Dr. June Mirecki and Mark McNeal

ASR (Aquifer Storage & Recovery) & Recharge Projects

March 31, 2010

Dr. June Mirecki is a senior hydrogeologist in the Geotechnical Branch at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-Jacksonville District and has served as a technical lead on Everglades Restoration projects in the most productive aquifers on Earth —the Biscayne Aquifer and the Floridan Aquifer Systems. She has focused primarily on all aspects of the Kissimmee River ASR Pilot Site and more recently on groundwater flow and seepage management in the Biscayne Aquifer at the Everglades National Park. She has also served as an associate professor at the College of Charleston and a research geochemist at the Corps' Engineer Research and Development Center in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Dr. Mirecki is a Florida-registered Professional Geologist and has a Ph.D. in Geology/Geochemistry from the University of Delaware. Her dissertation was on estimating the age of Pleistocene (interglacial) shorelines and sea levels along the Virginia and North Carolina coastal plain.

Mr. Mark McNeal is the CEO of ASRus, LLC and has 24 years of experience in hydrogeologic work in Florida, including project management of ASR, deep-injection wells, reuse, and water supply projects; well construction inspection; modeling of groundwater systems; data analysis; geologic description of drilling samples; geophysical logging and interpretation; aquifer pumping test design and analysis; system startup; and operational testing. He worked for CH2M HILL for 21 years, where he was Director of Groundwater Practices and Reuse for their Southeast Region. Mr. McNeal was project manager for the Peace River/Manasota Regional Water Supply Authority’s potable water ASR expansion and is providing services for a 50-mgd ASR facility for the SWFWMD’s Lake Okeechobee and Estuary Recovery Program. Mr. McNeal has been active in FDEP rulemaking, including underground injection control, reuse, and wellhead protection rules. He is President of WateReuse Florida, is a Florida-registered Professional Geologist, and has a B.S. in Geological Engineering from Brigham Young University.

Sandy Berg, Ph.D.

Infrastructure Economics for Engineers

February 11, 2010

Dr. Berg is the director of Water Studies at the Public Utility Research Center, a distinguished service professor, and the Florida Public Utilities Professor in the University of Florida’s Warrington College of Business Administration. He is responsible for promoting research and outreach activities in regulatory economics. Dr. Berg’s research has focused on infrastructure industries, specifically the role of research and development in determining the basic industry conditions and the role of public policy in determining sector performance. His research has appeared in many journals. Dr. Berg has served on the launch committee for the UF Water Institute and is a current member of its faculty advisory committee. He earned M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Yale University and has provided consulting services to a number of utilities and government organizations in the U.S. and abroad.

Jan Mandrup-Poulsen, MS, MBA

Application of Florida’s Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Program and Upgrades on Recent Developments in the World of Watershed Management

October 1, 2009

Jan Mandrup-Poulsen is the Environmental Administrator of the Watershed Assessment Section of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. During his more than 26 years with FDEP he has emphasized the evaluation of point and nonpoint source discharges to Florida’s surface waters. Mr. Mandrup-Poulsen was a member of the National Academy of Science’s Research Council Committee tasked to assess the Scientific Basis of the Total Maximum Daily Load Approach to Water Pollution Reduction and is co-author of FDEP’s rule, “Identification of Impaired Surface Waters.” He received his BS in Atmospheric & Oceanic Science from the University of Michigan, his MS in Biological Oceanography from Florida State University, and his MBA in Management also from Florida State University.

Timothy G. Townsend, Ph.D., PE

Solid Waste Management Practices around the World

April 24, 2009

Dr. Timothy G. Townsend is the Jones Edmunds Professor of Environmental Engineering at the University of Florida. His research interests include landfill design and operation, bioreactor landfill technology, construction and demolition debris management, discarded electronic devices, treated wood disposal, leaching characterization of solid wastes, and special waste management. Dr. Townsend has published articles in the Journal of Environmental Engineering, Journal of Hazardous Materials, Waste Management, Environmental Science and Technology, and Journal of Residual Science and Technology. He is co-author of Landfill Bioreactor Design and Operation, published by CRC Press. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Florida, is a Florida-licensed PE, and is the Manager of Innovative Waste Consulting Services (IWCS), which provides consulting services for private and public sector clients on challenging solid waste issues. 

Wendy W. Landry, AIA, LEED AP – Green Building Services

Uncovering LEED® 2009

March 18, 2009

Wendy W. Landry is an expert in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) and a Managing Member of Greentime, a resource to help facility owners, architects, engineers, and contractors to better understand green building design strategies. Ms. Landry has more than 16 years of experience and has been involved with several LEED® projects, including Florida’s first LEED®-certified building. She received a BS in Mathematics from Principia College, a Bachelor of Design from the University of Florida, and a Master of Architecture from the University of Florida. She is a Registered Architect, a LEED® -2.0 Accredited Professional, a Member of the American Institute of Architects, and a Member of the U.S. Green Building Council—Central Florida Chapter. She has given several presentations on Green Design for the Florida Green Building Coalition, at the CSI Southeast Regional Conference, and the Society for Marketing Professional Services and has published articles on Green Design in several Florida newspapers.

Dr.  McCorquodale is the Director of the FMI Center for Environmental Modeling in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of New Orleans. He has developed 2- and 3-D hydrodynamic and mass transport models for complex flows. His wastewater treatment models have been applied in Canada, United States, Australia, and Europe. Dr. McCorquodale’s research interests include physical and numerical modeling of environment processes involving flood control, hydraulics of water and wastewater treatment systems, transient analyses of force mains and water distributions systems, and shore protection. He has published more than 100 refereed articles and three books. He holds a Ph.D. in Hydraulic Engineering, a Bachelors’ degree in Civil Engineering, and a M.Sc. in Fluid Mechanics. He also has a diploma in Fluvial Geomorphology and taught hydraulic engineering for 30 years at the University of Windsor before joining the University of New Orleans in 1996. 

Geosynthetic Liner Failures and Failure Prevention

January 23, 2009

Dr. Peggs, a materials scientist, has a special interest in failure analysis and nondestructive testing. He has been involved with plastic, plastic pipe, composite, and geosynthetic materials performance research since 1978. He worked on graphite, ceramics, carbon and graphite fibers, and graphite/graphite composites for the Atomic Energy of Canada. In 1994 he received the IGS Special Recognition Award for his work on the influence of polymer microstructure on the performance of geomembranes. Dr. Peggs has edited and contributed to five books and has authored over 120 publications. In 1986 he formed GeoSyntec Inc. a geosynthetic materials testing laboratory. In 1991 he formed his own geosynthetic materials performance consulting company, I-CORP INTERNATIONAL, Inc. which now has clients in over 28 countries. He holds a first class honors B.Sc. in Metallurgy from Imperial College, London University and a Ph.D. in Physical Metallurgy from Sheffield University.