About RAB
A Restoration
Advisory Board (RAB) is an advisory board
designed to act as a focal point for the
exchange of information between the
installation and the local community
regarding restoration activities. The
RAB's purpose is to bring together community
members of diverse interest to enable an
early and continued two-way flow of
information, concerns, and requirements
between the affected community and
installation.
In December
1995, with the selection of six area
community members, the MCAS Cherry Point
Restoration Advisory Board (RAB) was formed
with the purpose of advising the MCAS Cherry
Point cleanup team, serving as a focal point
for the community, and to represent the
interest of the public in environmental
cleanup at the Air Station. Since its
formation, the RAB has added six new members
while 4 members, including three of the six
charter members, have departed leaving the
current-day RAB with eight community
members.
The Navy has conducted efforts over the
years to solicit interest in the RAB. In
1999, letters were mailed to local civic
action groups in the three county area
soliciting interest in the RAB. In 2002, a
mass mailing effort was conducted by mailing
letters to the approximately 175 recipients
of the Hotspots newsletter for the purpose
of increasing awareness and interest in the
RAB as well as inviting them to the upcoming
RAB meeting. Concurrent with this mass
mailing effort, face-to-face meetings with
county managers, city/town managers, and
city/town clerks were also conducted for the
purpose of soliciting local government
interest in the RAB, providing an
understanding of the RAB and its function in
the Air Station’s IRP, and to extend an
invitation to the RAB meeting.
Since the initial convening of the RAB in
December 1995 to December 1995, the RAB has
attended 26 RAB meetings and six public
meetings, attended two training sessions,
participated in six site tours, and
represented the Air Station in three
Navy-sponsored RAB conferences.
Links
Munitions Response Program Fact Sheets
July 2008 Factsheet
February 2009 Factsheet
RAB Members
All members can be contacted
through the Public Affairs Office at (252)
466.4241
James Berry
resides outside the village of Oriental
close to Whortonville and has lived in the
area for seven years. Jim is a retired
Naval Officer and Aviator from the fighter
aircraft community and most recently a
Product Operations Director for Northrop
Grumman Corporation in Long Island, New
York. Although retired from the business
world, Jim is still active in the Oriental
Rotary Club, community affairs, and St.
Thomas Episcopal Church
in Oriental.
Georgiana Bircher
resides in New Bern on Brices Creek and has
lived in the area for seven years. Georgiana
currently serves as Director Lower Neuse
Initiative and has served as past Director
Neuse River Foundation and Membership
Director New Bern Area Chamber of Commerce.
Georgiana is an avid boater and water skier,
a member of Garber United Methodist Church,
and serves as a board member for
the North Carolina Watershed
Coalition and the Association of Membership
Executives of the Carolinas.
Grace Evans
resides in Oriental and has lived in the
area for 29 years. Currently retired, Grace
is an active member of the Neuse River
Foundation and St. Thomas Church and has
owned and taught at sailing schools for 12
years. Grace has served as past RAB
Community Co-Chair.
Patricia McClellan-Green, Ph.D.
resides in Morehead City and has lived in
the area for 15 years. Patricia is
currently an Assistant Research Professor
with the Department of Environmental and
Molecular Toxicology at NC State University
and holds a joint appointment as a Research
Scientist and Adjunct Assistant Professor at
the Duke University Marine Laboratory,
Beaufort, NC. Patricia is an active member
of the Society of Environmental Toxicology
and Chemistry, the N.C. Society of
Toxicology, and the American Society of
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Her
work focuses on the effects of natural and
man-made toxins on marine species. Patricia
currently serves as the RAB Community
Co-Chair.
Robert Meadows
lives in Beaufort, NC, where he and his
family have resided for the past 45 years.
A native of Swansboro, NC, he has lived on
the North Carolina coast most of his life.
Robert has served in the U.S. Navy as a Line
Officer aboard the U.S.S. Dashiell (DD659),
has worked as both a school psychologist and
as a psychotherapist, and is retired from
the Carteret County School System as
Director of Exceptional Children's
Programs. Robert has received a B.A. Degree
from Wake Forest University, with a major in
psychology; a M.A. Degree in Counseling from
East Carolina University; and a M.A. Degree
in Psychology from Western Carolina
University. Robert currently serves as a
member of the NC Coastal Federation, the NC
Sustainable Energy Association, Physicians
for Social Responsibility, the Earth Care
Alliance Group in First Presbyterian Church,
Morehead City, and the Steering Committee
for NC Climate Connection of NC Council of
Churches.
Neil Scarborough
resides in Havelock and has lived in the
area for 31 years. Neil is retired from the
United States Marine Corps and is an active
member of the Craven County Clean Sweep
Commission.
Ray Silverthorne, Jr.,
RS/REHS,
resides in New Bern and has lived in the
area for 47 years. Ray currently serves as
the Environmental Health Director with the
Craven County Health Department and has been
an active member of numerous public health
and environmental associations throughout
North Carolina.
William "Bill" Smart
resides in Havelock and has lived in the
area for 42 years. Retired in 1964 from the
United States Marine Corps as an aviator
officer, Bill served three tours at MCAS
Cherry Point with the first tour in 1943.
Bill is member of St. Christophers Episcopal
Church, serving as the Church Treasurer for
some ten years and other positions on the
Vestry to include Junior and Senior
Wardens. After retirement, Bill attended
East Carolina University, majoring in
accounting and has had an Accounting office
in Havelock for some thirty years. Bill has
helped form the first Havelock Merchants
Association, the Havelock Chamber of
Commerce, and the Havelock Regional
Development Corporation (aimed at
development of industry in the Havelock
area). He is a Lifetime Member of the
Havelock Chamber of Commerce, has served as
Trustee of the Library Board, and is a
member of the Havelock Board of Adjustments.
Gena Townsend
was born in Birmingham, AL and has resided
in the Atlanta area since 1985. Working as
a Remedial and Site Assessment Project
Manager, Gena has worked for 18 years as
with the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency in the Waste Division, Federal
Facilities Branch and has previously served
as the EPA’s Remedial Project Manager for
MCAS Cherry Point. Gena has received a B.S.
Degree in Civil Engineering with emphasis in
Environmental from Tennessee State
University.
George Lane
was born in Guilford County, NC and has
resided in Greensboro, NC since 1994. Prior
to that he served in the U.S. Air Force,
retiring in 1994 with the rank of Lt.
Colonel. Prior to retiring, George served
for four years as the Installation
Restoration Director at Vandenberg AFB, CA
and has over 10 years experience in the
environmental field in both the public and
private sectors. George currently serves as
the State of North Carolina's Department of
Environment and Natural Resources (NCDENR)
Remedial Project Manager for MCAS Cherry
Point. George received a B.S. Degree in
Engineering from
N.C. State University, a Masters
Degree in Business Management from Central
Michigan University and Masters Level
Certificate of Environmental Management from
West Coast University in Los Angeles
California.
Ms Jan Nielsen,
Ms. Jan Nielsen serves as the Navy's Remedial Project Manager for MCAS Cherry Point's Installation Restoration and Munitions Response Programs. Born and raised in Virginia Beach, Jan currently resides in Suffolk, Virginia. She has worked for the Naval Facilities Engineering Command's Atlantic Division located in Norfolk for the last year and a half, after working as a Nuclear Engineer and Environmental Engineer at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard for nineteen years. Jan received a B.S. Degree in Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics from Old Dominion University in 1988.
Jeff Christopher
resides in New Bern and has lived in the
area for five years. Jeff has served in the
U.S. Navy fighter aircraft community as an
avionics technician on the F-14 Tomcat.
Jeff first worked at MCAS Cherry Point's
Environmental Compliance Division as the
Solid Waste, Pollution Prevention, and
Pesticide Program Manager before assuming
the Installation Restoration Program for
MCAS Cherry Point. Born and raised in
Florida, Jeff attended the University of
South Florida where he received a B.S.
Degree in Industrial Engineering in 1991 and
Master Degree in Environmental Engineering
in 1997.
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