Martha Bean to discuss natural-resource mediation March 7

Martha Bean will present “Trends in Environmental Collaboration Practices and Projects” as part of Western Washington University’s Huxley College of the Environment Speaker Series at 4 p.m. on Thursday, March 7 in AW 204 on Western’s campus.

The presentation is free and open to the public.

Bean is a senior mediator at RESOLVE. Located in Seattle, Bean is a seasoned professional with more than 25 years of experience mediating complex multi-party natural resource disputes. She has helped more than 50 groups reach agreements, manage resources and set action plans.

Her work has included such issues as siting public facilities, dam relicensing, making information on toxics available electronically, establishing rules for the oversight of water and wastewater systems, disbursement of federal lands, management of nuclear waste clean-up, endangered species consultation, forest management and land-use disputes. She has mediated agreements on air quality management, rulemaking for the licensure of water engineers, salmon recovery and dam relicensing, approaches to endangered species monitoring, habitat protection and nuclear facility siting and waste disposal.

Bean has extensive experience bringing scientific information to the negotiating table and in collaborative decision efforts, and has written and provided training on this topic. She graduated from Western’s Huxley College of the Environment in 1978, and received her master’s degree from the University of California at Berkeley in 1981. Bean is a board member of Salish Sea Expeditions, a nonprofit organization that gets kids doing real science out on the water.

Anyone interested in these topics is encouraged to come and participate; the presentation will include a question-and-answer period. The speaker series is held by Western's Huxley College of the Environment to bring together the environmentally minded community and other interested members of Western and Bellingham’s communities. Speakers address topics of contemporary environmental concern in the region and the world.

For more information, please contact the main office of Huxley College of the Environment at (360) 650-3520.Western’s Huxley College of the Environment is one of the oldest environmental colleges in the nation and a recognized national leader in producing the next generation of environmental stewards. The College’s academic programs reflect a broad view of the physical, biological, social and cultural world. This innovative and interdisciplinary approach makes Huxley unique. The College has earned international recognition for the quality of its programs.