Three mine safety experts will lead a mine research foundation set up as part of an agreement between government prosecutors and Alpha Natural Resources following the Upper Big Branch-South Mine tragedy.

They are Dr. Keith A. Heasley of West Virginia University’s College of Engineering and Mineral Resources; Dr. David H. Wegman, Emeritus Professor of Work Environment at the University of Massachusetts (UMass), Lowell; and Dr. Michael E. Karmis, professor and director of the Virginia Center for Coal and Energy Research at Virginia Tech.