About us
Richard L. Bernknopf , Research Professor at the University of New Mexico, USA – Economist focusing on the demonstration of the value to society of natural science information including earth observation.
Richard Bernknopf is a Research Professor at the University of New Mexico. Before joining the faculty at UNM, Dr. Bernknopf was an economist with the USGS for more than thirty-‐eight years. Dr. Bernknopf’s research focuses on the demonstration of the relevance (value to society) of natural science information including earth observation and the translation of that information into a form compatible with decision-‐making processes. During his tenure at USGS, he was a consulting professor and co-‐director of the Center for Earth Science Information Research at Stanford University, and co-‐director of the Spatial Integration Laboratory for Urban Systems at the University of Pennsylvania. Currently he is associated with the Science Impact Laboratory for Policy and Economics at the University of New Mexico and the Wharton Geospatial Initiative at the University of Pennsylvania.
Andrew Coote, Director, ConsultingWhere, UK — IT consultant specialising in location-based applications with a strong interest in strategy development and socio-economic value assessment.
Andrew has over 30 years experience in developing and using information systems, specialising in management of location-enabled applications. He has held senior management positions in both Government at Ordnance Survey and the private sector at ESRI (UK). His undergraduate degree was in Land Surveying and Geography, he also holds an M.Sc in Computer Science from University College London and a diploma in Company Direction.
He formed ConsultingWhere in 2008. The organisation specialises in providing business strategy advice and business case development support to organisations worldwide. His recent consultancy assignments include facilitating data specification work for the European Union INSPIRE programme, strategic business direction reviews for software companies in the US, Russia and Egypt and advising the New Zealand Geospatial Office. He has led recent studies on the economic benefits of geospatial information for both local government and Ordnance Survey. In the latter case this was part of their evaluation of the impact of the OpenData initiative.
Massimo (Max) Craglia, Senior Scientist at the European Commission Joint Research Centre, Italy – scientific coordinator with focus in socioeconomic impact of INSPIRE.
Max Craglia is a member of the INSPIRE Coordination Team at JRC, with responsibility in the field of metadata, and is scientific coordinator of the GEOWOW FP7 Integrated Project. Since 2006, Max leads a tem assessing the socio-economic impact of spatial data infrastructures and INSPIRE. Prior to joining the JRC in 2005, Max was a Senior Lecturer at the University of Sheffield, and participated in several European projects in the field of Geographic Information including GINIE, and MADAME, and was the coordinator of the GISDATA scientific programme funded by the European Science Foundation.
Jamie Kruse, CAS Distinguished Professor of Economics; Director, Center for Natural Hazards Research; Sr. Scientist, Institute for Coastal Science and Policy
Dr. Jamie Brown Kruse is recognized for her research in economics and decision-making under uncertainty especially as it relates to natural hazards. She has published over fifty refereed journal articles in addition to proceedings, abstracts and reports. She has held faculty positions at the University of Colorado, Texas Tech University, East Carolina University and a visiting position at Eidgenossische Technische Hochschule (ETH) in Zurich, Switzerland. She has been PI or Co-I of research projects totalling over $20 million. She is serving as a mentor to 2014-2016 cohort of the NSF Enabling the Next Generation of Hazards Researchers.
During 2010 she held the position of Chief Economist at NOAA. At East Carolina University, Dr. Kruse was inducted as one of the 2011 Women of Distinction. Since then she has been recognized by ECU’s Division of Research and Graduate Studies with the Lifetime Achievement Award for Research and Creative Work and honoured with the HCAS Distinguished Professorship.
Lawrence Friedl, Director of the Earth Science Division’s Applied Sciences Program, NASA, USA – decision-maker/end-user representative.
Lawrence Friedl is the Director of the NASA Earth Science Division’s Applied Sciences Program. The Program supports efforts to discover and demonstrate innovative and practical applications of Earth science by public and private organizations. He has been with NASA since 2002, and he has served as the Program Manager for Air Quality applications along with several other applications themes.
Among his responsibilities, Lawrence represents the United States and NASA on the international Group on Earth Observations (GEO) and the GEO User Interface Committee. He leads a GEO task, which delivered a report last November on the Earth observation priorities common to many societal benefit areas.
Prior to joining NASA, Lawrence worked at the US Environmental Protection Agency, focusing on applications of geospatial data and technology. He also served as a Space Shuttle Flight Controller in NASA’s Mission Control Center for 15 missions, including several Earth science missions.
Lawrence received a Masters degree in Public Policy from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, specializing in Science and Technology Policy. He received a Bachelors degree in Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University. He also received a certificate in Space Policy and Law from the International Space University.
Jay Pearlman, Technical Director, J&F Enterprise – technical coordination with particular interest in methodologies and use cases.
Dr. Jay Pearlman was Chief Engineer of NCOC&EM at Boeing and a Boeing Technical Fellow where he was responsible for advanced development of information systems. His interests are in oceans research and information science. He has a Ph.D. from the University of Washington and a B.S. from the California Institute of Technology. Jay is a Fellow of the IEEE and was IEEE Co-Chair of the GEO Architecture and Data Committee. Dr Pearlman is currently co-owner of J&F Enterprise, a small technical services company operating in the global dimension. Through J&FE, he is active in advancing the analyses of socioeconomic benefits from Earth and environmental information. Dr. Pearlman has more than 75 publications and 25 international patents.
Francoise Pearlman, Manager, J&F Enterprise – community outreach and coordination.
Francoise Pearlman has thirty years of experience in engineering and management including system of systems engineering, software engineering and software/ system integration and test. For over fifteen years, she has applied her management expertise to Government programs with focus on development, integration and field test of digitization software/systems. Francoise has also participated in numerous technical reviews and proposals for a wide range of information systems and Command and Control programs.
After a career in technical management for major aerospace corporations, she is currently co-owner of J&F Enterprise, a small technical services company operating in the global dimension. She obtained a masters Degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Washington, and a Masters in Business and Administration from the University of New-Mexico. She is a senior member of IEEE.
Carl Shapiro, co-director of the USGS Science and Decisions Center.
Dr Shapiro has been an economist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for over 25 years. Currently, Dr. Shapiro is co-director of the USGS Science and Decisions Center (SDC). SDC is an interdisciplinary organization advancing the use of science in natural resource decision-making. The Center focuses on research and applications in three science areas: decision science (adaptive management and structured decision making), ecosystem services, and resilience/sustainability. The Center works with partners in DOI and other government agencies, universities, and nongovernmental organizations to develop methods, capacity, and institutional structures to integrate science more effectively with resource management.
Between 1987 and 2005, Dr. Shapiro was the principal economist in the Office of the Director, USGS. In that role, he led and participated in economic and interdisciplinary studies on public policy issues, resources, and natural hazards.
Alan Smart, principal consultant, ACIL Allen,
Alan Smart is the Marketing Director and a Principal Consultant in the Sydney office of ACIL Allen Consulting. He advises on economics policy and strategy, primarily in the energy, resources and infrastructure sectors.
Alan has extensive experience in valuation of spatial information, infrastructure and data He has also undertaken economic assessments of spatial information and infrastructure in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, England and Wales. In 2011 he undertook an assessment of the value of spatial information for Tasmania.
Alan is qualified in Engineering and Economics. He is past Chair of the Spatial Industries Business Association.
