Speaker Biographies

William W. Albee
Director - Special Projects, Wyle Laboratories

Bill earned a Business Management degree from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA, followed by a Master’s in Political Science from Stanford in 1975. His early Federal career included service as a Navy air crewman and 20 years with DoD and GSA. From 1990 until he retired, Bill was Manager of the Policy and Regulatory Division in FAA's Office of Environment and Energy, where he also served as FAA’s first Aviation Noise Ombudsman. He managed the air carrier fleet transition Stage 3 noise levels and lead the effort to develop FAA’s community involvement policy. Bill joined Wyle Laboratories in 1999, where he is providing noise planning, management and analysis services to airports, communities, aircraft operators, and the FAA, and he has become the most vocal advocate for using supplemental metrics to communicate noise exposure to the public.

Leah Boggs
Environmental Planner IV - Metropolitan Washington (DC) Council of Governments

Leah Boggs currently works for the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) as an Environmental Planner. At COG, Ms. Boggs co-manages various programs in the Department of Environmental Programs including the Airport Policy Committee, the Metropolitan Washington Alternative Fuels Program, the Green Building Program and the Climate Change Program.

Prior to COG, Ms. Boggs worked at the Department of Energy - Philadelphia Regional Office as an Engineer. At DOE, Ms. Boggs managed the Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP).

Ms. Boggs attended North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro, North Carolina where she earned a BS in Architectural Engineering.

David F. Carbone
Senior Planner, San Mateo County

Mr. Carbone has been a professional planner for the past 30 years. He has been involved in airport/land use compatibility planning for the past 24 years. He is currently a Senior Planner for the County of San Mateo, California. His primary duties include providing staff support to the San Francisco International Airport/Community Roundtable, a 23 - member committee of elected and appointed officials, that focuses its efforts on reducing community noise impacts from aircraft operations at San Francisco International Airport and the San Mateo County Airport Land Use Commission, a 21-member commission that implements a state-mandated airport/land use compatibility review process for the environs of all three airports located within San Mateo County.

Prior to his current position, Mr. Carbone worked for the City of South San Francisco and the County of San Luis Obispo, California on airport noise mitigation and airport/land use compatibility projects. He also worked for the Airport Authority of Washoe County, Nevada (now Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority), in the airport noise mitigation and property acquisition program at the Reno Cannon (now Reno Tahoe) International Airport. Since August 2004, Mr. Carbone has served on the Advisory Board for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Center of Excellence, known as PARTNER (Partnership for Air Transportation Noise and Emissions Reduction). He also served twice on the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) Division of Aeronautics Advisory Committee to assist Division staff in the preparation of the California Airport Land Use Planning Handbook.

Mr. Carbone holds a Bachelor of Science degree in City and Regional Planning from the California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo. He has obtained additional training in aircraft noise mitigation and airport/land use compatibility planning at the University of California at Berkeley, the University of California at Davis, and the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta.

TEL: 650/363-4417
FAX: 650/363-4849
email: dcarbone@co.sanmteo.ca.us

Annie Christensen
Noise Officer - Denver International Airport

Ms. Christensen has served as Noise Officer at the Denver International Airport (DEN) since Feb 2001.  She came to DEN in 1997 with Airport Operations/Airport Security after working for the City and County of Denver Health Authority.

John-Paul Clarke
Associate Professor, Georgia Institute of Technology
Lead Investigator, PARTNER

John-Paul Clarke is an Associate Professor in the School of Aerospace Engineering and the Director of the Air Transportation Laboratory (ATL) at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Airline Operations, Air Traffic Management and the Environmental Impact of Aviation.

He received his S.B. (1991), S.M. (1992) and Sc.D. (1997) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and was a faculty member at MIT prior to moving to Georgia Tech. He has also been a researcher at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and a visiting scholar at the Boeing Company.

Dr. Clarke is a member of the Airline Group of the International Federation of Operations Research Societies (AGIFORS), the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS), the Institute of Navigation (ION) and Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society.

He serves on several national and international committees including the Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board (ASEB) of The National Academies, the FAA Research Engineering and Development Committee (REDAC), the AIAA Air Transportation Systems Technical Committee and the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Aircraft Noise Committee.

Dr. Clarke was the first director of the Partnership for AiR Transportation Noise and Emissions Research (PARTNER), the Center of Excellence for Aviation Noise and Aircraft Emissions Mitigation, and is an active researcher in both PARTNER and the National Center of Excellence for Aviation Operations Research (NEXTOR).

In 1999, he was awarded the AIAA/AAAE/ACC Jay Hollingsworth Speas Airport Award and in 2003, he was awarded the FAA Excellence in Aviation Award.

Ambrose W. Clay
Technologist, College Park, GA

Mr. Clay is a technologist who is currently providing assistance to the City of College Park, GA in the analysis of aircraft over-flights.

He recently retired from General Dynamics C4 Systems in Scottsdale, Arizona where he was responsible for planning the incorporation of advanced technology into military Command, Control, Computing, & Communication Systems (C4S).

In recent years he has served as Director of the Scottsdale Facility’s Information Technology Services and Solutions organization, Assistant Program Director for Motorola’s Iridium Satellite system development, and Vice-president of R&D for AG Communication Systems (a joint venture of AT&T and the former GTE).

Mr. Clay holds a BSEE degree from M.I.T. and an MBA from the University of Chicago. He is a Life Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Ambrose resides with his wife Jean in College Park, Georgia. He has served on Engineering Advisory Boards for both Arizona State University and the University of Arizona. He has two daughters and 5 grandchildren. He is an avowed techno-geek with a passion for integrating anything that computes.

Benjamin R. DeCosta
Executive Director, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport

Benjamin R. DeCosta assumed leadership of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport as aviation general manager for the City of Atlanta - Department of Aviation in June 1998. Upon his arrival at Hartsfield-Jackson, he placed customer service and security at the top of his priorities. Mr. DeCosta and his staff are committed to ensuring that passenger experiences at the principal air carrier airport in the southern United States are among the best in the world. In fact, the Airport’s mission statement is “to be the world’s best airport by exceeding customer expectations.” In 2003, airport passengers participating in a worldwide survey conducted by the International Air Transport Association ranked Hartsfield-Jackson number one in overall passenger satisfaction for large hub airports.

Mr. DeCosta and his staff are preparing the Airport for the future with a 10-year capital improvement project, Hartsfield-Jackson Development Program (H-JDP) Focus on the Future, which was established in 1999. The program is the Airport’s blueprint for growth and was specifically designed to reduce delays, accommodate forecast demand, improve customer service, and address the challenges of the “new aviation environment.” Among the major components of the H-JDP are: a fifth runway, new international terminal, consolidated rental car complex, upgrades to the existing central passenger terminal complex, and a south gate complex.

Hartsfield-Jackson retained its title as the busiest passenger airport in the world serving over 83.6 million passengers in 2004.

Under Mr. DeCosta’s leadership, Atlanta’s airport has received numerous awards and national recognition in various areas including efficiency. In fact, in July 2003, the Airport received an award from the Air Transport Research Society for being first in productivity and efficiency among 90 leading airports worldwide. The Department of Aviation was again honored with this prestigious award in 2004.

Prior to taking the position of aviation general manager at Hartsfield-Jackson, Mr. DeCosta worked for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and served as the general manager of Newark International Airport.
A native New Yorker, Ben DeCosta received his Bachelor of Arts degree in physics at Queens College in 1968 before earning his Juris Doctor from New York Law School in 1975. In 1984, he participated in a program for senior executives in state and local government at the Kennedy School of Public Administration at Harvard University.

Mary Ellen Eagan
President, Harris Miller Miller & Hanson, Inc.

Mary Ellen’s aviation noise experience includes FAA Part 150 studies, state and federal environmental evaluations, and on-call noise consulting at a number of airports across the country. Her current projects include the T.F. Green Airport Improvement Program EIS (RI), Ft. Lauderdale International Airport Partnership for Quieter Skies (FL), and Palm Beach International Airport on-call consulting (FL). Mary Ellen has served as consultant to the Federal Interagency Committee on Aviation Noise (FICAN) since 1990. She also developed HMMH’s Integrated Noise Model (INM) and other aviation training courses, and has taught the courses throughout the U.S. and around the world.

Ms. Eagan is a member of the FAA’s Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO) Airports Integrated Product Team, which is planning for the next generation aviation system. She also serves on the Transportation Research Board’s Committee on the Effects of Aviation on the Environment, the Airport Consultants Council Environmental Committee and Institute, and the Airport Council International – North America’s Environmental Committee.

Ms. Eagan became HMMH’s third President in July 2004. Notably, Ms. Eagan is the first non-founder in that role. Widely known throughout the aviation industry, Ms. Eagan also has participated in rail and highway noise projects since joining HMMH in 1984. She holds a BS in Engineering from Cornell University and an MBA from Simmons College.
 

Mary Ellen Eagan
President
Harris Miller Miller & Hanson Inc.
77 South Bedford St.
Burlington, MA 01803

Tel: (781) 229-0707
Fax: (781) 229-7939
Email: Meagan@hmmh.com

Kathleen K. Hodgdon
Research Faculty, Pennsylvania State University
Lead Investigator, PARTNER

Kathleen K. Hodgdon received both an MS in Audiology (research emphasis, Psychoacoustics, 1986), and an MS in Acoustics (2003), from Penn State. She has served on the research faculty at the Applied Research Lab at Penn State since 1987. Her expertise is in Sound Quality, specializing in the use of metric evaluation to predict subjective response to noise.

She is currently a co-principal investigator for Partnership for Air Transportation Noise and Emissions Reduction (PARTNER) FAA/NASA/TC sponsored Center of Excellence research. Her PARTNER efforts include serving as project lead for both Low Frequency Noise Study and development of NoiseQuest website, and as a researcher on the Metrics and Health Effects and Sonic Boom teams. Other current efforts include working with the Army’s Construction Engineering Research Laboratory to assess the impact of military training noise in communities around army installations, Instructor of Sound Quality course for the Graduate Program in Acoustics, and supervising Acoustics graduate student research.

Hodgdon has conducted research with The Marine Corp Research University investigating annoyance and task interference due to noise; sound quality research for General Motors, Ford Motor Company, the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute (ARI); and vehicle noise analysis and quieting efforts for the Navy. Her research efforts include aviation and military noise impact, community noise impact, psychoacoustics, perception of annoyance, product sound quality, metric development, vehicle and product noise reduction, atmospheric noise propagation, speech analysis, and architectural acoustics. She is a member of both the Acoustical Society of America and the Institute of Noise Control Engineering of the USA.

Contact information: 216 ARL, University Park, PA 16802, kkh2@psu.edu, phone 814-865-2447, fax 814-863-7270

Ashraf Jan, AICP
Special Assistant to Associate Administrator - Airports, Federal Aviation Administration

Currently serving as Special Assistant to Associate Administrator, Airports in FAA, leading FAA’s Airport land Use Compatibility Initiative. 26 Years experience in FAA, managing environmental and aviation development projects. Served for 9 years as Airport Advisor to Civil Aviation Authority, Spain, and for 8 years Environmental Manager in FAA New England Region. Before joining FAA served as Manager Design & Environment in the Central Transportation Planning Staff of Metropolitan Area Planning Council, Boston.

Ashraf has MS in Civil Engineering- Transportation from Va. Tech. and Master in City Planning from M I T. His review of Airport Systems, Planning, Design, and Management by Richard de Neufville & Amedeo Odoni was published in the Journal of the American Planning Association, Autumn, 2004 issue.

Jan Larkin
Outreach Coordinator, Department of Defense Range Sustainment Initiative

For the past 20 years, Ms. Larkin has worked with federal facilities on community issues. Jan Larkin is currently the Outreach Coordinator for the Department of Defense (DoD) Range Sustainment Initiative.  In this capacity she works on national military test and training issues and has developed an outreach program for the Department that better enables the DoD to engage with the communities surrounding military test and training ranges. She has established partnerships with national non-government organizations and created multiple inter-governmental workgroups to support military readiness issues. Ms. Larkin initiated the DoD Range Tour program which has generated numerous positive reports on DoD natural resource stewardship.

Prior to her present position, she spent four years at the Massachusetts Military Reservation on Cape Cod as the Community Outreach Director for the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Installations and Environment.

Lynne Sparks Pickard
Deputy Director, Office of Environment and Energy, Federal Aviation Administration

Ms. Pickard is the Deputy Director of FAA’s Office of Environment and Energy. Prior to assuming this position in January 2006, she served as FAA’s Senior Advisor for Environmental Policy for several years. Before that, she was the Manager of FAA’s Airports Environmental Division for over 20 years.

Ms. Pickard holds two undergraduate degrees, one in Political Science and one in Environmental Studies. She also has a Master’s Degree in International Relations from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

Ms. Pickard’s career has been one of balancing the public interests of aviation and environmental protection. Her recent assignments include the development of significant new environmental initiatives for FAA’s reauthorization legislation, and chairing a Policy Panel to explore and recommend environmental policies for the Next Generation Air Transportation System.
 

Steven Picou
Environmental Manager, Albuquerque, NM International Sunport

Steven Picou is the Environmental Manager for the Albuquerque International Sunport. In that position, Steven wears many hats, however, one of his primary responsibilities is managing the Sunport’s sustainability efforts. In addition to sustainability, Steven deals with all compliance issues for the facility, acts as construction manager on a variety of projects and manages the airports noise program.

Prior to joining the Sunport in 2001, Steven worked for the New Orleans International Airport as the Noise Abatement Coordinator, Wildlife Manager and Operations Officer. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Professional Aviation from Louisiana Tech University and is a commercial rated pilot. Steven is also a Certified Member of the American Association of Airport Executives. Away from work, he is involved with Leadership Albuquerque and the United Way of Central New Mexico.

Scott Tatro
Manager - Noise Management Division, Los Angeles World Airports

Scott Tatro was appointed as Manager for the Los Angeles World Airports’ (LAWA) Noise Management Division in May 2007. In this capacity, Scott is responsible for the development, implementation, and administration of LAWA’s noise abatement programs for LAX, ONT, and VNY. He works directly with local, state, and federal agencies to ensure LAWA’s full compliance with all regulations and reporting requirements.

Scott has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Geography from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). He joined LAWA in 1994, and has spent the last eight years as an Environmental Supervisor with the Noise Management Division. He possesses a strong technical background in reviewing and analyzing aircraft and noise data, generating Integrated Noise Model contours, maintaining the Airport Noise and Operations Management System, and producing maps and reports for compliance with State variance requirements.

Scott has also been actively involved in the LAX/Community Noise Round Table since its inception in 2001. Scott has extensive experience administering all airport noise policies and programs at each of the LAWA’s three noise-impacted airports.

Steve Vecchi
Director - Sound Insulation Services, THC, Inc.

Steve Vecchi is the Director of Sound Insulation Services at THC, Inc. He is responsible for planning and implementing all THC sound insulation programs. With over 28 years experience in airport noise mitigation, Mr. Vecchi has developed a comprehensive knowledge of single and multi-family sound insulation programs and the various bidding methods associated with these types of construction projects. His innovative refinements of the Single Parcel and Multiple Parcel Methods have resulted in producing some of the most successful Sound Insulation Programs in the country. He has also been instrumental in developing the nation’s first Design Build method for sound insulation at San Antonio International Airport.

Mr. Vecchi is currently working on sound insulation programs for the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, San Antonio International Airport, Key West International Airport, Orlando International Airport, Tallahassee Regional Airport and the City of Inglewood (LAX), California.

During the past 29 years, Steve has also developed a professional singing career and has been featured in numerous national shows, concerts and conventions throughout the United States including Las Vegas, Chicago, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Atlanta, Miami and Orlando. He has had the opportunity to share the stage with such artists as B.B. King, Spyro Gyra, Louie Anderson, Connie Stevens, The 4 Lads, The 4 Aces, Dick Contino, Al Martino, Bobby Lyle and Bill Kirkenbaur. Steve has also been featured at Disney World’s Epcot Center and in the largest showrooms of the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line. He has several original compositions, including the “Minneapolis St. Paul Theme” (the official theme song of the Twin Cities) and “Hotter Than Hot” (the official Minnesota Twins fight song). In addition to his performance career, Steve has had the rare opportunity to meet and talk extensively with Tony Bennett, the late Woody Herman and Count Basie, encounters that have had an enormous impact on his musical career.

For more information, please contact Steve Vecchi at (770) 623-0520, ext. 114 or svecchi@thcinc.net.

Jim Whitehurst
Chief Operating Officer (COO), Delta Airlines

Jim Whitehurst, 38, is Chief Operating Officer. He is responsible for Operations, Sales and Customer Service, Network and Revenue Management, Marketing, and Corporate Strategy.

Whitehurst previously served as Senior Vice President and Chief Network and Planning Officer. Prior to joining Delta in 2002, Whitehurst served as Vice President and Director of The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and held various leadership roles in their Chicago, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Atlanta offices

A native of Columbus, Ga., Whitehurst graduated from Rice University in Houston, Texas, with a bachelor's degree in Computer Science and Economics. He also attended Friedrich-Alexander University in Erlangen, Germany, holds a general course degree from the London School of Economics and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Vern Wilcox
MSP Noise Oversight Committee
Bloomington, MN City Council

Mr. Wilcox is a fourteen year member of the City Council in Bloomington, Minnesota as well as the current Deputy Mayor. He is also the Chair of the representatives to the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport Noise Oversight Committee and the CO-Chair of the group as a whole. Mr. Wilcox is also a NOISE officer with the title of North Heartland Regional Director.

Darcy Zarubiak
Principal Consultant, Jacobs Consultancy

Mr. Zarubiak has more than 13 years of experience in airport planning, air quality, airport environmental management, and the operational components of environmental protection at an airport.

Mr. Zarubiak has been actively involved in environmental and sustainability issues and is currently helping several airport sponsors realize environmental authorizations to enable the construction of strategic infrastructure. He has been involved in environmental issues from identification in the master plan through reporting to regulatory agencies on the status of mitigation projects. He has helped airport sponsors reduce their environmental footprint through the adoption of sustainable practices and business strategies. He recently represented the City of Philadelphia during the development of a regional air quality State Implementation Plan.

Prior to joining Jacobs Consultancy, Mr. Zarubiak, served in a key leadership role developing environmental strategy and achieving permitting for Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, including implementation of an environmental program that won the Federal Aviation Administration Southwest Region’s Environmental Achievement Award and the American Association of Airport Executives’ (AAAE’s) Clean Airport Award.

Alan F. Zusman, AICP
Deputy Director, Base Development - Headquarters, Naval Facilities Engineering Command - Department of the Navy

Mr. Alan F. Zusman is the Deputy Director, Base Development for the Headquarters, Naval Facilities Engineering Command in Washington, DC. He also serves as the Department of the Navy’s Program Director for AICUZ and Encroachment Management, for the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations (Logistics and Readiness), Ashore Readiness Division, and for the Commander Navy Installations Command (CNIC). As the Navy’s authority for the Air Installations Compatible Use Zones Program (AICUZ),

Mr. Zusman has considerable experience in the areas of aircraft noise and comprehensive land use planning, and has in depth experience working with local, state, and regional governments in building partnerships and alliances. Mr. Zusman currently serves as the Chairman, Federal Interagency Committee on Aviation Noise (FICAN), and Chairs the Department of Defense Noise Working Group (DNWG). Recently, Mr. Zusman was appointed as a member of the National Academies of Science, Transportation Research Board, Committee on Environmental Impacts of Aviation.

Prior to joining the Navy in 1980, Mr. Zusman was a Senior Transportation Engineer with the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) responsible for airport system planning in the Metropolitan Washington area. Previously, Mr. Zusman was an airport planner with the consulting firm of Howard Needles Tammen & Bergendoff.

Mr. Zusman received a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering and a Master of Science degree in Transportation Planning from the Polytechnic University of New York in 1971, and 1972, respectively.