Advisory Board

George Cummings
Ocean Ambassador for United Nations SDG14

SDG14 Ocean Ambassador, Biochemist, technology enthusiast with 30 years of scuba diving experience as a video journalist.  George has a deep passion to make a difference inspiring everyone he comes in contact with to join him in the global quest for the sustainable use of the world’s marine ecosystem.  His desire is to provide visual storytelling multimedia expertise to assist marine scientists to explore, experiment, and discover innovative effective best practice technology marine system solutions for our planet’s environmental climate and ocean issues.

George is the SDG14 advisor for multiple Ocean focused NGOs and coastal communities.  He admires collaboration with people of Action, with his fins in the water approach to address the seven global targets for UNESCO’s Decade of Ocean Science in the seas of the Caribbean and Coral Triangle. He enjoys school speaking engagements “Ocean Talks” to inspire students to consider pursuing STEAM career paths in the emerging sustainable Blue Economy.  His mission is to advance the public understanding, and use of best practice SDG14 solutions for the conservation of coral reefs, all ocean creatures, and coastal environments.  George focuses on engaging with like-minded multi-disciplined scientists, conservationists, and passionate citizen science divers seeking participation in the Decade of Ocean Science.   His focus has a primary goal to enhance and assist local island governments and ocean stakeholders to transition their community by facilitating and empowering sustainable “Blue Economy” businesses to protect their community’s critical and limited marine resources.

“ I enjoy working with leading innovative technology science teams, like the ENSYNOX team, who are developing multiple solutions for restoring the Ocean Health Index, especially the most critical and life providing coral marine ecosystems of our planet. I have a dream and vision is to inspire youth to seek STEAM scientific studies as a career. Scientific education with local government collaboration opens the exploration mind to engage our environment with a passion to act responsibly” 

George Cummings Facebook Linked In Twitter Instagram
NGOs Advising:
World Federation Coral Reef Conservation, Reef Life Foundation, Ensynox,
Experiential Atelier, Beyond Coral Foundation, Central Texas Ocean Coalition,
Mahonia Na Dari Papua New Guinea, Ocean Research Center AC (TBD  Jan 2020 MX in progress, C19)

James Gormley AEE
Scientist / Inventor

James Gormley AEE is a scientist / inventor holding many patents in the area of electrochemistry, material science, electronics, energy storage / harvesting, mechanics etc. Mr. Gormley was awarded a US Congressional Citation in 2009 for his work in energy storage. He has done confidential work for the Missile Defence Agency, Army Research Labs, Office of Naval Research, Air Force Wright Patterson base, TASER, INTEL, Raytheon etc.
Mr. Gormley was in charge of the R&D and testing of the Hyperloop Propulsion / Levitation system.
Currently, Jim is the staff scientist for Wolverton Bailey home of the Center-poise engine and TBT Group inc.
“My plan is to create technology teams that problem solve environmental issues and enable all of Earths inhabitants to have better lives through science.” JG
Click here to get his LinkedIn profile

Melody Saunders Brenna
Coral-Reef Expert

Melody Saunders Brenna, CEO of Reef Life Restoration, a company specializing in oceanic infrastructure, using Nano-technology and Nano-science to rebuild the Ocean’s bone structure, and CEO and Co-Founder of Vicon Eco Systems Global Cellular Concrete Construction, a building materials nano technology company.
Restores damaged coral reefs, creating new engineered reef structures with breakthrough science and nanotechnologies, fostering the fastest growth possible. Their biocompatible surface textures and mineral formulations mimic the complex structure and composition of natural coral reefs.
These innovations have been developed over the past 12 years using nano materials research, bringing new reef solutions to this critical global problem. Solutions Partner: Sea Legacy https://www.sealegacy.org/

James A.R. MacFarlane
President, McFarlane Marine Services.

Mr. McFarlane’s early career was spent manufacturing underwater vehicles at International Submarine Engineering Ltd. (ISE) in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada. He spent time at sea in the offshore oil and gas industry in Canada, Norway, Scotland and the United States operating Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV) for various international commercial diving companies. Subsequently, he worked with the US Navy developing mine countermeasures robotics systems and methodologies. In 1987 he joined Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) as Chief ROV Pilot and departed in 2002 as one of the Institutes Directors. He was Vice President at Sound Ocean Systems in Redmond, Washington from 2007 until 2009 while maintaining and operating his marine consulting company. In September 2009 he was appointed as the Head of the Office of Resources and Environmental Monitoring for the International Seabed Authority. In this capacity, he was responsible for the management of all deep ocean mineral resources in the Area. In September of 2011 he returned to ISE as Executive Vice President and in March of 2018 he re-opened McFarlane Marine Services a boutique consulting company focused on the subsea marine marketplace.

His career has included international ocean policy creation, undersea systems development, oceanographic research, manufacturing, marine operations, training and management for a broad range of customers. These efforts were for academia, offshore oil and gas, military and educational programs. He was seconded from MBARI to train and lead Canadian Navy forces for wreckage recovery from the Swissair 111 disaster off the coast of Nova Scotia in 1998. His experience in all facets of subsea development, research and operations have provided him with a unique perspective on oceanographic endeavors and the marine environment. Mr. McFarlane is an experienced ROV pilot and has logged over 10,000 hours of piloting time, primarily for oceanographic research.

He was the co-chairperson of the National Science Foundation, National Visiting Committee, for the Marine Advanced Technology Center (MATE) for education from 1999 to 2009. He has also been directly involved in numerous film, television, and documentary programs highlighting oceanographic research, education and current news. He is active in the scientific oceanographic community and is an active speaker at workshops and conferences internationally. He is a Member of the Marine Technology Society, a Fellow National (’97) of the Explorers Club and is a member of the American Bureau of Shipping Underwater Vehicles and Systems Special Committee.
Click here to get McFarlane Marine Services company profile

Orren D. Schneider Ph.D, P.E.
Water Quality Industry Leader
www.h2oschneider.com 

Innovation – Research – Invention – Technical Expertise

Dr. Orren Schneider is currently the proprietor of his own LLC where he focuses on the optimization of water treatment plants and commercialization of innovative technologies in the municipal water treatment sector. Previously, he had worked for American Water as the Manager of Water Technology and the Research and Development team, where he was involved with research leading to the optimization of water treatment and distribution systems operations. Dr. Schneider has primary expertise in the evaluation and implementation of advanced water treatment technologies, to include coagulation/clarification/filtration, oxidation/disinfection, algae control, absorption, and membrane technologies. He has extensive experience with pilot plants specializing in collection and analysis of data for scale-up to full-scale operations.

Dr. Schneider has made numerous presentations at local, national, and international conferences; while also being a published author and co-author on many research reports and peer-reviewed journal articles.

He holds a BS in chemical engineering from Cornell University, and an MS and Ph.D. in environmental engineering from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He is a member of AWWA, IWA, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science and has served as the chair of the AWWA National Plant Operations Research Committee as well as the NJAWWA Research and Technical Transfer Committee. Moreover, he is also a member of multiple local and national AWWA committees.
Click here to get Mr. Orren D. Schneider linkedin profile

Vic Ferguson
Executive Director/Founder The World Federation for Coral Reef Conservation

“I have always been an Earth scientist, I just did not realize it. In my youth, I was intrigued by our oceans and questioned the logic behind our using the ocean as a dumping ground. I thought that someday we might not be able to clean up our mess. It was always a mystery to me. I think that day was insight and that we need to reverse our thinking to become the solution rather than the problem. As we disposed of radioactive, chemical, biological agents and other unknown compounds in our oceans, we seemed to think the oceans of the world were a never-ending, bottomless dumping ground that could take anything we dumped in them. As a certified diver for over 40 years, I have had wonderful experiences in the world’s oceans and have always felt that the ocean was just part of my home. I am so comfortable in the water…
With my Earth/marine science and geo-science environmental background, I have gathered, processed, and marketed geophysical and geochemical data around the world. I have spent time in both upstream and downstream oil and gas exploration/production, both onshore and offshore, domestically and internationally. I have lived and worked in many locations in the US and around the world.
Click here to get his LinkedIn profile

Stephen Rodan
President of Beyond Coral Foundation
Coral Reef Expert

Graduated MIT in 2016 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and (subfield in) Nuclear Physics. Worked as a Mechanical Engineer at the NASA-Jet Propulsion Lab and as a Research Affiliate at MIT Sea Grant College Program for about 2 years. Now working as a freelance consultant and on projects with National Geographic Open Explorer to support technological development for the Great Barrier Reef and other ocean ecosystems
Click here to get Mr. Stephen Rodan linkedin profile

Ed Faraone
President & CEO
Green World Solutions Group

Mr. Faraone proudly serves as the President & CEO of Green World Solutions Group, LLC GWSG is an EPCM with an International Presence.
In addition, Ed proudly served in the United States Army as an 18D, where he represented his unit, the U.S. Army and the United States with Pride and distinction. Ed received an honorable discharge following his exemplary years of service.
Learn more regarding Ed’s biography.
Learn more regarding GWSG’s company profile and capabilities.
Learn more regarding GWSG’s project timeline.
Mr Faraone is a strategic advisor and consultant of our company in Green Cases.
Ed currently resides in the Sarasota area of Florida with his beautiful wife of 10 years, where they enjoy participating in many of the outdoor activities that the surrounding areas have to offer.
Click here to get Mr. Ed Faraone linkedin profile