Council Management
Christopher L. Koch
President and CEO
 Prior to joining the World Shipping Council, Chris Koch served as Senior Vice President and General Counsel for Sea-Land Service, Inc. where he was responsible for legal, regulatory and government affairs.
While with Sea-Land, Chris worked with the maritime industry in the development, enactment and implementation of numerous maritime policy initiatives as well as assisting Sea-Land develop and implement its business plan and commercial strategy.
Prior to Chris' involvement with Sea-Land and CSX, he served as Chairman of the Federal Maritime Commission from 1990 to 1993 as an appointee of President George Bush. He came to the FMC after a decade on Capitol Hill where he was Counsel to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation and Chief of Staff to Senator Slade Gorton and Senator John McCain.
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Anne Marie Kappel
Vice President
Anne Kappel joined the World Shipping Council in 2005 and provides functional expertise in marketing, communications and operations as well as monitoring issues related to transportation infrastructure, environmental impacts and U.S. Customs regulations.
Prior to joining the Council, Anne worked for Maersk Inc., the North American agent for A.P. Moller-Maersk, where she was most recently responsible for corporate communications, including employee communication and public relations. Anne has worked in the liner shipping industry for over twenty years and has held a broad range of positions in sales, marketing, communications and trade management at Maersk Sealand, Sea-Land Service and U.S. Lines. She graduated with honors from Monmouth University and has completed a number of post-graduate courses including an executive education program at the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business.
Today, Anne serves as the Chairperson of the Intermodal Committee of the Marine Transportation System National Advisory Council (MTSNAC), which is chartered to advise the U.S. Secretary of Transportation on issues affecting the U.S. marine transportation system. Additionally, she is a member of the Board of Directors of the Containerization and Intermodal Institute (CII) and represents the interests of the liner shipping industry on the Freight Stakeholder's Coalition, which is comprised of all sectors of the supply chain and meets regularly to exchange information and develop consensus positions on U.S. transportation legislation and public policy. She is also a member of the Association of Women in International Trade (WIIT), the largest chapter of the Organization of Women in International Trade.
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Lars Kjaer
Senior Vice President
 Lars Kjaer has been with the World Shipping Council since its inception and currently manages the Councils's activities in Europe. Based in Brussels, Belgium, Lars works closely with the European Community in the pursuit of its supply chain and cargo security policies.
Prior to joining the Council, Lars most recently served as the Washington Representative for the Council of European and Japanese Shipowners' Associations (CENSA) from 1999 to 2000.
Before joining CENSA, Lars was counselor at the Royal Danish Embassy in Washington, D.C. (1993-98). During that tenure he was also chairman of the Cotton Club of foreign transportation counselors in Washington. At the Royal Danish Embassy, Lars was responsible for transportation matters, in particular shipping policy, and for bilateral and regional trade issues, including the GATS (services) negotiations in the WTO.
Lars joined the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1983. While with the Foreign Service of Denmark, his assignments included: principal head of section in the Middle East Political Department, and chairman of various working groups of the European Union's Foreign Policy Cooperation. His foreign postings included a four-year term as First Secretary at the Danish Delegation to NATO, in Brussels..
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Patty Pearson
Office Manager
 Patty Pearson came to the World Shipping Council from Gannett, Inc. where she worked as Administrative Coordinator in the Information Technology department. Prior to that she spent six years at the United Way of the National Capital Area in Washington, D.C. Patty has an Associates in Science Degree in Business Administration.
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Doug Schneider
Vice President
 Doug Schneider joined the Council in 2002 as Director of Government Affairs and served in that capacity until 2005, when he departed to work in Europe as the lead U.S. Coast Guard port security liaison to nine countries in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. In that role, Doug negotiated the terms of and conducted evaluations of foreign countries' maritime security governance and port facility security practices.
Upon completion of the U.S. Coast Guard assignment in 2008, Doug rejoined the Council in Washington, D.C. where he provides expertise in vessel, cargo, and seafarer security issues. Prior to joining the Council, Doug served for more than 8 years as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Coast Guard, where he completed tours as a deck watch officer and Department Head on a Cutter, as Executive Officer of a Tactical Law Enforcement Team, and as Chief of Leadership Programs at the Coast Guard Leadership Development Center. He continues to participate in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve, where he holds the rank of Commander. He holds a Bachelor of Science from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard University.
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Bryan Wood-Thomas
Vice President, Environmental Policy
 Bryan Wood-Thomas joined the Council in 2008 to lead its efforts to address a number of environmental issues facing the liner shipping
industry. Before joining the Council, Bryan served as the Associate Director of the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency's (EPA) Office of Transportation and Air Quality where he lead U.S. efforts to establish
new emission standards for ships and coordinated regulatory initiatives impacting the transportation sector.
Prior to his involvement with EPA's Transportation
Office, Bryan served as the Marine Program Director in EPA's Office of International Environmental Policy where he worked as the lead U.S. negotiator for a number of international treaties addressing chemicals management, vessel operations, and marine pollution.
He helped EPA reshape its international strategy in the 1990s, has chaired several negotiating efforts undertaken at the International Maritime Organization, and has received numerous awards for his role in forging agreement on a series of controversial regulatory issues,. He holds degrees from the State University of New York, Syracuse University, and Harvard University.
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