Navtech 2023 is produced by Colibri Northwest.
SPEAKER BIOS
Hear from these industry leaders on December 5-6, 2023.
CAPT Paul Amos
Columbia River Pilots
Paul was born and raised in Denton, Texas. In 1974 he permanently relocated to the Pacific Northwest where he was employed continuously in the tug and barge industry for 16 years. From 1980 to 1990 he worked as captain on towing vessels on the Columbia/Willamette/Snake River system. He has a wide range of experience on various types of towing vessels but the majority of those years were spent on grain barge tows between Portland, OR and Lewiston, ID. For the last 32 years, beginning in 1990, Paul has been a Columbia River Pilot. As a member of the Columbia River Pilots (COLRIP) he served two years as treasurer and was vice president in 1999. He was re-elected as vice president in 2006. Shortly afterwards he became president and has served continuously in that position since then. He was also deeply involved in developing COLRIP’s AIS-based navigation system and continues to work on improvements to that system. He is a past president of the Pacific Northwest Waterways Association, a past chairman of the Lower Columbia Region Harbor Safety Committee and has served on a variety of industry related boards and committees.
Paul is married to a sailor, Della, one of the first women to graduate from Kings Point Merchant Marine Academy. He has 3 adult children and lives in Vancouver, WA.
Jorge Arroyo
US Coast Guard
Jorge Arroyo has served in the US Coast Guard for more than 36 years. Previously, he served as a commissioned officer involved in recreational boating safety, search and rescue, vessel traffic management, polar icebreaking, ship and shore-side operations; and since 1999, he has served as a program and management analyst with the USCG’s Office of Navigation Systems, and subject matter expert on shipboard navigation systems. He also serves as a US delegate-advisor at the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Navigation, Communications and Search and Rescue Sub-committee, vice-chair of the eNavigation Committee of the International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities, and, on the board of directors of the VHF Data Exchange Systems Alliance. He has participated in the development of numerous industry consensus navigation equipment standards, guidelines, and recommendations published by IMO, IALA, the International Electrotechnical Committee, and the Radio Technical Committee for Maritime Services, including all those related to automatic identification systems. He obtained a bachelor of science degree from the University of Illinois, a juris doctor from DePaul University School of Law, and has navigated the seven oceans and made landfall on every continent.
CAPT Alain Arsenault
National Center of Expertise on Maritime Pilotage
Captain Alain Arseneault is an active St. Lawrence River pilot. He is a graduate of Rimouski’s Maritime Institute. After being issued a master mariner certificate in 1998, and sailing worldwide, he pursued postgraduate studies, being awarded an MBA in 2005. He entered the apprentice program on the St. Lawrence River in 2003 and was issued a pilot license in 2005. Within the mid St. Lawrence Pilots Corporation, he held various management positions and acted as president from 2017 to 2021.
Fascinated by innovation and new technologies, Captain Arseneault participated in several technical maritime committees within his group and ultimately lead the technical committee of his National Association (Canadian Maritime Pilots Association) in addition to being elected national vice-president for the Laurentian in 2017. Captain Arseneault now serves as executive director of the Canadian National Center of Expertise on Maritime Pilotage, and he is actively involved in several technology innovation forum as a participant and speaker. He is also active at the IMO level on the Canadian delegation and IMPA delegation.
Captain Arseneault serves on various boards. Among others, he presides on the board of directors of the St. Lawrence Global Observatory (SLGO) and is the VP of the board of the eastern branch of the Canadian Marine Service Guild (CMSG).
CAPT Jeff Baken
Southeast Alaska Pilots’ Association
Jeff Baken is a pilot with the Southeast Alaska Pilots’ Association (SEAPA). He received a BS in nautical science and marine transportation from the US Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, NY, a BA in earth science from the University of Montana, and an MS in geology from Montana State University. For the past 18 years he has been active training pilots and pilot-trainees in azipod and conventional shiphandling at the Maritime Pilots Institute (MPI), MITAGS West, the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT), and the Alaska Vocational Technical Center (AVTEC). He has participated in, and administered, numerous ship simulator studies of cruise ship berth designs, as well as, the evaluation of wind and current limitations for Very Large Cruise Ships (VLCS) in Alaska. For the past 30 years he has been an active state pilot in SE Alaska. He lives in Juneau, Alaska with his wife Leslie.
George Burkley
Maritime Pilot’s Institute
Mr. George Burkley serves as the executive director of the Maritime Pilot’s Institute (MPI) in Covington, Louisiana and is a partner in LOCUS LLC. MPI specializes in training, research and technical projects for maritime pilots. The institute operates both electronic simulation and physical modelling training and research facilities.
George is a 1989 graduate of the California Maritime Academy and completed his master’s work at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. He served as an aviator in the US Navy and sailed for Hawaiian Tug and Barge and Masters, Mates and Pilots as a ship’s officer.
Darrell Conner
K&L Gates
Darrell Conner is a government affairs counselor in the firm’s public policy and law practice group, one of the largest policy groups in the United States. As a government affairs counselor for K&L Gates, he has more than 30 years of experience working with Congress and the executive branch. Since 2017, he has been recognized by The Hill as one of the nation’s Top Lobbyists. Darrell is known for his experience in the maritime and fisheries sectors, where he combines his substantive knowledge of those areas with his understanding of policymaking in government and Congress to assist clients with achieving their goals. Darrell leads the Firm’s maritime policy practice and was previously a leader of the public policy and law practice group of K&L Gates.
Darrell’s practice focuses on federal government relations, where he represents clients on a range of matters, including:
- Domestic and international shipping (including military sealift);
- Port and maritime security;
- International trade;
- Fisheries and natural resources;
- Domestic energy policy;
- Transportation and infrastructure; and
- Federal appropriations and budget.
He also has extensive legislative experience in general public policy analysis and planning, strategic counseling, and coalition management and coordination. Darrell also assists clients in incorporating public policy into their strategic planning, integrating public relations into their legal and advocacy activities, and legislative drafting.
His principal representations include cargo and passenger vessel operators, a ship classification society, transportation product manufacturers and service providers, fishermen and other fishery stakeholders, and a leading coalition of U.S. maritime interests.
He has worked with the Department of Transportation (including the office of the Secretary, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and the Maritime Administration), the Department of Commerce (specifically, the office of the Secretary, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and National Marine Fisheries Service), the Department of Homeland Security (U.S. Coast Guard), and the Department of Defense (including U.S. Transportation Command).
Darrell is previously served as a member of the Executive Committee of the International Propeller Club of the United States, and is a past president of the Washington, D.C. chapter of the International Propeller Club.
He served on the staff of the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries of the U.S. House of Representatives under its ranking member, Congressman Bob Davis (R-MI).
Jon Dasler
David Evans and Associates
Bio coming soon
Clay Diamond
American Pilots' Association
Clay Diamond is the Executive Director-General Counsel for the American Pilots’ Association 1 (APA). Prior to that, he served 13 years as APA’s Deputy Director-Associate General Counsel. A 1989 graduate of the Coast Guard Academy, he also earned a Master’s Degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a Juris Doctor from Case Western Reserve University School of Law. During law school, he earned the award for “Highest Proficiency in Admiralty Law.” In addition, he was a Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Center for International Studies. He is admitted to the Ohio and District of Columbia Bars and is a member of the Maritime Law Association of the U.S.
As General Counsel, he represents pilots and the piloting profession before Congress, federal agencies, and State and local legislative and administrative bodies. He also advises pilot groups and pilotage authorities on operations, practices, business structures, and oversight of pilots and pilotage systems. He has served on more than fifty U.S. Delegations to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and currently serves as a subject matter expert on U.S. Delegations to IMO’s Maritime Safety Committee; Subcommittee on Navigation, Communications and Search and Rescue; and Subcommittee on the Human Element, Training and Watchkeeping. Mr. Diamond is also an instructor at the Maritime Institute of Technology & Graduate Studies, California Maritime Academy, and the Maritime Pilots Institute, where he teaches courses on the Legal Aspects of Pilotage. As Executive Director, he manages APA’s office operations, membership services, and administrative activities.
Mr. Diamond regularly speaks on pilotage and pilotage law and has been published in professional trade and law journals, including as co-author of “Unique Institutions, Indispensable Cogs, and Hoary Figures: Understanding Pilotage Regulation in the United States,” University of San Francisco Maritime Law Journal, 2010-
11. He was also a contributing author for the book “IMPA on Pilotage” (2014 Witherby Publishing Group), and a contributing editor for a chapter in “The American Practical Navigator – Bowditch” (2017 Lighthouse Press).
In 2012, Mr. Diamond was appointed by the Secretary of Homeland Security to serve on the Navigation Safety Advisory Council, a federal advisory committee that provides navigational safety recommendations to the Commandant of the Coast Guard.
During his 20-year Coast Guard career, Mr. Diamond served aboard several Coast Guard cutters, culminating with command afloat. During these operational assignments, he was On-Scene Commander during the early hours of the 1996 crash of TWA Flight 800, participated in the seizure of over $300 million in illegal drugs, the interdiction of hundreds of illegal migrants in the Caribbean, and the execution of heavy weather search and rescue cases in the North Atlantic and Bering Sea.
In the legal field, Mr. Diamond served as regional counsel for Coast Guard operations in the eight Great Lakes states, Coast Guard Liaison to the State Department (where he was legal advisor to U.S. delegations to IMO), and as the Coast Guard’s Legislative Counsel. In addition, following 9/11 Mr. Diamond was the first Coast Guard lawyer assigned to support the Department of Defense’s (DoD) Military Commissions, where he served as a Special Advisor to the DoD General Counsel and assisted in preparing prosecution cases for some of the most significant terror suspects in U.S. custody. Mr. Diamond also served on the faculty of the Defense Institute for International Legal Studies where he conducted maritime law seminars in Asia, Africa, and Europe, and was also appointed as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.
In 2002, Mr. Diamond was chosen by the American Bar Association as the “Outstanding Young Military Lawyer.” Other honors include two Coast Guard Meritorious Service Medals, the Joint Service Commendation Medal, the State Department Superior Honor Award and the NOAA General Counsel’s Award.
Mr. Diamond and his wife Sharon have two grown children and one grandchild and reside in Burke, Va.
1 The APA, one of the country’s oldest trade associations, is the national association for the piloting profession. It was established in 1884 to protect and improve the state pilotage system, to maintain the highest possible professional standards for licensed pilots in the U.S., and to promote navigation safety. Virtually all of the more than 1,200 State-licensed pilots working in the 24 U.S. coastal States, as well as all of the U.S. registered pilots operating in the Great Lakes system under authorization by the Coast Guard, belong to APA member pilot groups. These pilots handle well over 90 percent of large ocean-going vessels moving in international trade in U.S. waterways. The role and official responsibility of these pilots is to protect the safety of navigation and the marine environment in the waters for which they are licensed.
Cato Eliassen
Kongsberg Seatex
Cato Giil Eliassen has the role of product manager for the business area navigation and infrastructure in Kongsberg Seatex. In the period stretching from 2002 to 2015 he was a project manager mainly working with AIS and DGPS infrastructure projects around the globe. He was educated at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (MSc) and at the RNoN Naval Academy. He served in the Norwegian Navy for nine years. The last two years as a squadron leader for the HSC combat vessels in the coastal ranger division.
RADM Tim Gallaudet, Ph.D., USN (ret)
Ocean STL Consulting, LLC
Rear Admiral Tim Gallaudet, PhD, US Navy (ret) is the CEO of Ocean STL Consulting, LLC where he is a strategic advisor for a variety of startups, nonprofits, and research institutions in the ocean, weather, climate, environment, space and veterans support sectors. He is a member of the Ocean Studies Board in the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, a nominee for the White House Ocean Research Advisory Panel, a fellow at The Explorer’s Club, a distinguished graduate of the University of California, San Diego, a recipient of the US Coast Guard Distinguished Public Service Award. Previously, Gallaudet served as the acting and deputy administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the acting under secretary and assistant secretary of commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere. Before NOAA, he served for 32 years in the US Navy, retiring as the oceanographer of the Navy. Gallaudet holds a bachelor’s degree from the US Naval Academy, and master’s and doctoral degrees from Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
Dr. Scott Gende, PhD
National Park Service
Scott Gende is a senior science advisor for the National Park Service. He received a BS in fish and wildlife biology from Iowa State University, an MS in fisheries from the University of Alaska, and a PhD in fishery and ocean sciences from the University of Washington. He has authored or co-authored nearly 100 published scientific papers, popular science articles, book chapters and conference proceedings focused primarily on marine mammals, seabirds, and ecosystem science. For the past 20 years he has worked closely with managers at Glacier Bay National Park to understand the implications, and mitigate the impacts, of having large cruise ships serve as the predominant means by which visitors access and experience the park. He has worked with UNESCO and managers from protected areas that experience cruise tourism from Norway, Iceland, Greenland, and Chile, including spending 6 months in Punta Arenas focused on shipping – marine mammal interactions in the Strait of Magellan. He lives in Juneau, Alaska with his wife and two kids.
Captain Gaetano Gigliotti (Captain G)
Carnival Cruise Line
Captain Gaetano Gigliotti is a native of Italy. He began his career in 1986 as a deck cadet officer with Carnival on the Mardi Gras. He has served in various positions on board almost all Carnival vessels. He was promoted to captain in 2000 on the Carnival Paradise. He served as master on Carnival Paradise, Carnival Pride, Carnival Victory,
Carnival Miracle, Carnival Fantasy, Carnival Valor, Carnival Elation, Carnival Glory, and Carnival Horizon.
In February 2007 Captain Gigliotti moved shoreside as port captain, and in 2008 he was promoted to the position of director of marine safety. In 2011 he was promoted to vice president of nautical safety and operations. In 2013 he moved to corporate as VP of maritime quality assurance. In 2016 he moved back on ships as master on the Carnival Elation and Carnival Horizon. In 2018 he again moved ashore to serve as VP of the Nautical, Fleet Operation Center and safety operations.
Jonathan Kjaerulff
MITAGS
Jon obtained his first license (as a Danish yacht master) at the age of 17, and subsequently attended the US Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, New York. After graduating in 1983, he sailed in positions from deckhand to master aboard ships and workboats all over the world. After running a support vessel during the Exxon Valdez cleanup effort in Prince William Sound, Jon came ashore and founded Fremont Maritime Services in Seattle, Washington. Over the next 27 years, Jon established a reputation as a pioneer in the field of maritime safety, survival and firefighting training.
His company was one of the very first organizations in the US to obtain Coast Guard approval for STCW Basic Safety Courses, and from 2003 to 2015 Fremont Maritime was the only private company utilized by the US Navy to provide marine firefighting training to its military sailors. Over the years Jon and his team worked with tens of thousands of inland and offshore mariners, providing training not only at Fremont's school in Seattle, but at customer locations in Alaska, Oregon, California, Florida, Europe, Australia and the Caribbean.
When MITAGS established the Pacific Maritime Institute in Seattle, Jon worked to forge a strong working relationship between the two schools.
In 2017, Fremont Maritime was purchased by MITAGS, and Jon came aboard as a marine safety training and business development specialist. At the beginning of 2021, he took over as director of business development.
CAPT Carolyn Kurtz
Tampa Bay Pilots
Originally from Queens, NY, Captain Kurtz attended the US Merchant Marine Academy. Upon graduation in 1986, she went to sea with Maritime Overseas Corporation and sailed as 3rd, 2nd, and chief mate, receiving her unlimited master’s license in 1993. In 1995 she was accepted into the Tampa Bay Pilots (TMPA) training program, becoming their first (and to date, only) female pilot. She has served as co-manager and training coordinator of TBPA, secretary of the Florida Harbor Pilots Association, and as chair of the Navigation Safety Advisory Council, an advisory board to the US Coast Guard. She currently serves as chair of both the Florida Board of Pilot Commissioners and the newly re-formed National Navigation Safety Advisory Council. She is honored to serve on the boards of the Mariners’ Museum and Park, and First 10 Forward, a non-profit founded by Kings Point women grads benefiting girls and women pursuing nontraditional careers. Carolyn has been a guest instructor at MITAGS and Maritime Pilots Institute, served on numerous professional panels, and is an active mentor with Women Offshore.
In 2022, Carolyn was honored by Proclamation by the Secretary of the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation for her 27 years of service as a Tampa Bay Pilot. Additionally, she was honored to be included as one of Marine Log’s Top 20 Women in Maritime for 2022. Carolyn continues to be passionate about all things maritime and hopes that by sharing her experiences and knowledge she can help to broaden diversity and inclusion within the industry, strengthen pride in our shared maritime culture, and promote a high level of safety and professionalism amongst mariners.
Dr. Christopher Landsea, PhD
NOAA’s Ocean Prediction Center
Christopher W. Landsea, PhD, is chief of the Tropical Analysis and Forecast Branch (TAFB) at NOAA’s National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami. The branch generates wind and wave forecasts for the Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, tropical North Atlantic Ocean, and tropical northeastern Pacific Ocean.
Dr. Landsea’s main expertise is in seasonal forecasting of hurricanes, in hurricane climate variability and change, and in testing applied research projects for possible use in weather forecasting.
Dr. Landsea is a member of the American Meteorological Society (AMS), the National Weather Association and the American Geophysical Union. He served as the chair of the AMS Committee on Tropical Meteorology and Tropical Cyclones for the years 2000-2002.
Dr. Landsea received his bachelor’s degree in atmospheric science from the University of California Los Angeles (1987) and his master's degree and doctorate in atmospheric science from Colorado State University (1991, 1994).
R. David Lewald
US Coast Guard Headquarters
David Lewald is a navigation systems and aids to navigation specialist for the US Coast Guard. He served for 30 years on active duty in the USCG with 25 of those years spent afloat aboard numerous cutters in all positions including command. He has been a USCG civilian employee since his retirement in 2014. David’s responsibilities include advisory and consultative services to USCG programs and managers on a broad range of navigation matters that involve legacy and future state technology. He serves as an advisor and subject matter expert to the director of marine transportation systems on digital and electronic navigation matters and systems, including electronic chart systems (ECDIS\ECS), automatic identification system (AIS), integrated navigation systems (INS), integrated bridge systems (IBS), navigation sensors (e.g., radar, GPS, etc.), and electronic aids to navigation. David serves as a navigation systems technical expert to standards development organizations such as International Maritime Organization (IMO), International Hydrographic Organization (IHO), International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities (IALA)(vice chair of the IALA-ARM Committee), Committee on the Marine Transportation System (CMTS), International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), National Marine Electronics Association (NMEA), and Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Services (RTCM).
He serves as an advisor and subject matter expert to the Director of Marine Transportation Systems on digital and electronic navigation matters and systems, including electronic chart systems (ECDIS\ECS), automatic identification system (AIS), integrated navigation systems (INS), integrated bridge systems (IBS), navigation sensors (e.g. Radar, GPS, etc.), and electronic aids to navigation.
David serves as a navigation systems technical expert to standards development organizations such as International Maritime Organization (IMO), International Hydrographic Organization (IHO), International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities (IALA)(Vice Chair of the IALA-ARM Committee), Committee on the Marine Transportation System (CMTS), International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), National Marine Electronics Association (NMEA), and Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Services (RTCM).
CAPT Richard Madden
MITAGS
Rich was raised in Sackets Harbor, NY on Lake Ontario, where he began his maritime career working at marinas, cleaning charter boats and racing sailboats. He graduated from NY Maritime College in 1990 and worked for Military Sealift Command (MSC) on a variety of underway replenishment, cargo and towing vessels. After leaving MSC in the late 90s, Rich transitioned into the tug and barge industry in Hawaii and then in the Northeast, conducting coastal towing, ship tows and, occasionally, ship assist.
Transitioning back from brown to blue water shipping in the early 2000s, Rich began shipping on commercial deep-sea vessels. Over the past 19 years, these have ranged from contract survey vessels for the US Navy to heavylift/multipurpose vessels to his current command on a medium-sized container ship in worldwide trade. Working on a feeder container ship between the Middle East and East Africa afforded extensive experience during the height of Somali piracy, which lead to an increasing interest in security and safety.
Captain Madden has been an adjunct instructor at MITAGS since 2013. Courses he has been involved with range from operational to management level meteorology, hazardous weather avoidance, navigation (terrestrial, celestial, and electronic), safety, bridge resource management, leadership and management, and shiphandling courses. Rich particularly enjoys simulations and has been involved with port research projects and the Navigation Skills Assessment Program (NSAP) in a variety of roles.
Rich is an associate fellow of the Nautical Institute, member of the Council of American Master Mariners (CAMM) and has been an appointee to the US Coast Guard Navigation Safety Advisory Committee since 2015. He is founder of the Maritime Safety Innovation Lab LLC, a maritime industry consultancy and research organization. Through this organization, Captain Madden works to identify and promulgate best practices in both human and technical skills with the goal of keeping seafarers and vessels safe from harm.
Rich is married to Kelly, a former US Coast Guard boatswain’s mate who now runs the couple’s powerboat extensively on the Chesapeake Bay. They have three adult children and live in Glen Burnie, MD.
Dale Marsh
AD Navigation AS
Mr. Dale Marsh is director of international sales and marketing for AD Navigation AS of Norway. Based in Auckland, New Zealand, and regularly travelling internationally, Dale is a regular attendee, exhibitor, and presenter at pilotage conferences worldwide. Dale first became involved with PPU systems and technology in 2016 and is passionate about collaborating with pilot groups to select PPU systems that deliver the accuracy, reliability, premium after sales support, and training required. A recreational sailor, in his pastime he enjoys sailing, and has chartered yachts and catamarans in the Vava’u Group, Tonga, French Polynesia, Whitsundays, and of course New Zealand’s stunning Hauraki Gulf and Bay of Islands.
Sean Meagher
Hyline Cruises
Born and raised on the waters of Cape Cod, Sean is accredited with being the youngest captain ever at Hyline Cruises. He has expertise in yacht management, charter and sales. Sean captained the only private yacht ever to circumnavigate Svalbard, punching within 500 miles of the North Pole, and he was the captain that led M/Y Latitude through the Northwest Passage twice in both directions in consecutive years.
When not exploring the far corners of the earth he was the lead designer on a megayacht refit and delivery captain for Oceanco’s massive 109m Bravo Eugenia. Captain Sean also has a passion for preserving the place he has called home for so many years. He is heavily involved in Ocean Voyages’ quest for a plastic free ocean along with many other conservation projects. Sean holds a master unlimited license in sail and power.
CAPT Gerard C. Pannell, AFNI
Star Center
Captain Pannell received his bachelor of science in marine transportation management from the State University of New York’s Maritime College at Fort Schuyler in 1987 and in 2009 completed graduate studies in environmental compliance through the Massachusetts Maritime Academy.
Captain Pannell’s 20-year sailing career includes 10 years as master on commercial and Military Sealift Command deep-sea cargo and tank vessels in domestic and international maritime trades.
In his position as director of training at the American Maritime Officers Simulation, Training, Assessment and Research (STAR) Center in Dania Beach Florida, he is responsible for ensuring the over 3000+ USCG credentialed members of the AMO receive the highest-level professional development training that meets regulatory, contracted company and industry requirements. Since 1994, he has also been a USCG approved instructor in multiple disciplines including bridge simulation, leadership and tank vessel operations courses.
Captain Pannell is a member of the USCG National Merchant Marine Personnel Advisory Committee (N-MERPAC) and serves as chair. Since 2015 he has served as a member of the United States delegation to the International Maritime Organization Sub-Committee on Human Element, Training and Watchkeeping (HTW) as a technical advisor and subject matter expert.
He is a member of the Council of American Master Mariners, an associate fellow of the Nautical Institute and a board member of the Apostleship of the Sea-USA.
Peter Philips
President – Colibri Northwest
CAPT Jonathan Samuell
Houston Pilots
Captain Jonathan Samuell currently serves as the chairman of the Pilot Boarding Safety Working Group for the American Pilots Association (APA). He also continues to serve as the vice-chairman for the APA’s NavTech Committee for the past 6 years.
Jonathan also currently works as an active pilot on the Houston Ship Channel for the last 16 years. As a member of the Houston Pilots (HP), he has served as chairman of the HP’s eNav Committee for 11 years. Jonathan is an active member in several maritime industry organizations including the NI, RIN, CAMM, IFSMA and MTS. Prior to working as a state-licensed pilot, Jonathan served aboard various deep sea/ drilling vessels and harbor tugs for 15 years. He sailed as master for 6 years and spent 1 year ashore as vessel manager. Jonathan is licensed by the USCG as master (any gross tons upon oceans) and as offshore installation manager (unrestricted).
Jonathan is a graduate of Texas A&M University at Galveston earning a BS in marine sciences and the university award for Excellence in Research. He is married with twins in high school and currently resides in Houston, Texas.
Chuck Stoffer
UHU Technologies
Chuck is a technology professional who holds a BSEE and an MBA and has 40+ years’ experience in the semiconductor test and measurement industry for commercial, medical and the aerospace and defense markets. His main areas of focus for the past 20 years have been in the RF wireless and GPS/GNSS market segments. His roles included senior management in sales and service, tactical sales, and strategic key account management.
Chuck specializes in GPS/GNSS simulation for test and characterization of all receivers and navigation systems for both military and critical infrastructure applications.
Brian Tetreault
US Army Corps of Engineers
Brian Tetreault is the Marine Transportation System (MTS) program manager for Headquarters, US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). In this role he also serves as senior advisor to the US Committee on the Marine Transportation System (CMTS) and USACE liaison to the US Coast Guard. Prior to this position, he was a navigation systems specialist at the USACE Engineer Research and Development Center, Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory where he worked on projects to develop and implement navigation information systems. He has been a US representative to national and international navigation-related bodies, including the World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure (PIANC), International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities (IALA), International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), and the Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Services (RTCM). He is a graduate of the United States Coast Guard Academy and served in the Coast Guard for 22 years at sea and ashore.
Edwin Thiedeman
US Coast Guard
Mr. Thiedeman presently serves in the Coast Guard Headquarters’ Office of C5I Capabilities (CG-761) supporting search and rescue capabilities and systems, such as the IMO GMDSS, the Cospas-Sarsat distress beacon system, and other distress alerting and communication services and systems.
A prior Coast Guard officer, his background covers shipboard and land-based communications, navigation, and command and control systems. His last duty assignment was as commanding officer at the Coast Guard Navigation Center, where he served as the deputy chair of the Civil GPS Service Interface Committee and operational commander for all electronic navigational services for the United States.
Gerald Thornberry
US Army Corps of Engineers
Gerald Thornberry has served the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) for 15 years. He is an alumnus of the University of Louisville where he earned a bachelor of science degree in geography (environmental analysis). He has supported USACE as a GIS specialist, hydrographic surveyor, dredge inspector, and provided mapping and analytical support to emergency operations. Currently, Gerald is a marine information specialist supporting USACE’s enterprise navigation programs and its hydrographic surveying community. His primary focus is on the Inland Electronic Navigational Charting (IENC) Program and eHydro, the USACE hydrographic survey repository. He is a member of the Inland Electronic Navigational Charting Harmonization Group (IEHG), co-chairs the US Committee on the Marine Transportation System (CMTS) Future of Navigation Integrated Action Team (FutureNav IAT) and is the US representative to the Permanent River Information Services (RIS) Working Group of the World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure (PIANC). In addition to working for USACE, Gerald has been a GIS software and database developer in the private sector. He got his first experience in GIS while serving as a signals intelligence (SIGINT) analyst in the US Army in the 1990s.
Morgan Turrell
National Transportation Safety Board
Morgan Turrell began working at the National Transportation Safety Board in September of 2003. He was named Director, Office of Marine Safety in February 2021. He is responsible for the investigations and report development of Major Marine Casualties in the United States, and on US vessels worldwide.
Since joining the Office of Marine Safety, Morgan has led or participated in many notable cases, including the Staten Island Ferry allision (2003) and the Baltimore Water Taxi Lady D capsizing (2004). He was the IIC for the investigation into the sinking of the Ethan Allen in Lake George, NY, (2005) for which the NTSB awarded Morgan the Dr. Joseph Nall award.
From 2007 to 2010, Morgan was the Vice President of Marine Investigations for Princess Cruises where he investigated casualties aboard ships worldwide for Carnival Corporation. Since returning to the agency, Morgan has represented the NTSB at the International Maritime Organization in London and the Marine Accident Investigators International Forum (MAIIF). He was the NTSB investigator for the Costa Concordia accident in Italy (2012). In 2014, Morgan was named the Chief of Investigations in the Office of Marine Safety. He led the agency’s investigation of the El Faro sinking, including the successful retrieval of its voyage data recorder. In 2017, Morgan was named the Deputy Director for OMS.
After graduating from the United States Merchant Marine Academy in 1987, Morgan served as a licensed deck officer aboard a variety of commercial vessels including tankers, container ships, rollon/roll-off, and bulk carriers. He was Project Manager at the University of Washington’s School of Oceanography, and captain of its research vessel Thomas G. Thompson, conducting operations in the Pacific Ocean.
Morgan earned an MBA from Pepperdine University, a Certificate in Dispute Resolution from Pepperdine Law School, and an MA from George Mason University in Transportation Policy, Operations and Logistics. He is still licensed by the United States Coast Guard as Master of ocean vessels of any gross tons.
Darren Wright
NOAA, Office of Coast Survey
Darren Wright is the Precision Marine Navigation program manager of NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey (OCS). Darren has been with NOAA since 1984 and worked in operational oceanography and meteorology for more than 34 years before moving to the National Weather Service (NWS) more than five years ago. There he was responsible for improving coastal, offshore and high seas forecast products and services for the NWS. Darren recently moved to OCS and is now using his past NOAA experience to work with other NOAA line offices, federal agencies and the marine community to provide NOAA’s important marine navigation information such as nautical charts, bathymetry, water level, currents and weather in an internationally standard format for navigation system manufacturers to create data overlays and dynamic displays.