Robert Simmons is currently an associate at Es² and has over 38 years of experience in the oil and gas industry, much of which is in the area of oil spill response management. Robert Simmons has a degree in Mechanical Engineering and holds a Professional Engineer (P.E.) registration in Louisiana in both mechanical and environmental engineering. Prior to becoming a consultant in 1998, Robert was employed by Exxon Company USA Production Department for 16 years as an engineer, which included various professional and supervisory assignments in drilling engineering, facility engineering, and other project management. While still at Exxon, he served as a Task Force Operations Manager in Prince William Sound, AK during the Exxon Valdez spill cleanup in 1989 and has been directly involved in the field assessment, management and science support on hundreds of other spills and marine casualties since then. Robert was involved as a Coordinator and Team Lead in the SCAT program on the Deepwater Horizon Response from 2010-2013. He has developed and conducted numerous spill response drills and customized training sessions on various spill response related topics. Robert is recognized in the Gulf Coast spill response community and is currently retained by the Water Quality Insurance Syndicate (WQIS) as a Surveyor and Principal Consultant to manage and respond to marine pollution incidents involving their insured’s.