GIS/Stormwater Intern (25 hrs/wk), WSDOT Environmental Services Office

Tumwater, WA

July 2016 -  Sept. 2016

​

GIS Technician, project position - temporary (16 hrs/wk), WSU Research & Extension Center

Puyallup, WA

July 2016 - present

​

Environmental Scientist, the EPA Region 5

Detail to the EPA Region 10 Office of Water

Seattle, WA

January 2015 - July 2015

 

​Temporary assignment to the EPA Region 10 Water Quality Standards Unit in Office of Water and Watersheds. Provided technical assistance regarding and related to water quality standards issues including criteria, policies, implementation and guidance.

 

Environmental Scientist, the EPA Region 5

​Water Division, Water Quality Branch

Chicago, IL

Sept. 2011 - Sept. 2015

 

​Reviewed state and tribal water quality standards submissions. Has reviewed multiple facility mercury and chloride WQS variance submissions from Wisconsin Dept. of Nat. Resources. Reviews involved communication with Wisconsin Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit writers. 

 

Expert knowledge of WQS as established by Section 303 of the Clean Water Act. Has knowledge of environmental laws, regulations and guidance, especially the CWA, federal regulations at 40 CFR 122, 131, 132, and other Title 40, the WQS Handbook, and NPDES Permit Writers' Manual. 

 

Consulted with the USFWS when a federal action may affect an endangered or threatened species or critical habitat in accordance with Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act.

 

Facilitated monthly conference calls and webinars with the EPA Region 5 WQS staff, and state and tribal water resources staff.

 

Coordinated technical work under EPA contract on the draft report, "A Review of Current Wastewater Treatment Technologies to Meet Great Lakes Water Quality Standards for Mercury." Experience with formal presentation of technical subject matter at high level meetings with EPA Region 5 and State Water Programs mangers.

 

Supervised two student interns on projects evaluating: (1) wastewater treatment technologies for advanced solids removal including particulate and/or dissolved mercury removal, and (2) the effectiveness of mercury pollutant minimization programs, June – August 2014.

 

Coordinated with the USGS Columbia Environmental Research Center to ensure accuracy of acute aquatic toxicity test methods for tests with a freshwater mussel for a draft wastewater treatment plant copper site-specific criteria study plan.

 

Coordinated with Office of Research and Development (Duluth, MN) on Region 5 state nutrient criteria development exploratory analyses using state streams water chemistry, macro invertebrate and fish indices to evaluate potential stressor-response relationships. Used MS Access and Excel to format data for nonlinear regression analyses.

 

Reviewed Clean Water Act (CWA) 106 water pollution control grant documents prepared by tribal water managers including water quality monitoring strategies, assessment reports, and quality assurance project plans for surface water monitoring, macro fauna sample collection, wetland delineation, and stream habitat assessment.

 

Reviewed Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) grant work products for select grantees under the Near Shore Health and Nonpoint Source Pollution funding category.

 

Environmental Scientist, the EPA Region 5

Detail to Wetlands & Watersheds Branch

Chicago, IL

​April. 2011 - Sept. 2011

 

Reviewed Clean Water Act (CWA) 404 dredge and fill permit public notices and applications, and prepared EPA comments on 404 permits public noticed by the Army Corps of Engineers.

 

Identified candidate 404 Individual Permits for incorporating Low Impact Development (LID) practices. Recommended the applicant consider LID as part of their demonstration of compliance with sequencing requirements contained in Section 230.10(a)-(d) of the 404(b)(1) Guidelines.

 

Environmental Scientist, the EPA Region 5

Detail to Office of Research & Development

Gulf Ecology Division, Gulf Breeze, FL

​April. 2011 - Sept. 2011

 

Collaborated with EPA scientists and contractor personnel working to develop numeric nutrient criteria for Florida estuaries and coastal waters.

 

Prepared a collaborative report on dissolved oxygen (DO) target endpoints protective of Florida estuarine species.

 

Environmental Scientist, the EPA Region 5

Office of Regional Counsel (ORC)

Chicago, IL

​Jan. 2009 - Sept. 2011

 

​One of 32 employees in the EPA Environmental Careers Program (ECP), a competitive, two-year, national program intended to introduce participants to the full breadth of the Agency’s scope of work.

 

Prepared memoranda, policies, reports, speeches and PowerPoint presentations for Deputy and Regional Counsel.

 

Led an EPA team in the design and deployment of the Region 5 ORC Weekly Activity Reports (WAR) database

 - Designed layout, beta-tested and assisted with deployment of the ORC WAR database for an office of over 100 staff attorneys.

 

Designed and built an Office Awards Excel Workbook for ORC managers

 

ORC team lead for the Region 5 Enforcement website redesign project

​

Used the EPA’s Integrated Compliance Information System (ICIS) to retrieve compliance and enforcement results reports. Retrieved enforcement data such as administrative and judicial penalties, referrals of civil judicial enforcement cases to DOJ, and supplemental environmental projects.

​

Co-authored a paper with the Deputy Regional Counsel for the ABA Section on Environmental, Energy and Resources Conference on “State Environmental Priorities, Including Enforcement Priorities, and Funding of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Projects”, ABA SEER, Chicago, IL, July 8-9, 2009

​

Created and managed the ECP workspace to facilitate virtual collaboration among ECP employees in the EPA Regional offices and Headquarters.

​

​