NEPA Workshops: Meet Our Speakers

Julie Zimmerman

Instructor
NAEP Member
Environmental Planning Team Lead/Program Manager, Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) Headquarters  

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Madeline Almodovar

Instructor
NAEP Member
Project Manager, Jacobs 

Madeline has over 18 years of experience as a cross-cultural, bilingual and interdisciplinary environmental scientist, project manager and leader at Jacobs. She has participated in and managed NEPA projects since 2016. In addition, Madeline has conducted, managed, and led Environmental Compliance Assessments, Environmental Permitting, Compliance, and Reporting Activities; Environmental Audits; Emission Inventory Development; Control Technology Assessments and Evaluations; Regulatory Analysis and Interpretation; Organizational Training; Sustainability and Resilience Planning; Information Management System Implementation; Emissions Sampling and Modeling; Community Involvement and Stakeholder Engagement; Sustainability and Resilience Planning; Project Planning and Development; and Equality/Equity Strategy for federal, county, city, and commercial clients in several market sectors and at all organizational levels. Her expertise includes Clean Air Act, NPDES, hazardous materials management, and multi-media environmental assessments. Madeline holds a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Biotechnology from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez, and a Master in Business Administration from Webster University at Edwards Air Force Base, California. 

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Nik Tompkins-Flagg

Instructor
NAEP Member
NEPA Program Manager, Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) Washington  

Kik is a NEPA Program Manager and senior project manager with 7 years experience in Environmental Planning project management. She serves as the Navy’s liaison to the National Capital Planning Commission and the Commission of Fine Arts; leads interdisciplinary teams to negotiate required approvals from agencies for complex Navy projects. She also manages complex NEPA documents including contract management, regulatory compliance, public participation, and stakeholder engagement (both internal and external). Nik has a background in archaeology and historic preservation originally, but fell into NEPA by chance and her skills include problem solving, conflict management, interpersonal relationships, communication and team building. 

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Rich Walter

Instructor
NAEP Member
Vice President, Environmental Planning 

Rich Walter has 30+ years of experience in environmental planning, compliance strategy, permitting, and mitigation development and implementation. He serves as project director/environmental lead for environmental planning for large-scale infrastructure projects for public agencies and private clients. He has worked with a wide variety of federal agencies on NEPA compliance including FRA, FTA, FAA, NPS, BLM, USACE, USFWS, and FERC. Rich has also led ICF’s California Municipal Climate Action Planning practice since 2006 which has developed climate action plans, greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories for hundreds of communities across the U.S., general plan policies for climate change, cost-benefit analyses of emission reduction strategies, climate adaptation studies (including sea-level rise), as well as numerous California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) documents addressing GHG emissions and adaptation. 

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Ron Lamb

Instructor
NAEP Member, Former Board Member
CEP Emeritus

Ron is a senior NEPA project manager and former NEPA program manager for the U.S. Marine Corps (retired 2022). At his retirement was awarded the Superior Civilian Service Award—the highest honorary award the Commandant of the Marine Corps may bestow on a civilian employee. In 2023 Ron was awarded the Dr. Richard Kramer Memorial Award by the Academy of Board Certified Environmental Professionals (ABCEP). In 2016-2017 Ron was detailed to the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) where he served as the Deputy Associate Director for NEPA to support administration transition and NEPA guidance and procedures. In 2014 he was detailed to the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Environment (DASN-E) to serve as Acting Director for Environmental Planning and Terrestrial Ecology. Ron was a Vice President at HDR|e2M where his clients included the Coast Guard, Customs and Border Protection, Air Force, Bureau of Land Management, General Services Administration, National Park Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and NASA.

Ron has been an elected member of the NAEP Board of Directors and led the NEPA Working Group. Ron holds an M.S. in Environmental Science from Johns Hopkins University and his Certificate in NEPA from the Duke University Nicholas School of the Environment.  

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Ron Deverman

Instructor
NAEP Fellow Member, Former Board Member
CEP 

Ron is Vice-President and National Environmental Planning Leader for STV, a national planning, engineering, and architecture firm.  Ron has over 35-years-experience managing NEPA environmental impact assessment projects for transportation infrastructure improvements, such as transit, passenger and freight rail, highways, and bridges, with special expertise in community impact assessment, cumulative effects analysis, and other federal environmental regulations.  As Program Manager, Ron oversaw Phase I environmental, Phase II design, and Phase III construction management services for the $5 billion Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency (CREATE) program, a public-private partnership between the USDOT, IDOT, CDOT, Cook County, Metra, Amtrak, AAR, and the nation’s freight railroads.  He was instrumental in expediting the implementation of projects while developing Phase I, II, and III processes and procedures to streamline decision-making and optimize program delivery.  As part of STV’s Metra Commuter Rail Program Management contract, Ron is the Project Manager for the Rock Island Third Main Intercity Improvement Project, a 41-mile rail, station and yard improvements project, managing the Preliminary Design and NEPA Environmental Assessment with an estimated construction value of $960 million.

Ron is a Past President of the National Association of Environmental Professionals (NAEP) and IAEP (IL Chapter) and he is the Chair of NAEP’s Leadership Development Committee.  Ron is a Certified Environmental Professional by Eminence and a NAEP Fellow for his exemplary service and over 35-year commitment to NAEP and the environmental professions.  He is a Board Trustee of the Academy of Board-Certified Environmental Professionals (ABCEP), a member of The Council of Engineering and Scientific Specialty Boards. Ron is also an Adjunct Professor at Northwestern University teaching a Masters in Project Management course in NEPA and Context Sensitive Solutions.  Ron is a Founding Board Director of the International Professional Association of Transport and Health (IPATH).  He is a published poet and has spoken nationally and internationally on many subjects, including key competencies for transportation professionals, environmental stewardship, transit equity, and the public health impacts and benefits of our transportation choices.  Ron comes from generations of farmers in Illinois’ heartland, farmed for a living while attending college, and he is currently the Farm LLC Business Manager.  Ron’s education includes a BS in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois in Urbana, a MA in English from the University of Illinois in Springfield, and post-graduate studies in NEPA and related environmental studies.    

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Steve Pyle

Instructor
NAEP Member
NEPA project manager at HDR

Steve is a senior NEPA project manager at HDR, where he has managed all aspects of EAs and EISs for over 18 years. Since 2008 Steve has focused on supporting DoD NEPA projects in the Pacific region. He has successfully completed EAs and EISs in Hawaii, Wake Island, Guam, and Saipan and Tinian in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Over his 18 years with HDR, Steve has supported NEPA related projects for General Services Administration, US Customs and Border Protection, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, US Coast Guard, US Army, US Air Force, US Navy, Missile Defense Agency, and Test Resource Management Center. Steve is a Desert Storm era US Army Veteran and served as a German linguist while witnessing the fall of the Berlin Wall. He earned a B.S. degree in Natural Resource Management from the University of Maryland at College Park and a J.D. with a certificate in Environmental Law from the University of Maryland School of Law.  

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Ted Boling

Moderator
NAEP Member
Partner, Perkins Coie

Ted Boling served as the country’s top National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) attorney as an associate director at the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) in the Executive Office of the President. He also served at CEQ, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in Democratic and Republican administrations. Ted currently advises leaders on transportation and energy development projects, agencies that must hire outside counsel, and the environmental professionals that support them on the development of renewable energy, resource development, transportation, and infrastructure. He has drafted NEPA guidance on mitigation and monitoring, cumulative impacts analysis, and the development categorical exclusions from detailed NEPA documentation. He advised the White House on the establishment of numerous national monuments, including the first marine national monuments in the United States and the largest marine protected areas in the world. He also assisted in briefing three U.S. Supreme Court cases. Ted has handled matters involving energy development on the outer continental shelf, including offshore wind power development, and the fast track for solar and wind energy projects on public lands. 

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