2012 Southeast Regional Stream Restoration Conference

Speaker Biographies:

Michael T. Barbour, PhD, Tetra Tech

Dr. Michael T. Barbour is Vice President of Tetra Tech (Tt), Inc., an environmental consulting firm, and is Director of Tt’s Center for Ecological Sciences in Owings Mills, Maryland. His PhD is in Marine, Estuarine, and Environmental Science from the University of Maryland. Dr. Barbour serves in a technical capacity to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in the development of technical guidance for ecological assessment strategies of water resources. In addition, Dr. Barbour works internationally, and has participated as a Visiting Scientist in nearly a dozen countries. He has been an invited speaker for innumerable conferences and symposia, facilitated more than 80 workshops, and published over 20 peer-reviewed government guidance reports, and 50 scientific papers including his newest book, Wading for Bugs: Exploring Streams with the Experts. Dr. Barbour was given professional recognition awards from both the Southeastern (U.S.) Water Pollution Biologists Association and the Environment Agency of Great Britain, and has recently received the Distinguished Service Award from the Society of Freshwater Science. He has used his professional experience and interests as the basis for writing novels that focus on key environmental issues. Dr. Barbour has two novels, The Kenai Catastrophe and Blue Water, Blue Island, and two children’s books, Caitlyn and Craig the Crayfish and Douglas Visits the Seashore.

Sara McMillan, PhD, PE, UNC-Charlotte

Sara McMillan is Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering Technology at University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Together with Sandra Clinton (Dept of Biology, UNCC) she leads the Ecology and Biogeochemistry of Watershed research group. Her study focus is biogeochemistry and water quality of aquatic ecosystems with an emphasis on the interactions between hydrology and nutrient and carbon transformations. And her research centers on the sustainability of healthy ecosystems and restoring ecosystem functions of streams and wetlands.

Barbara A. Doll, PE, NC Sea Grant

Barbara Doll is a licensed professional engineer who joined Sea Grant in 1992 as a water quality specialist. Sea Grant is a federal/state program that promotes the wise use of coastal resources. Based at NC State University, much of Barbara’s current work is focused on repairing degraded stream systems and reducing the impacts of stormwater runoff and nonpoint source pollution. She specializes in urban stream restoration, and is responsible for leading a multi-million dollar, three-phase project to restore Rocky Branch, a creek that runs a mile through the North Carolina State University campus and is a tributary to the Neuse River.

Richard Starr, US Fish and Wildlife Service

Richard Starr is Chief of the Habitat Restoration Division within the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service –Chesapeake Bay Field Office, Annapolis, Maryland. The division promotes watershed –based assessment and natural stream restoration methodologies and has three focus areas: training and education, technical assistance, and demonstration projects. Richard has over 20 years experience and has conducted numerous geomorphic watershed and stream assessments; implemented stream restoration and fish passage projects; developed a variety of stream assessment protocols and tools; produced numerous technical and planning documents, and developed and delivered training courses on stream protection, assessment, and restoration.

Brian Helms, PhD, Auburn University

Brian Helms is the Invertebrate Collections Manager at the Auburn University Museum of Natural History in Auburn, Alabama. An astacologist and stream ecologist by training, he is actively involved in crayfish conservation efforts and has conducted and/or directed research on the influence of anthropogenic disturbance on aquatic organisms in Alabama and Georgia. With over 15 years' experience, Brian promotes understanding critical habitat and ecological associations as a means of preserving and restoring aquatic biodiversity through primary research, mentorship, outreach, and teaching. His current work is focused on developing ecological endpoints for regional curves in streams of Alabama and western North Carolina.

Dave Rosgen, PhD PH, Wildland Hydrology Consultants

Dave Rosgen is the owner of Wildland Hydrology Consultants, a fluvial geomorphology training and design firm located in Fort Collins, Colorado. Dave has 43 years of experience in stream morphology, restoration, sedimentology, stream classification development and applications, grazing and riparian systems management, cumulative water resource impact assessment and modeling, and fish habitat enhancement. He has assessed, designed, constructed and monitored hundreds of large scale river restoration projects since 1968. Dave also conducts short courses for government agency personnel, universities, and consulting firms in watershed management, river morphology, river stability assessment, restoration and applications.

Brian Topping, US EPA

Brian Topping has worked at EPA Headquarters since 2004 on Clean Water Act section 404 and 401 programs. Currently Brian focuses on stream mitigation, surface coal mining in Appalachia, wetland delineation, and general regulatory program operations and data management. Brian also has experience working EPA’s Region 4 office in Atlanta and the Portland District U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Brian holds a Masters degree in Environmental Management from Duke University and a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science-Wetland Ecology from the University of New Hampshire.

Scott McClendon, US Army Corps of Engineers

Scott McClendon has worked for the Wilmington District since 1991 and currently serves as Deputy Chief for the Regulatory Division. He assisted in the development of the District's 2003 Stream Mitigation Guidelines and subsequent stream guidance documents in use by the Division and was actively involved in the implementation of the NC Ecosystem Enhancement Program (NC EEP). He currently leads two full-time Mitigation Project Managers for the Division with responsibility for overseeing NC EEP, mitigation banking, and mitigation performed by the NC Department of Transportation in connection with its highway program.

Michael Ellison, NC Ecosystem Enhancement Program

Michael Ellison has over twenty-five years of experience in the analysis, restoration and management of disturbed landscapes. As a consultant and contractor he has completed over 250 stream and wetland restoration projects, and restored over 30,000 acres of forest and prairie habitat throughout the United States.

Tara Disy Allden, Restoration Systems

Tara Disy Allden is the Regulatory Manager at Restoration Systems, LLC, a restoration and mitigation banking company that restores and protects land and water by purchasing a permanent conservation easement or fee-simple interest from property owners, and physically restoring the waterways, trees and vegetation to exceed current function and duplicate historic condition as closely as possible. Tara has worked in the water quality field since graduating from the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications. In 1991, Tara became an editorial assistant in Agricultural Communications at N.C. State soon moving on to manage the communications program for the Water Quality Initiative of the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service. Since that time, Tara has received her M.S. in Ecology (with a focus on Soil Science) from N.C. State and a law degree from the University of South Carolina and worked as a consulting biologist at Kimley-Horn and Associates and as the Southeast Regional Manager for Environmental Banc and Exchange prior to joining Restoration Systems in 2006. Restoration Systems currently has more than 40 sites and banks underway or completed in ten states. Tara is licensed to practice law in the State of South Carolina and is on the board of the North Carolina Environmental Restoration Association and active in the National Mitigation Banking Association.

Will Harman, PG, Stream Mechanics

Will Harman is the owner of Stream Mechanics, a company focused on improving the science and application of stream restoration through education, applied research, and projects. Will has 20 years of experience in fluvial geomorphology and stream restoration. He has designed projects throughout the eastern United States that represent a wide range of conditions and challenges. Will has written numerous peer reviewed journal articles and proceeding papers and has taught workshops throughout much of the United States. Prior to forming Stream Mechanics, Will was Vice President of Ecosystem Restoration at Michael Baker Corporation. Will was also a founder of Buck Engineering and River Works, which specialized in stream restoration design and construction, respectively. Before starting these two companies, he was on the faculty at NC State University, where he co-founded and led the NCSU Stream Restoration Institute, now the Stream Restoration Program. He has a Master’s Degree in Geography from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and Bachelor’s degree in Geography from Appalachian State University. He is a licensed Geologist in North Carolina.

John Dorney, PWS, Atkins North America

Mr. Dorney has been employed by Atkins North America since October 2011 after working with the Water Quality Section of the N.C. Division of Water Quality for about twenty nine years. At Atkins, he is responsible for administering a contract with the US EPA for Clean Water Act assistance as well as being involved in stream and wetland functional assessment. When Mr. Dorney started at the Division of Water Quality, he spent three years working on water quality standards. After that he was the supervisor of the Special Projects Group in Water Quality Planning for three additional years. From 1990 to 2004, Mr. Dorney was been responsible for the 401 Water Quality Certification Program and was supervisor of the Wetlands/401 Unit that is responsible for regulatory review of development projects to ensure compliance with the state’s wetland and buffer regulations. From 2004 to 2011, Mr. Dorney was in charge of the Wetlands Program Development Unit which is responsible for developing and implementing new or modified wetland regulatory policies including developing policy for cumulative and indirect impact as well as FERC permitting and watershed monitoring. Previously Mr. Dorney worked for environmental consulting firms in Wisconsin and Ontario, for local governments and a Native American tribe doing land use and recreational planning and at a research lab at NCSU. Mr. Dorney has a B.S. degree in Biology, a M.S. degree in Botany and a M.S. degree in Civil Engineering. Mr. Dorney has prepared numerous government agency reports and has published scientific articles concerning wetlands and water quality. In addition he has been an expert witness for wetlands and water quality for several court cases. He has also done numerous presentations on water quality issues and wetland/buffer regulations for various groups.

This conference is hosted by:

Continuing Education Credit

Professional Development Hours are being applied for. More information to come.

Stream Restoration in the Southeast:

Connecting Communities with Ecosystems