J.P. Johns, Discipline Leader – Water Resources, Woolpert Inc.
Mr. J.P. Johns, P.E., has over 17 years’ experience in hydrology and hydraulic analysis of urban waterways with additional experience in erosion prevention and sediment control, post-construction water quality, and NPDES MS4 program implementation. He earned a B.S. degree in Agricultural Engineering and an MS degree in Biosystems Engineering from Clemson University. He currently is the Vice President of the Southeast Chapter of the International Erosion Control Association (IECA), is a member of the South Carolina Association of Stormwater Managers, the Water Environment Association of South Carolina, and sits on the ASTM D18 and C27 committees.
The Fulton County Soil and Water Conservation District presents
Ben Ruzowicz, Urban Program Manager, GSWCC
Brady Hary, E&SC Technical Specialist, GSWCC
Valerie Pickard, District Conservationist, NRCS
Valerie was born in Perry, Georgia and grew up on a small family farm in Klondike, Georgia. She attended Perry High School and later earned her Bachelor’s of Science in Agriculture Plant Science from Fort Valley State College in August 1985. She began her career as a student trainee in Statesboro, Georgia. After graduation, Valerie accepted a position as a soil conservationist with NRCS in Metter, Georgia. In 1986, she transferred to the Department of Justice as a Landscape Foreman at the Atlanta Penitentiary in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1991, Valerie returned to her roots at NRCS at the Griffin Field Office in Griffin, Georgia as a Soil Conservationist. In 1992, she was promoted to the position of a Conservation Agronomist were she provided technical service to field offices. In 1999, Valerie was promoted to District Conservationist in Marietta Georgia. Currently, she provides technical services to Cobb, Douglas, Fulton and Paulding counties. Valerie has served on various committees and has received several awards during her career with NRCS. January 2016 marks 33 years of government service that Valerie has helped people help the land. Her most challenging and rewarding experience has been working with small and beginning farmers producing vegetable crops on small acreage of land in an urban setting. Valerie is married with 5 five sons ranging from age 21 to 35. Her newest hobby is learning how to be the world’s best grandmother.
The 2016 Green Book Review and Recertification Workshop
Don Stack, Attorney, Stack and Associates
Donald Stack is a familiar name within the Georgia environmental law community. While serving as a National Park Ranger, Stack obtained his J.D. as a 1986 cum laude graduate of the University of Georgia. Stack began his legal career representing Lloyd’s of London in environmental matters and then as Assistant Regional Counsel for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Stack & Associates, P.C. has five attorneys practicing in offices in Atlanta and Savannah and handling water pollution, zoning, forestry, hazardous and solid waste, stormwater, wilderness preservation, coastal development, and land use law. An active member of the State Bar’s Environmental Law Section and innumerable public advocacy organizations, Stack has been named in 2004-2009 and 2011-2016 Georgia Super Lawyers.
Seva Iwinski Bray - Vice President/Environmental Scientist of Applied Polymer Systems, Inc.
Seva oversees production of Applied Polymer Systems product line and helps to research new uses for polymer enhanced best management practices in the field of erosion and sediment control and water clarification. She holds a BS in BioEnvironmental Science from Texas A&M University. She is highly involved in technical training sessions to educate or further educate companies, agency personnel and firms that anticipate using or are interested in furthering their knowledge on Polymer Enhanced Best Management Practices.
Eve Brantley - Associate Professor, Auburn University Department of Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences.
Eve serves as the Alabama Cooperative Extension System Water Resource Specialist. Eve has worked as a local watershed coordinator, facilitator for the Coastal Alabama Clean Water Partnership, and coordinator of a citizen water-monitoring program. Her degrees are from Berry College, Clemson University, and Auburn University.
Marcus Rubenstein, CPESC - Associate Principal, Woodard & Curran
Marcus Rubenstein is an Associate Principal with Woodard & Curran and has 16 years of experience specializing in all regulatory aspects of the U.S. Clean Water Act. He is an ecologist, a certified wildlife biologist, and a Certified Professional in Erosion and Sediment Control (CPESC). During his career, Marcus has worked in both the private and public sectors (including a former Regional Representative for Region 3 of the GASWCC), and has been committed to building relationships while expanding technical expertise, a combination of efforts that has afforded Marcus opportunities to influence policy. In recent years, Marcus served as a Stakeholder on the State of Georgia’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Construction Permit reissuance and was one of three private sector consultants in the State who served as a Stakeholder for changes made to the State of Georgia Stream Buffer Variance Rules.
As a technical expert, Marcus has managed and supported the restoration of approximately 15 miles of streams in Georgia, and has conducted and managed stream and wetland delineations for hundreds of miles of infrastructure corridors and land development sites. He has prepared and supervised hundreds of Section 404 permit applications, stream buffer variance applications, and erosion, sediment, and pollution control plans for highly complex projects such as linear pipeline projects, Individual Permits, and custom mitigation plans. Marcus has received formal training in wetland delineations, erosion and sediment control, threatened & endangered species, and stream restoration.