Paul Looney is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University and the University of West Florida (Pensacola).  He has 32 years of professional experience as an environmental scientist.  In his first professional incarnation he worked in the oil field.  He was fortunate enough to travel around the world with Schlumberger in their Anadrill subsidiary.  He left the company in Singapore after an experience in Southeast Asia that has formed much of his world view. 

The second incarnation of Paul’s environmental Career has been in the consulting and regulatory world.  He has worked for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and several environmental consulting companies.  He has been with Volkert, Inc. for the last 12 years.  Volkert has been extremely supportive of Paul’s NAEP involvement and professional development.

Paul  has extensive NEPA experience and is a Certified Environmental Professional, a Professional Wetland Scientist, and a Certified Senior Ecologist.  

As a regulator, he has done wetland enforcement and helped develop the first program for deadhead logging permitting in the state of Florida.  In his consulting experience he has completed NEPA reports for military installations in the Southeast and Puerto Rico. He has also performed hundreds of miles of cross country biological surveys for the proper placement of natural gas pipelines throughout the southeastern United States.  Paul has worked for Federal government clients (US Navy, US Air Force, US Army (USACE), USEPA, and National Park Service), State government (LDOTD, ALDOT, ASPA, ADCNR, FDOT, FDEP, NWFWMD), and local government agencies (ECUA, HCUA, MAWSS, City of Daphne, Alabama), as well as private clients.

Paul has been a member of NAEP since 1994.  He has held the offices of Secretary, Vice President and President in NAEP since becoming part of the Board of Directors in 2004 as the Florida Association representative to the NAEP.  With FAEP, he helped organize and operate the Northwest Chapter of FAEP which was formed in 1996.  The chapter recently held the Annual Conference for FAEP.  Paul was the Vice President and President (several times) of the Northwest Chapter as well as holding the offices of Secretary, Vice President and President for FAEP.

I have had a very rewarding experience with NAEP over the last 8 years.  While I am a member of several environmentally oriented associations, I believe that the mission and corporate commitment of NAEP to the practitioners in all aspects of environmental work makes the Association one of the most important and relevant.  I have always enjoyed the multidisciplinary aspects of projects and NAEP is the only association that can and successfully does open its doors to all professionals in the business.  The two years of my presidency have been rewarding and inspiring.