External Advisory Committee

The Texas A&M Superfund Research Center External Advisory Committee (EAC) is comprised of eight high-credentialed scientists that assist the center’s director, deputy director, and Scientific Steering Committee with an independent and unbiased evaluation of our research progress and informs us of additional opportunities and new initiatives that can be of value to the center.

The EAC meets annually in College Station, TX, to review the progress and future directions of the center. Below is a list of our current EAC members and notes on which projects and cores they are responsible for reviewing. (Primary reviewers are underlined.)

David Eaton, PhD
Dean Emeritus
& Vice Provost Emeritus
of the Graduate School;
& Professor Emeritus,
Environmental & Occupation
Health Sciences
University of Washington
Seattle, WA
Oversight
Committee Chair
Project 3
Administrative
& Research Translation Core

Project 4
Dr. Eaton received his Ph.D. in pharmacology from the University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC) in 1978. Following a post-doctoral fellowship in Toxicology at KUMC, he joined the faculty of the University of Washington in 1979. He served as Toxicology Program Director in the Department of Environmental Health from 1983-90, then as Associate Chairman of the Department from 1990-92, as Associate Dean for Research in the School of Public Health from 1999-2005, and Associate Vice Provost for Research from 2005-2013. He served as Dean and Vice Provost of the Graduate School at the University of Washington from 2013-18. He continues his academic appointment as Professor Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, and Public Health Genetics. He served as the founding director of the Center for Ecogenetics & Environmental Health, an NIEHS Core Center of Excellence, from 1995 – 2013. Nationally, he has served on the Board of Directors and as Treasurer of the American Board of Toxicology (1990-94), and as President of the Society of Toxicology (2001-02). He has also served on the Board of Environmental Studies and Toxicology, National Academy of Sciences /National Resource Council (1996-99), as a member of the Board of Directors and Vice-President of the Toxicology Education Foundation, and on the Board of Trustees of the Academy of Toxicological Sciences. He is an Elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Academy of Toxicological Sciences. In 2011 he was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, and to the Washington State Academy of Sciences. He has published over 190 scientific articles and book chapters in the field of toxicology and risk assessment.
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Elena Craft, PhD
President and CEO,
Health Effects Institute,
Boston, MA
Oversight
Project 2
Project 3
Project 4
Dr. Craft's role at HEI includes leading the organization in providing trusted scientific research on air pollution and its effects on health. In recent years, HEI has launched several dynamic new initiatives, including a separately funded Energy program, an expanded Global Health program, and this past year, new science to address issues of environmental justice for traditionally marginalized communities and assess the health impacts of traffic in a rapidly changing transportation landscape. Dr. Craft, who holds a Ph.D. in toxicology from Duke University, has worked with both government and industry stakeholders, conducted research on air toxics exposures and effects, published her work in a wide range of scientific journals, and communicated scientific results to diverse audiences. In her previous role, she served as Associate Vice President of the Environmental Defense Fund, where she built and led a multidisciplinary team of 20 experts producing science used to inform decisions that helped reduce environmental exposures and improve public health.
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Cloelle Danforth, PhD
Senior Scientist,
Environmental Defense Fund,
Boulder, CO
Oversight
Project 4
Project 2
Data Management & Analysis Core
Community Engagement Core
Dr. Danforth's research has centered on reducing impacts to human health and the environment from hazardous chemicals. She has worked to minimize risk to surface water and land from oil and gas development, with a particular focus on characterizing the chemical and toxicological characteristics of its wastewater. Additionally, her work has led to more protective risk guidance values for acute benzene exposure in Houston during disaster response and increased understanding of the risk posed to communities from flood-related chemical releases in petrochemical industrial areas.
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Maria Doa, PhD
Senior Director,
Chemicals Policy, Environmental Defense Fund,
Washington, DC
Oversight
Project 1
Project 3
Community Engagement Core
Maria J. Doa is the Senior Director of Chemicals Policy at the Environmental Defense Fund. Her primary focus is on reducing exposures to toxic chemicals through health-protective implementation of the nation’s chemical safety laws. These efforts promote more robust, inclusive and transparent decisions that consider the impacts chemicals can have throughout their lifecycle, particularly to those most at risk. Previously she held a number of leadership roles at the United States Environmental Protection Agency, most recently as the Director of the Chemical Control Division in the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. She led activities for the assessment and management of a wide range of industrial, commercial and consumer chemicals, including nanoscale materials and persistent, bioaccumulative toxic chemicals, under the Toxic Substances Control Act. She has worked across the Federal Government and internationally on efforts to reduce risk to chemicals, including with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to eliminate lead poisoning in children. She was the co-chair of the United Nations Environment Program and World Health Organization Global Alliance to Eliminate Lead in Paints, led the United Nations Environment Program Mercury Products Partnership, and led efforts on nanomaterials in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s chemicals program.
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Jo Ellen Hinck, MS
Disaster Supplemental
Science Coordinator
& Natural Resource
Damage Assessment
& Restoration (NRDAR)
Coordinator
U.S. Geological Survey
Columbia, MO
Oversight
Risk & Geospatial Sciences Core
Data Management & Analysis Core
Research Experience
& Training Coordination Core
Disaster Research Response Core
Ms. Hinck has more than 20 years of scientific expertise in the areas of ecotoxicology, disaster preparedness, and science communication. In addition to serving as the senior science coordinator for the DOI Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration (NRDAR) Program, she oversees USGS activities related to supplemental appropriations for disaster recovery, which includes hurricanes, wildfires, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions.
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Andrea Kirk, MSc, PhD
Toxicologist
Office of Land and Emergency Management
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
Washington, DC
Oversight
Project 5
Research Experience and Training Core
Project 1
Administrative
& Research Translation Core
Dr. Kirk is a toxicologist with the US Environmental Protection Agency, providing advice and critiques on a wide variety of chemical hazards, including for endocrine disruptors and PFAS. Recent work includes examination mechanisms and relationships between activation of nuclear receptors (PPARs) and changes in bone and adipose tissues, and evaluation of infant and fetal exposures to heavy metals and PFAS. Dr. Kirk is also involved in a number of workgroups and special projects covering risk assessment, emerging contaminants, artificial intelligence-supported systematic review and developing guidelines for developmental and reproductive risk assessments Most of her early work focused on maternal and infant exposures to the endocrine disruptor Perchlorate and its effect on iodide excretion in human milk.
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Sabine Lange, PhD, DABT
Chief Toxicologist & Director,
Toxicology, Risk, Assessment,
& Research Division,
Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality (TCEQ)
Austin, TX
Oversight
Data Management & Analysis Core
Project 1
Project 2
Project 5
Dr. Sabine Lange manages a team of toxicologists at the TCEQ. Her responsibilities include overseeing health effects risk assessments, the development of chemical toxicity factors, and coordinating and conducting research activities. Dr. Lange serves as a technical resource for the State and citizens of Texas for toxicology and human health risk assessment.
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Shawn Paquette, PE, BCEE
Vice President & Principal
Environmental Engineer,
GSI Environmental Inc.
Houston, TX
Oversight
Disaster Research Response Core
Project 5
Research Experience
& Training Coordination Core
Risk & Geospatial Sciences Core
Mr. Paquette has more than 20 years of professional experience in the fields of site investigation, remedy evaluation and selection, environmental forensics, remediation system design and costing, human health and ecological risk assessment, and environmental fate and transport. He has designed, managed, and conducted site investigation and remediation activities at various types of facilities under applicable state, federal, and international regulations and guidelines, including for sites around Galveston Bay/Houston Ship Channel.
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Steve Ramsey, MPH
Project Manager,
Social & Scientific Systems, Inc.
Durham, NC
Oversight
Community Engagement Core
Risk & Geospatial Sciences Core
Administrative
& Research Translation Core
Disaster Research Response Core
Mr. Ramsey has wealth of experience in the areas of preparedness, disaster response, and public health research. Under an NIEHS Clinical Research Support Services contract, he is leading the development of protocols for rapid collection of environmental, health, and exposure data in response to environmental disasters. For the Gulf Long-term Follow-up Study, he managed field operations in 5 states. He has fielded data collection following Katrina, Wilma, Floyd, and Charley, the Iowa City Flood (2008), and the H1N1 pandemic (2009).
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