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Mr. Banks is the principal attorney at Banks & Associates, PLLC, a Houston-based law firm focused on meeting the needs of government and construction contractors throughout Texas. He is a trusted advisor for licensed professionals, CEOs and managers in construction firms, and government contractors. Mr. Banks was licensed as a CPA in 2003 and has more than 20 years of experience as a lead accountant and CFO for successful government contractors. He earned his B.B.A. degree with a double major in Accounting and Finance from the Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston, and secured his J.D. degree from South Texas College of Law. Mr. Banks is a member of the State Bar of Texas, the Association of Corporate Counsel and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). Mr. Banks is a member of the Construction Law Section of the State Bar of Texas.

Samuel J. King is a partner at McCathern, Shokouhi, Evans. Mr. King is an experienced civil litigator and trial lawyer. Based in the firm’s Frisco office, Mr. King represents businesses, insurers, and individuals in complex civil litigation across Texas. His practice focuses on high-exposure personal injury, wrongful death, premises liability, and property loss disputes. He represents clients through every stage of litigation, from pre-suit investigation and discovery through mediation and trial.

Mr. King was born and raised in Dallas County. He graduated from Irving’s MacArthur High School in 1991. He earned a Bachelor of Arts from Texas Tech University in 1997 and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Houston Law Center in 2000. Mr. King has been licensed by the State Bar of Texas since 2000 and is admitted to practice before the United States District Courts for the Northern and Eastern Districts of Texas. He is a member of the Texas Bar College, an honorary society recognizing commitment to continuing legal education and professional excellence.

Mr. Mazzola graduated from the University of Houston in 2006 with a B.S. in Kinesiology with a focus in Sport Administration. While at the University of Houston, He was accepted into the Sales Excellence Institute at the Bauer College of Business and obtained an advanced certificate in Professional Selling. After graduation, he went to work for a major insurance carrier for three years before embarking on law school. In 2012, he obtained a law degree from St. Mary’s School of Law in San Antonio, Texas. During law school, Mr. Mazzola served as a senator for the Student Bar Association, chair of the Young Alumni-Law Student Chapter, participated in numerous mock trial competitions, and was a member of the External Advocacy Program’s Competition Negotiations team. In addition, Mr. Mazzola was a staff writer on The Scholar: St. Mary’s Law Review on Race on Social Justice where his article on how the law often criminalized victims of human trafficking received Credit with Honors. Because of his experience as a staff writer, he worked as a TA in the Legal Research and Writing program.

Brian C. Steward is a civil trial attorney with the Law Firm of Brian C. Steward, P.L.L.C. Mr. Steward is Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Mr. Steward is also a Member of the American Board of Trial Advocates. These are honors reflective of over three decades of complex civil litigation in Texas, Louisiana, New Jersey and New Mexico.

Mr. Steward was admitted to the State Bar of Texas in 1990, as well as the Western, Southern, Northern and Eastern Districts of the Federal Court system in 1992. Mr. Steward was admitted to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in 1994. Although a civil trial lawyer, he has argued numerous cases to the Fourth Court of Appeals.

Over the years, Mr. Steward has handled products liability, medical malpractice and business litigation matters through trial. In addition to his trial practice, Mr. Steward serves as a certified mediator who has assisted litigants since the inception of the Bexar County mediation system in 1992. Unlike many mediators, he remains actively engaged in complex litigation, regularly evaluating cases, preparing for trial, and advising clients on risk and resolution. This ongoing, hands-on experience allows him to approach mediation with practical insight into the challenges faced by both counsel and their clients.

Mr. Steward has also been involved with the San Antonio and Texas legal communities. He has presided over the Medical Legal Liaison Committee of the San Antonio Bar Association on three separate occasions. In 2021, the San Antonio Bar Association recognized Mr. Steward with the Distinguished Service Award due to his work with various organizations in Texas, North Carolina and Massachusetts. He was also elected to chair the State Bar of Texas Grievance Committee District 10. He currently serves as a Director of the San Antonio Trial Lawyers Association and is a former Director of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association.

His dedication and hard work have been recognized by his peers as evidenced by his selection as a Texas Super Lawyer (2016 to present) and Scene in San Antonio’s Best Lawyers since 2006.

Mr. Steward is an active supporter of the continuing legal education efforts. He has been a frequent contributor and presenter to these efforts since 1999. In 2015, he was tapped to serve as the Course Director of the Advanced Personal Injury Trial Seminar in 2017. He has also presented at the Texas Trial Lawyers, San Antonio Trial Lawyers, Corpus Christi Bar Association and other legal groups since 2015. He is an active member of the William S. Session’s Chapter of the American Inns of Court as well as mentor programs with St. Mary’s School of Law.

Mr. Blakeman is a Principal and Managing Partner at CARBO. Before joining the firm, Mr. Blakeman worked in North Carolina, gaining experience in park, commercial, institutional, and municipal projects. Over 25 years, he has developed a broad knowledge base in detail design, large-scale site planning, and master planning. His well-rounded approach to the design process provides thoughtful design solutions. As a Partner, Mr. Blakeman provides team leadership throughout the design process, fosters positive client relationships, develops conceptual themes, and ensures quality implementation. He facilitates efficient and effective communication between workgroups, clients, and multi-disciplinary team members. He is also responsible for business development in the public and private sectors within the region, working to grow the firm’s presence. 

Mr. Blakeman earned a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from the Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture at Louisiana State University in 1999. He is a Registered Landscape Architect in the States of Louisiana, Mississippi, & Florida, and a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects. Mr. Blakeman has also been active in the local ASLA chapter, serving on the Executive Committee from 2006 to 2019.

Mr. Geismar is a Landscape Architect with cross-discipline education in architecture. This broadened perspective lends itself well to complex urban design and place-making, where multiple cultural, social, natural and historical influences often intersect in the built environment. He regularly collaborates with civic groups, community stakeholders, and multi-disciplinary design and technical teams to develop enduring connections between people and places. As an adjunct professor at the University of Cincinnati’s DAAP, Mr. Geismar co-founded the Vacant Lots: Occupied (VLO) platform to align private, public, and academic collaborators to support local communities in re-envisioning the best and highest use of under-utilized parcels. The program has received a number of local and state awards for its effective planning and transformation of underutilized parcels for maximum social and environmental impact. Further, Mr. Geismar’s strong visual communication skills help convey complex conceptual and technical ideas to broad and diverse audiences. His compelling visualization has a proven track record of garnering community support and assisting fundraising.

Mr. Maung-Douglass joined CARBO in June of 2017 after completing a 2-year research and design fellowship at the LSU Coastal Sustainability Studio.  Mr. Maung-Douglass received a Master of Landscape Architecture degree from Temple University in 2013 and Bachelor of Science degrees in Biology and Chemistry from Roger Williams University in 2005. 

Before moving to Louisiana, Mr. Maung-Douglass was an intern with Biohabitats, Inc. in Baltimore, MD.  For this internship, Mr. Maung-Douglass was tasked with the design, construction, and operation of a small-scale wetland treatment system that would filter water from Baltimore Harbor.  While there, Mr. Maung-Douglass also worked on various other ecological restoration and landscape design projects. 

During his time at the Coastal Sustainability Studio, Mr. Maung-Douglass worked on the Changing Course design competition, the design of an interactive coastal Louisiana exhibit for the Center for River Studies, the creation of visualizations for the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, and a range of in-house projects related to coastal Louisiana and the August 2016 flood. 

Mr. Maung-Douglass is a certified Master Naturalist through the Louisiana Master Naturalist Association and is also an active member of the Capital Area Native Plant Society. 

Ms. Norval received her Bachelor of Landscape Architecture degree from Louisiana State University in 2013.  Since graduation, Ms. Norval has gained professional experience on projects across southern Louisiana and has worked closely with various suburban and rural municipalities gaining skills in community engagement.  She approaches each project with an emphasis on designing with the community while fostering environmentally sustainable methods and practices.  Her active projects range from universally inclusive neighborhood playgrounds to large-scale stormwater parks.  Ms. Norval is also an active advocate for her profession and has served on the executive committee of the Louisiana Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects. 

Throughout college and internships, she has had the privilege of traveling locally and abroad to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the direct implications of design within a community.  As a southeastern Louisiana native, she has a deep appreciation for the culture that has evolved from our dynamic coastal landscape.  She understands the need for creative design in the face of climate change and has worked extensively on stormwater management projects at varying scales. 

Ms. Norval also maintains an interest in Louisiana native and naturalized plants and local recycled materials as they are used in stormwater management practices and coastal sustainability. 

Mr. Searns has a four-decade history of visualizing, planning, and getting trails and greenway projects built. He was project director of Denver’s Platte River and Mary Carter Greenways, both national-award-winning projects. He helped plan the Grand Canyon National Park Greenway, played a key role on the Memphis Wolf River Greenway, and authored the Commerce City, CO, Walk, Bike, Fit Plan. He has written for Planning, Landscape Architecture, LA China, and American Trails magazines and has served as editor-in-chief of Trails and Beyond magazine. He chaired American Trails and was a founder of The World Trails Network as well as being a delegate to the America’s Great Outdoors White House conclave. His current book is Beyond Greenways: The Next Step For City Trails and Walking Routes, published in 2023 by Island Press. This book was chosen as one of THE DIRT’s (American Society of Landscape Architects) 10 best books of 2023. He resides, writes, hikes, and bikes near Denver, Colorado.

Mr. Whittaker has 28 years of experience in landscape architectural design and planning. His professional philosophy and skills include the integration of sustainable design, public process, community building, cultural resources, and art. As a lead project designer, Mr. Whittaker has led many sustainability and regenerative design initiatives both within his firm and in the Greater Cincinnati region. He has worked on several LEED projects and has been a strong regional advocate for the Living Building Challenge. He has participated in site projects from conceptual design through design details and construction drawings, and he has played an instrumental role in creating innovative technical and aesthetically compelling solutions to stormwater management challenges.

Donald R. Housley Sr., P.L.S. is a Pennsylvania Registered Professional Land Surveyor with extensive experience in land surveying, land development, subdivision planning, and municipal plan review. His professional work has included reviewing subdivision and land development plans for compliance with municipal zoning and Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance (SALDO) requirements, including lot configurations, easements, monuments, survey documentation, and other technical requirements affecting the approval and recording of plans.

Mr. Housley is actively involved with the Pennsylvania Society of Land Surveyors (PSLS) and serves as a State Director for its Southwest Chapter. In addition to his surveying experience, he has personal experience in property development and has been a licensed Pennsylvania real estate professional since 2006. His combined background in surveying, land development, municipal review, and real estate provides a practical perspective on the technical and regulatory issues involved in Pennsylvania subdivision and platting.

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. Krolewski is a licensed landscape architect (PLA CA #4347) and founder of Fogline Studio, with more than 30 years of practice across the San Francisco Bay Area. Her work spans affordable and market-rate multifamily housing, parks and public spaces, K-12 educational campuses, and civic environments, with particular depth in on-structure design which includes courtyards over parking decks as well as roof deck spaces.

Before founding Fogline Studio, Ms. Krolewski was a Principal at PGAdesign, where she spearheaded the firm’s transition in 2010 from AutoCAD to Revit, leading staff training, standards development, and workflow redesign firmwide.

Her built work includes award-winning multifamily communities such as Lume & Vasara at Menlo Park both integrating swimming pools and resident amenities directly over parking structures, and the San Francisco Bay Area’s first all-inclusive playground, the Rotary PlayGarden. Ms. Krolewski is a Certified Playground Safety Inspector, ReScape-certified rater, and an active ASLA member serving as a Small Business PPN Leadership Delegate.

Ms. Krolewski brings a rare combination to the classroom: the technical fluency of a Principal landscape architect who has designed and managed construction administration on complex, multi-consultant projects, and the clarity of an instructor who has already led an entire firm through a transition from AutoCAD to Revit.

Mr. Kwiatkowski has over 25 years of experience in the field. He’s a certified professional ecologist (CE) and fluvial geomorphologist, who has collected and analyzed data on more than 1,000 miles of river and stream and contributed to stormwater best management practice manuals, addressing the design of ecosystem restoration projects, green infrastructure planning, water quality improvement, and habitat reconstruction. Mr. Kwiatkowski has assisted numerous clients, including non-profit organizations, municipalities, park districts, and government agencies, with the planning, design, and installation of restoration projects on a variety of scopes and scales. His day-to-day professional responsibilities include project management, public outreach, stream assessment, data analysis and calculations, restoration design, and construction oversight.  

Mr. Brauer has designed more than 50 new courses and remodeled more than 80 during his golf course architecture career, starting in his native Chicago before moving to Arlington, Texas. He is also a prolific author, writing a monthly column for Golf Course Industry magazine and serving as lead author on Designs on a Better Golf Course: Practical Answers to Common Questions for Green Committees for the ASGCA Foundation. He has taught golf course design at his alma mater and, now retired from active practice, serves as Director of Outreach for ASGCA, working on behalf of members and the industry at large, including support for Foundation initiatives.

Jennifer Buckman has more than 20 years of experience representing public agencies and private clients on water and land use issues involving the federal and state Endangered Species Acts, federal reclamation and other water supply laws, and the California Environmental Quality Act and the National Environmental Policy Act. She also has extensive administrative law experience and has negotiated complex matters, such as the San Joaquin River Restoration settlement agreement and its implementing legislation, with regulatory agencies such as the United States Bureau of Reclamation, State Water Resources Control Board, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Before joining BKS, Ms. Buckman served as the in-house General Counsel for Friant Water Authority, a joint powers agency that delivers water to over one million acres of highly productive irrigated farm land on the east side of the southern San Joaquin Valley. Prior to joining Friant, she was in private practice for 16 years, where she represented clients in matters concerning a host of environmental and public law issues. 

Mr. Emrick has over 30 years’ experience in water rights, land use, business/real estate litigation and environmental matters. He practices throughout California. He earned his juris doctorate degree from the University of California School of Law, San Francisco in 1990. Mr. Emrick is admitted in both State and Federal Courts in California including the First. Third and Fifth District Courts of Appeals as well as the United States Northern and Eastern District Courts. Mr. Emrick has also practiced before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal. Mr. Emrick has represented numerous public agencies and private parties over the years on water rights matters, including water districts and cities. This experience includes water rights litigation, water rights due diligence and verification, water rights valuations, and practice before the State Water Resources Control Board. Mr. Emrick is a frequent lecturer on water and property rights law. He has appeared on radio programs including KZYX in Mendocino County.

Mr. Hicks is a California water law, real property, and conservation attorney who represents a variety of public interest organizations, landowners, and others on select public policy, transactional, administrative, regulatory, and litigation matters. Before law school, he was an energy and water policy analyst at the Natural Heritage Institute and the founder and executive director of the Headwaters Institute. He has interned at the San Francisco Office of the City Attorney, California State Water Resources Control Board, and American Rivers. Mr. Hicks founded and chaired the inaugural California Water Law Symposium sponsored by leading northern California law schools and is a Board member. He is the author of the Water Education Foundation’s 2020 Layperson’s Guide to Water Rights Law, recognized as the most thorough explanation of California water rights law available to non-lawyers. He is a former whitewater raft guide, kayaker, and Colorado Outward Bound School instructor. Mr. Hicks holds a J.D. degree from the University of San Francisco School of Law and a B.A. degree from the University of Vermont.

Hugo A. Loáiciga, Ph.D., P.E., B.C. WRE, PH is the Director of the Hydrology Laboratory and Distinguished Professor with the University of California Santa Barbara. His fields of specialization include Groundwater Hydrology/Water Resource Planning, Management and Natural Resources and Applied Mathematics/Statistics. Dr. Loáiciga has earned numerous awards and professional distinctions some of which include: 2026 Pioneers in Groundwater Award, American Society of Civil Engineers/Environmental and Water Resources Institute, 2025 Fellow, Environmental and Water Resources Institute, 2025 Public Voices Fellow of The OpEd Project and University of California, Santa Barbara, and the 2024 Outstanding Research and Innovation Award, American Academy of Water Resources Engineers (AAWRE). He has been published in 441 Scholarly Publications. Dr. Loáiciga earned his Master of Science degree and his Ph.D. in Hydrology & Water Resources from the University of California, Davis.

Stephen Quarles, PhD is a University of California Cooperative Extension Advisor Emeritus. After 26 years with the University of California, Quarles retired in 2011, and joined the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) Research Center team in Richburg, SC. Quarles retired from IBHS in 2018 as the Chief Scientist for Wildfire and Durability. At both the University of California and IBHS Quarles’ research and outreach efforts focused on durability and in-service performance issues of buildings subjected to wildfire exposures. During 2007 and 2008, Steve worked half-time for the California Office of the State Fire Marshal where he developed, coordinated and served as an instructor for the educational program related to the Wildland Urban Interface (wildfire) Building Code and Standards (Chapter 7A in the California Building Code). Quarles served on the initial WUI Task Group that made recommendations to the Office of the State Fire Marshal for Chapter 7A and has served on subsequent task groups. 

Quarles is a member of the American Society of Testing and Materials (and is Chair of ASTM E05.14 Subcommittee on Exterior Fire), the National Fire Protection Association [and former member of the NFPA Technical Committee on Forest and Rural Fire Protection (2013-2018)], the International Association of Wildland Fire, the Forest Products Society [and former Editor-in-Chief, Forest Products Journal (2010-2017)], the American Wood Protection Association and the Association of Fire Ecology. Quarles earned a bachelor’s degree from Virginia Tech (Blacksburg) and a Master’s and PhD from the University of Minnesota (Minneapolis-St. Paul).

Yana Valachovic is the County Director – Forest Advisor for the University of California Cooperative Extension in Humboldt and Del Norte Counties. Yana is passionate about finding solutions to challenging problems bringing her skills in forestry, natural resources and sociological research, design and mitigation of the built environment for wildfire resilience, as well as her years rooted in County government and community engagement. She is a member of the California Governor’s Wildfire Forest Resilience Task Force and other California state fire policy workgroups. She is the co-lead of the Northern California region of the California Fire Science Consortium and is a founding member of the Northern California Prescribed Fire Council. She has co-authored papers on fire behavior in California forests and the intersection of fire performance in home and landscape design.  She is active in California policy development and has been a technical resource for bioenergy, forest management, home hardening, and improvements to defensible space legislation. She will share her experience from post-fire assessments that have helped craft her vision for adaptation.

Mr. Breedlove focuses his practice on water rights transactions and permitting, state and federal land permitting, mining, administrative law, and governmental relations. His experience includes a wide variety of water rights transactions (groundwater, surface water, and Colorado River entitlements), assured water supply permitting, consultation on compliance with active management area management plans, water rights due diligence and permitting, state land acquisition, and National Historic Preservation Act compliance. Mr. Breedlove has represented land developers, landowners, golf courses, ranchers, farmers, private water and energy utility businesses, government agencies, and private equity investment firms. He also served for five years as the legislative liaison for the Arizona Department of Water Resources, during which time he managed several bills that were enacted, including the 2007 Water Adequacy Amendments. Mr. Breedlove has experience with the Arizona legislative process, bill drafting, and government relations. He earned his B.S. degree from Western Washington University, his Master of Studies in Environmental Law from Vermont Law School and his J.D. degree from Vermont Law School.

 Mr. Burnside covers water rights and water quality as part of a broad-based environmental and natural resources law practice at Snell & Wilmer. Mr. Burnside regularly counsels and represents significant water interests in the State of Arizona, with a particular focus on mining and energy. He has extensive experience litigating contested water rights claims in Arizona’s Gila River General Stream Adjudication, including multiple arguments and trials before the Special Water Master. Mr. Burnside has in-depth experience with the complex legal and technical issues surrounding Arizona water rights at the intersection between groundwater and surface water.

Mr. Kimball counsels clients on the risks and liabilities associated with environmental permitting and enforcement matters at the federal, state, county, and local levels. In addition to advising on regulatory compliance, Mr. Kimball delivers significant experience lobbying for clients through the state, county, and local statutory and regulatory processes. He also provides proven results in resolving federal and state Superfund claims involving soil and groundwater contamination.

Relationships are at the center of Mr. Kimball’s practice—not only with his clients, but also with the regulators, elected officials, and agency professionals who provide critical information regarding the decisions of his clients. Mr. Kimball believes in finding solutions rather than focusing on problems. He is appreciated for his “big picture” approach to lawyering and for his advice that resolves the immediate problem while also mitigating the potential for future roadblocks to progress.

As a lawyer who thrives in the complexity of environmental law, Mr. Kimball works to identify all potential solutions to serve his clients’ ultimate goals. He is valued for providing “win-win” propositions, working with each client to identify and execute reasonable and actionable solutions, and for devising practical and understandable answers to often multi-faceted questions.

In stressful situations, Mr. Kimball brings distinct levity and a steadfastly positive attitude that often transforms difficulty into tangible next steps for all matter constituents. His perspective and honed experience in environmental law support him in serving as an objective third party who can assess and address client concerns without losing focus on macro commercial objectives.