PNNL

Patrick Mirick joined PNNL as an Earth scientist in 2020. His main areas of expertise include policy and regulatory development, technical analyses, and leading public engagement processes. His main leadership projects at PNNL have included hosting a public process to evaluate disposal of surplus plutonium, evaluating biological and economic impacts of energy development, optimizing human performance at safety-sensitive jobs, and facilitating meetings of government executives. 

He previously spent the past decade as a policy and technical analyst for marine commercial fisheries under the jurisdiction of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Pacific Fishery Management Council. He led teams of up to 14 policy analysts from state, federal, and tribal agencies that were tasked with ensuring long-term sustainability while maximizing economic and social benefits. These teams established regulatory policies for fisheries worth $370 million in wages and 6,000 jobs. 

Mirick has been awarded for creative problem solving, increasing efficiency, and fostering collaborative solutions on contentious resource issues between industry and environmentalist groups. The majority of his work pertained to developed of new regulations and policies that required extensive impact analysis through the National Environmental Policy Act, Endangered Species Act, or similar regulatory pathways.  

• Complex environmental analysis
• Economics
• Fisheries biology
• Stakeholder engagement and facilitation

• BS in Biology, Lewis & Clark College
• MS in Fisheries, Mississippi State University

• National Association of Environmental Professionals
• American Fisheries Society

• Outstanding Performance Award, PNNL (2021)

• Condon, C., P. Ivanusa, J. Whiting, P. Mirick, A. Bunn, C. Varnum-Lowry, and P. Jensen. In-press. Fate and transport of unruptured tri-structural isotropic (TRISO) fuel particles in the event of environmental release for advanced and microreactor applications. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity.