Meet the Climate Change Focus Group

ICF Jones & Stokes is an environmental consulting firm headquartered in Sacramento, California. ICF Jones & Stokes has more than 500 employees in 19 U.S.-based offices. The Climate Change Focus Group comprises select ICF Jones & Stokes employees who are in leadership roles in climate change and CEQA/NEPA-related fields. Feel free to contact any of our members to see how they may assist you in meeting your environmental planning needs.

	Tony Held, Ph.D., P.E., is a licensed professional engineer who holds a B.S, M.S, and Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering. His graduate and postdoctoral research focused on the development of computer simulation software to model air quality and atmospheric dynamics, with an emphasis on particulate matter and the interrelationship between transportation activities and air quality. Tony specializes in conducting health risk assessments and air quality analyses within the CEQA/NEPA framework. Tony has over 13 years of experience as an air quality and environmental professional and is the founder of the Climate Change Focus Group. Tony Held, theld@jsanet.com, (916) 231-9546 630 K Street, Suite 400, Sacramento, CA, 95814
	Kenneth Bogdan, J.D., environmental counsel at ICF Jones & Stokes, provides assistance to clients regarding compliance with the NEPA, Clean Water Act (CWA) Sections 404 and 401, Rivers and Harbors Act Section 10, National Historic Preservation Act Section 106, and the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) Sections 7 and 10; as well as California state law, including the CEQA, the California Endangered Species Act (CESA), and California Fish & Game Code Sections 1600-1616. Ken's principal responsibility is to work with clients and staff to provide project specific and in-house guidance on the large majority of NEPA and CEQA documents prepared at ICF Jones & Stokes. Ken was one of the primary authors of several Solano Press publications, including Endangered Species Regulation; The NEPA Book: A Step-By-Step Guide on How to Comply with the National Environmental Policy Act; and The CEQA Deskbook: A Step-By-Step Guide on How to Comply with the California Environmental Quality Act. He was also a contributing author to Wetlands, Streams, and Other Waters: Regulation, Conservation, and Mitigation Planning. Ken leads ICF Jones & Stokes' environmental education program and speaks regularly at universities and conferences on environmental law topics, including NEPA, CEQA, endangered species, and wetlands regulation. Ken received his J.D. from the University of California, Davis, School of Law, in 1989; and his B.S. in Environmental Management (with honors) from Rutgers University, Cook College, New Brunswick, New Jersey, in 1986. Ken Bogdan, kbogdan@jsanet.com, (916) 231-7625 630 K Street, Suite 400, Sacramento, CA, 95814
	Terry Rivasplata is an environmental planner who both prepares environmental analyses under CEQA and NEPA and teaches CEQA and NEPA compliance through the University of California Extension. He has over 20 years experience in land use planning at the local and state government level in addition to his environmentally-related work at ICF Jones & Stokes. While on the staff of the Governor's Office of Planning and Research, he co-authored the state General Plan Guidelines, the fundamental guide used by cities and counties in adopting their land use plans, as well as numerous other planning publications. During that time, he was also instrumental in drafting the revisions made to the State CEQA Guidelines. Terry has a B.S. from the University of California-Davis and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners. Terry Rivasplata, trivasplata@jsanet.com, (916) 231-9537 630 K Street, Suite 400, Sacramento, CA, 95814
	Rich Walter has 15 years of experience in environmental planning, compliance strategy, permitting, and mitigation development and implementation. He has worked on numerous controversial and complex environmental planning and compliance projects. Rich has directed and participated in environmental impact assessment, alternatives analysis, and permitting processes for a variety of proposed developments including: residential subdivisions; golf courses; resorts; flood control; water pipelines; wetland restoration; marine oil terminals; natural gas power plants and pipelines; roads, highways, and bike paths; vineyards; industrial parks; telecommunications marine landings, backhaul, and urban ring projects; and mines. He has managed projects that comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the federal and California Endangered Species Acts (ESA and CESA), the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), the Clean Water Act (CWA), the California Coastal Act (CCA), the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA), as well as other state and local mandates. Rich received his M.A. International Relations/Energy, Environment, Science and Technology, The Johns Hopkins University School for Advanced International Relations, 1993 and a B.A. History, Stanford University, 1985. Rich Walter, rwalter@jsanet.com, (510) 433-8962 x8960 268 Grand Avenue, Oakland, CA, 94610
	Patty Cook is a principal, senior project manager and project director, and regional leader for business development in northern California. As a branch and regional leader, Patty has developed and executed strategic plans and business plans to measure and direct the financial success of a 200-person region. She manages regional, complex environmental planning and permit projects for both private- and government-sponsored development projects and contracts, domestically and abroad. She develops program budgets and critical path schedules, allocates workloads, and establishes priorities for multi-task contracts. She negotiates permitting strategies and provides extensive coordination with regulatory agencies and stakeholders on compliance issues. Patty specializes in infrastructure projects and urban and natural resources planning. She is experienced in environmental compliance programs and regional planning and permitting projects; compliance with environmental planning and permitting according to the CWA, Clean Air Act, CEQA, NEPA, ESA, and NHPA; training for environmental awareness and mitigation; construction monitoring; and public involvement and facilitation. She received a B.S. in Conservation of Natural Resources from the University of California at Berkeley in 1980. Patty Cook, pcook@jsanet.com, (415) 296-9569 10 Lombard Street, San Francisco, CA 94111
	Maggie Townsley is an environmental planner with more than 14 years' experience managing the preparation of environmental documents for public infrastructure proposals, including transportation corridor projects. She has managed several NEPA and CEQA documents for the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), and local government roadway projects and has coordinated with staff from FHWA, Caltrans District 4, and regulatory agencies on behalf of local governments. She has integrated NEPA/CEQA requirements with other federal, state, and local regulations, including the federal and state Clean Air Acts, federal Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act, and California Endangered Species Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, and executive orders for floodplain management, wetlands preservation, and environmental justice. Maggie received an M.S. in Community and Regional Planning from the University of Texas, Austin, in 1990; and a B.S. in Geological Sciences from the University of Texas, Austin, in 1988. Maggie Townsley, mtownsley@jsanet.com, (916) 231-9542 630 K Street, Suite 400, Sacramento, CA, 95814
	David Buehler, P.E., is a licensed professional engineer and holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering. He has over 25 years of experience conducting environmental noise studies. For the last 16 years he has specialized in the preparation and management of technical studies in the context of CEQA and NEPA documents. In addition he brings expertise related to technical policy development and training development and implementation. Dave Buehler, dbuehler@jsanet.com, (916) 231-9521 630 K Street, Suite 400, Sacramento, CA, 95814
	Chris Elliott is a project director for water resources compliance, habitat restoration, and open space planning projects. His expertise includes master planning, site assessment, development of design objectives and guidelines, facilitation of public meetings, preparation of construction documents, trail design, visual resources analysis, environmental documentation, and regulatory compliance. Chris also specializes in riparian ecosystems and has worked in the watersheds of the American, Sacramento, Napa, Guadalupe, San Joaquin, Kings, Santa Ynez, Mokelumne, and Carmel Rivers. He specializes in integration of multiple-use (e.g., flood control, recreation, and habitat restoration) objectives into river systems. He received a B.S. in Landscape Architecture from the University of California at Davis in 1994. Chris Elliott, celliott@jsanet.com, (916) 231-9587 630 K Street, Suite 400, Sacramento, CA, 95814
	Kris Bonner is a senior environmental scientist and applied information technology (AIT) marketing leader at ICF Jones & Stokes who has over 27 years of experience designing, developing, and managing large, complex computer mapping projects, including geographic information systems (GIS), computer-aided drafting (CAD), and remote-sensing applications. His project experience includes being responsible for designing and establishing a riparian vegetation monitoring program for Owens Lake using large-scale color infrared aerial photographs for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP). Kris has designed and managed the development of an integrated municipal engineering information system for the City of Ontario, including scanning of over 15,000 construction and as-built drawings, entry of as-built meditate, linking of as-built drawings to GIS databases, development of a MapObjects-based GIS query and viewing system linking GIS data with non-GIS scanned documents and meditate, and database update procedures and documents. Additionally, he designed and managed the development of an integrated GIS-based water, sewer, and storm drain information system for the cities of San Juan Capistrano and Glendale. Kris received an M.S. in range management from the University of California, Berkeley, in1976; and a B.S. in range science from the University of California, Davis, in 1974. Kris Bonner, kbonner@jsanet.com, (949) 260-1080 x1011 17310 Red Hill Avenue, Suite 320, Irvine, CA, 92614
	Shannon Hatcher is an air quality specialist with experience in environmental impact analysis, report preparation, and environmental monitoring. He conducts air quality for a variety of transportation and other development projects. Shannon's areas of expertise include point-, area-, and mobile-source air quality impact studies; air quality conformity analyses; air quality dispersion modeling; air quality permitting support; analyses of air quality regulations; and emission inventory development. Shannon received a B.S. in Environmental Science and a B.S. in Environmental Health and Safety from Oregon State University, Corvallis, in 2000. Shannon Hatcher, shatcher@jsanet.com, (916) 231-9528 630 K Street, Suite 400, Sacramento, CA, 95814
	Michael Vondergeest is a regulatory compliance specialist and project manager whose specialty is project permitting (Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, CEQA, NEPA, both federal and state Endangered Species Acts, and California Department of Fish and Game Code Sections 1600-1616) and technical writing. Michael manages projects with regulatory compliance needs and coordinates production and submittal of environmental documents and permitting packages to regulatory agencies for large construction, restoration, and transportation projects. He also writes Section 404 (b)(1) Alternatives Analysis and consults with regulatory agencies, including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, California State Reclamation Board, Regional Water Quality Control Boards, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Service, and California State Lands Commission. Michael Vondergeest, mvondergeest@jsanet.com, (916) 231-9570 630 K Street, Suite 400, Sacramento, CA, 95814
	Lindsay Christensen is an environmental specialist with a broad background in planning and community development. She assists with the preparation of documents for compliance with CEQA and NEPA, coordinates project work, and conducts research for project managers. She serves as the Technical Coordinator of the Climate Change Focus Group. Lindsay received her B.S. Community and Regional Development, University of California, Davis, 2004. Lindsay Christensen, lchristensen@jsanet.com, (916) 231-9522 630 K Street, Suite 400, Sacramento, CA, 95814
	Anna Buising, Ph.D., P.G., is a senior CEQA/NEPA compliance expert and water resources planner who specializes in leading teams responsible for large and complex environmental analyses for flood protection, water infrastructure, and habitat restoration and conservation projects. Anna is also active in geohazards abatement planning, stream management, and post-reclamation management of mined lands, and has taught CEQA compliance strategy through the University of California Extension and other venues. Before joining ICF Jones & Stokes, she was an independent consultant offering services in applied sedimentology and stratigraphy. Anna received a B.S. in Geology from UCLA in 1983, and a Ph.D. in Geological Sciences from UC Santa Barbara in 1988. She is a licensed professional geologist in the State of California (CA-P.G.-7955). Anna Buising, abuising@jsanet.com, (408) 434-2244 x2202 2841 Junction Ave, San Jose, CA 95134
	Shawn Vreeland, M.A., is a technical editor at ICF Jones & Stokes in Sacramento, where he has worked extensively on federal and California endangered species act documents, reports related to NEPA and CEQA compliance, and wetland delineations under the Clean Water Act. In his 15 years of technical writing, teaching, and editing, he has also served as a technical writer for the U.S. Navy, taught English as a second language abroad, taught composition and writing at UC Davis, and worked as a project editor for Random House. Shawn Vreeland, svreeland@jsanet.com, (916) 231-9571 630 K Street, Suite 400, Sacramento, CA, 95814
	Kelsey Bennett, LEED-AP, is a project manager with over 8 years of experience in environmental planning, compliance strategy, and mitigation development and implementation. She has managed projects that comply with CEQA, NEPA, and other federal, State, and local mandates. Her experience includes a broad range of multi-faceted planning and development projects for various agencies, municipalities, and companies. Her climate-specific experience includes climate change analyses (project contribution to climate change as well as climate change adaptation) as part of environmental impact assessment and climate change policy development in the form of significance threshold concepts for the California Air Pollution Control Officer’s Association for the evaluation of greenhouse gas emissions. She also managed development of a local government sustainability handbook, which included GHG reduction measures, for US EPA Region 2. Kelsey received a M.P.A. in Environmental Science and Policy from Columbia University in 2008 and a B.S. in Biology from University of California, San Diego in 1999. Kelsey Bennett, kbennett@jsanet.com, (415) 296-0524 ext. 3019 10 Lombard Street, San Francisco, CA 94111