Speaker biographies listed in order of appearance

Robert J. Papp Jr.
Retired Coast Guard Adm. Robert J. Papp Jr. became the State Department’s special representative for the Arctic in July 2014. He leads the effort to advance U.S. interests in the Arctic region, with a focus on Arctic Ocean governance, climate change, economic, environmental, and security issues in the Arctic region as a member of the Arctic Council chairmanship. Prior to this appointment, Papp served as the 24th commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, and led the largest component of the Department of Homeland Security. As a flag officer,Papp served as commander, Coast Guard Atlantic Area; chief of staff for the Coast Guard and commanding officer of Coast Guard Headquarters; commander, Ninth Coast Guard District; and director of Reserve and Training.

Fran Ulmer
Fran Ulmer is chair of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission, where she has served since being appointed by President Barack Obama in March 2011. In June 2010, Obama appointed her to the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling. From 2007 to 2011, Ulmer was chancellor of Alaska's largest public university, the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA). Prior to that, she was a Distinguished Visiting Professor of Public Policy and director of the Institute of Social and Economic Research at UAA. She is a member of the Arctic Council chairmanship, the global board of The Nature Conservancy, and the board of the National Parks Conservation Association.​

Klaus Keller
Klaus Keller is a professor of geosciences at Penn State, with an adjunct appointment as a professor of engineering and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University. At Penn State, Keller directs the Center for Climate Risk Management (CLIMA) as well as the NSF-sponsored research network for Sustainable Climate Risk Management (SCRiM). Before joining Penn State, he worked as a research scientist and lecturer at Princeton University and as an engineer in Germany. Keller graduated from Princeton with a Ph.D. in civil and environmental engineering. He received master’s degrees from M.I.T. and Princeton as well as an engineer’s degree from the Technische Universität Berlin.

Michael D. Farber
Michael Farber is the senior advisor to the director for the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement within the U.S. Department of the Interior. He has created an investigation and review unit to strengthen U.S. oversight of offshore oil and gas operations and investigate misconduct allegations. In addition, he is leading development of proposed Arctic-specific regulations and providing strategic advice on the oversight of exploratory drilling operations in the U.S. Arctic. Prior to joining the Department of the Interior, Farber was a partner at Dechert, an international law firm, focusing on antitrust and other federal and state investigations.​

James W. Houck
Retired Navy Vice Adm. James W. Houck is interim dean and Distinguished Scholar in Residence at Penn State Law and the School of International Affairs. Houck focuses his research and teaching on international law and national security law, with a particular emphasis on the law of the sea and the law of armed conflict. He joined Penn State in 2012 after retiring as the 41st judge advocate general of the U.S. Navy, during which time he was the principal military legal counsel to the secretary of the Navy and chief of naval operations. In this role, he led the 2,300 attorneys, enlisted legal staff, and civilian employees of the worldwide Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps.

David W. Titley
Retired Navy Rear Adm. David Titley is professor of practice in Penn State’s Department of Meteorology and the founding director of the Penn State Center for Solutions to Weather and Climate Risk. He previously served as chief operating officer of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration from 2012 to 2013. Before assuming these positions, he was chief oceanographer of the U.S. Navy, where he served for 32 years. He also initiated the Navy’s Task Force on Climate Change and serves on the CNA Military Advisory Board and Hoover Institute’s Arctic Initiative. ​

Michael E. Mann
Michael E. Mann is Distinguished Professor of Meteorology at Penn State, with joint appointments in the Department of Geosciences and the Earth and Environmental Systems Institute. He is also director of the Penn State Earth System Science Center. Mann was a lead author on the “Observed Climate Variability and Change” chapter of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Third Scientific Assessment Report in 2001 and was organizing committee chair for the National Academy of Sciences Frontiers of Science in 2003. Mann contributed to the reports of the IPCC, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.