Josh McElhattan was appointed director of marketing and business development at Industrial Scientific Corporation, Pittsburgh, PA, responsible for current product management, marketing communications, and business development functions.  He has been with ISC since 2006 and most recently served as director of business development. Also, Kevin Miller was elected as an officer in the company’s board of directors.  His new title is vice president and general manager of sales and service for Industrial Scientific Americas.  He has been with the company since January 2007 and most recently served as director of sales, Americas.

Kathleen Berki joins A-D Technologies, Elyria, OH, as a marketing specialist, responsible for event and trade show coordination, manage Website development and direct mail campaigns, and develop promotional activities and corporate events.  Berki will assist in re-branding of A-D Technologies and its continued growth through integrated marketing activities.  She plans to develop the company’s position across national and international markets to better serve its customers.

Jason Burnett, an associate deputy administrator at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and top climate change advisor to EPA administrator Stephen Johnson, has left the agency. 

Paul Vining is to serve as president and chief operating officer forthe  Patriot Coal once the acquisition of Magnum Coal has been finalized. Vining will be responsible for both operations and marketing of the combined company.  The transaction is expected to close by mid-year.  Vining has 30 years mining experience as president and CEO of Magnum Coal, and prior to that was vice president of marketing and trading for Arch Coal.  He also worked in various positions for Peabody Energy and Peabody COAL.TRADE.

William Lambert has been elected president and chief executive officer for Mine Safety Appliances, Pittsburgh, PA, replacing John T. Ryan II who retired this June.  Ryan, who served as president/CEO since 1991, will takeover non-executive chairman responsibilities for the company.  Lambert will continue to oversee MSA’s global strategic initiatives and drive its efforts into the future.

John Mead, director of the Coal Research Center at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL, appointed to the National Coal Board a 100-member group that advises Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman on national matters related to coal, coal programs and policies.

Julian Thornton has been promoted to managing director for Australian Operations of Peabody Energy, responsible for all of Peabody’s Australia operations throughout New South Wales and Queensland.  Most recently, Thornton was chief operating officer for Australia Operations, and previous to that was regional operations officer for Peabody’s New South Wales operations.  He has more than 25 years of international engineering and operations management experience.

Benjamin Brandes named director of air quality for the National Mine Association (NMA), responsible for developing NMA positions and responding to issues arising under the Clean Air Act and other air pollution control laws, regulations or policies.

Allan Chew and Martin Davies have joined MEC Aerial Work Platforms International sales team.  Chew has 20 years of industry experience.  His MEC territory includes China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, Brunei and India.  Davies will handle MEC sales in the UK (Great Britain, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales) plus he started up and operates the first MEC U.K. distribution center in Oswestry, Shropshire.

Reporting to Peabody Energy Executive Vice President and Chief Operator Officer Eric Ford in new positions are Group Executive for Powder River Basin Operations Jeane L. Hull, Senior Vice President of Engineering and Continuous Improvement Charles F. Meintjes, and Group Vice President of Operations Kemal Williamson.  Hull will be responsible for all aspects of operations in the Powder River Basin including the North Antelope Rochelle, Caballo and Rawhide mines.  Meintjes will be responsible for the global delivery of engineering, environmental, geology, design and construction services, as well as continuous improvement initiatives at Peabody. Williamson will be responsible for Peabody’s U.S. mining operations in the Midwest, Colorado and the Southwest.  George J. Schuller Jr. is in the new position of vice president of new mine development.  Schuller most recently served as vice president of operations improvement and has more than 20 years of mining engineering and management experience with Peabody.

Richard E. Munczinski named senior vice president-shared services for American Electric Power, Columbus, OH, and will be responsible for information technology, human resources and business logistics.  He replaces Stephen P. Smith who is leaving AEP to become chief financial officer for NiSource Inc.  Lonni L. Dieck, currently vice president-RTO and public policy, will replace Munczinski as senior vice president-corporate planning and budgeting. Dieck will be responsible for corporate strategy development; oversight of financial planning; budgeting and reporting; fundamental analysis; and integrated resource planning functions for the AEP system.

Robert C. Hammond promoted to chief operating officer of Australian Operations for Peabody Energy. He previously served as group vice president of southwest operations in the U.S.  He has more than 27 years of international experience in mining engineering and operations in the Western U.S., Australia and Chile.  Prior to joining Peabody, Hammond served as Leader of Core Technologies for Rio Tinto Procurement in Salt Lake City, UT.

Roger C. Roberts, Jr. has joined the National Mining Association (NMA) as senior vice president of administration and finance, and Ben Brandes is NMA’s new director of air quality.  Roberts joins NMA following positions with the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials and the National Council on the Aging. Brandes background is in formulating natural resource and environmental policy-particularly with the Clean Air Act.

Gregory DiFrank named president and Vince S. Dimsa named executive vice president/CFO, respectively, for River Consulting, Columbus, OH.  DiFrank’s tenure spans 16 years and includes sponsorship and management of multi-million dollar national project, team coordination and leadership and strategic business development initiatives.  Dimsa began his career at River in 1999 and, prior to that time, was president of Trimark Engineers/Constructors, Inc., a consulting practice in Pittsburgh, PA.  He leads River’s financial community and strategic planning efforts.

Vitaly Melnikov was appointed chief financial officer at Evolving Gold Corp., Vancouver, British Columbia.  Melnikov has held senior management positions with international resource companies operating in North America, Europe, Russia and Central Asia and recently served as vice president, finance and administration, of UrAsia Energy Ltd.

 Venita McCellon-Allen, former president and chief operating officer of Southwestern Electric Power Co., named executive vice president-American Electric Power (AEM) Utilities West, replacing Thomas M. Hagan who has retired. McCellon-Allen will have responsibility for AEP’s four utility units operating in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas.  In other changes, Paul Chodak III, former new plant development projects, will replace McCellon-Allen as president and chief operating officer of SWEPCO; Charles R. Patton, former president and chief operating officer of AEP Texas, named senior vice president-regulatory and public policy for AEP; Pablo A. Vegas, former director-strategic planning for AEP, will replace Patton as president and chief operating officer of AEP Texas.