Mr. Ettinger is currently in solo practice. From 1997 until 2010, he held the position of Senior Staff Attorney at the Environmental Law & Policy Center of the Midwest. Mr. Ettinger’s work since 1997 has focused on protecting water quality and implementing the Clean Water Act. In doing this, Mr. Ettinger represented numerous environmental organizations in legal and regulatory matters, including the Sierra Club, Prairie Rivers Network, Iowa Environmental Council and Kentucky Waterways Alliance. This work has involved development of water quality standards, work on animal feeding operations, review of permits for sewage treatment plants and other point sources, mining issues, lawsuits against U.S. EPA, citizen suits against dischargers alleged to have violated their NPDES permits and suits against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers relating to Corps’ activities under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. Mr. Ettinger was also counsel for environmental organizations in several cases brought under the Clean Air Act alleging violation of the new source review provisions and has been counsel for plaintiffs in numerous NEPA actions. Prior to coming to ELPC, Mr. Ettinger was a partner at a private law firm in Chicago where he worked on numerous federal antitrust cases as well as cases arising under the federal commodities, environmental, racketeering and securities laws. Mr. Ettinger earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan and his J.D. degree from the University of Michigan Law School.

Mr. Giles is currently serving as the Lower Mississippi River Senior H&H Lead of the Mississippi Valley Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Mr. Giles has been with USACE for eleven years, during which time he served as the Water Management Chief at the Vicksburg District, worked on Military Hydrology research, sediment modeling and geomorphology studies at the Engineering Research and Development Center (ERDC), as well as a hydraulic modeler for the Modeling Mapping and Consequences Center of Expertise (MMC). He earned a Master’s of Science and Bachelor’s of Science in Civil Engineering from Mississippi State University and has been a registered professional engineer in the State of Mississippi since 2018.

Mr. Gilman, after serving as the Planning Group Leader at ISG in 2021, and the Director of Planning and Development for the City of La Crosse, Wisconsin since 2015. He is currently the project manager for a 70 acre, $300M+ redevelopment in La Crosse, WI and specializes in urban planning, comprehensive planning and assisting municipalities with P-5 partnerships. His 36-year career has centered on the improvement of the city, focused on the stewardship and revitalization of the urban core. Jason’s education includes a BS in Landscape Architecture from the University of Wisconsin, Madison and graduate studies in community planning at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Jason’s career and personal life have included many volunteer hours on community improvement projects, teaching guitar at the local Boys and Girls Club, assisting local neighborhoods and conservancy organizations, successful grant writing of over $6 Million Dollars for several municipalities, including a $1.2M highly competitive National Scenic Byways Grant. Jason also worked as the project landscape architect on the Frank Lloyd Wright Monona Terrace Convention Center in Madison, Wisconsin while employed with Schreiber Anderson Associates, a private multi-disciplinary planning and landscape architecture firm. Jason was also honored with an invitation by the Tribal Council of the Sisseton Wahpeton Sioux to present land use planning, among many other speaking engagements.

Mr. Lamer, is the Director and Large River Ecologist at Illinois River Biological Station, Illinois Natural History Survey. He earned his B.S. and M.S. degrees from Western Illinois University and his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Dr. Larson is a federal research ecologist and the aquatic vegetation monitoring and research leader for the Upper Mississippi River Restoration Program. She documents how aquatic plant communities are structured and why, and the influences of plants on other aspects of the ecosystem. Her research has spanned a variety of aquatic ecosystems like lakes and wetlands to provide the best available science to managing and restoring wildlife habitats. The research is collaborative with wildlife managers and restoration practitioners to ensure the information is applicable to the restoration and management of our water resources.

Ms. Trueman her work focuses on cultivating innovative natural climate solutions and driving impactful change. Becca has nearly a decade of experience in natural resources planning and management and believes in the potential for collaboration across geographies and industries to create both sustainable and mutually beneficial outcomes. Becca has previously served as a local Watershed Coordinator managing watershed plan implementation, as a Soil Conservationist for USDA-NRCS facilitating farmer and forestland owner conservation and served a 4-year term on her local Soil & Water Conservation Board. Becca currently resides in Louisville, Kentucky with her partner, two cats, and too many plants to count.