Brian Spears Email & Phone Number

Fairhope, Alabama, United States

Provide leadership and direction in management and administrative activities for DOI NRDAR cases, including expert technical assistance in damage claim, settlement negotiation, trustee partner coordination, restoration alternative development and national policy on program implementation. Coordinate management of cases among multiple DOI bureaus across several states, Solicitors in regional and headquarter offices, federal and state co-trustees, DOI, and the National Pollution Fund Center. Participate in national policy development and coordinate activities between national program leaders and regional case managers and administrative support personnel. Lead development of science-based injury claims and restoration planning, serving as liaison between the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Office of the Solicitor, DOI economists, DOI Office of Restoration and Damage Assessment, state agencies, and the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Develop and foster partnerships with multiple DOI bureaus, state, and non-governmental organizations to build consensus for strategic restoration planning, implementation, success monitoring, and science support delivery for natural resources and recreational activities. Coordinate spill response; Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA); and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) activities with multiple state and federal agencies.

Fws Dwh Nrdar Office, Fairhope, Al

Manager, USFWS Deepwater Horizon Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration program. Develop near- and long-term, site-specific and ecosystem-based restoration planning strategies and projects with a focus on USFWS resource needs and priorities. Coordinate a DOI team-management approach to multiple dynamic and evolving aspects of restoration program development, including facilitating information flow and issue interpretation and resolution strategies among program management, public affairs and legal support staff. Develop and foster working relationships with numerous federal, state and NGO agency representatives from across the Gulf coast, Washington D.C., regional and headquarter offices and the Caribbean to facilitate natural resource restoration planning and implementation. Direct and supervise project budget and science development and implementation.

Spokane, Washington Area

Lead planning and implementation of a multi-million dollar biological monitoring and ecological remediation and restoration program. Developed and negotiated more than $830,000 in interagency agreements with EPA to monitor fish and wildlife toxicology and remedial action success. Developed objectives and protocols and led field work collecting spatially-explicit habitat and fish and wildlife data to define species-habitat relationships and monitor habitat change and population response to guide decisions regarding habitat remediation and restoration. Authored a watershed-wide strategy to guide wetland restoration activities using a landscape-scale strategic habitat conservation and adaptive-management approach. Spearheaded discussions with representatives from a variety of local, state and federal government, non-government, public and private organizations and land owners to implement restoration actions. Coordinated efforts of NRDA Trustees in developing data supporting the Coeur d'Alene NRDA, interim restoration planning, and NEPA-related documents. Lead technical representative for the USFWS in ecotoxicological and NRDA issues on numerous interagency and interdisciplinary technical working groups and project focus teams.

Marion, Il

Lead biologist, Ecological Services field office. Designed, implemented, and evaluated biomonitoring programs to assess the effects of contaminants on fish and wildlife resources and determine effectiveness of remedial activities. Oversaw the development of a multivolume Ecological Problem Formulation across of 32 separate sites involving a number of ecological receptors and risk assessment parameters. Forged a partnership with Southern Illinois University to design, implement and publish multiyear studies monitoring the effectiveness of PCB remediation within the Crab Orchard Lake ecosystem involving multiple trophic level receptors. Established and maintained effective working relationships with USEPA, Illinois EPA, Illinois DNR, industrial tenants and contract consultants in accomplishing work.

Gulf Restoration Office, Fairhope, Al

Coordinate restoration development, implementation and success monitoring for FWS, NPS, USGS and BOEM. DOI representative on the Alabama and Mississippi DWH NRDA Trustee Implementation Groups, collaborating with state agencies, DOI bureaus, USDA, USEPA and NOAA on restoration planning, implementation and success monitoring.

Elkhart, Ks

Principal investigator evaluating ecology and population dynamics of wild turkeys in southwest Kansas, southeast Colorado, Oklahoma and Texas to determine correlations between habitat parameters and survival. Developed new protocols for researching daily pre-flight poult survival and habitat use. Developed rapport with multiple landowners for private land access and project involvement. Developed site-specific habitat improvement recommendations.

Greater Denver Area

Collect ecological data throughout the refuge supporting the development of remedial planning and NRDA case development. Inventoried and monitored numerous refuge species to determine the impact of land and water restoration projects, contaminant cleanup and historic land use on wildlife. Coordinated daily field work between USFWS, multiple Superfund cleanup agencies and Army law enforcement.

Work independently and on teams to determine and document location and habitat use of migratory endangered Southwestern Willow Flycatchers in southeast Arizona for use in a landscape scale management plan.

Arizona

Conduct field surveys to determine impacts of present, historical, and proposed land use on vegetation and wildlife, especially endangered or threatened species. Planned, organized, executed, recorded data and prepared final reports on field survey trips.

Master Of Science (M.S.), Wildlife Science, 3.7

Bachelor'S Degree, Ecology And Evolutionary Biology, 3.5

Activities and Societies: NCAA Division I Swimming and Diving