Event Speakers

Mr. Monark joined SM Energy in May of 2008 as director of Human Resources and was appointed vice president of Human Resources in July 2008. He was director of Human Resources for JF Shea Corporation, a leading construction and homebuilding company, from 2004 to May 2008. He served as vice president of Human Resources for Pameco Corporation, a distributor of HVAC systems and equipment and refrigeration products, from 2000 to 2004. From 1996 to 2000, Mr. Monark served as vice president of Human Resources for CH2M HILL.

Alan Stringer is currently VP Operations and EHS at AEI Services LLC, a specialist emerging market power company.

Alan lead operations and EHS as AEI acquired and integrated businesses at its peak $10 billion company with global emerging market interests in electric/gas distribution and transportation, power generating plants, gas processing facilities, marine terminals, and a large network of retail fuel facilities with its related distribution network. After a strategic sale of a major part of the company’s assets Alan has been involved in repositioning the remaining generation assets and leading EHS at three construction projects (approx 1GW). This experience has lead to deep understanding of successful safety cultures and continuous improvement processes throughout emerging markets.

As AEI grew from acquisition and integration to an organization at its peak, employing in excess of 30,000 employees and contractors from China to Chile, Alan lead safety outcomes from “utility”, natural gas pipeline and retail operations to a LTI rate of 0.27 as the company doubled in size.

Alan also had safety responsibility for AEI power generation construction projects, all in emerging markets, one involving a Chinese EPC Contractor, delivering safety outcome to achieved LTI rate of 0.14 in 2012 at three construction projects.

Throughout the journey to deliver both excellence in operations and safety, Alan has used a flexible approaches to work with cultures to implement sustained improvement that focused on delivering project and country specific programs rather than a single corporate program.

Alan holds a BSc from the University of Lancaster, MSc from the University of Salford and an MBA from Warwick Business School.

Deren Boyd serves as Vice Present of Safety and Compliance for Crescent Companies, providing water management, flowback, consulting, and environmental services.

At Crescent his primary responsibilities include regulatory compliance, safety and environmental programs, and internal corporate development.

Previously, he served as an athletics administrator at the University of Oklahoma as Assistant Athletics Director of Development from 2003-2008, then most recently as Director of Basketball Operations in 2010.

Deren returns to the oil and gas industry after spending two years as project/asset manager for an Oklahoma City-based oil and gas producer from 2008-2010. He is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma, holding both a Bachelors of Health & Sports Science and a Masters of Education.

Melanie Brooke-Lander is Director of Health, Safety and Environmental (HSE) Programs and Corporate Social Responsibility for the oilfield service company Baker Hughes.

It was a newly created role when she stepped into it in 2009 and she has worked to establish and communicate Baker Hughes CSR strategy and practices and gain top-tier positions in investor rankings.

Melanie has worked in the oilfield chemicals industry her whole career. During the 90’s, she served for 5 years as the Chairman of the trade association, EOSCA (the European Oilfield Specialty Chemicals Association). In this role, Melanie collaborated with governmental agencies and other industry groups to shape the environmental legislation to protect the NE Atlantic Ocean from the impacts of oil and gas drilling operations.

She is British and relocated from Aberdeen, Scotland to Houston in 2006. Melanie has an MSc in Applied Toxicology from the University of Surrey, U.K.

At the age of four, Nicole’s mom asked her “Why are you always asking so many questions?” The answer to that question became clear as Nicole began her career out of college working in Human Resources.

That career now spans twenty years and includes experience as in various roles within recruiting, compensation, immigration and training and as an HR partner. She is a certified Six Sigma Greenbelt having managed global recruitment policies, processes and metrics in the high tech industry before joining CH2M HILL. She is also certified in SocialStylesm and Versatility as well as being certified in Essential Facilitation. She holds a Bachelors degree in Business from the University of Colorado.

Nicole is currently Global Talent Acquisition Director for CH2M HILL where she responsible for the strategic talent activities for their Energy, Water & Facilities Division, as well as the Americas region (Alaska, Canada, US Lower 48, Latin America). In her career she has also overseen recruitment activities for Europe and MENA. She provides the vision and practical hands-on experience to create and deliver recruiting strategies that drive business success, with proven track record in hiring, training and mobilizing teams that deliver high quality recruiting solutions in demanding, multi-national environments.

Chris Faulkner
Chief Executive Officer
Breitling Oil and Gas

Chris Faulkner, Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer Breitling Oil and Gas, drives the company’s long-range economic and energy outlooks, which serve as the basis for strategic planning as well as investor relations, short and long-term business strategy, mergers and acquisitions, and the development and application of new and existing technology for optimizing recovery efficiency within Breitling’s conventional and unconventional resources.

His diverse and extensive background in the oil and gas industry in North America, Europe and the Middle East covers all aspects of oil and gas operations, including project management, production, facilities, drilling and business development. Mr. Faulkner serves as an advisor to the ECF Asia Shale Committee and sits on the Board of Directors for the North Texas Commission.

Mr. Faulkner has been featured in numerous media outlets, including Reuters, Bloomberg, US News & World Report, FOX Business News, The Agenda – TV Ontario (TVO), Dallas Morning News, San Diego Tribune, and Hart Energy. He is a frequent lecturer at industry events and is a member of many industry organizations, including the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers, the Dallas Petroleum Club, Independent Petroleum Association of America, Texas Alliance of Energy Producers and Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners Association. He is actively involved in local and national philanthropic and non-profit organizations, including Dallas Performing Arts, Texas CAN-DO, American Heart Association and Big Brothers Big Sisters.

Mr. Faulkner studied biomedical engineering at Southern Methodist University, business and mathematics at Baylor University and at the University of North Texas. He received an honorary doctorate degree for his achievements in business administration from Concordia College.

John A. Moore
Director and Chief Executive Officer
Acorn Energy Inc.John A.

Moore has been a director and Chief Executive Officer of Acorn Energy Inc. (ACFN-NASDAQ) since March
2006. He also serves as a director of Voltaix a leading producer of specialty gases used in the production of solar cells and semiconductors. John is a Trustee of the Eisenhower Fellowships. He was previously a Director of Comverge and served on its IPO committee. He serves on the Advisory Council of EnerTech Capital a $350 million energy technology fund. Mr. Moore was formerly President and co-founder of Edson Moore Healthcare Ventures, a fund which acquire $150 million of biotechnology assets from Elan Pharmaceuticals in 2002. John was a cofounder and CEO of Optimer Inc., a specialty materials company that was sold in 2007 to Sterling Capital, a leveraged buyout fund with over $4 Billion under management. John has invested in many different industries over the past 25 years, but he has never been as excited as he is today about Acorn’s opportunities to help create smarter infrastructure. John has four children and one wife. He loves to hear from energy executives, policy wonks and investors.

John Hofmeister

Founder and CEO
Citizens for Affordable Energy
Former President of Shell Oil Company

John Hofmeister is the former president of Shell Oil Company, and the founding CEO of the not-for-profit, nation-wide membership association, Citizens for Affordable Energy. He is the author of Why We Hate the Oil Companies: Straight Talk from an Energy Insider. Hofmeister’s presentations offer rare insight about how the industry works, how special interests work, and how the government approaches energy issues. He offers practical, understandable ideas on the entire spectrum of energy, from green to coal to gas, and solutions you wouldn’t expect from a former president of Shell Oil. The future of our energy supply is a pressing issue for industries across the board, and finding a speaker with Hofmeister’s level of candor, insight, and urgency is rare. Even better, Hofmeister proposes solutions and a plan for how the U.S. can achieve both energy security and affordability.

Energy Insider. Hofmeister’s energy expertise has made him a frequent guest on major media news programs, including NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, CNN’s Larry King Live, MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann, CNBC’s TheClosing Bell, and PBS’s Charlie Rose, to name just a few. He has been interviewed by media outlets including The Washington Post, Fast Company, and USA Today, and his opinion pieces have recently appeared in the New York Times, Forbes, and the Wall Street Journal.

Business Leader. Hofmeister was named President of Houston-based Shell Oil Company in March 2005, heading the U.S. Country Leadership Team, which included the leaders of all Shell businesses operating in the United States. He became President after serving as group human resource director of the Shell Group, based in The Hague, The Netherlands. As Shell President, Hofmeister launched an extensive outreach program, unprecedented in the energy industry, to discuss critical global energy challenges. The program included an 18-month, 50-city tour across the country, during which Hofmeister and other Shell leaders met with more than 15,000 business, community and civic leaders, policymakers, and academics to discuss what must be done to ensure affordable, available energy for the future.

Grassroots Solutions. Upon retirement from Shell Oil, Hofmeister founded Citizens for Affordable Energy.  This Washington, D.C. registered, public policy advocacy firm promotes sound U.S. energy security solutions for the nation, including a range of affordable energy supplies, efficiency improvements, essential infrastructure, sustainable environmental policy, and public education on energy issues.

Hofmeister serves as the chairman of the National Urban League and is a member of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technical Advisory Committee. He serves as non-executive Director of the Hunting PLC, London,UK, Lufkin Industries Inc. and the Sodexo North America Business Advisory Board. He is senior advisor to two energy start ups: Liberty Power of Fort Lauderdale, FL and NewEarth Technologies of Seattle, WA. Hofmeister also serves on the boards of the Foreign Policy Association, the United States Energy Association, and the National Association of Manufacturers. Hofmeister is a fellow of the National Academy of Human Resources. He also served as 2007 Chairman of the Greater Houston Partnership. He is active in education serving Advisory Board at the University of Houston and the University of North Texas. He is also a Director of the Texas Education Reform Committee.

Dave Logan
Professor of Organization Communication
Marshall School of Business at University of Southern California

Dave Logan is a Professor of Organization Communication at the Marshall School of Business at USC. From 2001-2004, he served as Associate Dean of Executive Education. During that time, he launched the largest training program in commercial real estate (with CB Richard Ellis), and new programs with dozens of organizations, from Northrop Grumman to numerous small cap financial institutions.

Currently, he teaches leadership and negotiation in the USC Executive MBA (ranked fifth in the world), and is on faculty at the Center for Medical Excellence in Portland and the International Center for Leadership In Finance (ICLIF) in Kuala Lumpur, endowed by the former prime minister of Malaysia.

David Logan is an expert on leadership, and cultural transformation in the workplace.  Dave studies how people communicate within a company – and how to harness our natural gifts to make change within organizations. He looks at emerging patterns of corporate leadership, organizational transformation, generational differences in the workplace, and team building for high-potential managers and executives. Dave has a Ph.D. in Organizational Communication from the Annenberg School at USC.

Dave is co-author of four books including Tribal Leadership and The Three Laws of Performance. In June 2011 Tribal Leadershipbecame a New York Times #1 Bestseller (and also hit #1 on Amazon and #2 on USA TODAY  bestselling lists).  His work has also been published numerous academic and professional journals, including a 2006 “agenda” in MIT-Sloan Management Review.

David Logan is also co-founder and senior partner of CultureSync, a management consulting firm specializing in cultural change, strategy, and negotiation.