Pacific Northwest Chapter

Emily Atkins

Laura Brophy is the Director of the Estuary Technical Group at the Institute for Applied Ecology in Corvallis, Oregon. For over 25 years, she has provided leadership in science-based decision support for estuary restoration and conservation in the Pacific Northwest and U.S. West Coast. Through her participation in collaborative groups that share the common goal of improving estuary restoration science and application, she has been central to the recent renaissance of estuary restoration planning in the West. In these collaborations, she has led the development of several heavily-used spatial mapping tools for estuary management and climate change adaptation planning.

I am an environmental scientist/ wetland biologist with over 15 years of professional experience in environmental regulation and permitting.  

I am a wetland scientist with professional wetland experience starting in 2012. I specialize in wetland delineation, mitigation, permitting, and monitoring. I have had the pleasure of working in wetlands in many different regions of the continental United States from Tennessee to Washington and many places in between. I currently work for the Washington State Department of Transportation as their Wetland Mitigation Lead.

I am an Instructor in the Environmental Sciences & Technology program at Clover Park Technical College. I teach courses including Critical Areas in the Environment (wetland delineation), GPS and GIS, Introduction to Ecology, General Chemistry, Environmental Chemistry, Orientation to Environmental Sciences, Rural Technology, Hydrology, Watershed Analysis, and Air Pollution.

I previously worked as a Research Biologist at the USDA-ARS Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory (NGPRL). My interests include aquatic ecology, wetlands, greenhouse gases, and agricultural landscapes. My previous research efforts focused on water quality, in particular in assessing how management practices in agricultural ecosystems can be used to reduce potential agricultural stressors (e.g., nutrients, sediments, and pesticides) in adjacent aquatic ecosystems.

I am a member of the Society of Wetland Scientists (Chair of the Education Section), Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, and Soil Science Society of America. In my free time, I enjoy spending time in the outdoors camping, hiking, canoeing, kayaking, snorkeling, SCUBA diving, hunting, and fishing.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/eve-richards-henrichsen-pws-51531039/

Brianna serves as an Environmental Planner at The Watershed Company with over 10 years of experience performing and managing environmental compliance projects, site investigations and technical field activities. A graduate of the University of Washington’s Wetland Science and Management Professional Certification program, Brianna is a certified Wetland Scientist and Wetland Professional in Training (WPIT) with the Society of Wetland Scientists. She has experience with Federal, State, and local compliance through diverse projects, performing riparian restoration design documentation, biological assessments, and critical areas assessments. In addition, she has performed field data collection, including conducting vegetation surveys, amphibian surveys, habitat assessments, wetland characterizations, mitigation site monitoring (vegetation and hydrology against performance standards) and water quality monitoring for habitat enhancement projects. Brianna is known for maintaining excellent professionalism and interactions with partners while delivering high-quality efficient work. She has experience working all over Washington, and currently resides in Thurston County. 

I am a Professional Wetland Scientist and a college degreed Fish & Wildlife Biologist.  I specialize in delineating wetlands and watercourses along with determining the presence or absence of fish and wildlife habitats in terrestrial and aquatic environments. Through detailed field examination, study, and mitigation techniques I orchestrate ways that, upon implementation, minimize critical area impacts for a planned project.  I effectively and confidently respond to government agencies during the review process and craft ways to provide solutions to address the challenges to meet the goals and objectives for a complete and successful project.

I have more than 28 years of academic and consulting experience within public and private sectors in the science, policy, and management of aquatic environments, including extensive experience in the assessment, restoration, and management of degraded wetlands and rivers across multiple scales. The goal of my career has always been to provide straightforward analysis of ecological data to facilitate a translation for management applications to solve tangible problems that intersect natural and human environments. At Montana State University, I focus my research on assessment and management questions that address combined anthropogenic and natural disturbances and how these drive aquatic structure, function, and services.

Marti is a wetland biologist, with over 25 years of experience. She works in the transportation field in western Washington and is part of the Pacific Northwest Chapter.  

Lorene Lynn is a soil scientist and restoration ecologist who specializes in permafrost characteristics and tundra restoration ecology. She primarily works for oil and gas, government, and community clients in the Arctic and for mining, government, and private clients throughout Alaska. Lorene is a federally appointed member and Chair of the Science Technical Advisory Panel (STAP) for the North Slope Science Initiative (NSSI). Previously, she worked for HDR, the NRCS Soil Survey, and the USFWS. Her graduate studies on coastal erosion along the Beaufort Sea Coast of Alaska sparked a career in which she rarely experiences heat, instead working in a parka in the Arctic in the months most people associate with summer.

She lives in Palmer, Alaska with her husband and dog. Her two children have launched lives of their own in Alaska.

I have finished my software developers certificate at Renton Technical College (with focal interests in database design, software design, and web development) and my Masters Degree in Geographic Information Systems - Sustainability at the University of Washington. I am currently looking for work in a position that requires my natural resource management / wetland / computer information skills and allows me to be an advocate for environmental protection and stewardship.

www.mitigationcreditdebit.com

I have over 25 years of experience providing government and private entities with technical expertise to efficiently evaluate and sustainably manage environmental resources. Having worked as a consultant and a regulatory project manager for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, I have developed deep understanding of Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 404, National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and associated federal, state and local laws and regulations. I have project experience in several western states, but mainly in Oregon where I have prepared many Joint Permit Applications. I have conducted innumerable wetland delineations, functions assessments, and stream surveys as well as other ecological evaluations such as noxious weed surveys, rare plant surveys, and watershed assessments. I have also planned, designed, implemented and monitored aquatic and riparian habitat restoration and enhancement as well as stream bank stabilization via bioengineering. I look forward to continuing with work that helps to balance reasonable development with appropriate mitigation to benefit both natural systems and society. 

Kerrie McArthur, Senior Biologist with Confluence, has 28 years of wide-ranging experience as a natural resources professional in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. Her expertise includes water quality monitoring, stream-channel characterization, wetland reconnaissance and delineations, plant and animal identification, aquatic and terrestrial habitat evaluation, fisheries surveys, and functional assessment of aquatic ecosystems. She specializes in the collection of field samples of marine and freshwater fish, plants, and invertebrates using a range of equipment. Her experience focuses on impacts to fish and wetlands, both freshwater and marine, from a wide range of development activities; regulatory permitting and associated mitigation; and restoration. Kerrie has written numerous wetland delineation reports, project-specific biological assessments, aquatic and terrestrial plant and animal sections of SEPA/NEPA EISes, and has developed mitigation plans for sensitive species and habitats including salmonids and wetlands. She has also worked in tropical and subtropical ecosystems in the Pacific Ocean.

SPWS

Part owner of PNW Ecoservices LLC, with contracts for Bullfrog control on behalf of the northwestern pond turtle in Washington State.  Student at Oregon State University, specializing in wetland ecology and management seeking first bachelor's degree.  Interests include herpetology, aquatic insects, invasive species, research, and wetland community interactions. 

Professional Wetland Scientist with twenty plus years of natural resource consultation experience throughout the Pacific Northwest.  Specializes in production of ArcGIS / AutoCAD georeferenced maps, habitat assessments, wetland delineations, permit processing, mitigation construction, and compliance monitoring projects.  Project work includes generation of detailed soil descriptions, plant identification and analysis, hydrological evaluation, georeferenced field mapping and generation of AutoCAD based graphics.  Responsibilities include collection, analysis, interpretation of field data, and compilation of technical reports suitable for Oregon Department of State Lands (DSL) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) review for required Oregon Removal-Fill Law and Section 404 of the Clean Water Act compliance.  Works as a liaison between environmental permit regulators, project engineering staff, construction contractors, and clientele to facilitation smooth processing of state and federal authorizations and to maintain project compliance with local, state, and federal regulations.

Following TNC in 1978 through the present I have been a free-lance biological/ecology consultant. I also taught life sciences for 10 years and what is now Rhodes State and 15 years at Ohio Northern University.

Francis has over three decades experience working in the field of environmental resource management, assessment, permitting and mitigation, and as a consulting biologist and project manager for a myriad of public and private projects in Washington, Oregon, and Alaska. As founder and President of ELS, he leads a company that includes 25 professional biologists, ecologists, and environmental resource specialists. His specific focus is land management and environmental permitting strategy for Port, marine, transportation, and land based development. Furthermore, he is a leader in innovative mitigation strategies including banking, advanced mitigation, programmatic and Corps regional general permitting.

Dr. Amanda M. Nahlik is a research ecologist at the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) Office of Research and Development (ORD) Pacific Ecological Systems Division (PESD) in Corvallis, Oregon. She is the ORD Lead for the National Aquatic Resource Surveys (NARS) program, which includes condition assessments for lakes, rivers & streams, coastal areas, and wetlands across the United States. With over two decades of wetland ecology and biogeochemistry experience, Dr. Nahlik's research projects range from carbon storage and nutrient cycling, greenhouse gas emissions and climate change, sedimentation and fluvial dynamics, to condition assessments and ecological indicator development. As one of the lead researchers and the Technical Lead of the National Wetland Condition Assessment (NWCA), Dr. Nahlik uses national-scale data to estimate changes in wetland carbon storage, nitrogen cycling using stable isotopes, and provision of ecosystem services.

https://www.usgs.gov/staff-profiles/gregory-noe

Curriculum Vitae

Lisa M. Palazzi

lisampalazzi@gmail.com

Home:         1603 Central NE                               

Olympia, WA 98506                         

(360) 789-4069 (cell)

 (360) 352-1465 (x137) (work)

Education

1989 Master's degree in Soil Science:   Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR

                  Emphasis in Soil Physics^[1] and Microclimatology, Minor in Forest Science

1985 Bachelor's degree in Soil Science:    Montana State University, Bozeman, MT

                  Emphasis in Soil Physics and Geology, Minor in English Composition

Certifications and Accreditations

Soil Science Society of America:  Certified Professional Soil Scientist (CPSS)

Society of Wetland Scientists Professional Certification Program: Professional Wetland Scientist (PWS)

Lisa M. Palazzi, CPSS, PWS

Research and Work Experience

Ms. Palazzi has over 35 years of professional experience in her field of expertise – soil and wetland science.

Ms. Palazzi's university education was focused on soil science and forest ecology.  She attained her Bachelor of Science degree in 1985, graduating with highest honors from Montana State University with a major in Soil Science and a minor in English Composition.  Her Master of Science thesis work, completed at Oregon State University in 1989, was focused on forest science and soil physics -- the study of water and heat transport in soils.

Ms. Palazzi’s post-graduate research (1989 to 1991) included participation in an interdisciplinary team of Oregon State University scientists studying ecosystem function of riparian systems in disturbed watersheds of Oregon's Coast Range, and working as a soil scientist for the USFS PNW Research Lab in Olympia, WA.

In 1991, she became the principal and owner of a soil and wetland science consulting firm in Olympia, WA (Pacific Rim Soil & Water, Inc. [PRSW]), which provided soils and hydrology assessment services for over 20 years throughout Washington state and the Pacific Northwest.  In 2012, she closed PRSW and joined SCJ Alliance, a well-respected planning and engineering firm in Lacey, Washington, where she continued to provide expert services in soils, wetlands, and hydrology assessment, and related environmental science consulting issues. More details are provided below:

June 1991 to present:  Consulting Soil Scientist and Wetland Scientist

Soils and Hydrology Consulting: SSSA certified professional soil scientist (CPSS)

Expert witness and/or advice in soils, wetland hydrology and soil hydrology related cases at City, County, State and Federal level

Soil and hydrology assessment and detailed soil mapping expert

Hydric (wetland) soil determinations on potential wetland sites

Soil hydrology studies for stormwater or wetland mitigation projects –restoration, enhancement, or creation

Soil physics studies to estimate percolation rates and determine suitability for septic treatment and/or stormwater treatment or infiltration

Determination of surface and soil water quantity and quality control features for site specific stormwater management or septic system design

Low Impact Development (LID) services as relate to effective protection of soil functions and management of stormwater

Groundwater or surface water monitoring wells with dataloggers for stormwater system design or verification of wetland hydrology conditions

Detailed soil mapping studies, necessary for determination of agricultural potential, or other soil-limited development activities

Soil assessment and sampling for hazardous waste conditions and cleanup

Soil sampling for physical or chemical lab analysis

Teacher of various soil science workshops: Hydrology monitoring; Interpretation of hydric (wetland) soil characteristics; Erosion and sediment control plans; Basic local geology and related soil development; Interpretation of soil characteristics for septic system design.

Wetlands Consulting:  SWS certified professional wetland scientist (PWS)

Expert witness and/or advice in wetlands regulations, permitting, hydric soils and wetland hydrology at City, County, State and Federal level.

Wetland delineation expert, trained in the 1987 Army Corps of Engineers method as well as the 2010 Regional (PNW) Supplements to the 1987 Manual

Hydric soil and wetland hydrology assessment

Groundwater or surface water monitoring wells with dataloggers for determination of wetland conditions, as well as for wetland mitigation projects –restoration, enhancement, or creation

Wetlands rating, as per the Washington State Wetlands Rating System (1993, 2004 and 2014 methods)

Development and design of wetland mitigation and restoration projects

Expert witness in hydric soils and wetland hydrology related cases at City and County level

Teacher of various wetland and hydric soils training workshops, including: workshops in the 2010 ACOE Regional Supplements to the 1987 Manual;  hydric soils interpretation and description; groundwater monitoring; soil hydrology and related regulatory issues at any level of audience expertise

Kimberli Ponzio has over 36 years of experience working in Florida wetlands as an Environmental Scientist for two water management districts in the state of Florida, USA.  Kim has been certified as a Professional Wetland Scientist for 25+ years, finding it important to ensure stakeholders from public, academic, and consultancy sectors that she has the education, work history, and skill-set necessary to deliver professional wetland services, and that she is committed to upholding a high standard of ethical behavior.  Kim has been involved in leadership with the Society of Wetland Scientists since 2007, was SWS President in 2015, President of the SWS Professional Certification Program (SWSPCP) in 2020, and currently serves as Co-Chair of the SWSPCP Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee.  Kim is actively involved in helping to globalize the SWSPCP by making the Program accessible to qualified individuals, regardless of geography or financial standing.  Kim’s approach has always been one of a collaborative spirit, which she believes is one of the most powerful mechanisms to further the cause of conserving, restoring, and protecting wetlands.

Environmental Project Manager

Ardurra

Coeur d'Alene, ID

www.ardurra.com

Erika is an environmental professional with an extensive background in environmental planning, ecological research, and natural resource management.

She brings a strong foundation of ecological knowledge to the wetland practices, built through both professional field experiences and a Master of Science degree in Environmental Science. Intimate understanding of Pacific Northwest ecosystems and plant communities has contributed to effective assessment of site conditions and development of planting plans. 

Ian Wright is an environmental consultant with a focus on regenerative development. He believes that better outcomes for land use and the environment are possible when landowners and builders are empowered with useful resources and a predictable process.

Over the past decade, Ian has had the privilege of working with some of the top environmental consultants and companies on Vancouver Island. Of the diversity of clients and projects he's worked on, he found that some of the most rewarding experiences were helping landowners build their dream homes in an environmentally sensitive way. Yet, most firms also served large corporate and government clients who needed to be prioritized, too often leaving smaller landowners and builders underserved. Ian saw that by focusing on serving residential landowners and builders, and creating useful client resources and systems to provide a predictable process, these clients could get their environmental development permits quicker and with fewer complications. This is what Ian has set out to do with Tributary Environmental Consulting Inc.

Highlights of Ian's experience:

- Assessed hundreds of kilometers of streams for land development and forestry, including over 50 riparian assessments

- Designed and monitored ecological restoration and habitat offsetting plans for over a hundred hectares of streams, wetlands, riparian areas, and other environmentally sensitive areas, including freshwater and marine fish habitat

- Mapped thousands of hectares of sensitive ecosystems and contributed to the map-based assessment of fish habitat for 25 west coast watersheds

- Created environmental management plans and monitored large and small environmentally sensitive construction projects

- Contributed to the creation of regional-scale riparian management and sensitive ecosystems conservation strategies for forestry and government

- Managed teams of up to 5 environmental professionals and contracts up to $150,000