Margaret Leinen was appointed the eleventh Director of Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego in July 2013. She also serves as UC San Diego’s Vice Chancellor for Marine Sciences and Dean of the School of Marine Sciences. She joined UC San Diego in October 2013.

Leinen is an award-winning oceanographer and distinguished national and international leader in ocean science, global climate and environmental issues. Her research in paleo-oceanography and paleo-climatology focuses on ocean sediments and their relationship to global biogeochemical cycles and the history of Earth’s ocean and climate.

Leinen leads UC San Diego’s ocean, earth, atmospheric and climate science research and education programs at Scripps Oceanography, the foremost environmental research institution addressing the pressing environmental problems facing our planet.

Michael Ted Levin is an American politician and attorney serving as the U.S. representative for California's 49th congressional district since 2019.

A member of the Democratic Party, he represents most of northern coastal San Diego County, as well as part of southern Orange County.

Rear Admiral Leendert "Len" Hering Sr. USN, (retired), is a prominent military and civilian sustainability leader with a broad background in energy and environmental issues. His passion in sustainability lies in educating people on the dangers the future holds without taking responsible actions to secure he nation's energy independence and to preserve water, air quality, and other resources.

Edwards graduated from the University of Toronto in 1961 with a gold medal in Mathematics and Physics and a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship. He obtained two master's degrees from the University of Chicago in Mathematics and English Literature, and a Ph.D. in Mathematics from Queen's University in 1972.

From 1970 to 1974, he was the editor of Survival magazine. In 1975, he co-founded the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility and has been its president since 1978. Edwards has worked extensively as a consultant on nuclear issues and has been recognized as a nuclear expert by courts in Canada and abroad.

He was the assistant director of a nationwide study of the Mathematical Sciences in Canada in 1972-73. Edwards has written numerous articles and reports on topics including radiation standards, radioactive wastes, uranium mining, and nuclear power economics. He has appeared on programs such as David Suzuki's The Nature of Things and Pierre Berton's The Great Debate. He has also consulted for governmental bodies including the Auditor General of Canada and the Ontario Royal Commission on Electric Power Planning.

In 2006, Edwards received the Nuclear-Free Future Award. He has also been honored with the Rosalie Bertell Lifetime Achievement Award and the YMCA Peacemaker Medallion.

Lovins has promoted energy efficiency, the use of renewable energy sources, and the generation of energy at or near the site where the energy is actually used. Lovins has also advocated a "negawatt revolution" arguing that utility customers don't want kilowatt-hours of electricity; they want energy services. In the 1990s, his work with Rocky Mountain Institute included the design of an ultra-efficient automobile, the Hypercar. He has provided expert testimony and published 31 books, including Reinventing Fire, Winning the Oil Endgame, Small is Profitable, Brittle Power, and Natural Capitalism.

Dr Paul Dorfman is Visiting Fellow, Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU), Sussex Business School, University of Sussex; Chair, Nuclear Consulting Group (NCG); Member, Irish Govt. Environment Protection Agency (EPA) Radiation Protection Advisory Committee (RPAC); Member, International Nuclear Risk Assessment Group (INRAG). Paul served as Secretary to the UK Govt. scientific advisory Committee Examining Radiation Risks from Internal Emitters (CERRIE); led an European Environment Agency (EEA) response to Fukushima; served as Expert to the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC); Advisor to the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) Nuclear Submarine Dismantling Project (SDP); Adviser to the French Govt. Assemblee Nationale relative à la Faisabilité Technique et Financière du Démantèlement des Installations Nucléaire; and drafted sets of UK Department of Health National Health Service (NHS) guidance.

Paul Gunter is a lead spokesperson in nuclear reactor hazards and security concerns. He acts as the regulatory watchdog over the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the nuclear power industry. He is a 2008 recipient of the Jane Bagley Lehman Award from the Tides Foundation for environmental activism for his work on the nuclear power and climate change issue.

He has appeared on NBC Nightly World News, The Lehrer News Hour, BBC World News and Amy Goodman's "Democracy Now." He was a cofounder of the antinuclear Clamshell Alliance in 1976 to oppose the construction of the Seabrook (NH) nuclear power plant through non‐ violent direct action that launched the U.S. antinuclear movement.

Prior to joining Beyond Nuclear he served for 16 years as the Director of the Reactor Watchdog Project for Nuclear Information and Resource Service. An environmental activist and energy policy analyst, he has been an ardent critic of atomic power development for more than 30 years. Paul is a New Englander who was born in Mississippi and raised in Detroit, MI.

Leona Morgan (Diné, she/her) is an Indigenous organizer who has been fighting nuclear colonialism since 2007. Leona is a co-founder of Haul No!, an initiative to stop Energy Fuels' uranium mine near the Grand Canyon and related transport to their mill. She collaborates with affected community members locally and internationally across the uranium fuel chain. Leona is pursuing a Master of Community and Regional Planning at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.

In 2007, Gary and Laurie Headrick formed San Clemente Green to promote a sustainable future for their community. By 2010 their work with the city resulted in a Sustainability Action Plan that guides programs and policies to this day.

San Clemente Green continues to work with nuclear activists around the country and Gary currently serves on Representative Levin’s Congressional Task Force on Nuclear Waste.

Roger Johnson is a distinguished professor emeritus, having served on the faculties of Amherst College and Tufts University before becoming a founding faculty member at the School of Theoretical and Applied Science at Ramapo College of New Jersey. He earned his PhD from the University of Connecticut and authored the influential book "Aggression in Man and Animals," which has been adopted by over 200 colleges and universities. As a Fulbright Scholar, he taught at the University of Jyväskylä in Finland, where he played a key role in founding the International Society for Research on Aggression (ISRA).

As a child, he lived in Japan two years after WWII ended and witnessed first hand the horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In retirement, he now lives with his wife, Lori, in San Clemente, CA, home of the San Onofre nuclear power plant. He remains actively involved in raising public awareness about the dangers of nuclear power.

Bass graduated with an honors A.B. from the University of Chicago in 1973 and earned his Ph.D. in the History of Consciousness from the University of California Santa Cruz in 1980. He has received grants and fellowships from the Ford Foundation, the Regents of the University of California, the New York Foundation for the Arts, and the U.S. State Department, among others. He has taught literature and history at the University of California and Hamilton College and is former director of the Hamilton in New York City Program on "Media in the Digital Age."

Currently Bass is a Professor of English and Journalism at the University at Albany, State University of New York.

Bass has appeared on Good Morning America, CNN, NPR, BBC, and other venues to promote his books. He is the author of numerous articles for Wired, The New York Times, The New Yorker, Smithsonian, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, and other magazines.

Return to Fukushima, Bass's eighth book of investigative reporting, will be published in the fall by OR Books.

Rita Macdonald is a seasoned B2B and B2C marketing professional with a rich background in both start-up and corporate environments. With extensive experience in leading marketing efforts, she has successfully driven significant organic growth and managed diverse marketing projects across various industries. Additionally, Rita has a technical background as a former reliability engineer. She is currently the COO of the Samuel Lawrence Foundation.

Larry Agran graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of California at Berkeley in 1966, majoring in history and economics. In 1969, he graduated with honors from Harvard Law School, where he specialized in public interest law.

Larry has served as Legal Counsel to California State Senate Committee on Health and Welfare. He has taught legislation and public policy at the UCLA School of Law and the Paul Merage School of Business at UC Irvine.

Larry Agran first served on the Irvine City Council from 1978 to 1990, including six years as Mayor. Under his leadership, Irvine received national recognition for its pioneering programs in child care, affordable housing, recycling, and open space preservation.

The Honorable Gregory B. Jaczko was designated Chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission by President Barack Obama on May 13, 2009. He was first sworn in as a Commissioner on Jan. 21, 2005. Dr. Jaczko resigned on July 9, 2012.

Throughout his tenure on the Commission, Dr. Jaczko focused on the NRC being a decisive safety regulator with the confidence of the public. He worked to have the agency clearly communicate with the public and its licensees. Dr. Jaczko focused on the safety of existing nuclear reactors and radioactive materials, implementing a predictable safety review process for license applications, ensuring the agency conducts thorough environmental reviews, and promoting strong enforcement and accountability.

Stephanie Cooke is an opinion writer for Energy Intelligence and writes occasional articles for mainstream media. She helped launch Nuclear Intelligence Weekly in 2007 and was its editor until 2022, overseeing global coverage of the commercial nuclear industry, and delivering news and analysis of key industry sectors.

Stephanie has been interviewed by numerous television and radio programs in the US and overseas, and participated in podcasts about nuclear energy.

She began her journalism career at the Associated Press and then began covering the nuclear industry for Nucleonics Week, Nuclear Fuel and Inside NRC.

Mark Z. Jacobson’s career focuses on better understanding air pollution and global warming problems and developing clean, renewable energy solutions to them. He has published six books, including his latest, “No Miracles Needed,” and over 185 journal articles.

He is ranked as the #1 most impactful scientist in the world in Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences and #6 in Energy among those first publishing past 1985. In 2018, he received the Judi Friedman Lifetime Achievement Award “For a distinguished career dedicated to finding solutions to air pollution and climate problems.” In 2023, he was named one of the top 100 globally “who have made an impact on the world this year” by Worth magazine. He has served on a committee to the U.S. Secretary of Energy, appeared in a TED talk and on the David Letterman Show, and co-founded The Solutions Project nonprofit.

He served as an expert witness in the first U.S. constitutional climate trial to win, Held v. Montana, and the world’s first constitutional climate trial to reach a settlement, Navahine v. Hawai’i. His work is the scientific basis of the energy portion of the U.S. Green New Deal and laws to go to 100% renewable energy worldwide.

John Orcutt is Distinguished Professor of Geophysics at Scripps Institution of Oceanography/Retired/Returned to Active Duty (RTAD).

He received his Bachelors degree in mathematics and physics from Annapolis (1966), his M.Sc. in physical chemistry as a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Liverpool (1968), and his Ph.D. in Earth Sciences from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (1976). He served on Navy Fleet Ballistic Submarines 1998-1973 and resigned his commission as Commander in 1977.

He has published more than 175 scientific papers and book chapters, became an AGU Fellow in 1988, and received the Ewing Medal from the USN and the American Geophysical Union (AGU) in 1994. He received the Newcomb-Cleveland Prize from the AAAS in 1983 for best paper in Science for 1983 and in 2007 he was awarded the Marine Technology Society’s LockheedMartin Award for Ocean Science and Technology.

He received a Secretary of the Navy/Chief of Naval Operations Chair in 1996 and chaired a three-year ONR Special Research Program (SRP) that coordinated Naval Research Laboratories and universities in studying seafloor scattering.

Since joining Beyond Nuclear in 2007, Cindy has focused on ionizing radiation and its impact on health and the environment. From 1994 until 2007, she served as the radiation and health specialist at Nuclear Information and Resource Service.

Cindy communicates with media, members of the public, U.S. Congress, and national and international agencies on radiation and health regulation and science. She has traveled and spoken at public meetings, conferences and academic symposia.

She has worked to ensure public participation in National Academy of Sciences panels investigating the health effects of radiation, notifying activists across the country of regional meetings for these NAS committees and informing people about interacting with the committee through both verbal and written comments.

James Day is Professor of Geochemistry at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego. Dr. Day obtained his PhD from Durham in the UK in 2004 and he has published over 190 peer-reviewed research papers. His research interests involve how planets formed and evolved to their present-day states, and the modern Earth system.

Kim McCoy is an oceanographer known for his coastal insights and the
influence of the environment on geopolitics. He has planned over 40
international science projects, including nine Polar expeditions, and
authored the new edition of the surfer bible "Waves and Beaches"
published by Patagonia.

Dr. Bob Richmond is a Research Professor and Director of the Kewalo Marine Laboratory, University of Hawaii at Manoa. He worked in the Dept. of Radiation Biology and Biophysics at the University of Rochester Medical School on the uptake of radionuclides by indicator organisms and performed his doctoral dissertation research on Enewetak Atoll from 1980-82, a site of the U.S. nuclear testing program.

He is a member of the Expert Scientific Panel advising the Pacific Islands Forum leaders on the discharges of radioactively contaminated water from the Fukushima-Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the Pacific Ocean. He is both an Aldo Leopold Fellow in Environmental Leadership and a Pew Fellow in Marine Conservation. His research interests include coral reef ecology, marine conservation biology, ecotoxicology, radiation biology, climate change, large-scale MPAs, bridging science to management and policy, and the integration of indigenous ecological knowledge with modern approaches to resource use and protection.

Lance Gould is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Brooklyn Story Lab (BSL), a media-strategy firm that teaches purpose-driven organizations how to be more effective storytellers, particularly around their SDG-related work. He was previously a journalist who held newsroom-leadership positions at The Huffington Post (Executive Editor), The Boston Phoenix (Editor in Chief), The New York Daily News (Deputy Managing Editor), and Spy Magazine (Editor). In 2016, Lance received a Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Award for his editorial work related to the SDGs. In 2017, Lance was named to the Leadership Council for the UN's Media for Social Impact Summit. He is on the Board of World Elephant Day and for four years, has been a volunteer commissioner for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)'s Commission on Education and Communications.

Our Master of Ceremonies for the day is Alison St John Ingles, Retired North County Bureau Chief for KPBS, Public Broadcasting for San Diego. Alison’s distinguished career in journalism, including significant coverage of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS), has made her a respected voice in the community. Her insightful reporting and commitment to public service ensure that our discussions today will be both engaging and informative.