Nick is the Director of Operations for the GHD Emergency Management team. This role helps the GHD FIRST business to succeed on a day-to-day basis and ensure that the team of professionals is ready to respond when our clients need us the most. Mr. Flolid leads a team that has responded to over 1,000 emergency response incidents in the past three years alone, each involving a wide array of chemicals, and materials throughout the United States, Canada, and Australia. At each incident, Mr. Flolid has provided timely and effective industrial hygiene, regulatory, and environmental support to this wide variety of clients and filled many roles within the Incident Command Structure including the role of Air Monitoring Unit Leader, Environmental Unit Leader, and Safety Officer.

Larry Ryan has over 20 years of professional experience in emergency environmental response. His GIS training and on-water response background provide a unique skill set that informs construction and delivery of common operating pictures, crisis mapping, trajectory modeling, and acting as Situation Unit Leader for exercises and real-events. He has showcased his organization and management expertise in numerous GIS projects throughout the United States (including Alaska and Hawaii) and internationally.

Larry gained valuable response experience as a vessel master and responder in the Gulf of Mexico during Deepwater Horizon, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and multiple spills and on-water exercises in Washington, Oregon, and California. He was the Project Lead for a state mandated Wildlife Rehabilitation Response Project, assisted with a feasibility study for GIS application to oil spill response readiness and logistics, and performed a Geographic Response Plan Reconnaissance and Evaluation in Puget Sound. Mr. Ryan holds a BA from the University of North Texas and GIS Certification from the University of Washington.

Daniel began his career in wildlife rehabilitation as a summer intern at Tri-State Bird Rescue. After graduating with a B.S. in Wildlife Conservation & Ecology, he returned to Tri-State in 2020 as a member of the Oil Programs team. While at Tri-State, Daniel has designed and built new rehabilitation equipment, contributed to several industry working groups, and responded to the two largest oil spills handled out of Tri-State's L. Leon Campbell & Alice P. Campbell Wildlife Response Building.

Pedro Furtado holds a Bachelor of Science and teaching degrees in Biology and has over 16 years of experience in emergency response within Brazil's oil and gas industry. A certified Incident Command System (ICS) instructor and accredited by The Nautical Institute (UK) to teach IMO oil spill response courses, he specializes in planning and conducting training, drills, and emergency management programs.
Throughout his career, Pedro has specialized in the planning and execution of emergency response drills, and the development of incident management system training programs. He is a instructor of the Incident Command System (ICS) methodology and is accredited by The Nautical Institute (UK) to deliver all International Maritime Organization (IMO) courses related to oil spill response at sea.
Since 2011, Pedro has worked as an HSE consultant at EnvironPact, supporting major Oil & Gas companies in Brazil. In 2019, he co-led IMO Level 3 strategic training on oil spill preparedness in Kenya, in partnership with UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Norwegian Coastal Administration (NCA). He has also contributed to the response efforts in major Brazilian environmental disasters, including the tailings dam collapse in Brumadinho and Mariana (Minas Gerais).

Michael Hernandez is a senior responder from Oil Spill Response's Fort Lauderdale, Florida office. Michael studied at Cornell University, majoring in Environmental Policy and Governance. After graduation, he joined Oil Spill Response, participating in a 3-month oil spill introduction course. Since joining Oil Spill Response, Michael has participated in a variety of training courses, been deployed to spills in Peru, Bahamas, and Sri Lanka, and continues to be a member of the Wildlife core group. Michael is currently seconded to Ipieca on a project aimed at evaluating the oil spill preparedness and response capabilities of the Wider Caribbean Region.

Paul A. Schuler

Mr. Schuler is the President of Clean Caribbean & Americas (CCA), where he has been instrumental in developing response capabilities and arrangements for the Caribbean and Latin America. He has over 30 years of experience working on national and international aspects of preparedness, particularly in new openings and provinces.

Paul is also a recognized leader in applying science to preparedness and response decision-making and the use of dispersants to combat oil spills. He led CCA's response for BP during the Deepwater Horizon incident, and he testified before a US Senate Committee on issues relating to drilling in the straits between Florida and Cuba. He has been involved in oil spill research and sits on several oil spill working groups and advisory committees.

Amanda Eggert has been with CTEH for 4 years and has experience in both Emergency Response and Response Management. She received her Bachelor's of Science in Geography from the University of Central Arkansas in 2015 and master's in Emergency Management from Arkansas State University in 2023.

Cassie Whitefield is the Senior Environmental, Health, and Safety Manager over Emergency Response, Preparedness, and Security for Delek Logistics. Her duties include response management, emergency training, response plan compliance, conducting drills, security, and auditing facilities for emergency preparedness. She has a bachelor's degree in biology from University of Central Arkansas and a Masters degree in Environmental Public Health from A.T. Still University.
For the past 17 years, she has been involved in various aspects of industry including environmental consulting, emergency response, North Carolina DEQ, and in the private sector. Ms. Whitefield has acted as incident commander for over forty different releases varying in size and also has served in varying other ICS roles during events. She currently resides in Hot Springs, Arkansas with her two children and a large number of pets.

Dr. Christopher Kuhlman is a board-certified toxicologist (DABT) and industrial hygienist (CIH) with experience in the fields of occupational toxicology, environmental toxicology, industrial hygiene, and human health risk assessment. Dr. Kuhlman's background includes a B.S. in Biochemistry from The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and a Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Toxicology from The University of Arizona. Upon completion of his Ph.D., Dr. Kuhlman accepted a position as a Toxicologist at CTEH in Little Rock, Arkansas.

As the director of CTEH's ER Sciences program, Dr. Kuhlman leads the technical direction of CTEH's complex emergency response efforts. He has used his experience to help companies prepare for, respond to, and recover from hazardous material incidents.

Dr. Kuhlman participates in diverse projects, spanning from assessing chemical products to responding to environmental contamination and investigating chemical causes of human diseases. He is consulted for his expertise in worker chemical exposure incidents and effectively conveys toxicological information to workers, supervisors, and healthcare providers. Additionally, government agencies, hazardous materials handlers, manufacturers, and the petroleum industry seek his expertise in toxicology and risk assessment during hazardous material emergencies that pose a threat to workers, residents, and the environment.

Andy Pennington is an Environmental Scientist and Vice President with Arcadis in Chicago, Illinois.

I'm Victor Rodrigues, an Electronics and Computer Engineer, graduated from UFRJ in 2015, with an MBA in Project Management from FGV (2022). With over 10 years of experience in the oil and gas industry, I've led project coordination efforts and, more recently, focused on innovation. Passionate about technology, I'm always looking for new solutions to improve daily operations and support the digital transformation of the sector.

Dr Cabral has twenty years of pollutant dispersion modeling and engineering experience in a wide range of positions including teaching, design, project management, consulting, and collaborative research. He has considerable experience in Oil Spill Dispersion modeling studies, including more than 12 years acting as the modeling manager at CLS Brasil and 4 Years acting as a consultant for IBAMA - Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources hired by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Fernando Túlio Camilo Barreto is a physical oceanographer with a PhD in Environmental Engineering. He is a specialist in computational modeling, working in the private sector on metoceanographic and oil spill modeling, as well as applying machine learning techniques to these fields.

Mike Walker, MSRC Vice-President, Gulf Region has 31-years' experience in supporting and managing spill response and emergency activities. 25 of these 31 years have been with MSRC. Prior to MSRC, Mike held response and marketing positions with the following companies:

Riedel-Peterson Environmental Services
Garner Environmental
EmTech Environmental
Oil Mop Inc.

Mike began his MSRC career in 1997 as the Galveston, Texas Site Supervisor and was promoted to Area Response Manager in 1999, which included responsibility for 5 response sites in the Gulf Region.

In 2000, Mike assumed responsibility for MSRC's Atlantic Region as the Regional Response Manager and remained in the New York area for 6 years. In 2006, Mike transferred back to the Gulf Region to assume responsibility for all response activities as the Regional Response Manager. In 2007, Mike was promoted to Regional Vice-President, Gulf Region.

Mike is a 1989 graduate from McNeese State University and resides in Montgomery, Texas with his wife Deborah and has one grown child; Stephen.

CGA is one of the largest oil spill cooperatives in the Nation. James is a retired veteran of 24 years with the United States Coast Guard. His most recent Coast Guard assignments included Chief of Response and Chief, Incident Management at the Eighth Coast Guard District. During the Deep Water Horizon oil spill, he served as the Federal On-Scene Coordinator, Deputy Area Commander for Pollution Response and the Incident and Deputy Incident Commander for the Incident Command Post in Houma, LA. While at 8th District, James also served as Operations Officer on the National Strike Force Gulf Strike Team and as Deputy Commander of the National Strike Force. He has also served as the Coast Guard's Incident Management Team, the USCG's representative to the Interagency Board (IAB) and was the Co-Chair for the Regional Response Teams for Federal Regions VI, VII and VIII.

Profile Bio for Patrick James Bergeron Jr.
President & Partner, Forefront Emergency Management, L.P.
April 2022


Patrick James Bergeron, Jr. President & Partner at Forefront Emergency Management, L.P. received his formal education at Nicholls State University where he received a Bachelors of Science in Marine Biology. After graduation, he worked for the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality as an Environmental Quality Specialist in southern Louisiana. During his tenure with LDEQ, a large portion of his responsibilities were in the area of crude oil impact assessments, on-site supervision of remediation of crude oil releases as the State On Scene Coordinator, and site restoration. Also, during employment with LDEQ, he organized and developed a scientific study centered around new remediation techniques for crude oil impacted floating marshes working with the Louisiana Oil Spill Coordinator's Office, responsible party, and wetland scientists with the Louisiana State University. In 1996, he accepted a position as Environmental Manager for Denbury Resources, an independent oil & gas company with operations in the Gulf of Mexico Region, where he was in charge of developing and implementing their entire environmental program. During his tenure with Denbury Resources, he served in the capacity of Incident Commander for two catastrophic well control issues along with providing direct interaction with company's Vice President in the areas of property assessment due diligence and environmental liability. In 1999, with ES&H Consulting Services, Inc., he accepted the initial position of Consulting Division Manager tasked with the development of the new proactive division by selecting professional services to be offered, development of an initial client base, and the hiring of a core staff. In 2002, he coordinated the expansion of this division into the separate ES&H Consulting and Training Group as its manager. In this position, he was responsible for overseeing the development of response manuals and technical documents, held the primary Incident Commander position for the ES&H Spill/Emergency Management Team, provided supervision of all sampling and remediation projects, oversaw all aspects of the group's training program, and worked to expand the group's growing client base outside of the Gulf of Mexico Region. In 2004, he was named to the position of Executive Vice President of the ES&H Consulting & Training Group and in 2014 assisted with the firm's branding name change to Forefront where he now resides in the position of President and Partner. While serving as the firm's primary Incident Commander, his current position is responsible for the overall continued business development of the firm as its clientele and areas of operation have expanded to all active operational areas located in North America and in international areas. He is currently married to his wife of 30 years and is the father of two young adults working in the public relations field and serving our country in the Navy.


• President and Partner at Forefront Emergency Management, L.P.
• Nichols State University Bachelors of Science in Marine Biology
• Training Instructor and Exercise Facilitator for Forefront
• Primary point of contact for all new business development to include contracts and work agreements
• ICS certifications for NIMS ICS 100, 200, 300, 700, 800, HAZWOPER 40 Hour, and IC Certifications.
• 31 Years' Experience in the emergency management field working within in the Incident Command System
• Incident Commander on worst case incidents throughout the United States to include the 2007 Spill Of National Significance (SONS) Bayou Perot Incident

Patrick, started with Burlington Northern Railroad in 1991 as a Corporate Industrial Hygienist. He became the Assistant Director Hazardous Materials Safety in 1992. Upon Burlington Northern's merger with Santa Fe in January 1996, Patrick became the Manager of Hazardous Materials Field Operation and Emergency Response and was promoted to the Asst. Director of Hazardous Materials in 2002, Director Hazardous Materials in 2014 and to General Director, Hazardous Materials Safety in 2015. Additionally, Patrick is a Certified Industrial Hygienist and a Certified Safety Professional

Ron Cantin is the President of Emergency Management Services International, Inc. (EMSI). Ron is a 27 year Coast Guard veteran who has over 25 years experience in major incident and event management, and served two tours of duty as a senior member of the Coast Guard's National Strike Force. From 2005 - 2007, he served as the Commanding Officer of the Gulf Strike Team. He has extensive experience in a wide range of local, regional, and national level incidents including COVID response, Deepwater Horizon oil spill, John F. Kennedy Jr. Search and Recovery, Capitol Hill Anthrax, Typhoons in the Western Pacific, numerous other natural disasters, major maritime incidents, oil spills, National Security Special Events, and chemical releases. Ron served as the Incident Specific Federal On Scene Coordinator and Incident Commander following the impact of hurricane Katrina, leading 2000+ responders in mitigating the effects of over 8 million gallons of spilled crude oil from nine simultaneous medium and major spills, and recovering tens of thousands of hazardous materials containers from the highly environmentally sensitive areas of coastal Louisiana.

Ron has taught ICS around the world and has coached thousands of personnel on response teams in carrying out their ICS responsibilities during incidents and exercises, and advised the Unified Commands at ICP Mobile, ICP Houma, as well as the Area Command during the Deepwater Horizon response. He has served as Incident Commander on both of the Coast Guard's (Pacific Area and Atlantic Area) Incident Management Assist Teams (IMAT), and holds certifications for numerous Type I, and Type II ICS positions. He is the first person in the history of the Coast Guard to certify as a Type I Incident Commander.

Bradley is an experienced program director with a demonstrated history of working in the environmental engineering industry. With strong program and project management professional with a Bachelor focused in Water Resources Engineering from University of Guelph, Bradley is the leader of the USA GHD FIRST Emergency Spill Response Team which provides emergency response and preparedness services throughout North America for insurance clients, trucking clients, and class I railroad clients, among others. Bradley focus is on developing key client relationships and delivering exceptional service and leads multiple multidisciplinary team of professionals with extensive spill response and preparedness experience. Bradley has significant experience managing environmental due diligence projects, site remediation, risk assessment and toxicology, industrial hygiene and air monitoring, storm water and wastewater, wildlife management, site restoration, and environmental litigation support projects.

Abby is an energetic EHS professional with diverse experience in state and federal environmental regulations, hazmat and waste management, emergency spill response, and EHS regulatory management and implementation. Her experience includes some very unique roles, including the Environmental Compliance Manager for Holt CAT, TCEQ Environmental Investigator, EHS & Waste Director at a hazmat spill response company, and Environmental Program Manager at a joint reserve military base. She is the owner of Vibe Environmental, providing environmental compliance assistance, support, and EHS training. In a volunteer capacity, she is currently the Region III North Area Director, Region III Assistant RVP of Communications, and Southwest Chapter VP of Communications. Outside of work, she enjoys lattes, long naps, and the company of her critters & family.

Brad Hubbard serves as the Emergency Response Manager for Shell USA in the Gulf of America. In this role, Brad is a strategic program leader for emergency preparedness, response, recovery, and security for offshore operations. Hubbard has enterprise-level experience across a broad range of multi-national energy sector operations, including onshore and offshore exploration/production, refining, pipelines, terminals, shipping/maritime, and renewable energy. Hubbard is a demonstrated incident management leader, with global response experience across Shell operations.

Prior to joining Shell, Brad worked in the municipal Fire/EMS service as a Lieutenant/Firefighter & EMT; and has maintained his Emergency Medical Technician status since 2002. Hubbard worked as a dispatcher for a county based, multi-agency, 911 dispatch/communications center. Additionally, he worked for the Institute for Rural Emergency Management (IREM) providing emergency management consultancy for the public & private sectors. Brad earned a B.S. in Crisis and Disaster Management & an M.S. in Occupational Safety Management; both from the University of Central Missouri. He is also an alumnus of the National Preparedness Leadership Initiative (NPLI), a program at Harvard University.

Lonnie Evans serves as Manager of Security and Emergency Management for Chevron Shipping. He has had previous roles in Chevron's Enterprise Emergency Management, Deepwater Exploration and Projects, and Pipeline companies. Lonnie is also a retired Master Chief Petty Officer having served in the U.S. Coast Guard active duty and reserve components for over 25 years. He continues service to the nation and community as a volunteer with the U.S. Air Force's Civil Air Patrol as a Chief Master Sergent and TX-179 Thunderbird Composite Squadron's Emergency Services Training Officer and Squadron Noncommissioned Officer. Lonnie earned a B.S. in Marine Science from Texas A&M University, an M.B.A. from American Military University, and is currently pursuing a M.S. in Occupational Safety and Health from Columbia Southern University. He has been a Certified Emergency Manager for almost 20 years and is a Featured Mentor for the International Association of Emergency Managers.

As Emergency Preparedness and Response Manager, Nick
is charged with development and implementation of the
organization's multi-year Integrated Preparedness Plan. Nick
also places deep focus on educating members on Marine Well
Containment Company's (MWCC) Containment System and
response model and on oversight of the organization's Member
Response Network. In addition to his daily responsibilities,
Nick serves as part of MWCC's Advisor Unit, a small team of
subject matter experts (SME) dispatched to work closely with
the Responsible Party upon activation. Specifically, he acts as
MWCC's advisor on subsea dispersant injection.

Nick brings more than a decade of diverse emergency
preparedness and response expertise to his role at MWCC. He
began his career as a law enforcement officer before identifying
his true passion for emergency preparedness and pivoting to
more focused roles. He served under the United States Senate
Sergeant at Arms for the Battelle Memorial Institute supporting
the training of U.S. Senators on specific emergency action plans
and serving in the Emergency Operations Center for high-profile
events such as the annual State of the Union Address and
presidential inaugurations.

Nick went on to serve as the top administrator for the City of
Santa Monica Office of Emergency Management where he
was charged with stakeholder management, training, and
communications strategies related to emergency preparedness.

Nick holds a Master's in Engineering Management from George
Washington University's Institute for Crisis, Disaster & Risk
Management. He also received his Bachelor's in Criminal Justice
from George Washington University. His additional professional
accreditations include Certified Emergency Manager (CEM)
from the International Association of Emergency Managers
and Certified Business Continuity Professional (CBCP) from the
Disaster Recovery Institute International.

David Thomas is a senior consultant for CTEH, LLC. Mr. Thomas has spent 13 years of his 20-year Coast Guard career as a member of the National Strike Team specializing in responding to hazardous chemical releases and oil spill responses. Mr. Thomas also has experience writing site specific safety plans for both hazardous chemical and oil spill responses. In addition to extensive knowledge in spill response, he has experience in the writing and reviewing of emergency response plans to ensure compliance with national and area contingency plans. Mr. Thomas has developed and executed area emergency response plan training and testing for viability and to ensure resources noted in the plan were adequate for worst case and most probable spills and chemical releases.

Crystal Robinson, Norfolk Southern (NS) Manager of Environmental Field Operations and based in Chattanooga, TN. Crystal's NS territory covers TN, AL, MS and LA. Crystal has been with NS for just under four years and prior to NS was an environmental consultant for 15 years

Sarah Hassanally is a graduate of York University's Master of Disaster and
Emergency Management program with 18 years of experience in emergency
management including response, plan preparation, recovery, and interested party
engagement. Combining planning and response experience with coaching
development and adult education. Sarah works with the Emergency Management
Group at GHD facilitating training courses and exercises throughout North America.
Sarah is an ICS Canada Instructor and leads the GHD Incident Management Team
service offering supporting client Incident Management Team staffing at incidents.