House Speaker Joe Hackney chose a number of professors for a task force on offshore drilling.

The Chapel Hill Democrat named half of the 24 members of a task force that could spend as much as $100,000 and over a year looking into the state's position on drilling off the coast.

Doug Rader, chief ocean scientist for the N.C. Environmental Defense Fund and the member of an earlier panel that came out against drilling, was his choice for co-chair. Rader has previously criticized proposals for offshore drilling.

Other Hackney appointees include professors of civil engineering, economics, marine sciences and geosciences; the owner of an oil distributor; the representative of a natural gas company; and a former Cabinet secretary.

After the jump, the names and job titles of Hackney's 12 appointees.

Related: Basnight's appointees to drilling task force

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