Speakers

Dr. Sampoll-Ramirez is the Chief Scientist of the FBI's Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Directorate and was appointed to that position in September 2012.  He provides scientific, technical, and policy advice to the Assistant Director of the FBI WMD Directorate on investigating, preventing, and countering threats of terrorism, proliferation, and counterproliferation involving chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive weapons and/or materials.

In June 2010, Dr. Sampoll-Ramirez was appointed as Scientific Advisor to the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) Combat Support Directorate and then as Senior Scientific Advisor to the DTRA Operations and Nuclear (ON) Support Directorate where he provided definitive scientific guidance, advice, and support to the ON Director, Deputy Director and ON Divisions, comprising over 300 military, government civilian, and contractor personnel to prevent, respond to, and recover from radiological and nuclear (R/N) threats.

He acted as a subject matter expert for R/N operational plans and Research & development (R&D) programs and provided expertise in conducting briefings for senior leaders. From April 2008 to May 2010, Dr. Sampoll-Ramirez was detailed to the FBI to promote cooperation between DTRA and the FBI in WMD policy, operational, and technical matters; and to standardize procedures, prioritize collaborative goals, and fill both operational and technical gaps. In that capacity, he represented the FBI and communicated their roles and responsibilities regarding WMD incidents to interagency partners and intelligence community.

In April 2007, Dr. Sampoll-Ramirez was appointed as the DTRA Nuclear Technologies Detection Division Chief where he managed a team of  military and government civilians and contractors in the planning, technical direction, management, and fiscal control of R&D projects to detect, locate, characterize, track, and monitor R/N materials and devices and to improve National Technical Nuclear Forensics capabilities underpinning the collection, analysis, evaluation, and technical conclusions supporting attribution of an R/N attack (post-detection nuclear forensics).

He also managed and executed an R&D budget, provided oversight, and administered financial and contractual management of multiple efforts with the national laboratories, universities, and industry.

In July 2004, Dr. Sampoll-Ramirez entered government service as a Program Manager and Scientific Advisor to the DTRA Contingency Operations Division, where he managed and executed annual Operations & Maintenance and R&D budgets for three major programs designed to strengthen the Department of Defense (DoD) abilities to respond to R/N threats. 

In this role he maintained accountability for DoD assets deployed worldwide; and administered performance and financial management of multiple contracts with national laboratories, universities, and industry. He supervised divisional staff and managed classified projects and initiatives with national and international impact.

In March 1993, Dr. Sampoll-Ramirez started his career as a contractor serving as Scientific Advisor at the Department of Energy Remote Sensing Laboratory, where he managed annual operations and maintenance as well as R&D budgets for classified programs designed to strengthen U.S. capability to respond to R/N threats.

There he led government and non-government teams of scientists and engineers; oversaw design, development, testing, evaluation, and deployment of state-of-the-art R/N detection equipment to reinforce national security efforts.  

Dr. Sampoll-Ramirez has a Ph.D. in Nuclear Chemistry from Texas A&M University in 1992, a Master of Science in Organic Chemistry from the University of Puerto Rico in 1986, and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemistry from the University of Puerto Rico in 1982.