Overview Sponsors Honorary Congressional Committee Register

Moderator
Quenton Dokken, PhD
Executive Director
Gulf of Mexico Foundation, Inc.
Dr. Quenton Dokken is Executive Director of the Gulf of Mexico Foundation Inc. a non-profit organization working to build and sustain healthy and productive natural environments and economies within the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea Region. Through the Gulf of Mexico Foundation Dr. Dokken works with all industries and other vested interests dependent upon the Gulf of Mexico. He strives to build and implement strategies for maintaining sustainable natural environments and robust economies within coastal communities and States. Tourism is the largest employer and one of the top two economic engines within the Gulf States of both the United States and Mexico. Much of the tourist trade is based upon providing recreational activities on or near coastal marine environments. Past professional positions include Associate Director of the Center for Coastal Studies of Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi and Executive Director of the Texas State Aquarium. As Director of the Gulf of Mexico Foundation he travels extensively in the Gulf States gaining insight into not only the nature and extent of the tourist industry but also the challenges the industry faces today and in the future.

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Panelists
J. Michael Crye
President, International Council of Cruise Lines
Cruise Lines International Association
As executive vice president of the non-profit Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), Michael Crye is responsible for the development and execution of regulatory policies and monitors domestic and international legislation on behalf of the cruise industry. He serves as the industry’s chief representative before U.S. legislators and government agencies and international bodies, and participates on several government advisory boards on maritime transportation and immigration policy. CLIA represents the interests of 24 member lines and 100 Executive Partner companies, and participates in the regulatory and policy development process while supporting measures that foster a safe, secure and healthy cruise ship environment. CLIA is also engaged in travel agent training, research and marketing communications to promote the value and desirability of cruise vacations and counts as members approximately 16,500 travel agencies. Crye earned his bachelor’s from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, an MBA from the Inter- American University of San Juan, PR, and a JD from the University of Miami School of Law in Miami, Fla. He has been awarded numerous military awards, including two Meritorious Service medals, four Coast Guard commendations and was selected by the Coast Guard as their nominee for the Outstanding Federal Agency Attorney in 1994. In 2005, Seatrade, a respected cruise industry trade publication, recognized Crye as “Cruise Personality of the Year”.

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Bryon Griffith
Director, Gulf of Mexico Program
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Bryon Griffith was appointed as Director of the Gulf of Mexico Program in July 2004. He previously served as Deputy Director starting in the fall of 1995. The Gulf of Mexico Program, located at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, is a public and private partnership that includes state agencies, business representatives, broad environmental and public interests, and numerous Federal agencies working together to protect the natural resources and ensure the economic vitality of the Gulf region. After receiving a Business Degree from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1979, he began his EPA career as a management intern at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Headquarters in Washington, D.C. Over the course of his tenure in Washington he instituted a wide variety of the Agency’s information and administrative management programs and gained national recognition as an expert in the design and implementation of Federal program reinvention initiatives. The unique process improvements he has instituted to help address the priority environmental issues facing the five Gulf States have been recognized by awards from several EPA Administrators, the Governor of Mississippi, and the Vice President. In 2004, following the issuance of the U.S. Ocean Action Plan, the Chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality appointed Bryon to serve as Federal co-lead for the Gulf of Mexico Alliance. The Alliance was initiated by the governors of the five Gulf States with the goal of significantly increasing regional collaboration at state, local, and federal levels to achieve actions in five priority issue areas.

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Representative Seth McKeel
Florida House of Representatives
A fourth generation Polk County resident, Seth McKeel, who is a Lakeland native, was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in November of 2006. Rep. McKeel serves on the House Appropriations Council on General Government & Health Care, Natural Resources Appropriations, the House Committee on Roads, Port & Bridges, the House Education Policy Council, is Chairman of the House Committee on State & Community Colleges and Workforce Policy and serves on the Energy and Utilities Policy Committee. He is the Vice Chairman of the Bay Area Legislative Delegation. He formerly served on the Lakeland City Commission from January of 2001 until December of 2005. As Vice President of Lakeland Properties & Management, Inc., Seth is active in the local real estate and development industries, while also a public relations consultant for Rodda Construction in Lakeland. An alumnus of Lakeland Senior High School, Seth is an honors graduate of the University of Florida, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences.
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Peter Wiley
Economist
NOAA Coastal Resources Assessment Branch
Peter Wiley has been an economist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for nineteen years. He is currently on detail from the National Ocean Service Headquarters to the NOAA Coastal Services Center. During his time at NOAA, Mr. Wiley has worked on a broad variety of economic and social science issues. He had a 16 year working relationship with the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries Chief Economist Dr. Vernon (Bob) Leeworthy. During this time Dr. Leeworthy and Mr. Wiley conducted numerous economic assessments and analyses on the economic value of sanctuary resources and the economic impact of sanctuary management. Much of this ground-breaking work was done in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. Mr. Wiley also has a long history of working on a national time series project entitled the National Survey on Recreation and the Environment. This is the only national source of information on ocean-related outdoor recreation. Mr. Wiley is currently the Acting Chair of the NOAA Research Council Social Science Committee. Mr. Wiley has a Bachelors Degree in economics from St. Mary’s College of Maryland and a Masters Degree in economics from the George Washington University.

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