Speakers
Pavel Baev | Research Professor, Peace Research Institute, Oslo | PRIO Website
Pavel Baev is a research professor at Peace Research Institute Oslo, an independent research institution engaged in the promotion of peace through conflict resolution, dialogue and reconciliation, public information and policymaking activities. Baev received a Ph.D. in International Relations at the Institute of USA and Canada of the USSR Academy of Sciences. His research focuses on issues related to Russia, including energy interests in Russia’s foreign and security policy as well as Russia’s relations with Europe and NATO. He is currently a senior non-resident fellow at the Brookings Institution.
Stephen Brereton | Consul General of the Consulate General of Canada in Atlanta
Brereton a native of Toronto, was appointed Consul General of the Consulate General of Canada in Atlanta in September 2009. He is a career diplomat with a distinguished background in international trade policy. He joined the Canadian Foreign Service in 1979 following graduation from Queen’s University with an Honors B.A. in Economics. Brereton’s foreign service career has included assignments at the Canadian Mission to the European Union based in Brussels (1992-96) and diplomatic responsibilities at the Canadian Embassies in Tokyo, Japan (1984-87) and Havana, Cuba (1980-82). Most recently he served as Consul General at the Canadian Consulate General in Buffalo, New York (2005-2009).
Michael Byers | Canada Research Chair, Global Politics and International Law, University of British Columbia | Department Website
Michael Byers is the Canada research chair in Global Politics and International Law at the University of British Columbia. Byers attended Cambridge, Oxford and McGill Universities and holds major research grants from ArcticNet and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Before 2005, he was a law professor and the director of Canadian Studies at Duke University. His most recent book, Who Owns the Arctic? (Douglas & McIntyre, 2009), discusses Arctic sovereignty and related issues. A prolific author, he is a regular contributor to several publications as well as broadcast channels, including the Toronto Star and CTV.
Susan Crate | Associate Professor, Department of Environmental Science and Policy, George Mason University | Department Website
Susan Crate is associate professor of Anthropology in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy at George Mason University specializing in environmental and cognitive anthropology. Her work with indigenous communities in Siberia since 1988 focuses on local perspectives in the face of unprecedented climate change, especially with the Siliui Sakha community. Crate is the author of numerous peer-reviewed articles, one monograph, Cows, Kin and Globalization: An Ethnography of Sustainability (Alta Mira Press, 2006), and is senior editor of the volume Anthropology and Climate Change: From Encounters to Actions (Left Coast Press, 2009). Crate received her Ph.D. in Ecology from UNC-Chapel Hill.
Elizabeth Elliott-Meisel | Associate Professor, Department of History, Creighton University | Department Website
Elizabeth Elliot-Meisel received her Ph.D in History from Duke University. She teaches at Creighton University, where she serves as department chair and teaches U.S. Foreign Policy and U.S.-Canadian Relations, in addition to other courses. She is the author of Arctic Diplomacy: Canada and The United States in The Northwest Passage (Peter Lang Publishing, 1998). One of her recent presentations includes “Arctic Sovereignty: Canadian-American Relations in the Northwest Passage.”
Johnathan Hartlyn | Senior Associate Dean for Social Sciences and Global Programs, UNC College of Arts and Sciences | College Website
Jonathan Hartlyn, the Kenneth J. Reckford Distinguished Professor of Political Science, is the senior associate dean for Social Sciences and Global Programs in the College of Arts and Sciences at UNC-Chapel Hill. In this role, Hartlyn oversees many departments and all of the global programs of the College that are housed in the FedEx Global Education Center, including: the Office of Study Abroad; African Studies Center; Carolina Asia Center; Carolina Center for the Study of the Middle East and Muslim Civilizations; Center for European Studies; Curriculum in Global Studies; Institute for the Study of the Americas; and the Center for Slavic, Eurasian and East European Studies.
Alan Kessel | The Legal Adviser at the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada (DFAIT) | DFAIT Website
Alan Kessel is The Legal Adviser at the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. Prior to this appointment, Mr. Kessel served as Deputy Legal Adviser and Director General of the Bureau of Legal Affairs from September 2004 to November 2005. Mr. Kessel has held numerous positions in the Legal Branch of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, including that as Director of the United Nations, Criminal and Treaty Law Division. He was the head of the Canadian Delegation to the United Nations preparatory committees negotiating the establishment of the International Criminal Court. His postings abroad have included the Canadian Embassy in Sweden, the Canadian Mission to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland and the Canadian High Commission in London, UK. Mr. Kessel received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Waterloo in 1976 and his law degree in 1979 from Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto. He was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1981. After several years in private practice in corporate and commercial law in Toronto, he joined the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade in 1983.
Commander Tony Miller | Deputy Director of Task Force Climate Change (TFCC) | TFCC Website
Commander Tony Miller was commissioned in 1990 after graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy with a degree in oceanography. During his Navy career, he has served as a Surface Warfare Officer and as a Meterology and Oceanography Officer in the Mediterranean Sea, the Arabian Gulf, and the Indian Ocean. Miller, who has been selected for promotion to Captain, completed an M.S. in Meteorology and Oceanography and then a Ph.D. in Physical Oceanography at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. He was appointed deputy director of the Navy Task Force Climate Change (TFCC) at the Pentagon by Rear Admiral David Titley. His awards include Meritorious Service Medals, Navy Commendation Medals, Joint Service Achievement Medal, Navy Achievement Medal and various unit and service awards.
Jane Moss | Visiting Professor and Director, Center for Canadian Studies at Duke University | Center Website
Jane Moss received a B.A. from Wellesley College and a Ph.D. in French Literature from Yale University. She taught for 30 years at Colby College (Maine), where she was the Robert E. Diamond Professor. Since 2007, she has been Visiting Professor and Director of the Center for Canadian Studies at Duke University. She served as President of the American Council for Québec Studies and Vice-President of the Association international des études québécoises, as well as on the Executive Council of the Association for Canadian Studies in the United States. A specialist on francophone Canadian theatre, she is currently the editor-in-chief of the bilingual, interdisciplinary journal Québec Studies.
Jacqueline M. Olich | Associate Director, UNC CSEEES, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of History, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | CSEEES Website
Jacqueline Olich is the associate director of the UNC Center for Slavic, Eurasian and East European Studies (CSEEES) and an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of History at UNC. She teaches in the Curriculum in Russian and East European Studies, administers the Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowships awarded through the U.S. Department of Education, coordinates community and campus outreach activities, and chairs the CSEEES Diversity Committee. She received her B.A. from Lafayette College and earned her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the UNC Department of History. Olich is the co-lead organizer of this conference.
José Antonio Rial | Professor of Geophysics and Climatology, Department of Geological Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | Department Website
José Antonio Rial is professor of Geophysics and Climatology at UNC, where he has taught since 1986. He received a masters degree in Geology from the University of Michigan and his Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology. Rial’s research focuses in the areas of climate change and nonlinear dynamics applied to understanding abrupt climate change. Specifically, he has spent six field seasons in western Greenland in an attempt to understand the mechanics of collapsing glaciers and ice sheets. He also organizes the annual Carolina Climate Change Seminars (CCCS), which bring students, professors, and the general public together to discuss climate science research.
Mary Simon | President of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK) | ITK Website
Mary Simon, born in Kangiqsualujjuaq, Quebec, has devoted her life to achieving social justice for Inuit nationally and internationally and has been a leading advocate for Inuit cooperation. Her political career has included terms as president of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference, now known as the Inuit Circumpolar Council. Simon was a senior Inuit negotiator during the Canadian Constitutional discussions of the early 1980s, which led to the recognition of Aboriginal rights in the Constitution Act, 1982. She was ambassador for Circumpolar Affairs, Canadian ambassador to Denmark and chancellor of Trent University. She is an Officer of the Order of Canada and has been awarded the National Order of Quebec, the Gold Order of Greenland, the Diamond Jubilee Medal, the National Aboriginal Achievement Award, the Gold Medal of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, and the Symons Medal. She was awarded six honorary doctorates and has been inducted into the International Women’s Forum Hall of Fame. She is a fellow of the Arctic Institute of North America and of the Royal Canadian Geographic Society. She is currently serving her second term as President of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami.
Ron Strauss | Executive Vice Provost and Chief International Officer, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Ron Strauss is executive vice provost and chief international officer at UNC-Chapel Hill. Strauss earned his graduate degrees from the University of Pennsylvania. As chief international officer, Strauss convenes the meetings of the International Affairs Advisory Council, which is a group comprised of 30 colleagues from different areas of the university who work together to help progress UNC’s global mission. He also has joint appointments in three schools on campus – the School of Dentistry, the School of Medicine, and the School of Public Health.
John Herd Thompson | Professor, Department of History, Duke University | Department Website
John Herd Thompson, a native of Manitoba, received his Ph.D. from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. Thompson teaches in the Department of History at Duke University and has served as department chair and director of Graduate Studies. Before coming to Duke, Thompson taught at McGill University in Montreal and has been Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Alberta and a Visiting Professor at Simon Fraser University (British Columbia). He specializes in global transnational and comparative history with a focus on North American western history, rural history, and the history of the U.S.-Canadian relations. He has written numerous publications including the book Canada and the United States: Ambivalent Allies” (Fourth Edition, University of Georgia Press, 2008).
Brian Van Pay | Foreign Affairs Officer, Office of Ocean and Polar Affairs (OPA), U.S. Department of State | OPA Website
Brian Van Pay is a Foreign Affairs Officer in the Office of Ocean and Polar Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. As Executive Director of the U.S. Extended Continental Shelf (ECS) Project, Van Pay coordinates policy, administrative, and science aspects of the U.S. effort to delineate its ECS. This multi-agency, multi-million dollar project is determining that area beyond 200 nautical miles in the ocean where the U.S. holds sovereign rights over the natural resources on and under the seabed—an area that is at least twice the size of California. Van Pay is also responsible for developing, negotiating, and implementing U.S. foreign policy and positions pertaining to maritime limits and boundaries. He led the U.S. technical team in the last two rounds of discussions with Canada on the Beaufort Sea maritime boundary, and is working to resolve other outstanding U.S. maritime boundaries.
Brooks de Wetter-Smith | James Gordon Hanes Distinguished Professor, Department of Music, UNC
De Wetter-Smith is a distinguished educator, musician, and published photographer. His photographic endeavors have taken him to Antarctica in 2006 and 2010 and the High Arctic in 2009. Exhibits of his photography have been shown recently at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences Raleigh, the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, and the Capella Arts Center in St. Petersburg, Russia.
