Experience

Comfort Lake-Forest Lake Watershed District

• United States
• Environmental Services
• 1 - 100 Employee

• District Administrator

  • Mar 2014 - Present

  Oversee all elements of a $2.5 million dollar budget for managing water resources within this multi-county watershed district. Hired as the fourth administrator in seven years, undertook a multifaceted approach for process improvement so as to achieve desired goals and objectives. Created a detailed work plan which resulted in identifying specific needed staff skill sets which in turn were used to recruit and hire a highly talented team of professionals. The staff has more than doubled the number of hours of work performed toward District objectives while reducing expenses by cutting certain high cost outsourced activities. Additionally, several program areas have tripled the level of effort put toward objectives in the past recent years. Concurrently to all of this, led to completion more projects in first five years than had been completed in the previous fifteen years. These projects are rapidly moving targeted lakes toward their state water quality goals with some lakes more than 20 years ahead of planned schedule. Financially, I have had a strong focus on combining economic principles with data so as to identify and implement projects with high returns on investment. Additionally, I have been researching and obtaining large amounts of grant revenue which has covered as much as 40% of the annual budget in recent years. Innovative programs and projects are a hallmark of the work I do along with a strong focus on cost-benefit analysis. We're presently embarking on bringing new science and technology into the water resources which has every indication of moving us to our goals at an even faster pace than what has been done in these past five years while dramatically reducing costs. I firmly believe that our unique approach along with this technology could make dramatic improvements to water bodies even in the most impaired watersheds.



Prior Lake-Spring Lake Watershed District

• District Administrator

  • Mar 2007 - Feb 2014

  Coordinated and administered all aspects of this 42 square mile watershed district within the Minneapolis and St. Paul metropolitan area. This included being the primary person to develop and manage a 1.7 million dollar budget, oversee day to day activities of all staff as well as numerous contracts for professional services such as accountants, attorneys, auditors, engineers, human resource professionals, as well as other specialized scientific services. Additional duties included the application for and execution of grants; the implementation of all elements of personnel management including hiring of staff, annual reviews, and updates to job descriptions; and the development and execution of organizational and personnel policies. Program management tasks include the development and updating of a ten year management plan with numerous multi-year projects and programs. From this, two annual coordinated budgets were developed based on specific goals and metrics. One budget was for the PLSLWD and the other supports the activities of a Joint Powers Agreement/Memorandum of Agreement (JPA/MOA) between the District, two cities and a local tribal community. The former includes water quality monitoring, a permitting and inspection program, land management programs, homeowner and business education programs, project implementation, and construction oversight. The latter budget supports the Prior Lake Outlet Channel (PLOC) operation and maintenance. As District Administrator, all accounting, construction and program activities are planned and executed through the PLSLWD office. The management of the PLOC during my tenure resulted in a savings of over $3 million of an original $5.4 million project estimate. Additionally, I worked with the Board early on to invest the funds that had been built up for this project. Implementing this financial management change earned enough additional interest revenue to cover my pay and benefits during my employment.



U.S. Navy Reserve

• United States
• Armed Forces
• 700 & Above Employee

• Commander

  • Jun 1984 - Nov 2013

  Provided leadership, management and mentoring in various active duty and reserve unit assignments. This has included six years as Commanding Officer of three different units, Executive Officer for one unit, and Administrative Officer for two units. Reserve units ranged from 30 to 150 personnel.



Dunn County Land Conservation Department

• Project manager / Conservation Planner

  • Jul 1994 - Mar 2007

  Coordinated and administered all aspects of this 125,000 acre state "priority watershed", including all budgets, grants, and progress reports as required. Worked with State of Wisconsin legislators to create this water quality pilot program. Results included two and a half times the normal participation at one half of the original 6 million dollar cost estimate. Coordinated the project with local, state and federal agencies. Worked with four municipalities and over 300 landowners in identifying and implementing improved water quality structures and management practices with a heavy focus on nutrieint management planning. Reviewed designs and lead construction efforts for numerous conservation related projects as well as serving on a variety of local stakeholder committees related to TMDLs and other soil and water conservation efforts.



US Navy

• United States
• Armed Forces
• 700 & Above Employee

• Environmental/Process Review Officer

  • Nov 2004 - Apr 2005

  Conducted top to bottom environmental review of all air, water and industrial waste programs at this 1.3 billion dollar repair facility with over 4,000 workers prior to the first ever nuclear powered vessel being forward deployed to Japan. Utilizing ISO 14001 as the framework for initiating an Environmental Management System (EMS) program, conducted a review of major industrial processes with significant environmental impacts. This review lead to changes in several key areas with savings to the U.S. Navy of tens of thousands of dollars a month. Other equipment, staffing and process recommendations have since been implemented.



Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR)

• United States
• Environmental Services
• 700 & Above Employee

• Environmental Specialist

  • Jan 1992 - Jul 1994

  Wastewater: Reviewed large farm management plans for compliance, and maintained a database of related district field activities. Public Water Supply: Assisted with development of a new state underground injection control program which regulates wastewater to on-site waste disposal systems.



UESS-SPODEK

• Physical Scientist

  • Jul 1991 - Aug 1991

  Conducted a scientific survey of the Svyatoy Nos Penisula area of the Zabaikal National Park with Czech graduate students in collaboration with the Siberian Academy of Sciences.



Czech University of Life Sciences Prague

• Czechia
• Higher Education
• 700 & Above Employee

• Faculty Member

  • Sep 1990 - Jun 1991

  Provided 18 hours of instruction per week to over 120 university students and staff members, and assisted in the initial development of the future structure of the University in an initial post-Communist era as well as English teaching programs and other university level courses.



Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

• Government Administration
• 200 - 300 Employee

• Researcher and Principal author

  • Jun 1989 - Sep 1990

  Researched and wrote two technical papers requested as part of an agreement between NASA and the U.S. Bureau of Mines for the Mars Sample Return Mission. Final report included recommendations for specs for drilling on Mars with the purpose of returning samples to earth.