NEPA Workshops: Meet Our Speakers

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	Brian Calvert Instructor Vice President, ICF Vice President, Transportation at ICF Lead for ICF’s Southern California Transportation Practice 30+ years delivering National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) compliance services 23 years focused almost exclusively on delivering NEPA documentation for transportation infrastructure projects in California Delivered and/or managed the delivery of environmental compliance documentation for more than 150 transportation projects in California Instructor for courses/workshops regarding NEPA and/or environmental compliance at University of California Irvine and Riverside campuses Presenter at various California Department of Transportation District offices on topics including Air quality conformity Preparing environmental documentation for design-build projects Delivering environmental documentation for transportation projects . Back to NEPA Home
	Chuck Nicholson, Ph.D. Instructor NAEP Board Member, Chair NEPA Practice Group Senior Environmental Planner/Scientist, HDR Dr. Nicholson has been a NAEP Member for over 10 years and is an elected NAEP Board Member and chair of the NEPA Practice Group. Chuck has 43 years of professional experience in the environmental and natural resources fields and 23 years as a NEPA compliance specialist. He has extensive experience in the preparation of EIS, EA, and CE documentation for a wide range of actions. Chuck earned his Ph.D. in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 2004, an MS in Wildlife Management from the University of Maine in 1978, and a BS in Wildlife and Fisheries from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 1975. Back to NEPA Home
	Courtney Arena Instructor NAEP Regional Chapter Representative Principal Environmental Scientist, Gannett Fleming, Inc. Courtney Arena is responsible for leading, managing, marketing, and executing a variety of environmental services for energy, water resources and transportation infrastructure projects. Her expertise includes National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) documentation, Project Development and Environment studies (PD&E/NEPA) for the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) with public involvement participation, air quality and traffic noise studies, contamination screenings, wetland identification and delineation, and protected species and habitat assessments. Her water resources background and project experience includes working with the US Army Corps of Engineers, Natural Resource Conservation Service, and the South Florida Water Management District. Courtney’s expertise extends to solar site development, ecosystem restoration, protected species monitoring, and regulatory permitting with federal, state, and local agencies. Courtney has 25 years of experience in Florida and the southeast region. She studied Marine Biology at UNC Wilimington, where she earned her B.S. She earned a M.S. in South Flolrida from Nova Southeastern University’s Oceanographic Center. Courtney currently serves on the NAEP Board as the Florida Chapter Representative. She also serves a reciprocal role on the FAEP Board as the NAEP Chapter Representative. Back to NEPA Home
	Emily Gulick Instructor NAEP Elected At-Large Board Member Environmental Planner, Jacobs Engineering Emily Gulick (she/her) is an Environmental Planner/Scientist at Jacobs. She specializes in implementing National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) including writing and preparing EISs and EAs for federal agencies such as NASA, DoD, and NSF. She also has experience in California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), working on transportation- and infrastructure-related projects. Emily currently leads the NAEP EJ Working Group Lead. Back to NEPA Home
	Fred Wagner Instructor NAEP Elected At-Large Board Member Principal Environmental Advisor, Environmental Solutions, Jacobs Fred Wager focuses on environmental and natural resource issues, associated with major infrastructure, mining, and energy project development. Fred was appointed Chief Counsel of the U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) during the Obama administration. Fred began his career as a trial attorney in the Environment Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. He also served as a special assistant U.S. attorney in the Misdemeanor Trial Section of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia. Prior to joining Jacobs, Fred spent more than 25 years in private practice in two national law firms, focusing on all aspects of environmental and natural resources law. He routinely defended project permits and approvals in federal court, including at the U.S. Supreme Court. Back to NEPA Home
	Heather Miller Instructor NAEP Member Principal Historian, Historical Research Associates, Inc. Dr. Heather Lee Miller joined HRA in 2005 and works in both HRA’s History and CRM divisions. On the history side of the house, Heather has worked on complex research and writing projects pertaining to federal, state, and local environmental and tribal litigation. On the CRM side of the house, Heather works on projects related to cultural resources management, Section 106/110 and NEPA/SEPA compliance, the development of historic contexts, inventory and evaluation, and mitigation reports. From 2007–2015, she served as the lead of HRA’s aboveground history program (a subsection of HRA’s Cultural Resource Management division) before returning to focus more closely on litigation support projects, specifically regarding chlorinated solvents, PFAS, PAHs, PCBs, hexavalent chromium, and 1,4 dioxane, to name a few. An effective project manager with a strong grasp on cultural resources compliance and history as well as an eye for detail, Heather also has exemplary research, writing, and editorial skills, having worked for over two decades in scholarly journal and book editing. She has served as HRA’s marketing director since 2014 and became Vice President of Business Development in 2018. Back to NEPA Home
	Jack Allen Instructor NAEP Member Environmental Planner, Avenue Consultants Jack Allen has 38 years of experience in the field and is a national resource in transportation NEPA and known for unprecedented depth of knowledge leading to best informed project decision making. His timely delivery of balanced environmental policy compliance 12 state DOTs illustrates an ability to meet client expectations immediately. He has led all facets - from process strategy to agency and public outreach to impact analyses to primary author. His successful experience on contentious, high-profile projects exemplifies a diplomatic, outside-the-box approaches when needed. Jack has been responsible for many “firsts” in the industry including: FHWA legal sufficiency considered the EIS completed in 29 months one of the best submitted to the agency at that time Successfully designed and implemented first partnering application to the EIS process at the DOT level Primary author of state DOT’s first “reader-friendly” hybrid format EIS; elements of which are now considered as portions of the state DOT’s NEPA document templates Provided Design Builder with strategic assessment on ATCs leading to $450 million in savings on project of national significance Applied innovative approaches to purpose and need justification and alternatives development and screening at the project level Successfully led first efforts to implement NEPA/404 Merger Process at the project level Back to NEPA Home
	Jen Savaro Instructor FAEP Secretary, SFAEP Past President Coastal Lead, RES Florida Consulting, LLC Jen Savaro has 12 years of experience in marine and coastal zone management. She serves as project lead for coastal advisory projects in Florida. She specializes in coastal and marine habitat assessments, environmental permitting, NEPA compliance, resiliency and mitigation planning, and monitoring for public and private clients. She has worked with numerous federal agencies on NEPA compliance including, NPS, USACE, USFWS, and NMFS. Jen is also the Past President of the South Florida Association of Environmental Professionals (SFAEP) and the secretary of the Florida Association of Environmental Professionals (FAEP). Back to NEPA Home
	Jomar Maldonado Instructor NAEP Member Director for NEPA, Council on Environmental Quality Jomar Maldonado is the Director for the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) at the Council on Environmental Quality. In this role, he provides policy guidance to Federal agencies and regulatory interpretation to assist with their compliance with NEPA. Jomar has over 15 years of environmental policy and legal experience within the Federal government working on environmental review matters such as NEPA, Environmental Justice, Endangered Species Act, Floodplain Management, Wetlands Protection, and similar requirements. Prior to joining CEQ Jomar worked as the Project Development Team Lead within the Office of Environmental Review and Project Development for the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). His career includes 7 years as an environmental attorney with the Program Legal Services in FHWA and 7 years in the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Office of Environmental Planning and Historic Preservation, where he functioned as the Agency’s Environmental Officer. In his various roles, he has worked on many complex issues such as the assignment of NEPA responsibilities to States, initiatives to expedite permitting of Federal projects, resiliency/ hazard mitigation, floodplain reviews, environmental review of the National Flood Insurance Program, Buy America requirements, contract administration for highway projects, environmental justice considerations, and tolling and innovative financing for highways. Back to NEPA Home
	Kimberly Wetzel, AICP Instructor/Moderator (In Person) NAEP Regional Chapter Representative Senior Environmental Planner, Jacobs Kim Wetzel (she/her) is an environmental and land use planner based in the Jacobs Portland, Oregon office with 20 years of experience in environmental planning, environmental justice, and public engagement for a wide range of infrastructure projects throughout the West and Alaska. She currently serves on the board of the National Association of Environmental Professionals (NAEP), Northwest AEP, and the City of Hillsboro Planning & Zoning Hearings Board. Back to NEPA Home
	Krish Vijayaraghavan Instructor (Virtual) NAEP Member Principal at Ramboll Krish Vijayaraghavan is a Principal at Ramboll with over 20 years of experience in environmental modeling. Krish has directed Environmental Impact Statements and Environmental Assessments under NEPA to assess and disclose impacts for power, renewable energy, conventional energy, airports, aviation, surface transportation, reclamation, mining, and other natural resource projects with agency stakeholders from BLM, EPA, BOEM, FAA, USACE, NHTSA, OSMRE, BOR, FRA, USAF, NPS, USFWS and other agencies. Krish is on the Ramboll Americas Impact Assessment Leadership team. His technical area of expertise is air quality and greenhouse gas/climate change analysis. Krish has published over 40 peer-reviewed papers in scientific journals and co-authored two technical books. He holds an M.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Kansas and an M.S. in Environmental Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Back to NEPA Home
	Marie Campbell Instructor NAEP Elected At-Large Board Member President, Sapphos Environmental, Inc. Ms. Campbell has over 40 years of experience in preparing environmental compliance documents pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). She has served as the strategic advisor or project manager for numerous joint NEPA/CEQA environmental documents. She is currently serving as the Environmental Oversight Manager for Construction Package-4 section and the Environmental Compliance Manager of the Locally Generated Alternative section of the Fresno-Bakersfield segment of the California High-speed Rail project. Prior to establishing Sapphos Environmental, Inc. in 1992, she served an Associate at one of the State’s largest environmental consulting firms, after serving as the Acting Chief, Environmental Resources Branch, for the Los Angeles District the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Ms. Campbell earned her Masters and Bachelors of Arts degrees at the University of California Los Angeles. Back to NEPA Home
	Matt Marino, M.A., RPA Instructor NAEP Member, TAAEP Board Member Cultural Resource Coordinator, Ardurra Matt is a subject matter expert in Section 106 and Section 4(f), He established Ardurra’s CRM Group in March 2024. Matt is the Former NEPA Project Delivery Coordinator (PDC) and State Cultural Resource Specialist at FDOT’s Office of Environmental Management (OEM). Matt obtained a B.A. from University of Florida and M.A. from Washington State University, both in Anthropology. He is a Board Member of the Tallahassee Area Association of Environmental Professionals (TAAEP). Back to NEPA Home
	Michael Drummond Instructor Director for Permitting and Innovation Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) Michael Drummond serves as Director for Permitting and Innovation at the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) where he leads efforts to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of environmental review and permitting processes. Prior to joining CEQ Michael served as an Attorney-Advisor with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Office of General Counsel. Michael previously served at CEQ from 2013 - 2020. During his time at CEQ Michael helped draft the first comprehensive update to CEQ’s NEPA implementing regulations in over forty years and led the development of the first government-wide reports on EIS timelines and page counts. Michael holds a B.A. from the Evergreen State College and J.D. from the University of Washington School of Law. Back to NEPA Home
	Michael Mayer Instructor NAEP President Principal Environmental Project Manager at HDR Mike has 20+ years of experience in environmental planning and project management and currently serves as a Principal Environmental Project Manager at HDR, Inc. and is the NAEP Biological Resources Working Group Lead. Mike has extensive experience on Federal environmental compliance projects around the U.S., including large-scale and controversial EISs and ESA consultations. He is a past Adjunct Instructor at the National Conservation Training Center. Back to NEPA Home
	Michael Hendrix Instructor NAEP Member Chair, AEP Climate Change Committee Michael Hendrix has over 26 years of experience in greenhouse emissions, climate change, and climate action planning. He is the current chair of the AEP Climate Change Committee and has written, contributed toward, and supervised over a dozen AEP White Papers providing guidance in the analysis of greenhouse gas emissions in NEPA and climate action planning. Back to NEPA Home
	Michelle Diffenderfer, Esquire Instructor Shareholder at Lewis, Longman & Walker, P.A. Environmental and natural resources law, land use and real estate law, governmental law, Native American law, administrative, civil, and appellate litigation. Assists landowners, businesses, and governments with compliance concerning environmental permitting for land development and infrastructure projects. Represents clients in the preparation and review of Environmental Assessments and Environmental Impact Statements under NEPA. Juris Doctor, cum laude, University of Miami School of Law, 1994. Bachelor of Arts with honors, Brown University, 1990. Past Chair of the American Bar Association’s Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources. Past Chair of the Florida Bar’s Environmental and Land Use Law Section. Member of the American College of Environmental Lawyers. Back to NEPA Home
	Nicolas Frederick Moderator NAEP Treasurer Director of Conservation and Planning, DAWSON Nic Frederick has over 12 years of experience managing environmental projects, including NEPA, Natural Resources, and public involvement. He is an at-large board member with NAEP and heads the communications committee. As a member of the board, he has helped spearhead the initiative to broaden the scope of services offered by NAEP. He is also the cohost of the NAEP podcast, Environmental Professionals Radio. As the Director of Conservation and Planning at DAWSON, he is responsible for the development of DAWSON's core competencies related to environmental policy. He has provided general Conservation and Planning services to a wide variety of federal and state clients and has been an integral part of the development of these services for DAWSON. Back to NEPA Home
	Peter A Liebowitz, AICP Instructor Senior Vice President, Technical Fellow Peter Liebowitz has been involved in the preparation of hundreds of environmental and planning assignments over his 40-year career. His practice involves directing and managing environmental impact assessments for infrastructure, transportation, and development projects and a wide range of development and planning services. Mr. Liebowitz is a national business leader for WSP focusing on environmental impact assessment and a WSP Technical Fellow. Peter is an approved faculty member for NHI training courses for NEPA and Planning Environmental Linkage (PEL). Mr. Liebowitz is a full member of the Urban Land Institute and has served in leadership roles on both the national and district council levels. Back to NEPA Home
	Rich Walter Instructor NAEP Member Vice President, Environmental Planning, ICF Rich Walter has 32 years of experience in environmental planning, compliance strategy, permitting, and mitigation development and implementation. He serves as project director/environmental lead for environmental planning for large-scale infrastructure projects for public agencies and private clients including rail, road, water supply, natural gas, flood control, port, telecommunications, and energy infrastructure . He has worked with a wide variety of federal agencies on NEPA compliance including FRA, FTA, FAA, NPS, BLM, USACE, USFWS, and FERC. Rich has also led a climate action planning practice since 2006 which has developed climate action plans, greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories for hundreds of communities across the U.S., general plan policies for climate change, cost-benefit analyses of emission reduction strategies, climate adaptation studies (including sea-level rise), as well as numerous California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) documents addressing GHG emissions and adaptation. Back to NEPA Home
	Rona Spellecacy Instructor/Moderator (In Person) NAEP Past-President Senior Environmental Project Manager, HDR Rona is a senior environmental project manager at HDR with 20 years of experience managing multi-disciplinary teams for a wide variety of projects for both public and private clients. She has managed the environmental review process for complex and high-profile projects in the Pacific Northwest and served as environmental manager for the SR 520 Bridge Replacement Program. Rona is a Project Management Professional (PMP) certified by the Project Management Institute (PMI). She served as President of the National Association of Environmental Professionals (NAEP) (2021-2023) and is a Certified Environmental Professional (CEP) by the Academy of Board Certified Environmental Professionals. She holds certiﬁcation from the American Institute of Certiﬁed Planners (AICP) and is a member of the American Planning Association. She has been recognized by HDR as a Senior Professional Associate for her commitment to quality and technical excellence. Rona is the Environmental Director for HDR's Power, Industrial, and Waste Sectors. Back to NEPA Home
	Scott Phillips, MA Instructor NAEP Member Senior Technical Director, SWCA Environmental Consultants, Inc. Scott Phillips is a subject matter expert in heritage preservation and cultural resources management, including as it intersects with environmental planning. As Senior Technical Director at large, he provides this expertise nationwide on behalf of SWCA Environmental Consultants, where he has been since 2001. Scott began his career in cultural resources management in 1990. He received his M.A. in Anthropology (cultural focus) from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Back to NEPA Home
	Stephanie Salvilla Instructor Director, Environmental Services, Bio-Tech Public & Private Sectors for over 22 years CWA 404/401 permitting Wildlife permitting Little Wekiva River project review/oversight USFWS habitat conservation plans Florida Brightline Project permitting: SFWMD SJRWMD OCEPD FDEP USFWS USACE BS: Mary Baldwin University: Biology MS: Florida Institute of Technology: Environmental Science Back to NEPA Home
	Ted Boling Instructor NAEP Member Partner, Perkins Coie Ted Boling served as the country’s top National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) attorney as an associate director at the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) in the Executive Office of the President. He also served at CEQ, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in Democratic and Republican administrations. Ted currently advises leaders on transportation and energy development projects, agencies that must hire outside counsel, and the environmental professionals that support them on the development of renewable energy, resource development, transportation, and infrastructure. He has drafted NEPA guidance on mitigation and monitoring, cumulative impacts analysis, and the development categorical exclusions from detailed NEPA documentation. He advised the White House on the establishment of numerous national monuments, including the first marine national monuments in the United States and the largest marine protected areas in the world. He also assisted in briefing three U.S. Supreme Court cases. Ted has handled matters involving energy development on the outer continental shelf, including offshore wind power development, and the fast track for solar and wind energy projects on public lands. Back to NEPA Home
	Ward Marotti Instructor NAEP Elected At-Large Board Member Director: Land and Water Resources, Spangler Environmental, Inc. For more than 30 years, Ward Marotti has completed hundreds of public and private environmental compliance and permitting projects, including CWA 404/401 Individual and Nationwide permits, NEPA and SEPA EAs and EISs, water quality variances, Endangered Species Act Section 7 and 10 impact permits and conservation plans, protected species relocation plans, and watershed use re-classifications. Ward is the Past President of the National Association of Environmental Professionals (NAEP) North Carolina Chapter. He served on the recently affiliated South Carolina Chapter’s inaugural board. In January 2023 Ward was elected as an at-large member of NAEP’s national Board of Directors and currently serves on its Education and Conference Committees and chairs its Chapters Committee. Back to NEPA Home