Nuclear Energy Expert Witnesses: 2

Mark O. Barnett, PhD, PE, BCEE has over 30 years of national and international Environmental Engineering and Science experience in industry, government, and academia ranging from water supply and sanitation in rural communities to nuclear waste disposal. He is currently a Professor of Environmental Engineering in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Auburn University.

Litigation Support - Dr. Barnett has served as an environmental expert witness-expert consultant on cases in administrative, federal, and state courts ranging from permit applications to toxic tort lawsuits. He has written expert reports, filed affidavits, been deposed, and given testimony. Further, he has extensive litigation experience from his service as an administrative judge with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Writing samples, transcripts, and references are available upon request.

Areas of Expertise:

Background Experience - Dr. Barnett is a licensed professional engineer and a board-certified member of the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists. His technical research focuses on the chemical processes controlling water quality and contaminant behavior in natural and engineered systems. He has been a principal or co-principal investigator on seventeen grants totaling over $12 million, and he has published over fifty peer-reviewed journal articles, several book chapters, and a book that collectively have received over three-thousand citations.

Dr. Barnett has a B.S. in Chemical Engineering and an M.S. in Environmental Engineering from the University of Tennessee and a Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences and Engineering from the University of North Carolina. He has taught fundamental and applied courses in environmental and aquatic chemistry; water and wastewater treatment; environmental engineering principles and design; and sustainable design and development.

Dr. John N. O’Brien has over 45 years of experience in Energy Markets, Technology, and Regulation as a thought leader and as an expert in the analysis of energy economics, and promulgation and enforcement of energy laws and regulation. 

Before he began providing litigation support services, Dr. O'Brien spent 10 years as a Full Scientist at the US Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory in its Department of Nuclear Energy (1976-1985),13 years as founder and CEO of several significant energy companies (1985-1998), 25 years as a high-level energy consultant and advisor with several nationally recognized consulting firms advising substantial corporate entities (1998-Present), and 20 years providing energy-related expert litigation support.

Litigation Support - Dr. O'Brien is a highly experienced litigation support expert having been engaged as a primary expert witness and subject matter expert in over 25 different judicial actions as well as numerous administrative regulatory proceedings involving energy-related matters. His extensive prior history as a high-level advisor in the energy sector has contributed to the success of numerous judicial matters in which he has been engaged resulting in well over $3.5 Billion in judicial recoveries for his clients.

Dr. O'Brien possesses a very broad and deep level of expertise and extensive experience in the energy industry. He fully understands the details of energy regulatory economics as well as adherence to the applicable procedural and evidentiary requirements of judicial and regulatory litigation.

Areas of Expertise: