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Presenters
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Dan McConnell, Consultant, Geomarine Resources PLLC
"Prospects For Marine Minerals In The US Pacific OCS And EEZ".
Dan is the Principal at Geomarine Resources PLLC and has over twenty-five years of experience in marine geology and geophysics for industry and scientific applications including site characterization, geochemical exploration, gas hydrate identification and drilling, and marine mineral resource surveys. He is a licensed Professional Geologist, and a Qualified Person for deep-marine polymetallic nodule deposits. Dan was the lead geologist on the successful 2018 NORI D Campaign 3 AUV and resource survey for polymetallic nodules in the Eastern Pacific and has worked as lead geologist in support of other polymetallic nodule contract areas. He has held senior management positions at Fugro and AOA Geophysics. He holds two patents related to gas hydrate identification. Dan has participated in 12 marine geophysical, sampling, drilling, or crewed submersible cruises as client representative, lead geologist, or scientist. |
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Laurie Meyer
Laurie has over 35 years of experience in aerospace and marine engineering. She led the Deep Reach Technology team as Principal Investigator for the US Army Research Labs funded cooperative research project to assess the economic viability of a deep sea based new source for Rare Earth Elements. Prior to joining DRT in 2013 she was Chief Technologist for offshore renewables projects at Lockheed Martin Corporation and led the multi-contractor engineering team funded by the US Naval Facilities Command to design small and large-scale Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion plants and prototype key enabling technology. Ms. Meyer was also responsible for internal R&D projects and technology insertion planning in her role as Chief Technologist. She served as Chief Engineer and Systems Integrator for a wide range of other programs at Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman (space, air and ground), after beginning her career as an analyst at Hughes Aircraft and Lead Systems Engineer at Martin Marietta. Laurie holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Texas A&M and an MS in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University.
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Mark Mussett, Univ. of South Florida
“Polymetallic Nodule Detection Using Hull-mounted 30 Kilohertz Multibeam Data Analysis”joined Odyssey Marine Exploration in 2005 as a marine science and research specialist. Mr. Mussett has participated in Odyssey’s marine mineral exploration activities since 2010. He currently contributes to the assessment and study of prospective mineral occurrences through his role as Senior Manager of Marine Minerals. He holds a B.S. in marine science, geology concentration and a B.A. in communication from Eckerd College, which he attended on the Eckerd College Presidential Scholarship and the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship.? He holds an M.S. in marine science, hydrography concentration from the University of South Florida College of Marine Science. He is currently enrolled in graduate school at the University of South Florida College of Marine Science, where he has received the University Graduate Fellowship and the Thomas E. Pyle Memorial Fellowship in Marine Science.
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Paul Knorr, Critical Minerals Specialist
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, U.S. Department of Interior “Critical and Hard Minerals Management on the United States Outer Continental Shelf ”. Paul Knorr is a Critical Minerals Specialist with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), where he leads initiatives in marine critical minerals—including seafloor massive sulfides, polymetallic nodules, ferromanganese crusts, heavy mineral sands, and phosphorites. In this role since 2021, he coordinates research, operations, policy development, competitive leasing, and stakeholder outreach. Paul also serves as an Adjunct Professor at Florida Gulf Coast University, teaching marine and physical geology. He earned a Ph.D. in Geology from the University of South Florida (2008–2014), and previously worked at the U.S. Geological Survey, led groundwater remediation and GIS projects in industry, and served as a U.S. Army Engineer officer.
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Stefan Wegerer, Development Group Leader
Stefan Wegerer studied Mechanical Engineering at the Technical University of Munich. He has been with Bauer Maschinen for more than eight years, where he is responsible for marine drilling technology. For the past four years, he has focused on research and innovation, particularly in the development of deep-sea technology within the framework of the two research projects Deep Sea Sampling I & II.
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Jim Wodehouse, Vice President of Projects, Deep Reach Technology Inc.
“Considerations with Respect to the Technology and Economics of Nodule Offloading from a Deep-Sea Mining Production Vessel to a Transport Vessel in the Open Ocean, and Transportation to a Port for Offloading”.Jim Wodehouse is Vice President of Projects at Deep Reach Technology Inc. in Houston, where he oversees contracting, management, and execution of deep-sea polymetallic nodule pilot mining projects, including environmental baselines and impact assessments. He holds a B.Eng.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Western Ontario and brings decades of offshore engineering leadership, having held senior roles at SBM Offshore, Water Standard, and Tri Ocean Engineering. In May 2024, he co-authored a paper at the Offshore Technology Conference on the technology and economics of nodule offloading—from deep-sea production vessels to transport craft, shipping slurried minerals to port. |
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Dianna Phu - Worley
Dianna Phu is a Principal Technical Consultant in Marine Survey and Geoscience at Worley Consulting, with a B.Sc. in Geology & Geophysics from the University of Houston. Dianna has more than 25 years of experience supporting offshore energy projects across the globe: U.S. West and East Coasts, the Great Lakes, Gulf of Mexico, Alaska and Hawaii, as well as the Eastern Mediterranean, Bay of Bengal, and areas offshore Canada, Trinidad, Guyana, Nigeria, Brazil, and Mozambique. Dianna specializes in marine geohazards, development planning, complex site characterization, multi-disciplinary collaboration, geo-risk evaluation and treatment management, and GIS driven analytics and visualization. In addition to her technical role on projects, Dianna also serves as Technical Stewardship Manager for Worley Consulting’s Environment & Sustainability team in the Americas. Dianna is a licensed PG in Texas and Louisiana. Dianna is currently Chair of SUT US’s OSIG Committee, member of the 2027 OSIG Conference Planning Committee, and holds other volunteer and committee roles in several industry societies and community organizations. |
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