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Mr. Fronapfel has a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering and a Master of Science in Civil Engineering with an emphasis in structural and forensic engineering. Ed’s a Certified Level 2 Infrared Thermographer, Certified 3rd Party EIFS Inspector, Certified Forensic Claims Consultant, Board Certified Building Inspection Engineer, and Certified Building Commissioning Professional. He is a registered engineer in the States of AL, AR, AZ, CO, FL, GA, ID, IN, IA, KS, LA, MA, MD, MI, MN, MS, MT, MO, NC, ND, NE, NJ, NM, NV, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA, WV, and WY. Mr. Fronapfel has been deposed nearly 800 times and admitted into trial settings over 125 times. He has been used as an expert in arbitration and mediations over 500 times since the late 1990s. Mr. Fronapfel is an instructor for the Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado, the College of Contract Management, U.K., Diploma in Structural Forensic Engineering, and he has been an adjunct professor for the Burns School of Real Estate Management, University of Denver, since 2007. Mr. Fronapfel is a Board-Certified Member of the Association of Building Inspection Professionals, a Certified Forensic Claims Consultant through AACE, a Board-Certified member of the International Board of Forensic Engineering and Science and a Member of The Academy of Experts, U.K., and a Fellow Member of ASCE and of NAFE.

Ms. Cooper is a member of Cooper, Riesterer, & Gross PLC, Attorneys at Law, located in Brighton, Michigan. She specializes in real estate and municipal law, counseling commercial and residential property owners, sellers, buyers, landlords, tenants, and brokers on all aspects of real estate and zoning law. Ms. Cooper is municipal counsel to a general law township and municipal water authority in Livingston County. She advises clients on their simple and complex transactional and litigation issues including purchase and sale agreements, land contracts, leases, site acquisition, development, financing, quiet title, riparian rights, easements, boundary disputes, variances, and zoning approvals. Complicated issues are often referred to her for creative solutions. Ms. Cooper is a frequent speaker, presenter, and moderator for various realtor groups and brokerages, the State Bar of Michigan’s Real Property Law Section, and various other community organizations. She is a certified instructor for CE Marketplace, Michigan’s continuing education center for real estate professionals. Ms. Cooper has been practicing law for 22 years, graduating from Wayne State Law School in 2003 cum laude and Michigan State University’s James Madison College in 1998 with high honors.

Ms. McKay is a recognized leader in environmental policy with more than two decades of experience at the intersection of science, law, and public policy. She has built a career advancing water resource protection through strategic advocacy, coalition-building, and deep engagement with regulatory and legislative frameworks. Her work is known for bridging technical expertise and policy solutions to address complex environmental challenges across the Great Lakes region. Until recently, she served as chief policy and government affairs director for the Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council, where she led the organization’s comprehensive policy agenda to strengthen water resource protections at the local, state, and federal levels. Earlier in her career, Ms. McKay worked with the Public Interest Research Group and in the Michigan Legislature. She was appointed by former Michigan Governor Rick Snyder to the Michigan Pipeline Safety Advisory Board. She currently serves on the Great Lakes Commission, the Michigan Underground Storage Tank Authority, the Land Information Access Association Board of Directors, and the Northern Michigan Area Committee. She also serves on the Environmental Council Board of Directors, rising to its chair from 2022 to 2024. Ms. McKay holds dual degrees in Environmental Studies and Political Science from Michigan State University.

Ms. Rivette has an Environmental Engineering degree from Michigan Technological University. For the stormwater world, she spent over 10 years with the City of Grand Rapids, where she managed their Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) permit. This included revising their stormwater code, reviewing land development permits, and leading the City’s green infrastructure initiatives. She also worked closely with MS4 managers across the state to work jointly on MS4 permit compliance and ensure consistency of programs in West Michigan.

Ms. Isely is a veteran of the West Michigan legal and environmental communities and has held a number of positions in the nonprofit and academic sectors focused on research, policy implementation, and collaboration. She’s served in leadership and as the interim executive director, deputy director, and director of water programs at the West Michigan Environmental Action Council; as project manager for West Michigan Strategic Alliance’s Green Infrastructure Initiative; research associate for the Annis Water Resources Institute at Grand Valley State University; Sea Grant Fellow with the Great Lakes Commission; and litigation attorney for Legal Aid of Western Michigan and the Michigan Migrant Legal Assistance Project, Inc. Ms. Isely has more than 30 years of experience in law, water policy, research, outreach, and public speaking. She holds a J.D. degree from Wayne State University Law School, an M.S. degree in Biology from Grand Valley State University, and a B.S. degree in Finance from the University of Maryland. She is appointed to the Michigan State Waterways Commission and serves on the Community Advisory Group for the PFAS contamination at the various Wolverine Worldwide contaminated sites in Northern Kent County (MI). She has published several academic and technical papers on environmental and collaborative management topics.

An economist focused on the intersection of sustainable watershed management and urban planning, Ms. Viars employs a strategic blend of policy instruments and financial tools to forge innovative solutions for pressing urban water challenges. Rooted in collaboration, her approach prioritizes diverse social and cultural values of nature to foster equitable participation and resource allocation, building both climate resilience and economic prosperity for all communities. Ms. Viars holds both an M.S. degree and a B.S. degree in Economics from the Belk College of Business at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte. She previously served as an adjunct professor in Economics at Grand Valley State University and participates in various regional environmental advisory committees and as a Great Lakes Senior Environmental Leadership Fellow.

Mr. Rempel is the Geospatial Division Manager for ESP and Associates, an engineering, surveying, and planning company with over 750 full time employees and 33 locations across the United States. He oversees the UAS/manned flight, mobile lidar, and pavement mapping groups within ESP’s Headquarter Region out of Fort Mill, SC. Mr. Rempel began his career as an intelligence analyst in the United States Marine Corps working with multiple, remote sensing technologies on national and tactical platforms. He was trained in remote sensing, terrain analysis and photogrammetry at the Defense Mapping Agency and various Department of Defense schools during his service. After transitioning to the private sector in 1997, Mr. Rempel began his civilian career in photogrammetry and by 2007 was managing large-scale lidar and photogrammetry projects across the nation for EarthData (Fugro). He was instrumental in the assessment and selection of the first softcopy photogrammetry systems utilized at EarthData, helping navigate the transition from film to digital mediums. Mr. Rempel co-authored FEMA‘s “Procedure Memorandum 61-Standards for Lidar and other High Quality Digital Topography“ and currently serves as Secretary on the ASPRS Board of Directors. He has worked at ESP and Associates since 2013, managing geospatial services and ESP’s work on USGS lidar projects and the North Carolina Floodplain Mapping Program. Most recently Mr. Rempel has guided the development of photogrammetric workflows for the UAS program at ESP. He is licensed as a Surveyor Photogrammetrist in Virginia, a Professional Photogrammetrist in Oregon, and is an ASPRS Certified Photogrammetrist and Certified Mapping Scientist-Lidar.

Ms. Karen Schuckman is the SME for Remote Sensing and Geospatial Services at RRC Companies, a recognized leader in the international renewable energy industry. She continues to serve as a part-time associate teaching professor of Geography at The Pennsylvania State University, where for 17 years she was the lead faculty for the Graduate Certificate in Remote Sensing and Earth Observation in the Online Geospatial Program. She also serves as the executive director of the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. Prior to her move to teaching, Ms. Schuckman was the geospatial technology leader at URS Corporation (now AECOM) from 2005-2006. From 1995-2005, she was with the EarthData group (now Fugro), where she held several positions including geospatial applications director for EarthData Solutions; senior vice president of EarthData Technologies; and president and general manager of EarthData International of North Carolina. Notable projects in her private sector career include leading the use of remotely sensing imagery in the Hurricane Katrina response, leading lidar acquisition for the first phase of the North Carolina Floodplain Mapping Program, numerous transportation mapping projects for state DOT’s, and technology demonstration projects for NOAA, NASA and the US Department of Transportation. Prior to joining the private sector, Ms. Schuckman worked for the USGS National Mapping Division, in Menlo Park, California. She is a former vice chair of the NOAA Advisory Committee on Commercial Remote Sensing (ACCRES) and a member of the National Research Council Committees on Floodplain Mapping Technologies and FEMA Flood Map Accuracy. She holds an MS degree in Geospatial Information Systems from The Pennsylvania State University, is an ASPRS Certified Photogrammetrist, ASPRS Certified Mapping Scientist – Lidar, and Professional Land Surveyor.

Dr. Zamani previously served as a Unit Chief at the California Department of Water Resources (DWR), Division of Flood Operations, where he led emergency flood response efforts as both Chief and Deputy Chief of Operations. Dr. Zamani has also worked with FEMA, multinational flood insurance firms, and in the private sector as a hydraulics and hydrology engineer, accumulating over 15 years of industry experience. Before entering public service and industry, he was a professor and research scientist at the Manly Hydraulics Laboratory in Sydney, Australia, and a Postdoctoral Fellow at UC San Diego. Dr. Zamani is a contributing member of the ASME V&V 20 Standard Committee on Verification and Validation in Computational Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer and has served on the ASCE Computational Hydraulics Committee since 2011. He has taught numerous undergraduate, graduate, and professional courses at UC Davis, McGill University, UNSW Sydney, Cal Poly, Cal State East Bay, and through ASCE. Dr. Zamani has also served as a subject matter expert in multiple legal cases involving flooding, sediment transport, scour, and river modeling.

Named by Landscape Ontario as 2020 and 2021’s Garden Communicator of the Year, gardening has been Mr. James’ hobby and profession for over 40 years. A graduate of Niagara Parks School of  Horticulture, a Master Gardener, writer, and teacher, he focuses on eco-gardening techniques, which makes sense since he grew up surrounded by nature. He has spoken from the Maritimes to Seattle and landscaped from Nova Scotia to California. Mr. James has had the honor to be part of creating the Ontario Landscape Tree Planting Guide, the Grow-Me-Instead guide, the Ontario Horticultural Apprenticeship Curriculum and the national Red Seal Occupational Standard, and the Master Gardeners Reference Manual. He has participated in chairing the Environmental Stewardship Committee for Landscape Ontario, the Environmental Committee for the Perennial Plant Association, moderating the Master Gardeners of Ontario Facebook page, judging the All-American Selections garden competition and Hamilton’s Monarch Awards. Mr. James has been the Ontario spokesperson for Garden Days Canada and he has appeared on many radio shows and on television and has instructed at the college level for 17 years. He owns ‘Sean James Consulting & Design’.

Mr. Giordanengo is the founder and principal restoration ecologist of AloTerra Restoration Services. He has 33 years of professional and academic experience in ecology, ecological restoration, business, and economics; 23 years of natural resource project management experience; 10 years of natural resource research experience; over 200 publications, oral presentations, articles and technical papers. He has founded and managed several non-profit organizations, and facilitated several complex stakeholder engagement processes with federal, state, local, non-profit, and private entities. Mr. Giordanengo earned his M.S. degree in Rangeland Ecosystem Science from Colorado State University and his B.S. degree from San Diego State University.

Mr. Blumstein works primarily with Alaska native corporations and other private businesses on corporate affairs, real estate transactions, Alaska native law issues, and mergers and acquisitions. His ability to quickly analyze issues and identify legal solutions across a broad range of practice areas is unique. He serves as general counsel to numerous private and public entities in the state of Alaska and represents clients in multimillion-dollar commercial and real estate transactions. In addition, Mr. Blumstein handles litigation related to government contracts, environmental law, antitrust and municipal law matters. He was named 2024 Lawyer of the Year by Best Lawyers for Native American Law. Mr. Blumstein earned his J.D. degree from Boston University.

Ms. Williams has been actively involved in conservation and sustainable community issues for over 40 years. She received her B.A. degree from Pomona College, summa cum laude, with a concentration in Biology and Economics. Subsequently she was graduated from Harvard Law School, with honors, and was the co-founder of and co-editor-in-chief of the Harvard Environmental Law Review. After serving in the Department of Interior’s Solicitors Honors Program in Washington D.C., Ms. Williams  represented the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Alaska. Between 1981 and 1994, she practiced law, and was the executive director of the Alaska Consumer Advocacy Program and of the Alaska Lung Association (with an emphasis on reducing air pollution), while serving on many boards and commissions, including the Municipal Health Commission (chair of the Environmental Health Committee) and as chair of the non-profit environmental litigation firm Trustees for Alaska. In 1994, Ms. Williams received a Presidential appointment, and became the Special Assistant to the Secretary of Interior for Alaska, in which position she advised the Secretary about managing over 220 million acres of national lands in Alaska and working with Alaska tribes and others associated with the Department’s broad natural and cultural resource jurisdiction. She also was a trustee on the Exxon Valdez Trustee Council and other boards. Her public service work was recognized with multiple honors. Ms. Williams then served as the executive director of the Alaska Conservation Foundation, winning many awards in that role and helping to achieve numerous public policy victories for the environment and indigenous peoples. During her tenure, Readers Digest named Alaska Conservation Foundation as one of the 12 Best Charities in the nation. Subsequently, Ms. Williams became president of Alaska Conservation Solutions, an organization devoted to addressing climate change. In her various roles, Ms. Williams received many awards, including the first “Spirit of Defenders Award for Citizen Advocacy” from Defenders of Wildlife. After residing in Alaska for over 37 years, she moved back to California, and among other projects created the widely used Public Lands Website: “50 Great Public Land Destinations – Santa Barbara and Beyond.” She also serves as a columnist, consultant, active volunteer and a Commissioner on the Goleta Parks and Recreation Commission. Ms. Williams has published scores of law review articles, opeds and other articles, and she has been featured in local, state and national media (including 60 Minutes, the New York Times, the Washington Post and BBC). Together with her husband and her son, she appreciates, enjoys and celebrates living in Santa Barbara County, teaching at the University of California Santa Barbara, and exploring public lands and waters throughout the nation.

Mr. Ray Meyer brings an extensive background of over 50 years in the field of Geotechnical Engineering, Construction Materials Engineering and Testing, and Forensic Investigations. His work is centered on challenges related to expansive and soft soils, soil-structure interactions, and the testing of construction materials for large, complex projects in the public and private sectors.

In his role as an Adjunct Professor in the College of Engineering at the University of Houston, Mr. Meyer instructs courses on Construction Materials Testing, and Soils Mechanics and Foundation Engineering. This teaching role has refined his ability to demystify complex engineering concepts for individuals with little to no technical background, making him adept at conveying ideas to non-engineers and those with non-engineering backgrounds.

Mr. Meyer’s career spans a wide range of civil engineering projects, where he has applied his geotechnical expertise to design and analyze structures such as bridges, waterfront structures, deep foundations (e.g., piles, auger cast piers), slabs, pavements, runways, channels, levees, and drainage systems. His work includes critical aspects of industrial paving, airport runways, side slope stability, groundwater drainage, and complex construction scenarios like cofferdams and wet wells and earth retaining structures.

Additionally, Mr. Meyer is highly experienced in geotechnical forensic investigations, which involve analyzing structure issues such as foundation failures, pavement distress, slope stability, bulkhead and pier performance, and site moisture problems. His forensic expertise also addresses issues stemming from soil movement due to environmental factors like drought and rainfall, underground utility failures, and interactions between foundations and site vegetation.

Throughout his career, Mr. Meyer has served as a subject matter expert in disputes regarding foundation and pavement performance, making him a valuable resource for understanding and resolving complex geotechnical issues in civil engineering projects.

Mr. Cutler enjoys representing individuals and businesses in all types of lawsuits including construction, business disputes, workers’ compensation, and personal injury. Before joining Cutler Law Firm, he practiced at a large law firm, and he has significant experience handling complex high-dollar litigation. Mr. Cutler prides himself on giving straightforward and understandable advice to his clients, aggressively advocating for them, and getting excellent results for a fair price. He prides himself on the personal relationships he builds with his clients. Mr. Cutler and his wife Gretta live in the Des Moines area with their three young children. When not at the office, he enjoys hiking, biking, fishing, camping with his family, and music. Mr. Cutler is actively involved in the Iowa legal community, including the Iowa Defense Counsel Association, Iowa Workers Compensation Advisory Committee, Polk County Bar Association, Iowa Association of Justice, Iowa Bar Association, and Association of General Contractors.

Dr. Gregory H. Nail is a professor in the Engineering Department at the University of Tennessee at Martin where he teaches a variety of courses including fluid mechanics, hydraulics and hydrology, and hydraulic and hydrologic modeling. He holds a professional engineer’s license based on having passed both the Civil and Mechanical discipline-specific exams. Prior to coming to UT-Martin in 2002, he worked as a research hydraulic engineer for the United States Army Corp of Engineers for 11 years. He continues to be professionally active by working summer internships, carrying on consulting work, supervising senior design projects, and regularly delivering continuation programs, all oriented around computational hydraulic and computational hydrologic modeling. Dr. Nail earned his B.M.E. degree from Auburn University and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Texas A&M University.

Ms. Keefer, MS has been a restoration biologist for the Stream + Wetlands Foundation (S+W) since June 2020, and she has eight years of experience working in the natural resources field. She is responsible for preparing and overseeing coordination of S+W’s mitigation project submittals to the Interagency Review Team. During her time at S+W, she has been instrumental in the submission and approval of over 20 in-lieu fee (ILF), mitigation bank, and permitee responsible projects. To date, the S+W ILF program is fully in compliance with all its advance credit sales obligations. Prior to joining the S+W team, Ms. Keefer worked for a northeast Ohio environmental consulting firm where she primarily worked on mitigation projects. She also worked at two different environmental test laboratories performing soil and water analyses using sophisticated equipment. During her formal education, she conducted a rigorous research study in native species revegetation and seed ecology. Ms. Keefer published her findings as the primary author of a peer reviewed research paper that appeared in the Journal of Rangeland Ecology and Management.

Mr. Martin has worked with compensatory mitigation policy and evaluation of mitigation proposals for 20 years. He assisted non-profits in evaluating potential mitigation projects and consults for the Ecological Restoration Business Association (ERBA) and the private sector. Mr. Martin co-authored EPA’s Mitigation and In-Lieu Fee Program Review Workbooks and checklists. He has collaborated with ERBA and the Environmental Policy Innovation Center (EPIC) on quantitative and qualitative analyses of mitigation bank approvals. Mr. Martin is currently working with two In Lieu Fee (ILF) programs; the Coastal Virginia Conservancy and the Florida Keys Restoration Fund. He retired from the Corps’ Institute for Water Resources (IWR) as a mitigation specialist. Mr. Martin’s work at IWR included national implementation of the Regulatory In-lieu fee and Bank Information Tracking System (RIBITS), teaching aspects of compensatory mitigation policy and practices to Corps staff and other agencies, and development of tools to improve compensatory mitigation. He co-authored handbooks on financial assurances and site protection. Prior to joining IWR, Mr. Martin worked for the Army Corps’ Norfolk District Regulatory Branch where he participated in delineations, permitting, enforcement, and compensatory mitigation. He oversaw development of 7 commercial mitigation banks, a state-wide in-lieu fee program instrument, and local compensatory mitigation tools.

With over 35 years of experience in wetlands with private industry and NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service, Ms. Stedman has worked in a wide range of wetlands. As a wetland consultant working in New York and New Jersey she prepared permit applications, conducted environmental reviews, and designed compensatory mitigation projects. During her lengthy federal career she represented NOAA on the White House Wetlands Working Group, the Interagency Coastal Wetlands Working Group, and many other interagency cooperative efforts. As a wetland expert for NOAA she wrote regulations, policy, and guidance related to wetland conservation and compensatory mitigation, including the NOAA Mitigation Policy. In cooperation with the US Fish and Wildlife Service she has co-authored three landmark reports on wetland loss trends in coastal watersheds.

Mr. Thomas has more than 26 years of extensive consulting experience specializing in natural resource studies, federal and state authorities having jurisdiction for environmental permitting and compliance, acquisition support, natural resource mitigation, transportation, mining, industrial, municipal, energy, private and public sector clients, in support of various projects for commercial, federal, state, and local entities. Through trusted relationships with clients and authorities having jurisdiction for environmental permitting and compliance, he has built partnerships to deliver on large, complex natural resource projects. These partnerships have led to financial savings, increased community engagement for stakeholders, and allowed for long-term sustainable practices for clients. Mr. Thomas builds and champions multi-disciplinary teams to perform natural resource assessments, impacts, and design full Permittee Responsible Mitigation (PRM) or Mitigation Banking Instrument (MBI) plans for natural resource projects that include Clean Water Act (CWA) compliance (section 404 permitting with the US Army Corps of Engineers [USACE]), CWA Section 401 state water quality permitting and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) permitting. He has also focused on designing and permitting habitat enhancements for federal and state-listed special-status species. In compliance with the Endangered Species Act, he is skilled in Threatened or Endangered Species surveys, consultations with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and local, state, and federal commenting agencies for take permits. 

Mr. Cunningham joined Donaldson Stewart in 2021 as an associate and has been actively engaged in family law and juvenile litigation in Maricopa, Pinal and Yavapai Counties. He focuses his practice on family court mediation, litigation and helping survivors of domestic violence navigate the family court. Prior to joining Donaldson Stewart, Mr. Cunningham spent nearly six years with the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office as a prosecutor completing more than 25 felony jury trials and countless bench trials. His last two years with the County Attorney’s Office were spent in the Family Violence Unit prosecuting cases involving homicide, child abuse and domestic violence.

Mr. Diener owns and operates Diener Law, PLLC, a boutique family law firm located in Prescott, Arizona. Prior to establishing Diener Law in January 2020, he was an attorney at the Prescott law firm of Musgrove Drutz Kack & Flack, P.C. for more than eight years. At Musgrove Drutz, Mr. Diener ran the firm’s family law practice and also practiced in the areas of probate, estate planning, landlord-tenant law, and general civil litigation. Prior to joining Musgrove Drutz, he was a sole practitioner in Salem, Oregon, where he focused primarily on family law, criminal defense, and labor and employment law. Before going back to law school in his early 30s, he was a teacher for several years at Skyline Center, a large, urban public high school in Dallas, Texas. At Skyline, Mr. Diener taught English and coached the academic decathlon team and was nominated for teacher of the year multiple times. As a teacher, he learned that people learn, think, and process information in a variety of ways, and he adapted his teaching style to meet the needs of each individual student. Mr. Diener uses that same approach in guiding his clients through the legal issues confronting them. As an advocate, he not only draws on his teaching background, but he also draws on his experience as a professional writer and as a seasoned public speaker to champion his clients’ positions in contested family law matters. Mr. Diener enjoys sharing his knowledge and insight with his fellow legal professionals. Over the years, he has presented at CLEs sponsored by the State Bar of Arizona, Yavapai County Bar Association, National Business Institute, National Bank of Arizona, and the local ranch of the National Association for Legal Support Professionals. He earned his B.A. degree from Texas A&M University and his J.D. degree from Willamette University College of Law.

Ms. Rahaman is a Maricopa County Court Commissioner.

Mr. Sapelli focuses his practice primarily on domestic relations. He offers experience representing clients in all family law-related matters. These include divorce, with or without children, and all issues that may arise in both types of cases. Mr. Sapelli effectively and compassionately advances his clients’ interests in matters involving legal decision-making, parenting time, child support, division of property and debts, spousal maintenance, and other issues. Mr. Sapelli also has experience in complex divorce matters including complex custody and property issues. Aside from divorce matters, his practice also focuses on paternity issues and third-party rights issues, such as grandparents’ rights, step-parents’ rights, and other non-parental rights for children. Giancarlo attended The S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah. In law school, Mr. Sapelli was the assistant to the editor of the Utah Journal of Family Law. He earned a Bachelor’s in Political Science, with a History minor from the University of Arizona. Mr. Sapelli also has a Master’s in Educational Leadership from Northern Arizona University, where he graduated with distinction. After an eight-year term of teaching junior high school, Mr. Sapelli’s love for family and children inspired him to work in family law. That same passion continues to inspire him today.

Mr. Caccavella’s journey into soil biology began eight years ago, driven by a deep fascination with mycology. This initial curiosity soon evolved into a broader passion for permaculture, regenerative agriculture, and holistic soil health. In 2022, he enrolled in Dr. Elaine Ingham’s Soil Food Web School, earning certification as a laboratory technician specializing in the biological analysis of soil food web microorganisms. Through Salem Soil Solutions, he operates a cutting-edge biological testing laboratory, providing comprehensive soil assessments and a diverse range of biologically active soil amendments, including compost, vermicompost, and organic mineral amendments. Mr. Caccavella’s applied work serves private homeowners, farmers, and landscapers throughout the Piedmont Triad of North Carolina. By generating valuable soil testing data, he tailors precise amendment applications to meet the specific needs of each client, ensuring healthier soils and more resilient landscapes. Mr. Caccavella’s dedication to soil health is rooted in a mission to cultivate thriving, sustainable environments for future generations.

Mr. Farrell has over 40 years of experience before county supervisors, planning commissions and boards of zoning appeals in matters of real estate development, land use and environmental regulation, including rezoning, site plans and wetlands approvals. He has represented landowners and developers in innumerable land use and environmental cases and controversies including comprehensive planning, infrastructure financing and bonding and microbial, asbestos and lead contamination issues. Among those he has represented are the applicant in the largest rezoning ever filed in Northern Virginia which included 26 million square feet of nonresidential space and 2,266 dwelling units. Mr. Farrell also represented dozens of plaintiff/landowners in the Fairfax County C & I and both Loudoun County down-zoning litigations. His experience on behalf of lenders and borrowers in transactions involving real estate acquisition, construction and development loans is extensive. This representation has included the acquisition, development, leasing and sale of mixed-use communities, condominium and residential projects, commercial and retail properties, the sale of REO, negotiation of workouts, and foreclosure of non-performing loans. As the former general counsel for the Fairfax County Democrats (“FCDC”), he has extensive expertise in Virginia election law, having represented FCDC during the 2013 Attorney General’s recount and in litigation versus the local and State Electoral Boards. During 2017 he represented one of the candidates in the House recounts and served as general counsel to the successful Lieutenant Governor’s campaign. Mr. Farrell’s environmental law and regulatory background is considerable and includes matters involving lender liability, CERCLA, RCRA, Clean Air, asbestos, lead, underground storage tanks, wetlands regulation and the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act.

Mr. Fox founded Fox Land Surveying, PC in 2015. He was initially registered as a land surveyor in the Commonwealth of Virginia in 2007 and has worked with a wide variety of clients from developers and contractors, to real estate agents and homeowners. The primary goal of all Fox Land Surveying projects is to provide clients with a relationship in which they feel invested and empowered, as well as leaving them with the satisfaction that their expectations have been met and that their project has been completed on-time and on-budget. Fox Land Surveying, PC, can provide the following services in-house: Mortgage Surveys, ALTA/ACSM Surveys, Boundary Surveys, Topographic Surveys, Residential Site Plans, FEMA Evaluation Certificates, and Subdivision Plats. Additionally, through relationships with other local companies Fox Land Surveying, PC, can provide a full scope of engineering and development services including subdivision design and development.

Mr. Peeples focuses his practice in the areas of maritime and riparian law, construction law, worker’s compensation, and national security. A prolific author, he has written articles on Virginia aquaculture and maritime law, including the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act, the Virginia Primary Sand Dune and Beaches Act, and the Virginia Tidal Wetlands Act. Mr. Peeples has been published in a number of professional journals on a variety of topics, ranging from Virginia real property law to the Anti-Terrorism Act. He is a member of the firm’s waterfront law practice group, and he writes blog articles regularly on the group’s website devoted to waterfront (riparian) property rights law, maritime and admiralty law, and environmental law. He has also taught CLE courses on the topic of riparian rights throughout the Commonwealth. Before joining the firm in 2018, Mr. Peeples retired from the U.S. Navy after 22 years of service as a pilot. He completed seven combat deployments and served as the Commanding Officer of a helicopter squadron. His last assignment was Lead Rotational Planner for the Joint Staff, where he provided strategic advice to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and the Secretary of Defense.

Professor Opfer teaches coursework in construction management, cost control, cost estimating, structural design, and facility systems (MEP design). He is also an industry consultant on design and construction issues, construction safety/defects, methods/materials, and production issues. Professor Opfer has been a consultant to numerous ENR Top 600 Design Firms, Top 400 Contractors, and Fortune Top 500 Corporations. He received his B.S. in Building Theory, B.A. in Business, and B.A. degree in Economics, all from Washington State University. Subsequently he received his M.S. in Management (MBA) from Purdue University and his P.D. in Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Professor Opfer has been involved as an estimator, lead estimator, chief estimator, and estimating consultant on billions of dollars of construction projects over his career. 

Ms. Holdridge, LEED Fellow, EIT, Associate AIA is the Sustainability Director at Lake|Flato Architects. Leveraging her background in mechanical engineering, she directs all Lake|Flato teams in establishing sustainability goals. Ms. Holdridge devises strategies and systems to realize those goals under programs such as LEED, the 2030 Challenge, and the Living Building Challenge. She works closely with teams to evaluate passive systems and performs energy modeling throughout the design process. Ms. Holdridge received a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin and a Master of Business Administration degree from The University of Texas at San Antonio.

Mr. MacDonald is a Fellow of the American Concrete Institute (ACI) and a member of ASTM, ASCE, the Concrete Society and Professional Engineers Ontario. His commitment to ACI includes a role as the past chair of the 132-Responsibility in Concrete Construction and chair of subcommittee 130-0B Production/Transport/Construction and 302 Construction of Concrete Floors. Further, Mr. MacDonald is a member of ACI committees 211-Proportioning Concrete Mixtures, 212-Chemical Admixtures, 223-Shrinkage-Compensating Concrete, and 232-Fly Ash in Concrete and 318 sub-A. In addition to his concrete consulting work, he is an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin-Stout in the construction management program where he teaches courses in concrete, reinforced concrete design and heavy construction. Mr. MacDonald brings considerable experience in field and lab concrete, quality control and problem-solving to his students and clients. He earned a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering as well as master’s and Ph.D. degrees in Engineering Materials from the University of Windsor in Ontario. Quality of concrete remains one of his interests. Mr. MacDonald is heavily involved in ACI certification with the Aggregate and Ready Mixed Concrete Association of Minnesota.

Ms. Napoli is a fire protection and life safety consultant who thrives in a fast-paced, collaborative environment. Working with a variety of clients, project types, and consultants, she enjoys that every day provides a new challenge to solve, and no two projects are the same. Ms. Napoli mostly focuses her consulting efforts on residential projects including accessibility code analysis. Her background in Architectural Engineering provides a unique perspective on how clients come to decisions during the design process which allows her to communicate seamlessly with architects. As a growing project manager, Ms. Napoli is excited to continue developing her clients to provide quality, project-specific deliverables.

As a licensed professional fire protection engineer, Mr. Schmidt is a Sr Project Manager at Code Red Consultants with a decade of experience solving complex fire and life safety code issues on buildings ranging from small scale office tenant improvements to high-rise hospital medical complexes. He has demonstrated this broad multi-project type and market sector Fire Protection and Life Safety Consulting experience in jurisdictions across the country from California to Massachusetts.

Through his dedication, creative problem-solving skills, and outside-the-box thinking, it is Mr. Schmidt’s mission and commitment to work closely with the design team to enable and achieve the team’s vision for the project, while keeping life safety as a priority. Mr. Schmidt’s expertise includes building and fire code consulting, fire protection and fire alarm systems consulting (suppression, alarm & smoke control), accessibility, and performance-based design.

Mr. Dunn is a sole practitioner an assistant professor, adjunct at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and the former host of a radio show about architecture and politics called Buildings on Air. His practice is deeply rooted in his home neighborhood of Bridgeport, and emphasizes bringing new aesthetic strategies and philosophical inquiry to common construction techniques and materials. He earned his M. Arch degree from Illinois Institute of Technology, College of Architecture, in May 2015 and his B.S. degree in Architecture, from Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Architecture, in August 2012.

After working in engineering and design management with award-winning structural and construction firms for nearly 10 years, Mr. Woods founded his own firm, Woods Residential Engineering & Inspection. Mr. Woods is a licensed professional engineer in multiple states, and he holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Civil Engineering (with a focus on structures) from Washington University in St. Louis. He has earned “Accredited Professional” status from the U.S. Green Building Council. Mr. Woods is a member of the Woods Educational Enrichment Foundation, The National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) (director of programs for the Chicago professional chapter), The American Society of Civil Engineers, and the Structural Engineers Association of Illinois.

Named by Landscape Ontario as 2020 and 2021’s Garden Communicator of the Year, gardening has been Mr. James’ hobby and profession for over 40 years. A graduate of Niagara Parks School of  Horticulture, a Master Gardener, writer, and teacher, he focuses on eco-gardening techniques, which makes sense since he grew up surrounded by nature. He has spoken from the Maritimes to Seattle and landscaped from Nova Scotia to California. Mr. James has had the honor to be part of creating the Ontario Landscape Tree Planting Guide, the Grow-Me-Instead guide, the Ontario Horticultural Apprenticeship Curriculum and the national Red Seal Occupational Standard, and the Master Gardeners Reference Manual. He has participated in chairing the Environmental Stewardship Committee for Landscape Ontario, the Environmental Committee for the Perennial Plant Association, moderating the Master Gardeners of Ontario Facebook page, judging the All-American Selections garden competition and Hamilton’s Monarch Awards. Mr. James has been the Ontario spokesperson for Garden Days Canada and he has appeared on many radio shows and on television and has instructed at the college level for 17 years. He owns ‘Sean James Consulting & Design’.

Mr. Kurdi has been serving the electrical industry for over 30 years as an engineer, electrician and trainer. Mr. Kurdi has engineered (designed, specified and analyzed) government buildings (police stations, sheriff’s offices, fire stations, city halls, court houses, libraries, and jails), housing buildings (affordable, senior, assistant, memory care, adaptable use and student), hospitals, data centers, sport arenas, commercial office buildings, water/wastewater treatment plants and electric utility distribution and substations. Mr. Kurdi’s experience as an electrician includes estimating, laying out, wiring, installing and maintaining electrical systems for residential and commercial buildings. He has served as an engineer on construction projects in numerous locations in Texas, including San Antonio, Arlington, Bryan and Manor. He has developed and taught thousands of seminar hours over the years at Dunwoody College of Technology, Minnesota Electrical Association, IEEE and others. The seminars include NEC Code, electrician’s exam, MV system, electrical wiring, apprenticeship, estimation, electrical design, Revit MEP, and project management. Mr. Kurdi holds a BS degree in Electrical Engineering and a master’s degree in Adult Education. He is a registered electrical engineer (PE) in 37 states, including Minnesota and Texas. He holds a Class A master electrician license from the State of Minnesota. Currently, Mr. Kurdi is a senior electrical engineer and department head at BKV Group (A&E Firm with offices in Chicago, Dallas, DC & Minneapolis). Mr. Kurdi served as NCEL Board Member (Jan 2021 – present), IAEI MN Chapter president (Jan 2018 – Jan 2023), chair of IEEE Twin Cities PES/IAS (Aug 2019 – Jan 2023), Minnesota State Board of Electricity member (Jan 2018 – Jan 2020).

Mr. Kurdi has been serving the electrical industry for over 30 years as an engineer, electrician and trainer. Mr. Kurdi has engineered (designed, specified and analyzed) government buildings (police stations, sheriff’s offices, fire stations, city halls, court houses, libraries, and jails), housing buildings (affordable, senior, assistant, memory care, adaptable use and student), hospitals, data centers, sport arenas, commercial office buildings, water/wastewater treatment plants and electric utility distribution and substations. Mr. Kurdi’s experience as an electrician includes estimating, laying out, wiring, installing and maintaining electrical systems for residential and commercial buildings. He has served as an engineer on construction projects in numerous locations in Texas, including San Antonio, Arlington, Bryan and Manor. He has developed and taught thousands of seminar hours over the years at Dunwoody College of Technology, Minnesota Electrical Association, IEEE and others. The seminars include NEC Code, electrician’s exam, MV system, electrical wiring, apprenticeship, estimation, electrical design, Revit MEP, and project management. Mr. Kurdi holds a BS degree in Electrical Engineering and a master’s degree in Adult Education. He is a registered electrical engineer (PE) in 37 states, including Minnesota and Texas. He holds a Class A master electrician license from the State of Minnesota. Currently, Mr. Kurdi is a senior electrical engineer and department head at BKV Group (A&E Firm with offices in Chicago, Dallas, DC & Minneapolis). Mr. Kurdi served as NCEL Board Member (Jan 2021 – present), IAEI MN Chapter president (Jan 2018 – Jan 2023), chair of IEEE Twin Cities PES/IAS (Aug 2019 – Jan 2023), Minnesota State Board of Electricity member (Jan 2018 – Jan 2020).