Description
Theme: Better Together: Spotlight on Federal and NGO Initiatives
Sponsored by: 
- Jaime A. Pinkham-Principal Deputy Assistant, Secretary of the Army for Civil Works
- David Applegate - Director, U.S. Geological Survey
- Tom Kiernan - President and CEO, American Rivers
Contributors
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Jaime A. Pinkham
Mr. Jaime A. Pinkham was appointed to the position of Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works on April 19, 2021. As the Principal Deputy, he assists in establishing policy direction and supervision the Department of the Army functions relating to all aspect of the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Civil Works program. These responsibilities include programs for conservation and development of the nation’s water and wetland resources, flood control, navigation and aquatic ecosystem restoration. Prior to his appointment, Mr. Pinkham served as the executive director of the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission in Portland, Oregon, since 2017. Prior to that position, he was the vice president of the Bush Foundation, a private foundation in St. Paul, Minnesota. He led the Foundation’s Native nations program and worked with tribes across North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota as they redesigned their governing systems. He spent the previous two decades in the Pacific Northwest advocating for tribal sovereignty, self- determination and treaty rights. He has been a member of and served on numerous non-profit organizations, including the Governing Council of the Wilderness Society, American Rivers Board of Directors, Native Arts and Culture Foundation, Board of Trustees at Northland College in Wisconsin, and the Advisory Council for the Udall Center’s Native Nations Institute for Leadership, Management and Policy at the University of Arizona. He is chairman emeritus for the American Indian Science and Engineering Society and past president of the Intertribal Timber Council.
Mr. Pinkham received forestry degrees from Oregon State University (OSU) and Peninsula College. He is an OSU Alumni Fellow and also received an Outstanding Alumnus Award from OSU’s College of Forestry. He is a recipient of national awards from the Wilderness Society, the Native American Fish and Wildlife Society, and the Intertribal Timber Council for his service to tribal communities. He is a citizen of the Nez Perce Tribe. He is married and has two daughters and three grandchildren. He enjoys fishing, hunting, and hiking. When he times his trips just right back home to Nez Perce Country, he can be found sitting around the drum singing the old songs in the old way. -
David Applegate
David Applegate is the 18th Director of the U.S. Geological Survey, sworn in by Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland on Aug. 15, 2022. Prior to assuming his official role, he exercised the delegated authority of the USGS Director beginning on Jan. 20, 2021. He served as the Associate Director for Natural Hazards since 2011, leading USGS emergency response activities and overseeing the bureau’s geologic hazards and coastal and marine programs. He co-chairs the interagency Science for Disaster Reduction working group and chairs the interagency Civil Applications Committee. Applegate is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Geological Society of America and is a past president of the Geological Society of Washington. Applegate joined the USGS in 2004 as the first Senior Science Advisor for Earthquake and Geologic Hazards. Prior to that, he spent eight years with the American Geosciences Institute (AGI) federation of geoscience societies, where he directed science policy and served as the editor of Geotimes, AGI’s news magazine for the earth sciences. Applegate has also served with the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources as the American Geophysical Union’s Congressional Science Fellow and as a professional staff member. He has taught at Johns Hopkins University and served as an adjunct professor at the University of Utah. Born and raised in Chambersburg, Pa., Applegate has a B.S. in geology from Yale University and a Ph.D., also in geology, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife Heidi and two daughters.
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Tom Kiernan
Tom Kiernan (he/him) became president and CEO of American Rivers in February 2021, leading the 78 staff that make American Rivers the nation’s most trusted and influential river conservation organization.
Tom developed a love for rivers at a young age, growing up on the Potomac River in metropolitan Washington, DC and kayaking daily throughout high school and college. Throughout his career, Tom has been dedicated to protecting the nation’s lands and waters, diversifying the conservation movement and advancing innovative solutions to benefit people and nature. Before joining American Rivers, Tom led the American Wind Energy Association for over seven years, growing the organization and advancing a clean energy policy agenda to fight climate change. He led the industry in attaining from Congress an unprecedented 5-year extension of the industry’s Production Tax Credit, restructured AWEA to expand advocacy before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Public Utility Commissions, and the International Trade Commission, and catalyzed the launching of the industry’s 501c(4) electoral partner, American Energy Action. As President of the National Parks Conservation Association from 1998-2013, Tom grew the organization from a $16 to $35 million annual budget, 65 to 165 staff, 7 to 24 field offices, and $2.7 million to $61.5 million in net assets, and led a capital campaign exceeding the $125 million goal. During his tenure, Tom oversaw the 11-year lawsuit that led to the phase-out of 18 coal-fired power plants and the retrofit of 36 more. He was co-founder and co-chair of the Healing Our Waters Coalition of 100+ conservation organizations and, with his team, established the Community Partners Program at NPCA in 1999 – one of the first diversity programs of any major conservation organization. Tom was voted as Chair of the Green Group representing the 35 CEO’s of the largest national conservation organizations. As Deputy at the EPA Office of Air and Radiation, Tom led the team that won EPA’s highest award, the Gold Medal, for reaching a settlement of a 12-year lawsuit that led to the installation of a $450 million pollution control project at the Navajo Generating Station. Tom co-founded the Rocky Mountain Outdoor Center on the Arkansas River in Colorado and worked at North Carolina’s Nantahala Outdoor Center guiding trips throughout the Southeast. He received a BA from Dartmouth College in Environmental Computer Modeling and an MBA from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business with an emphasis in non-profit and public management.