Richard A. Sears is an adjunct professor in the Department of Energy Science & Engineering at Stanford University, where he develops and teaches courses in energy systems, economics, and oil and gas exploration technology. He was appointed as a member of the Ocean Energy Safety Advisory Committee for the U.S. Department of the Interior in 2011. He previously served as the chair for the Committee on the Application of Real-Time Monitoring of Offshore Oil and Gas Operations and as a member of the Committee on Options for Implementing the Requirement of Best Available and Safest Technologies for Offshore Oil and Gas Operations. He also served as the chief science and technology adviser to the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling that was established by President Obama in May 2010. Mr. Sears had a 33-year career with Shell Oil Company and Royal Dutch Shell, where he acquired significant domestic and international experience in the upstream oil and gas industry. His technical and managerial positions included exploration geophysicist, technical instructor, economist, strategic planner, and general management. His managerial positions ranged from exploration and research to fully integrated exploration and production business management, and his responsibilities have included business planning and forecasting, financial responsibility, and staff planning and development. Between 1999 and 2005, Mr. Sears was a vice president for Royal Dutch Shell, where he was responsible for global deepwater technical services. Between 2006 and 2009, Mr. Sears worked as the external research coordinator for the Shell Group and was appointed a visiting scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In this position, he was responsible for managing Shell’s energy research activities at MIT and other key U.S. universities and for integrating external research objectives with internal technology strategies. While at MIT, he was an active participant in the campus-wide Energy Initiative, carried out applied research in energy systems, taught and contributed to courses in several departments, and served as a liaison between the MIT Energy Initiative and oil companies. Mr. Sears is the author of numerous external and internal publications. He received a B.S. in physics from Stanford University and an M.S. in geophysics from Stanford University.