Workshop Presenters

Steve Aldrich

Steve Aldrich is the founder and president of Bio Economic Research Associates LLC (bio-eraTM), an independent research and consulting firm specializing in complex issue analysis at the intersection of our emerging knowledge of biology and the economy.

Steve studied evolutionary biology at Harvard (1978) before entering business. In 1984, he joined Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA) where he co-founded the firm's natural gas practice and served as a senior consultant on energy industry strategies. In 1995, he was appointed to the North American Natural Gas Council.

While at CERA, Steve had the great privilege to learn scenario methods directly from Ted Newland, one of the original developers of formal scenario planning techniques at Royal Dutch Shell, and subsequently launched bio-era as an independent research and consulting firm on the social and economic consequences of human-induced change to biological systems in 2003. The firm has specialized in part on applying scenario planning methods to major problems at the intersection of biology and the economy.

Steve is the author or co-author of numerous articles, books, and reports on bio-era's application of scenario methods, including:

• "Genome Synthesis and Design Futures: Implications for the US Economy" (2007)
• "Thinking Ahead: Anticipating Early Impacts of an Avian Influenza Pandemic" (2005)
• "Using Scenarios to Understand the Impact of an Avian Influenza Pandemic" (2005)
• "Rising Waters: Helping Hudson Valley Communities Adapt to Climate Change" (2009)
• "Futures of the Wild" (2007)

Jim Holway, Ph.D., FAICP

Jim Holway is Director of Western Lands and Communities, a joint venture of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and Sonoran Institute. This program supports research, tool development, demonstration projects, education, and publications focused on managing growth, sustaining regions, protecting resources, and empowering communities throughout the intermountain west. Additionally, Jim serves on the Board of the Central Arizona Water Conservation District to which he was elected in November 2010. Prior to joining the Sonoran Institute in 2009, Jim directed the Sustainability Partnership in the Global Institute of Sustainability and taught as a Professor of Practice in the School of Sustainability and in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment at Arizona State University. He also served as the ASU coordinator for the Arizona Water Institute. Previously, as Assistant Director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources, Jim’s responsibilities included overseeing the state’s Active Management Area, conservation, assured water supply, recharge, well permitting, and groundwater and surface water rights programs. Jim’s principal areas of research, teaching, and practice include western water policy, linkages between water and growth, and land use management. Jim earned his bachelor’s degree in political science from Cornell University and both a master’s and Ph.D. in regional planning from the University of North Carolina.

Joe Marlow, Ph.D.

Joe Marlow is the Sonoran Institute's land and resource economist. He serves as a spokesperson on conservation and land use economics in the West; conducts research and economic analyses; and prepares reports on research results and to explain economic trends and concepts. Joe was a faculty member at a tribal college for five years, teaching economics, mathematics, statistics, and earth science. For 11 years, he was a principal in a resource economics consulting firm involved in quantitative mineral resource assessment, geographic information system design and programming, and satellite image analysis. Other experience involved extensive project management and fieldwork in mineral, oil and gas exploration, as well as geotechnical and civil engineering. Joe holds a doctorate in mineral economics with a minor in remote sensing, a master's in mineral economics with a concentration in finance, and a bachelor's in earth science.

Elizabeth Fierman

Elizabeth Fierman is an Associate at the Consensus Building Institute, where she assists with facilitations and mediations, develops and delivers trainings on international and domestic environmental and public policy topics, and conducts research. Recent projects include organizing and preparing materials for a workshop on climate change adaptation in Vietnam's Mekong Delta; managing and delivering an online negotiation training course for the World Health Organization; and co-facilitating a public engagement process around the cleanup of the Housatonic River. Elizabeth holds a B.A. from Haverford College and an M.A. in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.

Ralph Marra

Ralph Marra recently retired from the City of Tucson Water Department where he served for many of his 25 years as the Utility's Chief Hydrologist and Water-Resources Administrator. During his tenure, he oversaw and facilitated the Utility's transition from groundwater mining to conjunctive water-resources management. Ralph also oversaw strategic resource planning, recharge facility development, permit acquisition & regulatory reporting, aquifer monitoring, and inter-agency coordination.

He is now the Senior Principal at SouthWest Water Resources Consulting and his current professional interest is in developing integrative water-resources plans, facilitating scenario planning to address resource uncertainty, developing multi-benefit master plans for artificial recharge projects, and promoting climate-change adaptive planning to ensure future supply reliability.