Morton Barlaz, Ph.D., P.E., North Carolina State University
Morton A. Barlaz, Ph.D., P.E. is Professor and Head of the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering at North Carolina State University. He received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Michigan and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Wisconsin. He has been involved in research on various aspects of solid waste since 1983. Over this time, he has conduc ted research on biological refuse decomposition, methane production, and the biodegradation of hazardous wastes in landfills. He has participated in two state-of-the-practice reviews of bioreactor landfills. His research forms the basis for much of the work done to assess the impact of landfills on methane emissions inventories. Dr. Barlaz is also recognized for his research on the use of life-cycle analysis to evaluate environmental emissions associated with alternate solid waste management strategies. Dr. Barlaz is the author of over 90 peer-reviewed publications and has made over 200 presentations at conferences throughout the world. In 1992 he was awarded a Presidential Faculty Fellowship from the National Science Foundation. Dr. Barlaz has been active in service throughout his career. He is an Associate Editor for two journals (Waste Management and Journal of Environmental Engineering) and serves as co-chair of the bi-annual Intercontinental Landfill Research Symposium. He has served as chair of the Government Affairs Committee and the Lectures Committee for the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors. Finally, he serves on the Science Advisory Committee for the International Waste Working Group. P.E. license number 018626 (North Carolina).
Shannon Bartelt-Hunt, Ph.D., University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Shannon Bartelt-Hunt Ph.D. is a Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She also serves as Interim Associate Dean for Professional Development in the Office of Graduate Studies. She received her PhD in Environmental Engineering from the University of Virginia in 2004. Prior to joining the faculty at the University of Nebraska, she was a postdoctoral research associate at North Carolina State University. Her research interests are focused on contaminant transport in soil, water and landfills. Dr. Bartelt-Hunt is a registered professional environmental engineer in the state of Nebraska.
Craig H. Benson, Ph.D., P.E., NAE, University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science
Dr. Benson’s expertise falls broadly in the discipline referred to as geoenvironmental engineering. This discipline is at the interface of the built and natural environments, and deals with issues in the subsurface or interactions between conditions at the earth’s surface and the subsurface. In most cases, the important objectives are protecting soil and ground water or engineering systems that reduce emissions or save energy. Achieving these objectives requires knowledge of the mechanisms controlling energy and mass transfer in the subsurface and development of creative approaches to control the rate at which energy and/or mass is transferred. These principles are applied to controlling contaminant migration in the unsaturated zone and ground water, managing the movement of heat and water in near-surface soils, and assessing energy usage and emissions associated with geological engineering structures at the interface of the earth’s surface.
His research in geoenvironmental engineering fits in three broad classes: sustainability assessment of geological and civil engineering systems, reuse and recycling of industrial byproducts for sustainable construction applications, and design and assessment of environmental containment systems for municipal, hazardous, and radioactive wastes. In each of these areas, we emphasize a full range of study from basic theory to practice and address energy and mass transfer issues. Our research includes fundamental laboratory studies, development of computer models, and practical field demonstration of new technologies. In many cases, our research findings are validated at full-scale in operating facilities or infrastructure in collaboration with industry and/or government agencies.
Nicole Berge, Ph.D., University of South Carolina
Nicole D. Berge, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental engineering at the University of South Carolina. Dr. Berge received her BS and MS in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of South Carolina in 1999 and 2001, respectively. She received her PhD in Environmental Engineering from the University of Central Florida in 2006. Prior to joining the faculty at the University of South Carolina, Dr. Berge worked as a postdoctoral associate at Tufts University. Her research program at USC focuses on developing and evaluating sustainable waste treatment techniques, including hydrothermal carbonization, and understanding the fate and transport of emerging contaminants (e.g., engineered nanomaterials) and in waste environments.
Brian Brazil, Ph.D., Virginia Tech
Brian Brazil, Ph.D. has more than 12 years of experience in the evaluation and design of wastewater treatment systems, including industrial wastewater, landfill leachate and groundwater streams. For the past 5 years, Brian’s work has primarily focused on leachate treatment and included development of conceptual and preliminary level designs, coordinating detail designs of biological and physical/chemical treatment systems, as well as troubleshooting process issues. Brian holds his BS in Environmental and Marine Science from Hampton University, and his MS in Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech, as well as his PhD in Natural Resources from Virginia Tech.
Stephen Cowie, P.E., Joyce Engineering
Stephen Cowie, P.E. is a Senior Project Consultant with Joyce Engineering, working out of their Greensboro, NC office. He joined Joyce Engineering in 2004 after completing an M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from North Carolina State University (NCSU). Prior to attending NCSU, he received his B.S. in biology from Duke University. At NCSU Mr. Cowie completed a Master’s thesis titled “Emission of Non-Methane Organic Compounds (NMOC) and Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAP) from Decomposing Refuse and Individual Waste Components and Under Different Conditions”. His work with Joyce Engineering has built upon his educational background in landfill gas, with practical experience in many aspects of landfill gas including: design, construction, permitting, compliance, operations and LFG-to-Energy development. Mr. Cowie has over 10 years of engineering experience with Joyce Engineering. He has served as lead design engineer for several municipal solid waste (MSW) and construction and demolition (C&D) landfill expansion projects. He has extensive knowledge of liner systems, leachate collection and storage, landfill stability concerns, and stormwater and erosion control. He also is one of Joyce Engineering’s leaders in landfill gas related projects, serving as design engineer for several landfill gas (LFG) collection and control systems as well as, permitting and consulting for LFG-to-Energy projects. He has served as construction project manager for several landfill and landfill gas related projects. Mr. Cowie also has extensive experience in air permitting and compliance. He has prepared numerous Title V air permit applications, BACT analysis reports, Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions reports, Climate Action Reserve (CAR) monitoring plans and NSPS compliance reports. P.E. license numbers 035644 (North Carolina), 046972 (Virginia), and 32275 (Alabama).
Susan De Long, Ph.D., Colorado State University
Susan K. De Long, Ph.D. has served, since 2009, as a faculty member at Colorado State University (CSU), where she has been conducting research focused on biological conversion of wastes to energy and bioremediation processes. Her area of expertise is in environmental biotechnology and applied molecular biology. She obtained bachelors degrees in Environmental Science and Molecular and Cell Biology from the University of California at Berkeley and subsequently obtained her masters and doctorate in Environmental Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin. Her masters and doctoral research was focused on development of biotreatment processes for application to hydrocarbon and perchlorate contamination, as well as on the development and application of molecular biology assays to guide development of these biotechnologies. Dr. De Long’s recent work has been focused on development of specialized microbial cultures for hydrolysis of organic wastes that are capable of rapid waste conversion under non-ideal conditions, such as in the presence of the microbial inhibitors ammonia and salinity. She utilizes molecular biology tools to guide development of such advanced microbial cultures and for the development of advanced anaerobic digestion technologies designed to increase biogas production from municipal and agricultural wastes. Dr. Susan De Long is joining the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering this Fall Semester as Assistant Professor. Her area of expertise is environmental biotechnology. She was born and raised in the city of Los Angeles, California where she observed the negative impacts of human activities on the environment from a young age and decided to pursue a career working to address environmental issues. Dr. De Long obtained a bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Berkeley in Environmental Science. While at UC Berkeley, she discovered a fascination with molecular biology because she loved learning about the molecular-scale processes that allow living organisms to function. Hence, she decided to pursue a second bachelors’ degree in molecular and cell biology.
Jeff Fantell, P.E., Virginia Tech
Jeff Fantell, P.E. is a graduate of Virginia Tech with over 22 years of consulting experience in solid waste. His specialties are design, permitting, construction administration, and operations of solid waste facilities. He currently serves as the Program Manager and Lead Trainer for Joyce Engineering’s Waste Management Facility Operator Training curriculums throughout the Southeast and has, upon request, led many training events for energy companies and coal combustion ash handling contractors. Jeff has been published in Waste Age magazine for articles related to landfill operations. P.E. license numbers 0401025727 (Virginia), 13831 (Nevada), 22680 (South Carolina), 24GE04506900 (New Jersey), 71153 (Ohio), 032425 (North Carolina), and 26011 (Kentucky).
Thomas Maier, P.E., Smith Gardner
Thomas B. Maier, P.E. is a Senior Project Engineer with Smith Gardner, Inc. He is a published engineer and has expertise in landfill containment and closure design, geotechnical engineering, construction management, and construction quality assurance. Mr. Maier has worked on various projects dealing with extensive air quality permitting; work with superfund sites; environmental and remediation engineering; and erosion and sediment control. His work spans states along the East Coast and projects in Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Mississippi. Mr. Maier is a licensed Professional Engineer in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Virginia. He holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and has over twenty years of design and project management experience with geotechnical and waste management projects. He is also actively involved with the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure. P.E. license numbers 29744 (North Carolina), PE 034737 (Georgia), and 117205 (Tennessee).
Debra Reinhart, Ph.D., P.E., BCEE, University of Central Florida
Debra R. Reinhart, Ph.D., P.E., BCEE is the Associate Vice President for Research and Scholarship with the Office of Research and Pegasus Professor in the Civil, Environmental and Construction Department of the College of Engineering and Computer Science. She is an associate editor for the Waste Management Journal, and a member of the Oak Ridge Association of Universities Board and the Managing Board of the International Waste Working Group. She received a B.S. in Engineering from the Florida Technological University and her M.S. in Sanitary Engineering and Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Dr. Reinhart is a registered professional engineer in Florida and Georgia, a board-certified environmental engineer, and a fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Association of Environmental and Science Engineering Professors, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Dr. Reinhart’s research focuses on optimization of landfill operation and design.
Sybil Sharvelle, Ph.D., Colorado State University
Sybil Sharvelle, Ph.D. has served as a faculty member at Colorado State University (CSU) since 2007 with research on anaerobic digestion for methane capture and use. Her expertise is in the area of biological process engineering. While pursuing a M.S. degree at the University of Colorado Boulder, she worked on a project funded by NASA to develop a biological processor for treatment of urine-soap wastewater expected to be generated at the International Space Station. This research led Dr. Sharvelle to the Ph.D. program at Purdue University where she was part of the NASA Specialized Center for Research and Training (NSCORT) focused on advanced life support (ALS) research. The goal of center was to recycle valuable resources such as water and air, while recovering important nutrients. Her specific project was a biological processing unit for simultaneous treatment of graywater (laundry and hygiene wastewater) and waste gas contaminated with high levels of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide. Dr. Sharvelle’s previous research experience in closed loop life support led her to research in the area of sustainable water and waste management. Dr. Sharvelle was hired by CSU to provide expertise and serve as an extension specialist in the area of livestock waste management. She has developed an online decision tool for feasibility of on-farm anaerobic digestion. She is also developing a new technology for anaerobic digestion of dry waste, including municipal and agricultural wastes, which would improve the feasibility of waste conversion to methane biogas. Dr. Sybil Sharvelle has nine years of experience working on graywater projects. Her graduate studies were funded by NASA to optimize biological waste processing systems that would treat graywater with the end goal of potable reuse. The waste treatment concept employed entailed separate source collection and treatment of graywater, urine, and fecal material. Dr. Sharvelle’s experience in closed loop recycling of resources is very valuable for implementation of sustainable development concepts for urban water management. Dr. Sharvelle is currently working on sustainable urban water management including graywater reuse, reclaimed water reuse, development of models to estimate water savings associated with urban water conservation practices. Dr. Sharvelle also has several years of experience working on waste conversion to methane through anaerobic digestion.
Stacey Smith, Smith Gardner
Stacey A. Smith, M.C.E., P.E. is the President of Smith+Gardner, Inc. and has provided services for public and private clients including solid waste facility siting, design, permitting, and construction. Mr. Smith has both managed, designed and managed construction for solid waste facility elements such as containment systems, leachate management and recirculation, site infrastructure, final cover systems, landfill gas collection and control, groundwater recovery, compost systems, and special waste applications. Mr. Smith has been integral to our staff for his ability to design and permit these elements as well as providing “hands-on” field assistance during implementation to insure success of the project. Major projects to Mr. Smith’s credit include the Sampson County MSW and C&D facilities in North Carolina, Atlantic Waste Disposal MSW Landfill in VA, and the Highway 321 Landfill Superfund project in Columbia, SC. Mr. Smith’s most recent projects include a collaboration between UNC – Chapel Hill and the Orange County Landfill to develop a landfill gas to energy (LFGTE) project and to provide carbon credits in the effort to provide more green assets in the UNC system. Mr. Smith is actively assisting both public and private clients across the southeast in efforts to successfully develop LFGTE projects to satisfy both regulatory or voluntary goals. At the Avery County landfill, Mr. Smith worked closely with the County and the NCDENR to design and permit a proposed landfill expansion within a non-functioning stream which gained an additional 25 years of capacity for approximately one (1) acre of construction development. P.E. license number 23002 (North Carolina).
Kevin Torrens, BCEEM, Brown and Caldwell
Kevin Torrens, BCEEM is Vice President at Brown and Caldwell and has over 30 years of experience in industrial wastewater, leachate treatment, Operations & Management, and hazardous waste site remediation groundwater treatment projects. Kevin has had significant experience treating complex wastewaters such as those from landfill leachate, pharmaceuticals and chemicals industries. Kevin is the National Practice Leader for leachate management at Brown and Caldwell and has presented on the topic of leachate management at numerous conferences. His background with treating complex industrial wastewaters is particularly applicable to managing landfill leachate given its high strength and complexity. He is actively engaged in cutting edge research and emerging treatment processes that have the promise of reducing leachate management costs and addressing emerging issues such as impacts of leachate on POTW operations. He is actively engaged with the Hinckley Center for Solid and Hazardous Waste as a Technical Advisor and is exploring alternative leachate management approaches. He holds a Masters Degree from Vanderbilt University in Environmental and Water Resources Engineering.