Cris Collier has been the Executive Director of the Great Bend, Kansas Convention & Visitors Bureau for twenty years. She has worked extensively at the local and state level in the areas of product development and marketing of nature based tourism. In 1999, Collier received the Governors Award for Tourism Development presented by the Kansas Association of Broadcasters. In 2003, the bureau received the Kansas Wildlife Federation/National Wildlife Federation “Conservation Organization” award for its outstanding contributions to the wise use and management of the national natural resources. Elizabeth Christiansen began work in 1990 for the East Central Iowa Council of Governments in Cedar Rapids as a solid waste planner, helping cities and counties plan for and implement recycling, composting and environmental education activities. In the mid 1990s, Liz became the recycling/education coordinator for the Bluestem Solid Waste Agency and also served as spokesperson during the agency’s landfill siting process. She went on to work for Linn County in the finance and budget department. Governor Tom Vilsack appointed Liz to the Iowa Environmental Protection Commission in March 1999. In April 2000 she became the Administrator of the Land Quality and Waste Management Assistance Division of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. In 2002, Director Jeff Vonk appointed Liz as Deputy Director of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. As such, she is the chief of operations, serving roughly one thousand employees, over one hundred field offices across the state and with an annual operations budget of around $100 M Dr. William Crumpton is Associate Professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology at Iowa State University, where he has taught undergraduate and graduate courses and conducted research on aquatic and wetland ecosystems since 1982. He coordinates the graduate program in Environmental Science at ISU as well as the undergraduate Environmental Science and Environmental Studies programs. Prior to coming to ISU, he completed B.S. and M.S. degrees at the University of West Florida, working on estuarine ecosystems. Dr. Crumpton’s current research focuses on wetland processes in agricultural landscapes, including the dynamics of energy flow and nutrient transformation in wetlands, the fate and effects of agricultural contaminants in wetlands, and the role of restored and constructed wetlands in water quality remediation. His work combines experimental studies in wetland mesocosms, field studies in natural and restored wetlands, and dynamic simulation modeling in an effort to understand critical processes and predict wetland performance. Dr. John Downing is a professor of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, and the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering at Iowa State University. His research interests include limnology, aquatic ecology, terrestrial ecology, microbial ecology, biogeochemistry, population conservation, and whole ecosystem restoration and management. He received his B.S. from Hamline University (St. Paul, MN), his M.S. from NDSU (Fargo, ND) and his Ph.D. from McGill University (Montreal, Canada). He was formerly a professor at McGill University and the University of Montreal where he was Director of the Laurentian Biological Station. He has been at ISU since 1995 and runs the Iowa State University Limnology Lab and the Iowa State Lake Survey. Vince Evelsizer graduated from the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point in 1997 with a B.S. degree and major in Wildlife. In 2001, Vince received his M.S. degree in Aquatic Biology by completing a study on growth limiting factors of submersed aquatic plants in Delta Marsh, Manitoba Canada. His work experience includes seasonal field jobs in both fisheries and wildlife in Iowa, Idaho, and North Dakota, and approximately two years as a private lands wetland specialist for the Wildlife Section of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources in north-central Iowa. He is currently employed as a wetland biologist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources’ Water Monitoring Section. Dennis Frame was born and raised in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, working with dairy cows, steers and crops in an area changing from agriculture to residential development. He attended the University of Wisconsin Farm and Industry Short Course in 1975 and then switched to the degree program, graduating in Dairy Science and Animal Science. He received his master’s degree in ruminant nutrition in 1982. Dennis joined Extension in 1982 and has worked in Wood, Brown, and Trempealeau counties in Wisconsin. He was active in educating farmers about soil and water conservation and developed the statewide nutrient management-training program. Dennis became the co-director of the Discovery Farms Program, a program designed to conduct research on commercial operations to determine the effectiveness and affects on profitability of environmental rules and regulations. He is involved in data collection, determining the economics of environmental regulations, and maintaining the partnerships of this important program. Dennis and his family run a commercial cow-calf operation in northern Trempealeau County.
Dr. Jim Gill is a zoonotic disease specialist at the University of Iowa Hygienic Laboratory and an adjunct professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Iowa. Dr. Gill’s zoonotic disease research projects include: 1. avian influenza in wild waterfowl and humans, 2. West Nile virus in white-tailed deer and mosquitoes, 3. bat ticks and new infections, 4. monocytic ehrlichiosis, 5. anaplasmosis, and 6. neospora infections in white-tailed deer. Dr. Gill is Board Certified in Family Medicine and practices medicine in Iowa.
Dr. Peter G. Hartel is an associate professor in the Department of Crop & Soil Sciences at the University of Georgia, where he teaches courses in soil microbiology and research methods. Along with three co-editors, he has just finished the second edition of the textbook, Principles and Applications of Soil Microbiology. He has conducted research in bacterial source tracking since 1998. In addition, Peter runs the University of Georgia’s internationally recognized Environmental Ethics Certificate Program. He has also co-edited books on both agricultural and environmental ethics. He resides in Athens, Georgia, with his wife, Mary Jean, and two children, Benjamin and Ruthanne.
Nate Hoogeveen, freelance writer, is author of Paddling Iowa, a guide to Iowa’s rivers and waterways for canoeists and kayakers. An avid paddler and hiker, he’s also a river activist and president of Iowa Whitewater Coalition, which advocates removal or modification of low-head dams. For two years he’s written an outdoors and environmental column called “Wild Iowa” for the alternative newspaper Cityview. Recently he launched Otter Run Media, a company that promotes Iowa’s resources as a recreational destination through the production of maps, web sites, guidebooks, and recreation consulting. He graduated from the University of Missouri's School of Journalism in 1998. He has written articles for a number of outdoor magazines, including Outside and Hooked on the Outdoors, plus outdoor and environmental articles for magazines such as Midwest Living and The Iowan. Keri Hornbuckle is an associate professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Iowa. She earned her undergraduate degree in Chemistry from Grinnell College in 1987 and her Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering at the University of Minnesota in 1996. She was an assistant professor in the Dept of Civil Engineering at the State University of New York at Buffalo from 1995 to 1998 when she joined the faculty at the University of Iowa. At Iowa, she teaches upper level and graduate courses in environmental engineering and air pollution control. She also teaches Engineering Problem Solving, the first engineering course for all undergraduate majors.
Earl Kalkwarf has been the sanitarian for Wright County since April 2002 and has attended many seminars on septic systems and well drilling. In May 2004 he was hired by Franklin County as sanitarian for them also. In the spring of 2004 Earl quit farming to spend more time as a sanitarian and working with his tree trimming, backhoe, and trenching business.
Joe G. Larscheid is currently a fisheries research biologist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources located at the NW regional headquarters in Spirit Lake, Iowa. Joe graduated from the University of Wyoming with a B.S. in Wildlife Conservation and Management (1988) and a M.S. in Zoology and Physiology in 1990. He is primarily responsible for the research program conducted on Iowa’s natural lakes, but he is also involved with many other projects including a very comprehensive inventory of Iowa’s principal lakes and impoundments. Joe’s primary goals as a fishery scientist are to provide the tools and insights managers and administrators need to make sound resource decisions.
Bob Masnado began working with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources in 1984 as a Research Assistant assigned to gather and assess limnological data collected as part of a Long-Term Ecological Research project on several Madison-area lakes. Subsequently, he coordinated Wisconsin's fish consumption advisory program, designed and implemented the state's whole effluent testing program for NPDES permits, and calculated and revised surface water quality criteria for toxic substances for fish and aquatic life protection. During the past five years, Bob has served as Chief of the Water Quality Standards Section that is responsible for everything from the preparation of Wisconsin's 303(d) list of Impair Waters to the revision and implementation of water quality standards. During the past two years, Bob, and the staff that work with him, have also dealt with emerging issues related to recreational uses of Wisconsin's waters - most notably E. coli and harmful algal blooms. Eric O’Brien is an environmental microbiologist for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and University of Iowa. He completed his master’s research in Environmental Science at the University of Northern Iowa in May 2003. His primary interest of focus is environmental microbiology, specifically focusing on bacterial source tracking. Before joining the Iowa Department of Natural Resources’ Water Monitoring Section, Eric also helped coordinate undergraduate water research activities at the University of Northern Iowa. These interests led him to work for the Water Monitoring Section of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources in June 2003. Eric directs most of his efforts toward the ongoing bacterial monitoring of Iowa’s State and County owned beaches, tracking of bacterial sources at these beaches, cyanobacteria and cyanotoxin monitoring, and data analysis of nutrient concentrations and trends statewide.
Dan Olson is an Environmental Specialist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources working in the onsite wastewater program. This program includes the onsite loan program, NPDES discharge permits for onsite systems and training/technical assistance for county environmental health staff, septic installers, and homeowners. Mr. Olson is a graduate of Iowa State University and has worked for county environmental health offices in Iowa and Illinois. Mr. Olson is Past-President of the Iowa Environmental Health Association.
John Olson is currently employed by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Geological Survey & Land Quality Bureau in Des Moines. John has worked for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources for 20 years. His primary responsibilities have included preparation of water quality assessments, coordination of Department of Natural Resources’ fish tissue monitoring program, conducting stream surveys, and providing information on Iowa’s water quality. Since 1994, he has prepared the state’s biennial water quality reports as required by Section 305(b) of the Clean Water Act and has also been involved with preparation of Iowa’s lists of “impaired waters” as required by Section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act. John has a bachelor of science degree in Animal Ecology from Iowa State University with an emphasis in fisheries biology.
Wayne Petersen has worked for the Natural Resources Conservation Service since 1976. After working with agricultural landscapes in five locations throughout Iowa for 21 years, he became the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s first Urban Conservationist in 1997. Wayne sees management of post-development runoff as a key urban environmental concern. He promotes Low Impact Development techniques to mitigate the impacts of imperviousness – techniques that absorb and infiltrate more rainfall on-site and shed less polluted runoff to receiving waters. He stresses the need to create practical, beautiful, and hydrologically functional urban landscapes that mimic the stable, infiltration-based hydrology that existed when the native ecosystems of the tallgrass prairie region were intact.
Dave Ratliff has worked with natural resources since working at Ball Brothers Research in Boulder, Colorado. After moving to Iowa, Dave worked with the United States Geological Survey to upload and download data from the Reston, Virginia computer system. His work with the USGS allowed Dave to start K.D. Engineering in 1976, which today is primarily involved in computer systems support. He is an active fly fisherman and certified as an educational instructor to teach fishing throughout Iowa under the DNR Fish Iowa program. Dave became IOWATER trained in 1999 and is often seen monitoring Clear Creek and Old Mans Creek. He developed the Johnson and Iowa County Watershed Coalition, which has conducted over 2,200 streamside measurements and collected over 500 samples for lab analyses. He has organized teaching demonstrations for water monitoring, focusing on local school and youth groups. As a volunteer, Dave is a recent recipient of the Hawkeye Fly Fishing Association’s Conservation Award, Governor’s Volunteer Award from the State of Iowa, and the 2004 IOWATER Volunteer of the Year.
Jenny Schaust works for Hennepin County Environmental Services in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She currently works as an education coordinator for Hennepin’s County’s water quality monitoring and education programs. Jenny received her M.S. in Natural Resources and Environmental Science from the University of Illinois-Champaign/Urbana and a B.A. in Biology from the University of Minnesota-Morris. She currently retains a teaching certification in Life Science, and has worked as a junior and senior high life science teacher.
Dr. Mary Skopec has worked for the Iowa Geological Survey since 1991and has been involved in several projects including a statewide pesticide database to track pesticide occurrences in Iowa's water resources. In January 2000, she moved to the Water Monitoring Section of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources where she helps to coordinate and analyze data from the new Ambient Water Monitoring Program. Mary earned her B.S. and M.A. degrees in geography from the University of Iowa, and in 1999 she completed her Ph.D. in environmental science. Mary currently serves as supervisor of the Water Monitoring Section Greg Soenen has always had an interest in environmental issues. He has served on the Palo Alto and Wright County Conservation Boards, and currently holds positions on the Goldfield City Council, the Wright County Soil and Water Conservation Commission, and the Prairie Winds RC&D. Greg became a certified IOWATER volunteer monitor in 2000, and has been actively monitoring ever since. Greg and his wife, Liz, live in Goldfield, near the confluence of Buttermilk Creek and the Boone River.
Kristine Stepenuck has coordinated Wisconsin’s Water Action Volunteers (WAV) Program since 2001. The WAV Program is primarily focused on citizen stream monitoring, but which also includes storm drain stenciling and river clean up programs. Citizens of Wisconsin monitor over 250 stream sites across the state. In addition to her role within Wisconsin, she works with partners at the University of Rhode Island Cooperative Extension towards enhancing the capacity of volunteer water quality monitoring within Extension programs across the nation. She holds a B.S. in water resources management from the University of New Hampshire and a M.S. in Natural Resources from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
Jennifer Welch, CPESC, has her M.S. degree in water resources from Iowa State University. As a Certified Professional in Erosion and Sediment Control (CPESC) she promotes awareness and protection of natural resources. As an Urban Conservationist with URBAN (Urban Resources & Borderland Alliance Network), Jennifer leads an effort to promote innovative stormwater management practices, sustainable site design principles and erosion and sediment control. Jennifer is responsible for writing statewide urban design standards and specifications (SUDAS) for stormwater quality management practices.
David Williamson is an artist who lives with his family in a handmade house and studio near Ogden. He is a graduate of the University of Iowa, having earned BFA and MA degrees. Mr. Williamson travels nationally as a creativity consultant to corporations, professional associations, and government agencies. He is currently active in leadership training with Farm Bureau, National Recreation and Park Association, Iowa Bankers Association, Junior Achievement, Business Professionals of America, and Iowa Association of Business and Industry. Mr. Williamson has appeared numerous times on Iowa Public Television and was a frequent guest of WHO-AM Farm Radio broadcaster, Lee Kline. He was the facilitating artist who collaborated with Project AWARE volunteers to create a sculpture from metal salvaged during the 2004 cleanup. He also edited the collaborative poem “Clear” created from statements made by visitors to the DNR’s Project Aware display during the 2004 Iowa State Fair. |