2009 Western U.S. Pollution Prevention & Sustainability Conference
"Featuring P2 solutions to Climate Change and Sustainability"

Presenter Bios

Dr. Katy Wolf

Dr. Katy Wolf is director of the Institute for Research and Technical Assistance (IRTA), a nonprofit organization that assists firms in converting to low- and non-solvent technologies in cleaning, dry cleaning, electronics, paint stripping, coatings and adhesives. IRTA runs and operates the Pollution Prevention Center which helps companies adopt low- and non-solvent technologies, performs test and demonstration projects that focus on whole industry groups and holds conferences on emerging technical issues. Dr. Wolf spent fourteen years at the Rand Corporation, where she performed research on alternatives to ozone depleting substances and chlorinated solvents.  Dr. Wolf has authored more than 200 publications. She has a Ph.D. in Chemical Physics.

Virginia St. Jean

Virginia St. Jean is a CIH and has been a hazmat inspector for almost 20 years with the HMUPA at the San Francisco Dept. of Public Health (SFDPH). She also serves as the DPH Pollution Prevention and Green Programs Manager. Ms. St. Jean developed and still administers the DPH Clean and Green (C&G) program for hazmat sites and jointly administers the SF Green Business Program with the SF Dept of the Environment and SF PUC.  The C&G program is a business assistance/recognition program that awards businesses who demonstrate good compliance and pollution prevention efforts.  The Green Business Program adds additional sustainability criteria in addition to the C&G program criteria. Ms. St. Jean works with other environmental and health agencies in assisting businesses in emerging toxics reduction and pollution prevention issues

Debra Taevs

Debra Taevs is the Deputy Director of the Pacific Northwest Pollution Prevention Resource Centers (PPRC), one of the sponsors of this conference. She works on projects both in Oregon and throughout Region 10. Major focus areas include:

1. Identifying opportunities for environmental improvements that can be developed as part of lean manufacturing practice in manufacturing as well as non-traditional "lean" applications, such as hospitals.
2. Design and implementation of the Environmentally Preferable Purchasing "Rapid Research" Service.
3. Manages the "By-Product Synergy Northwest" project that creates opportunties to turn industrial wastes into profit.

Debra has a Masters in Public Administration/Environmental Policy from the University of Washington and a Bachelors in Business from San Diego State University. She has extensive experience working with organizations to implement new technologies as well as facilitating shifts related to efficiency and environmental improvement. As a recent mid-career Peace Corps volunteer in Romania, Debra developed a full-scale environmental education program and also worked to protect cave ecosystems. After hours, Debra hikes, bikes, dances and may again, one day, pick up her fiddle.

Caroline Cox

Caroline Cox is the research director for the Center for Environmental Health (CEH), which is a center that protects people from toxic chemicals, and promotes business products and practices that are safe for public health and the environment. Caroline leads CEH's research on toxic exposures, identifying, analyzing and substantiating the scientific bases for CEH’s work to eliminate threats to children and others exposed to dangerous chemicals in consumer products. Previously, she worked for sixteen years as staff scientist at the Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides (NCAP) in Oregon. She was also editor of NCAP's Journal of Pesticide Reform and has co-authored numerous papers in scientific journals. Caroline represents CEH on the Steering Committee of Californians for Pesticide Reform and currently serves as a public interest representative to the U.S. EPA's Pesticide Program Dialogue Committee. She also serves on the Board of Directors of Beyond Pesticides. She writes and speaks regularly as a national expert on the toxicity of and alternatives to pesticides. Caroline has a master's degree in entomology from Oregon State University and is a graduate of Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania.

Tom Diehl

Tom Diehl has worked for 24 years as a California landscape contractor with expertise in water conservation, landscape remediation and ecologically advanced synthetic turf solutions. He is the author of several industry articles outlining successful ways to educate consumers about what artificial grass and infills are best for residential use. His business is New Green Landscape, Inc., and he is a dealer and contractor for Tiger Turf Synthetic Grass.

Robina Suwol

Robina Suwol (www.calisafe.org), Founder & Executive Director of California Safe Schools, a children's environmental health non-profit coalition, achieved national prominence by spearheading the Los Angeles Unified Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Policy, the most stringent pesticide policy in the nation for K-12 public schools-the first to embrace the "Precautionary Principle" and "Right to Know" and then the passage of California's Healthy Schools Act. Today the LA Unified IPM policy serves as an international model for school districts and communities. On October 6, 2005, Governor Schwarzenegger signed AB 405 (Montanez) sponsored by Robina & California Safe Schools. The bill bans experimental pesticides, whose health effects are unknown, from California K-12 public schools. Suwol serves on several national boards of directors of Environmental Justice and Health organizations, and has won a number of prestigious awards for her activist work, which have been highlighted in many prominent publications and radio and TV programs.

Gale Filter

Gale Filter is Deputy Director for Enforcement and Emergency Response at the state of California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC). The department is part of the California Environmental Protection Agency. In working to ensure that businesses and others follow state laws and regulations in how they manage, store and transport hazardous waste, Mr. Filter oversees the major elements of enforcement at DTSC. These include statewide compliance, criminal investigations and emergency response.
A native of Chicago, Mr. Filter has been a lifelong environmentalist. He began his “official” environmental work in California in 1991 as a prosecutor in the Imperial County District Attorney’s office. There, he handled environmental crimes and prosecuted people responsible for harming the environment.
From 1999 to 2003, Mr. Filter was Environmental Project Director for the California District Attorneys Association. And before joining the Toxic Substances Control Department of the state, he served as the Deputy Director of Consumer, Environmental and Legal Services at the District Attorneys Association.
Mr. Filter has a Juris Doctorate degree from the University Of San Diego School of Law. He also holds a Master of Public Administration degree as well as a Bachelor of Arts degree. He and his family live in Sacramento.

Douglas Kot

Douglas Kot has more than 10 years experience with environmentally sustainable building and planning projects.  This experience includes all phases and scales of project development—from writing general plans through building detailing; and from conceptual design through post-occupancy evaluation.  He has been a technical consultant for a number of high-performance buildings advising on ventilation strategies, energy efficiency measures, on-site renewable energy generation, water efficiency and healthy interiors.  He has taught extensively on building energy use, sustainable building technologies and human-centered design.  Doug holds dual Masters’ Degrees from UC Berkeley in City Planning and Landscape Architecture and a Bachelor of Architecture Degree from the Pennsylvania State University.

Andre Villaseñor

Andre Villaseñor is the U.S. EPA's Southern California coordinator for P2 and environmental stewardship. He has 14 years experience as an environmental professional. Prior to EPA he worked for L.A. County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. In addition he has also lived and worked in Chile as an environmental consultant for airports and mines and in  in Ecuador as a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer where he implemented habitat conservation projects and small business enterprises in the Amazon rainforest.

Wendi Shafir

Wendi Shafir, LEED AP, USEPA Pollution Prevention Coordinator – Wendi Shafir, LEED AP, USEPA Pollution Prevention Coordinator – Wendi has been with EPA since 1991.  Her work has included hazardous waste permitting, enforcement, cleanups, water and wastewater infrastructure, wetlands restoration and P2 and Sustainability. She currently works on Green Building for Healthcare and Schools.

Leif Magnuson

Leif Magnuson, USEPA Pollution Prevention Coordinator – Leif Magnuson is an Environmental Scientist and Residential Green Building Coordinator at the U.S. EPA Pacific Southwest Regional office in San Francisco, CA. He has worked for EPA for 20 years. He received his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Biology from Stanford University.

Douglas Kots

Greg Kots- Senior Green Building

Greg Kots- Senior Green Building Consultant at KEMA Services, Inc- Greg is a Green Building and Sustainable Planning Consultant for KEMA Services, Inc in San Diego, CA.

Jennifer Case

Jennifer Case, Executive Director

Ms. Jennifer Case obtained a BA in Political Science from UC San Diego, and a law degree from Pepperdine University. In her legal practice, Jennifer represented individuals, business and public entity clients in such areas as general business litigation, real estate, construction and technology. Prior to attending law school, Ms. Case was an administrator of a start-up fiber optics company in the Silicon Valley.

Heidi Sanborn

Heidi Sanborn is an independent consultant working half time as the Executive Director of the California Product Stewardship Council (CPSC) and as National Outreach Director for the Product Policy Institute. Prior to working for the CPSC, Heidi was a Senior Manager at R3 Consulting Group Inc. in Sacramento California. Her work history includes projects such as designing household battery collection curbside programs as well as sharps and universal waste collection strategies.

Ms. Sanborn became interested in Product Stewardship in 2000 at a time when she served as Technical Advisor to then California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB) Chair Linda Moulton-Patterson. Ms. Sanborn later worked as an independent consultant to the Product Stewardship Institute to assist in facilitation of the Paint Product Stewardship Initiative. In the fall of 2006, Ms. Sanborn went on to work with R3 Consulting Group and was the primary author of two documents: the Sonoma Extended Producer Responsibility Implementation Plan (2/07) and the Contractor’s report to the CIWMB titled “Framework for Evaluating End-of-Life Product Management Systems in California” (7/07). Ms. Sanborn is widely recognized as the expert in EPR policy in California and has been asked to be an expert witness and make presentations at the California Ocean Protection Council board meeting (4/09) to the National EPA Pollution Prevention conference in Washington D.C (3/09).

Ms. Sanborn is a graduate of the University of California at Davis with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science – Public Service and a Master’s of Public Administration from the University of Southern California.

K.C. Golden

K.C. Golden is Policy Director for Climate Solutions, a research and advocacy organization pioneering practical and profitable solutions to global warming.   From 1999 to 2002, KC was a special assistant to the Mayor of Seattle for clean energy and climate protection initiatives. In that capacity he helped to engineer Seattle City Light’s commitment to become the nation’s first climate neutral electric power utility and the City’s commitment to exceed the goals of the Kyoto protocol. KC was formerly Assistant Director of Washington’s Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development, where he directed the Energy Division and the state’s energy policy office.  He is a member of the Executive Board of Energy Northwest, and serves on the boards of 1Sky, US Climate Action Network and the advisory committee of the Alliance for Climate Protection.

Gil Friend

Gil Friend is founder, president & CEO of Natural Logic Inc, providing advisory services in strategy, design, operations and information systems that help clients build economic advantage through exceptional environmental performance.

Clients have included Arizona Public Service, Auberge Resorts, Agilent Technologies, the California Department of General Services, Coca Cola, Dean Foods, Ex’pression Center for New Media, Equal Exchange, General Mills, Gilead Sciences, Granite Construction, Green Mountain Energy, Hewlett Packard, Levi Straus & Co, Nike, Odwalla, Pacific Gas & Electric, Sun Microsystems, the US General Services Administration and many others.

A systems ecologist and business strategist with nearly 40 years experience in business, communications, and environmental innovation, Friend combines broad business experience with unique content experience spanning strategy, systems ecology, economic development, management cybernetics, and public policy. Tomorrow magazine called him “One of the country’s leading environmental management consultants—a real expert who combines theoretical sophistication with hands-on, in-the-trenches know-how.”

He is a founding board member of the Sustainable Business Alliance, Sustainable Berkeley, and the California Sustainable Business Council and serves on the executive board of OpenEco.org and the advisory boards of CleanFish, WattBot, Green World Campaign, and (past) San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom’s Clean Tech Advisory Council. Friend served in the California Governor’s Office, developing early sustainability policies and programs. He was a founding board member of Internet pioneer Institute for Global Communications, founder and Executive Director of Foundation for the Arts of Peace, and cofounder and codirector of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, a leading urban ecology and economic development “think-and-do tank,” where he pioneered the current “green roof” trend more than 35 years ago.

Friend is Adjunct Faculty at Presidio Graduate School. He lectures widely on business strategy and sustainability issues and writes The New Bottom Line, offering strategic perspectives on business and environment. He was coauthor of Biofuels Development and Soil Productivity (1982), has contributed chapters to several books, including Worldchanging: A User’s Guide to the 21st Century, Sustainable Enterprise Report, Sustainable Enterprise Fieldbook, Sustainable Food Systems, and Stepping Stones, and is the author of The Truth About Green Business (FT Press) and the forthcoming book Profit on Purpose: Risk, Fiduciary Duty and the Laws of Nature.

He holds an M.S. degree in systems ecology from Antioch University, has a black belt in Aikido, and is a seasoned practitioner of “The Natural Step” environmental management system.

John Harland

John Harland is a Principal Engineer with Intel Corporation. 

At Intel he is currently manager of Design for the Environment programs in new manufacturing technology development – to set and ensure semiconductor manufacturing processes developed in Oregon meet environmental targets and don’t cause environmental problems when they are transferred to high volume manufacturing factories. 

Previously at Intel, John has had responsibilities for environmental compliance at manufacturing facilities and environmental design of new factories and waste systems.  In the mid 1990’s he developed the P2 elements for the Pollution Prevention in Permitting Project (P4) – a collaboration between Intel, USEPA and Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ) to experiment including pollution prevention into permits.  The project was coordinated by the Pacific Northwest Pollution Prevention Resource Center (PPRC).  John is currently a member of the Board of Directors of PPRC

Prior to Intel John worked as a consulting engineer designing wastewater treatment systems and for a pollution abatement system manufacturer

John has a BS in Chemical Engineering from University of Edinburgh and MS in Environmental Engineering from the California Institute of Technology

John and his wife, Janet, have two daughters and have just become empty nesters!  When not at work, John likes to travel, bicycle ride and enjoys getting into the great outdoors!

Clayton Brown

Clayton Brown is the Source Control Manager for Clean Water Services, a sanitary sewer and surface water management public utility serving over 500,000 customers in Washington County, Oregon.

As the Source Control Manager, Clayton is responsible for several environmental programs including Industrial Pretreatment, Industrial Storm Water, Pollution Prevention, and Water Quality Investigations.

Clayton is an award-winning, dedicated, resourceful, results-oriented clean water industry professional with over 21 years of pollution control and water treatment experience.  He demonstrates innovative leadership, team building and coaching skills with the ability to motivate staff incorporating holistic and collaborative communication. Clayton has proven program and project management skills with demonstrated capacity to drive projects to successful completion. He is responsible for numerous process improvements resulting in significant resource and capital savings and is active in several industry associations.

Clayton lives with his wife, Tricia, in Newberg, Oregon.  They enjoy spending time with their grandchildren at their little off-the-grid cabin near Lake Cushman, Washington.

Education and Professional Development

Masters in Business Administration
George Fox College, Newberg, OR

Bachelor of Science, Biology
Portland State University, Portland, OR

Memberships and Affiliations

Founding Board Member, Pacific Northwest Source Control Training Association (PNSCTA), 2008

Board Member, Pollution Prevention Resource Center (PPRC) since 2007

Northwest Environmental Conference (NWEC) planning committee member since 2007

Water Environment Federation (WEF) and Pacific Northwest Clean Water Association (PNCWA) member since 1991

Oregon Association of Clean Water Agencies (ACWA) member.  Board of Directors and Industrial Pretreatment Committee Chair, 2000 – 2001

Portland Metro Pollution Prevention Outreach Team (P2O).  Chair, 2002

Pacific Northwest Pretreatment Conference Planning Committee Chair, 2002, 2005

National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) Hazardous Waste and Pretreatment Program Committee member since 2000

Two-time winner of the national EPA Pretreatment Program Excellence Award, 1995 and 2001

Marney Jett

Marney Jett is a Source Control Investigator for Clean Water Services, a sanitary sewer and surface water management public utility serving over 500,000 customers in Washington County, Oregon.

Marney has been in this position for about 8 years, prior to this working in the laboratory doing industrial and stream sampling. As an investigator, Marney manages pretreatment and industrial stormwater permits. She is experienced in performing water quality investigations and providing technical assistance for many industrial and commercial sectors.

Specific work in pollution prevention includes work with: dentists, auto repair and auto body facilities, landscaping services, restaurants, photo processors.

A native Oregonian, Marney lives with her husband and two small children in Sherwood, Oregon. They enjoy weekends on the Oregon Coast or up on Mt. Hood, in addition to visiting the multitude of wineries right outside their door step.

Education

Bachelor of Science, Biology
Gonzaga University; Spokane, WA

Brett Hulstrom

Brett Hulstrom is currently an Environmental Specialist with the City of Portland, Oregon’s Bureau of Environmental Services.  Working in the Industrial Projects Section of the Industrial Source Control Group, he deals with pollution prevention programs for various small business sectors. 

Brett has a BS in Business Administration and has worked in various positions in the environmental protection field for nearly 25 years.  Brett has experience working in both the pretreatment and storm water programs as well as P2O.  He’s proud of the small HHW collection facility he sited and operated in the 1990’s in Chino, CA in conjunction with the San Bernardino County HHW Program. 

Brett is currently the chair of the Pollution Prevention Outreach Team, a coalition of government agencies within the state who have banded together to coordinate pollution prevention efforts.  The group’s mission is “to provide coordinated educational messages and technical assistance in pollution prevention to citizens and businesses.”  

Brett enjoys outdoor activities (especially skiing, camping and white water rafting), gardening, live music and theatre and his family (especially his four nephews).   He’s happy to be back in San Diego to talk about Oregon’s Dental Best Management Program and SB 737 developments.

Kevin Dick

Kevin Dick is Director of the Business Environmental Program (BEP) at the University of Nevada, Reno.  BEP provides free and confidential assistance with environmental management, energy efficiency, green building, and pollution prevention to business and government operations throughout Nevada.  BEP also manages the Western Sustainability and Pollution Prevention Network, one of eight national EPA funded Pollution Prevention Resource Exchange (P2Rx) centers. Prior to joining BEP in 1991, Kevin worked as an Environmental Engineer with USEPA Region 9.  He has a B.S from Cornell.
 
Kevin serves on the Advisory Board of the Western Sustainability and Pollution Prevention Network.  He is a former chairman of the National Pollution Prevention Roundtable and a Nevada Certified Environmental Manager.

Heidi Siegelbaum

Heidi is a professional mutt, having worked on farms, in hotels and restaurants, attended cooking school and is a chowhound. She found her love of environmental policy and practice at EPA where she used to practice law in their industrial chemicals and biotechnology program. Heidi continues has worked on sustainable tourism strategies, environmental program development and science translation since 1996 and is a principal with Calyx Sustainable Tourism in Seattle.

The company is a founding member of the emerging PURE Travel Collaborative in Washington State which will be the first sustainable tourism membership organization locally.

Heidi is a blogger on American Public Media’s Greenwash Brigade.