May 03, 2023

Confluence Environmental Co.

McArthur

Huynh

Dietsch

Burton

Berger

Vieira

Soncarty

McDonald

Confluence Environmental Co. has hired two administrative staff members: Laurie Epstein as human resources strategist and Christine Kelly as accounting specialist.

Epstein has 15 years of experience in administration, operations and human resources. At Confluence, Epstein leads human resources, manages day-to-day office operations, and is an integral contributor to the firm's strategic planning efforts. Epstein has returned to confluence after an 18-month break to pursue other interests.

Kelly has a diverse background spanning public-sector environmental and legal positions as well as international private-sector work. Her experience includes invoicing, budget analysis, financial regulatory compliance, and record retention, as well as reviewing content of Freedom of Information Act requests and Water Quality Certification permits. Kelly has worked for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Attorney General's Office, and, most recently, in Germany for a U.S.-based affiliate company.

The company also announced the following promotions:

Chris Berger has been promoted to principal ecologist. Berger has taken on increased responsibilities as a project manager and technical lead on key ecological and biological regulatory projects. In addition to managing large and complex projects, he is an effective leader and mentor for Confluence staff.

Nora Burton was promoted to director of finance and operations. Burton is an industry expert in contract and rate management, serving as a resource for both Confluence and teaming partners.

Natalie Dietsch was promoted to project ecologist II, reflecting her growth in technical skills and field expertise.

Alexis Huynh was promoted to project biologist. Huynh has grown her technical knowledge and fieldwork skills since joining Confluence last spring. She excels at GIS and data management, including work with specialized modeling software and aerial drone imagery.

Kerrie McArthur was promoted to managing senior biologist. A certified wetlands, fisheries and restoration professional, McArthur applies her wide-ranging expertise on a diverse portfolio of project types, from private developments to major transit and infrastructure projects.

Kelly McDonald was promoted to project ecologist III. McDonald seeks innovative ways for Confluence to work smarter and more efficiently for clients. She is an expert in GIS, drone imagery, data management, marine permitting work and more.

Chris Soncarty was promoted to principal biologist/regulatory specialist. Soncarty is highly regarded by clients, teaming partners, and colleagues for his regulatory expertise, clear communication and project management.

Suzanne Vieira was promoted to project ecologist III. Vieira's skills continue to flourish at Confluence, as does her leadership among the project teams with whom she works. She repeatedly proves her responsiveness and technical acumen.

Parametrix

Dang

Michael Dang, PE, has joined Parametrix as a senior engineer. He has over a decade of experience working on water, utilities, site development and transportation projects in the Puget Sound region.

Dang comes to Parametrix from HDR, where he served as a utilities/civil engineer. He specializes in planning, utility design, coordination and report writing. He has a civil and environmental degree with an emphasis on water and hydrology. He has worked with agencies such Seattle Department of Transportation, Seattle Public Utilities, Sound Transit, city of Kirkland, King County Parks, and King County Solid Waste Division.

At Parametrix, Dang joins the greater Washington water division, which provides electrical and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA), flood control, stormwater, wastewater, and drinking water services to cities, counties, water districts and others throughout the state.

SCJ Alliance

Mitchell

Johnson

North

SCJ Alliance has added three new employees to its Lacey office: Matt North, Alex Johnson and Kate Mitchell.

Senior construction manager North has 19 years of civil contracting and construction management experience. In addition to his private sector work, he has been a general contractor for such organizations as Sound Transit, city of Redmond and the federal government. He holds a bachelor's degree in environmental studies from the University of Washington.

Designer Johnson works with SCJ's Transportation Design team. Johnson spent 13 years in the engineering department with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. He has a bachelor's degree in criminal justice, as well as an associate's degree with an emphasis in computer-aided drafting.

Mitchell is SCJ's newest project accountant. She has a bachelor's degree from Ball State University in general studies with an emphasis in communication, interpersonal relationships and sociology. She has been working in the construction industry for eight years.

Apr 26, 2023

Environmental Science Associates

Thomas

Kopitov

Killgore

ESA has expanded its Biological Resources and Land Management Team in the Northwest with three new hires; Aaron Killgore, Anna Kopitov, and Jennifer Thomas. Killgore, Kopitov, and Thomas bring deep expertise in environmental planning, wildlife surveys, and mitigation policy.

As senior principal biologist, Killgore will use his more than 15 years of experience as a wildlife biologist specializing in environmental planning and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) project management. With an emphasis on aviation, military, and public lands projects, Killgore is well-versed in biological and cultural compliance, public outreach, and federal business development. He also has experience in conducting wildlife surveys and preparing natural resource management plans. Killgore most recently served as senior environmental planner at Mead & Hunt.

Kopitov steps into the role of senior ecologist possessing more than 20 years of professional experience as a wildlife biologist, wetlands specialist, conservation biologist, and regulatory compliance specialist. Her expertise includes technical research and studies, terrestrial and fresh water and marine aquatic field studies, habitat and plant community mapping, and wetlands assessments. She has vast experience preparing regulatory compliance and permit applications in support of NEPA and other federal and statewide laws. Kopitov joins ESA most recently from PND Engineers, where she was senior ecologist and regulatory specialist.

As a principal restoration biologist at ESA, Thomas is a mitigation policy expert with more than 30 years of experience. A pioneer of the discipline, she has worked on more wetland mitigation bank proposals than any other individual in Washington state. Her experience includes leading an inter-agency team of ecologists to work with state and federal agencies and Tribal representatives to write King County's Wetland Mitigation Banking rules, the first in the state. Thomas has also developed monitoring and management protocols for bank sites on behalf of King County and for private sector clients. Thomas comes to ESA from Jacobs Engineering, where she served as senior scientist and project manager.

Barghausen Consulting Engineers Inc.

Schartman

Lesmeister

Heath

Miller

Kopczynski

Daley

Matheny

Eldridge

Barghausen Consulting Engineers has welcomed eight new employees to the company as of March 2023. The Kent office welcomes four project planners, two design engineers, and one project engineer.

David Kopczynski started at Barghausen in February as a project planner. He recently moved to Washington from Wisconsin, where he graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater in 2017. Kopczynski is a certified UDC building inspector. He previously worked as a deputy clerk for Lake County, Illinois, and then served as the planning and zoning administrator for the Village of Salem Lakes, Wisconsin, for the last three years.

Jacob Miller joined Barghausen as a project planner on Feb. 27. Miller earned a B.S. in GIS/Planning from Montana State University in 2014 and has worked within the development industry. He began his career as a field surveyor in Portland, where he moved into an office position as a CAD tech/planner/surveyor. He then spent a few years working for a telecom engineering firm as a permit coordinator/design engineer before moving into municipal planning where he spent the last few years before moving to Barghausen.

Chase Heath joined Barghausen as a design engineer on Feb. 28. Heath graduated from Boise State University with a B.S. in civil engineering in 2022. He has previously interned at Kimley-Horn in their commercial/industrial/multifamily land development department. Heath earned his EIT Certificate in November 2021.

Michael Lesmeister, P.E., joined Barghausen as a project engineer in March. He graduated from Washington State University with his B.S. in civil engineering in 2017. Shortly after graduating, he worked at a small engineering firm in Chehalis, then transitioned to AHBL, where he spent five years. He has experience working in various markets but has focused on residential and commercial site development.

Nicholas Schartman started on Mar. 6. as a design engineer. He graduated from Arizona State University in 2022, and he just recently took the FE and got his EIT certificate. He previously interned at Wood Patel & Associates in Arizona where he specialized in transportation engineering and site development.

Shelby Eldridge joined Barghausen as a project planner also on Mar. 6. She moved to Washington from Florida, where she got her B.S. from the University of Central Florida. She has her AICP certification and a variety of planning background. Eldridge has five years of planning experience working in government settings, and she was also a land development planning consultant for England-Thims & Miller, Inc.

Austin Matheny started at Barghausen on Mar. 13. as a design engineer. He graduated from Washington State University with a B.S. in Civil Engineering in 2021. Matheny worked as a design engineer after graduating, focusing on stormwater design. From there, he worked as a PE/PMA for a general contractor where he managed 15+ subcontractors, before coming back to engineering and starting a new journey with Barghausen.

Brooke Daley started at Barghausen on Mar. 28. as a project planner. She graduated from California Poly Pomona in 2015. Daley comes to Barghausen from Whittier, California where she previously worked for the City of Whittier for over 10 years with roles as an assistant planner and as a planning technician.

Swenson Say Fagét Structural Engineers

DeBoer

Renouard

SSF announced the promotion of Francesca Renouard, PE/SE, and Lori DeBoer, PE/SE, to associate principals and members of the SSF shareholder team.

Renouard received her bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the University of Washington, and a master's in civil engineering from the University of California Berkeley. Architecture runs deep in her family (her mom, dad, and sister are architects), but her love of math prevailed. She has a lifelong passion for historic renovation and rose through the ranks from being a summer intern in 2012 to one of the retrofit team's lead engineers. Historic renovation projects include six Carnegie libraries in Seattle, the Metropole Building in Pioneer Square, the Roslyn Old City Hall and Library, the Alaska State Capitol Building, and countless others. Renouard was recently appointed to the King County Landmarks Commission, sits on the Technical Standard Task Group for the City of Seattle URM Task Force, is a Real Estate Committee Member for Historic Seattle, is a Board Member for the Friends of Ravenna Cowen Historic District, and is a member of the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation and The Civita Institute. She is also mentoring two new retrofit engineers.

DeBoer moved to Seattle after graduating with a bachelor's degree in architectural studies and a master's in architecture with a structures option from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. After working at two other firms for ten years, she joined SSF in 2016 and enjoys working on a variety of projects with a focus on public, civic, and institutional work. Notable projects include UW's Haring Center Design-Build Renovation, Bellevue Christian School, Field Arts and Events Center in Port Angeles, the renovation of the historic 419 Occidental (former FX McRory's) building, and numerous public park improvement projects. DeBoer's strong work ethic and extensive structural prowess are unparalleled. Internally, she's a technical leader in steel structures, mentors young engineers, and assists with staff scheduling.