cells of fish from chemical warfare agents, including the resuspension of warfare agents during the laying of oil and gas pipelines on the seabed of the Baltic Sea.
Dr. Valentine Nzengung, Founder, CEO & CTO of MuniRem Environmental
Dr. Nzengung is an inventor of multiple patented technologies for neutralization and destruction of explosives and chemical warfare agents and their precursors to non-hazardous end products. He pioneered the development of multiple high-end environmental green sustainable remediation technologies that are applied at the full scale.
Dr. Nzengung graduated Cum Laude from Georgia State University with a degree in Geology. Subsequently he earned both his Ph.D. in Environmental Geochemistry and M.S. in Environmental Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, USA. He is Professor of Environmental Geochemistry at the University of Georgia and a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (FNAI).
Dr. Nzengung’s research focuses on phytoremediation, bioremediation, chemical neutralization of conventional and homemade explosives, development of specialty biochars for nutrient removal from wastewaters and environmental remediation of various contaminants in soil and water. He has authored and co-authored over 120 publications, including peer reviewed professional journal papers, book chapters, conference proceedings and monographs.
Full details of his academic activities are on his page at UGA.
He combines his academic work with running MuniRem Environmental which he founded. In his role as Chief Technology Officer, he has addressed a variety of international and United States governmental agencies, including the congressional committee looking into alternatives to Open Burn/Open Detonation for destruction of munitions.
Mr. Dominique Anelli
Mr. Anelli was a Military officer, specialised in the Nuclear, Radiological, Biological and Chemical fields. He has been involved in the field of disarmament and chemical defence since 1992:
- Four years experiences in Iraq, 1992 twice, 1996 and 1998 as Chief Inspector,
- Adviser in CBRN protection for Singaporean forces, 1997 and 1998,
- Responsible for Human factors studies in Djibouti and Guyana.
Mr Anelli has also worked in an international environment from 1996 to 2003 as Secretary of the NATO Working group on Decontamination and as French Representative to the NATO Challenge Sub-group. Then, he has been working three years from 2003 till 2006, as deputy permanent representative, to the French permanent Representation to the OPCW enabled his skills in diplomacy and international relations.
In February 2007 he joined the Technical Secretariat of the OPCW, as head of Chemical Demilitarisation Branch. During this time, he verified the destruction of Chemical Weapons (CWs), CW production equipment and CW production facilities (CWPFs), in numerous countries as Libya, Iraq, Syria and others. For Syria he participated actively to its disarmament when advising the Director General Syrian core group, on the CWs destruction, or leading the CWPFs destruction on field. He left OPCW on 29 April 2016 due to the implementation of tenure policy.
In August 2016, he started to work for a CBRN/Fire company so called Cristanini and he worked on firefighting equipment. Recently (end of 2017) and based on common agreement, he stopped working on fire equipment and started to work for MAM/STRAGER. This company employs him as CBRN consultant on specific and sensitive files.
Dr. Alex Souchen, SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow, Wilfrid Laurier University
Dr. Souchen is a military historian who specializes in warfare, society, and the environment, and has been a member of the ISTAB since 2015. He is the author of War Junk: Munitions Disposal and Postwar Reconstruction in Canada (Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2020) and several peer reviewed articles on underwater munitions, including one in an open access journal, available here. Several other articles are currently under peer review, including: “Drowned at Sea: Underwater and the Environmental Legacies of War”; “An Exceptional Mortality: Dumped Munitions, Inconclusive Science, and the Mass Death of Oysters in the Thames Estuary after the First World War”; and “Old Dusty Records? The Challenges of Archival and Historical Research on Underwater Munitions.” His latest blog post is available here.
Dr. Souchen received his PhD from the University of Western Ontario in 2016 and held a SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowship at Wilfrid Laurier University and the Laurier Centre for Military Strategic and Disarmament Studies. He currently holds an Associated Medical Services Postdoctoral Fellowship at Trent University and resides in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
Mr. James Barton, President, Underwater Ordnance Recovery
Former US Navy Diver and research and development for Underwater Munitions Recovery Technology and independent defence waste policy advisor at Underwater Ordnance Recovery. Jim has over forty-years experiences working on underwater munitions sites and has developed underwater recovery and non- destructive process that includes water-jet technology to remediate sea dumped weapons. Jim has first-hand experience on the impacts from underwater munitions from providing underwater UXO Responses for the US Navy.
Mr. Noah Ameer Al-Malt, Legal Consultant
Mr. Noah Al-Malt holds an LL.M. in Advanced Studies in Public International Law from Leiden University with a specialty in Peace, Justice, and Development. Since 2013, he has worked in international tribunals in Europe and Asia, including the International Criminal Court, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, and the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia. Noah has been engaged with IDUM since 2013. His research has been used as the basis for IDUM’s roadmap to establishing an international framework to address underwater munitions and to formulate guidelines for coastguards, marines, and other maritime authorities as part of the MODUM project.
Mr. George Orbelian
Author: ESSENTIAL SURFING; Board Member: Buckminster Fuller Institute; Board Member: Walter Munk Foundation for the Oceans; Advisory Board Member: Planet Positive Ventures, Advisory Board Member: Bay.Org; Advisory Board Member: S.F. State University School of International Business; Co-founder: Project Kaisei – Google Earth Hero; Lead Investor: Ojingo Labs, Inc. – Social Networking Technology; Real Estate Owner / Manager; and Advocate: Disaster Preparedness and Community Resilience
George is a husband (wife, Marcia), parent of twins (sons, Craig and Wade), artist / creative, lifelong motorcyclist (current bike: Yamaha R1M) with expertise in both building competition motorcycles and experience in racing motorcycles, masters swimmer, lifelong surfer (San Francisco Ocean Beach + Hawaii and other locations around the world), surfboard design expert, author (ESSENTIAL SURFING), former Surfboard Design Editor for SURFER Magazine, real estate owner / manager (Orbelian Holdings, L.P.), environmentalist (Co-founder or Project Kaisei which funded Scripps Institution of Oceanography SEAPLEX research and received Google Earth Hero recognition (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kf9W3VDf9Bk), worked with The Quiksilver In Memory of Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational with Contest Director George Downing, is a technology entrepreneur (lead investor in Ojingo Labs, Inc. https://ojingo.com/ ) and is a member of the board of the Buckminster Fuller Institute, the Walter Munk Foundation of the Oceans, and the San Francisco State University School of International Business.
Christine Ward-Paige, PhD
is an interdisciplinary marine scientist Ph.D., with 20+ years research expertise in biological and anthropogenic field sampling, geoscience and isotope chemistry, ecology, policy, and participatory and citizen science. I’m also the founder of eOceans, eShark, eManta, and other global programs. Her primary research and business interests are applied and solution driven, and I’m focused on pragmatic solutions to pressing problems, with a focus on the wellbeing of future generations for human and non-human species. I work in urban and remote ecosystems, mostly in marine, coastal and connected freshwater systems. I deploy a variety of tools spanning policy, ecology, chemistry, geology, statistics, GIS, and social science. Democratizing science through the use of citizen science is a particular area of focus with millions of observations collected from participants in more than 38 countries. I use, analyze, and interpret these data with communities for science, policy and conservation.
Mr. Jared Baribeau, Founder & CTO, Demine Robotics
Jared is co-founder and CTO at Demine Robotics, a startup building robotic landmine removal machines. His background spans robotics and product design, including software development, UI/UX design, electronics development, and mechanical design. Jared has a bachelor’s degree of Systems Design Engineering from the University of Waterloo in Canada. He is an environmentalist who takes every chance he can to be in the wild whether it’s camping, rock climbing, scuba diving, mountain biking, or snowboarding. He’s passionate about inspiring others to get outdoors, and in preserving and remediating our planet.
Thomas J. F. Goreau, PhD, President, Global Coral Reef Alliance
Thomas J.F Goreau, a biogeochemist, was educated in Jamaican schools and holds degrees from MIT, Caltech, and Harvard. President and founder of The Global Coral Reef Alliance, he has dived on coral reefs across the Caribbean, Pacific, Indian Ocean, and South-East Asia for more than 60 years. He has published more than 150 papers and written and edited books on scientific photography, marine ecosystem restoration, soil fertility restoration and climate stabilization. He is co-inventor of the HotSpot method for predicting coral bleaching from satellite data and of the Biorock method for regenerating marine ecosystems and eroding coastlines.
