Moderator: Karen Frye, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission

Karen Frye is a NEPA and CEQA Practitioner with over 25 years of experience. She has worked in both the private and public sector. As a Senior Environmental Project Manager with the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, Karen managed several CEQA projects for the SFPUC's Water System Improvement Project and is now the Environmental Manager responsible for overseeing environmental review on all of the SFPUC's Sewer System Improvement Program.

In particular, she is the environmental manager for the $1.2 billion-dollar Biosolids Digester Facilities Project. Karen excels at bridging the gap between CEQA practitioners, project managers, engineers, and technical experts.

Karen has a BS degree in the Political Economy of Natural Resources from UC Berkeley.

Michelle Rau, Jacobs

Michelle Rau has over 20 years of experience as an environmental planner and over 15 years of experience as an environmental project manager. At Jacobs she currently serves as the Environmental Impact Assessment practice manager and leads a group of nearly 200 environmental practitioners. She works as a project manager, sales lead and technical lead on Federal environmental compliance projects, including large scale and controversial EISs, involving individual projects involving more than a billion dollars of infrastructure. She has managed nearly all aspects of the environmental compliance process, including NEPA, Executive Order (EO) 12114 (international NEPA), Clean Water Act 404 permits, ESA Section 7 consultations, NHPA Section 106 consultations and state, county, and regional permits. She has worked for many federal clients, including DoD (Army, Air Force, USACE, DARPA and NGA), NASA, BLM, FEMA, FHWA and NSF. Michelle has been an active member of NAEP for over 10 years, and currently serves on the Board of directors. Michelle currently resides in St. Petersburg, Florida and works in the Jacobs Tampa office.

Ben Gaddis, Gaddis Consulting, LLC

Ben Gaddis is the owner of Gaddis Consulting, LLC with an emphasis on consulting services associated with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) as well as public engagement, collaboration, and facilitation. Ben has more than 15 years of experience in environmental and natural resource management. He has worked on Environmental Impact Statements, Environmental Assessments, and Categorical Exclusions for multiple federal agencies including the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service, Federal Aviation Administration, Federal Communications Commission, Environmental Protection Agency, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Ben is located in Salt Lake City, Utah. His work has focused on NEPA processes for projects in Oklahoma, New Mexico, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, California, and Alaska. Project types include the following: mineral leasing, mining, range management activities, rights-of-way, and land use planning. 

April Crawley

April Crawley is a Natural Resource Specialist for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in Norman, Oklahoma. She works predominately on NEPA compliance for mineral leasing actions. April received her B.S and M.S. in Wildlife Ecology from Oklahoma State University. Prior to working for BLM, she was a Biologist for the U.S. Forest Service for 9 years in Alabama and Texas, an Environmental Specialist at Chesapeake Energy in Oklahoma City, and a transportation biologist at U.S Fish and Wildlife Service’s Oklahoma Ecological Services Field Office in Tulsa, OK. April is a recent graduate of BLM’s Emerging Leader Training Program in which employees with recognized leadership potential are selected to complete one-year of specialized training in management and leadership. April has played an active role in the NEPA streamlining effort within the Department of Interior. She is currently on a temporary assignment as a Planning and Environmental Coordinator in the BLM Washington Office Branch of Planning and NEPA to assist in preparing National guidance and policy on the Bureau Planning System and application of the NEPA process.

Danny Reike, U.S. Air Force

Dr. Reinke has more than 20 years of NEPA experience working for private consulting firms and for DoD and other federal agencies. Currently he works at Edward AFB, CA where he is a Senior Environmental Scientist for NEPA and Natural Resources issues. Before coming to Edwards AFB he worked for the Army National Guard at both the installation and NGB headquarters level where he developed the initial NEPA guidance for the Army National Guard. Dr. Reinke received a BS in Biology/Chemistry from Southwestern Oklahoma State College  and a MS in Botany  and PhD in Plant Ecology  from the University of Kansas. Dr. Reinke is a member of numerous national and international environmental organizations and is the senior author of two books: "The NEPA Reference Guide—1999 Battelle Press" and "Endangered Species, Legal Requirements and Policy Guidance—2001 Battelle Press" both coauthored with Lucinda Low Swartz.