Renee Orr, BOEM's Chief of the Office of Strategic Resources

October 4, 2020

Derek brings BOEM to ASPN for the first (but not last) time!

On The Capitol Beach, Derek Brockbank welcomes Renee Orr from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM). Renee is the Chief of the Office of Strategic Resources, and is currently serving as acting Deputy Director for BOEM. After touching on offshore energy production, the conversation shifts to sand. BOEM manages the Outer Continental Shelf sand resources which have been used to restore over 330 miles of U.S. coastline and has supplied 152 million cubic yards of sand, including the largest coastal restoration project by volume in U.S. history with Gulf Island National Seashore restoration as part of the Mississippi Coastal Improvement Program (MsCIP).  How much sand was used? Just imagine a sandcastle the size of the Empire State Building. And then imagine 12 of them in a row!


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Derek Brockbank

Derek Brockbank is Executive Director of Coastal States Organization (CSO), which represents the nation’s Coastal States, Territories, and Commonwealths on ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes issues. With two decades of experience in Washington DC on coastal adaptation policy and organizational development, Derek is connecting state coastal management programs with federal agencies and resources in order to address the greatest coastal challenges facing society. He previously served as executive director for the American Shore & Beach Preservation Association (ASBPA) where he led the strategic planning and outreach, government affairs, and development goals of the nation’s leading organization advocating for beach and coastal restoration. Prior to starting with ASBPA, Derek worked as campaign director for a coalition effort to restore the Mississippi River Delta and Coastal Louisiana, and was part of a gulf-wide campaign to pass the RESTORE Act, securing billions of dollars for Gulf Coast restoration. This followed up on his work with National Wildlife Federation on climate adaption. Derek grew up in New York City and got his coastal education from an early age playing on the beaches of Long Island, and kayaking and fishing in Peconic Bay.