April 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.