Environmental Planning
My environmental career began in the 1980s, as I was completing a Masters at SF State in Geography. I’ve worked in both public and private organizations. I was an independent consultant for a short time in the 1990s, and I’ve become independent again in 2018. My interests are in water pollution prevention, green infrastructure, urban design, and assisting government agencies working on these issues to excel in their mission.
I have organized and facilitated intergovernmental groups for over two decades. As a Principal Environmental Planner at San Francisco Estuary Partnership, I staffed committees of elected officials and local agency staff. On their behalf, I wrote grants and managed projects that received funding. These included multi-million-dollar awards from the State of California and the Federal Government. Prior to working for the San Francisco Estuary Partnership, I worked directly for the Partnership’s parent agency, the Association of Bay Area Governments. I have also worked for the City of Berkeley and as a consultant to Alameda County. I served on the City of Berkeley’s Solid Waste Commission and also worked for several private environmental consulting firms.
Past Work
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LOCAL GOVERNMENT AGENCIES
Bay Area Flood Protection Agencies Association. I have assisted this consortium of Bay Area government agencies by convening monthly meetings and helping to organize training, workshops, and discussions.
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AQPI
Bay Area Advanced Quantitative Information Precipitation Information System (AQPI). The AQPI System seeks to create a state-of-the-art winter weather forecasting system for the San Francisco Bay Area. The project involves the installation of new radars in strategic locations around the Bay. Scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are using data from the radars for precipitation estimation and short-term nowcasting. The forecast modeling systems will improve lead time on precipitation and coastal Bay inundation from extreme storms—especially high-moisture laden atmospheric rivers.
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ORA LOMA
Oro Loma Horizontal Levee Project. A “horizontal levee” is a re-imagining of how a levee looks and what it can do. Instead of a vertical wall to protect against storm surges, a horizontal levee uses vegetation on a gentle slope to break waves. The ecosystems that live on horizontal levees can thrive while helping to further process wastewater from treatment plants. This project was designed to test a strategy for wastewater plants along the San Francisco Bay to protect their infrastructure as sea levels rise while improving the environment along the Bay.
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GREENPLAN-IT
Green Plan Bay Area and GreenPlan-IT. The Plan and Planning tool was designed to assist Bay Area Local Governments determine cost-effective and strategic locations to build green infrastructure projects to protect stormwater.