About The Speakers

The 22nd Annual
BioCycle West Coast Conference 2006
Composting, Organics Recycling & Renewable Energy
Building Sustainable Cities & Communities
March 20, 21, 22, 2006
Portland, Oregon
Portland Marriott Downtown

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Click here for a pdf file of the conference brochure.

Ron Alexander is the President of R. Alexander Associates, Inc., a company specializing in market development and research for organic recycled products. As a consultant, he has directed and completed almost 200 compost marketing and utilization projects. Before becoming a consultant, Mr. Alexander was Vice President of Marketing for a firm specializing in the marketing of composted products, and other recycled products. Mr. Alexander is a horticulturalist with almost 20 years of experience working with compost. He has also authored the ‘Field Guide to Compost Use’, and ‘Landscape Architecture Specifications for Compost Utilization’, and is currently co-managing the US Composting Council’s Seal of Testing Assurance Program.

Jan Allen is a Senior Technologist for CH2M HILL in their Seattle Office. He specializes in environmental engineering, construction management, industrial operations, solid waste management, composting, bulk material handling, microbiological systems, and odor control facilities. Design projects include solid waste material recovery, composting, biofiltration, intermediate processing, landfill closure, anaerobic facility design, and technical presentations to policymakers and governmental agencies.

Susan Anderson is Director of the City of Portland Office of Sustainable Development (OSD) — a municipal agency working to ensure the environmental and economic health and prosperity of Portland’s neighborhoods and businesses. OSD is responsible for city wide solid waste collection and recycling, energy conservation, renewable energy resources, sustainable construction practices, utility regulatory issues and a variety of environmental programs. OSD is the lead agency for implementing Portland’s Local Action Plan on Global Warming. A local plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 10 percent by 2010. Over the years, Susan has worked with more than 30 communities to promote resource efficiency, the use of renewable resources and sustainable practices in commercial facilities, housing, transportation, land use planning and economic development. She holds undergraduate and advanced degrees in Economics, Environmental Science and Urban and Regional Planning.

James Brannaman has a long history of sustainable product development and invention of storm water mitigation and pollution prevention devices. Creative Business Development Director for The Arc implementing innovative social enterprise program development for The Arc of Multnomah, Clackamas. With relation to recycling postindustrial coffee bean bag waste and converting it into value added products for re-use. Waste Coffee bean bags picked up at local coffee roasters and converted into private label tote bags, "java totes" lunch sacks, wine gift bags, barista aprons, gift bags for show attendees and various non profit fund raising activities. Overflow of bulk material is diverted to various agriculture applications as an alternative weed control device eliminating the need for chemicals in vineyards. Storm water and erosion control devices for BMPs and hydro mulch material for hydro seeding.

Rachel Bristol of Oregon Food Bank began her work in hunger relief in 1983 as a VISTA volunteer with Oregon Food Share. As Acting Executive Director in 1988, she played a key role in the merger with Interagency Food Bank to form the Oregon Food Bank. Rachel was named Executive Director of Oregon Food Bank in 1990. Rachel has served on the Legislative Task Force on Hunger Relief, and as a member of the Community Action Directors of Oregon, the Human Services Coalition of Oregon and numerous national task forces on hunger issues since 1990. She served on the Board of Directors for America’s Second Harvest from1997-2000, and is currently serving on the Programs Service Planning Committee for America’s Second Harvest National Affiliate Council. Rachel was appointed to the Portland-Multnomah County Food Policy Council at its inception in 2003, and is currently serving as Co-chair of the Council.

Dr. Hal Collins is a research soil scientist/microbiologist at the Vegetable and Forage Crops Research Unit in Prosser, Washington. He has collaborated in research with a number of Land Grant Universities, USDA-ARS and USDA-USFS during his 26 years in soils research.  Dr. Collins provides leadership in the areas of soil microbiology, soil fertility and biogeo-chemistry. His current program is oriented to the development of new knowledge and technology for the USDA-National Program of Integrated Cropping Systems. Most recently, research has expanded to evaluate the production of oilseed crops for an emerging biodiesel market and to determine how they will fit into high value irrigated vegetable cropping systems.

Craig Cogger is Extension Soil Scientist at WSU Puyallup. He received a PhD from Cornell University in Soil Science in 1979. Since 1990 he has done research on land application of organic wastes and by-products, including composts, yard debris, biosolids, and animal manures. His research had focused on nutrient management and soil quality in agricultural and urban environments. In 2003 he became principal investigator of a project comparing the effects of different management systems on nutrient management, productivity, soil quality, and profitability of organic vegetable production.

John F. Connolly’s firm, JFConnolly & Associates, is an operations-focused, expense management consulting firm that specializes in assisting supermarket chains, other generators, composting facilities, hauling companies, and governmental agencies to realize the operational, economic, and environmental advantages of diverting food waste and other organics to composting. For the past four years, the firm has been directly engaged in the organics recycling/composting strategy for Massachusetts-based supermarket chains and hotels. Collaborative activities have included the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, EPA, Massachusetts Food Association, WasteCap of Massachusetts, regional supermarket chains, Boston area hotels, composting facilities, organics-niche haulers, and trade associations representing the supermarket, hotel, and organics recycling sectors. Prior to forming JFConnolly & Associates, Connolly was responsible for organizational management of $765 million of supermarket chain retail operating expense for over 250 stores with annual sales of $4.5 billion.

Michael DeAngelis is the Program Manager of the Advanced, Renewables and Distributed Generation Technologies Program at the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD). Mr. DeAngelis has actively worked to research, develop and commercialize innovative renewable energy, energy efficiency and distributed generation technologies for the past 28 years. Recently, he was the Deputy Chief of the Technology Systems Division of the California Energy Commission where he initiated and managed several major alternative energy research and commercialization programs. He formerly worked at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Colorado, at British Columbia Hydropower Authority, and was a lecturer on alternative energy at California State University. He has given hundreds of presentations on the subject of alternative energy, published more than 30 reports or papers, and has Bachelor of Science and Masters of Science degrees in environmental science and environmental planning (California State University, Sacramento and the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada).

Denise Foland is a Business Development representative with Cedar Grove Composting, Inc. and has been with the company since early 2003. Before that, her career was in the environmental analytical laboratory industry working as a chemist, project manager, and in business development. Denise has a B.S. in Biomedical Communications from the Ohio State University. Denise currently serves as the Treasurer on the Composting Council of Oregon board and manages the Cedar Grove-Portland Metro organic waste contract.

Craig Frear is a research associate and PhD graduate student within the Washington State University Department of Biological Systems Engineering. His research and academic interests focus on bioproducts and bioprocessing of value added products from under-valued agricultural and industrial wastes

Mark Fuchs is a Hydrogeologist in the Washington Department of Ecology’s Solid Waste Program conducting oversight and permitting of beneficial use of biosolids for production of crops, trees, use as a soil amendment and in composting operations in the Eastern Regional Office.  He is one of the Ecology leads in developing support for a bio-based economy in which organic wastes are used to develop bio-energy and create other valuable bio-products.  Mark has worked with multiple state agencies and offices to create an interagency bio-energy team that is working across the state to create support for these concepts.  He developed the concept and support to complete a waste organics inventory as a key first step, and obtained the funding to complete this project through Ecology funding and support from Kitsap County, the City of Tacoma and Northwest Biosolids Management Association.

Michael Grainey is Director of the Oregon Department of Energy in Salem, Oregon. The Department sites and regulates large energy facilities, operates state and federal incentive programs to promote energy conservation and renewable resources, and implements state energy policy. The Department is also responsible for regulating the safe transport and cleanup of radioactive waste and addresses issues posed by the Hanford Nuclear Site in the State of Washington which affect Oregon. The Oregon Department of Energy has been a national leader in providing technical assistance and incentives for waste recycling and energy recovery from waste material, as well as developing renewable energy from farm and forest biomass material. Mike has been with the Oregon Department of Energy since 1980 and became Director in January of 2002. He graduated from New York University Law School and received his undergraduate degree from Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington.

Kelly D. Hendryx is an Environmental Manager for the City of Portland, Oregon. He has managed the Industrial Projects Section since 1994. In this capacity he is responsible for the modification of the Extra Strength Sewer Charge program. The change in program will result in a new rate structure for industrial and commercial customers that will better recover the cost for services and promote pollution reduction through organic composting. He is also responsible for the Alternative Discharge Control Program that is designed to allow innovative approaches for the elimination or control of pollutant discharges to the sanitary and storm sewer. Examples of these programmatic approaches are the Eco-Logical Business program for Automotive Services, the Silver program for Photo processors and preprint operations and the Dental program. He has several other processes that he manages such as the sanitary and stormwater review of new and reconstructed non-residential properties, batch discharges, cost recovery for sewer cleaning and repair and the industrial user survey. In these capacities he is responsible for policy, program development and implementation.

Timothy Jones, adjunct professor in the Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology at the University of Arizona, was raised in a Western Cherokee community outside of Tulsa, Oklahoma. He received his education in archaeology, anthropology and American culture from the University of Tulsa, University of Idaho, University of Pennsylvania and University of Arizona. As a specialist in historic archaeology Jones has directed excavations and historical research throughout the United States on urbanization and technological development from 1850 through the present. In the early 1980s Jones turned his interest toward the application of archaeological concepts and techniques to modern day problems and issues -- the development of the field of Contemporary Archaeology. His studies of materials and their use from homes and commerce have produced information about human behavior invisible in our perceptions of the world. This interdisciplinary approach explored by Dr. Jones integrates archaeology, applied anthropology, ethnography and environmental studies to reveal this everyday world and how different it is from the way we see it.

Chad Kruger is the Director of Outreach for the Climate Friendly Farming Project of WSU’s Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources. He is a Ph.D. candidate in Land Resources from the Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. His professional experience includes more than 10 years of experience in teaching, extension and research on the adoption of sustainable agriculture systems and technologies and administration of a research policy network.

Tom Liptan is a registered Landscape Architect and Ecological designer for the City of Portland, Oregon, Bureau of Environmental Services, Sustainable Stormwater Management Program. He has been the impetus behind the research and development of new urban design techniques, codes and policies in the city. The success and recognition of these approaches has spread internationally. Tom has lectured at conferences in Sweden, Denmark, England, New Zealand and many cities throughout North America. In 2004, the U.S. Embassy in Denmark sponsored his participation at the Union of Baltic Cities Environmental Workshops, for cities preparing to enter the European Union. He has assisted numerous municipalities, developers, consultants, multi-state corporations and government agencies with acceptance of Ecoroofs and other Landscape Approaches used for stormwater management and healthy city development. He has presented papers at several universities and symposiums, including Harvard University, School of Design.

Greg Loosvelt, Chief Operating Officer of Earth Pledge, manages research, development and outreach for the organization's four initiatives. He oversees anaerobic digestion feasibility and demonstration projects for Waste=Fuel; affordable housing and stormwater model development for EP Green Roofs; and sustainable materials research for FutureFashion. He has over 20 years experience leading development and building infrastructure projects for the telecommunications and medical industries, serving as project manager, VP engineer, development engineer and CEO.

Mark Maurer is the Roadside and Site Development Manager at the Washington State Department of Transportation. He has held this position since 1999 and worked for WSDOT since 1990. He works on broad policy issues such as the Highway Runoff Manual and the Standard Specifications, and manages and mentors a staff that includes landscape architects and a horticulturist to support design, construction, and maintenance projects for the department. Mark is a registered Landscape Architect in Washington State and received his Bachelor of Landscape Architecture degree from the University of Arkansas.

David McDonald researches, writes about, and teaches environmentally-friendly landscape practices for Seattle Public Utilities. A biologist by training, he has worked in oceanographic research, mountain lion research and forest fire management, operated a small farm, and taught agriculture and forestry with the Peace Corps. He helped create and serves as technical advisor for Seattle’s Backyard Composting program (a model now used around the world), Natural Lawn and Garden Care, the regional Soils for Salmon initiative, and other public and professional education programs. His recent publications include "Ecologically Sound Lawn Care for the Pacific Northwest" and numerous articles on natural landscape design and management, and on soils and storm water. See for instance his recent summary of soil restoration practices. His current work focuses on the critical function of soils in urban resource conservation.

Jeffrey Morris is a Ph.D. (University of California at Berkeley) economist with Sound Resource Management, an economic and environmental research and consulting firm with offices in Bellingham and Olympia, Washington. Jeff has taught economics at the Universities of Washington and Colorado and published peer-reviewed articles in The Review of Economics and Statistics, The Journal of Resource Management and Technology, Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, the International Journal of Life Cycle Analysis, and The Journal of Hazardous Materials.

Babe O’Sullivan works for the City of Portland's Office of Sustainable Development as lead staff in research and development for commercial recycling and waste reduction programs. For the past 3 years she has managed Portland Composts!, the first commercial food waste program in the Portland metro area begun in early 2005. Currently, Babe is also leading the development of a new Solid Waste Management Plan for the City. She holds a Master's degree in Business Administration from University of CA Berkeley, and undergraduate degree in Environmental Policy from University of CA Davis, and a Master's degree in Fashion Design from Oregon State University

Penny Ramey has over 10 years experience providing environmental outreach programs in Clark County, Washington focusing on small farm and livestock management, septic and well maintenance, and water quality. She also coordinated the Small Farm Advisor Volunteer Program since it began in 1994 and is an active 4-H leader and Master Composter/Recycler volunteer. She recently coordinated the successful small acreage outreach pilot program for WSU Clark County Extension providing advice and education to landowners on best management practices including on-site composting. Currently, Penny is a Recycling Coordinator at Columbia Resource Company/Waste Connections; her major project is promoting the "We Compost!" program in all of Vancouver School District's elementary schools.

John Reynolds, Energy Trust of Oregon, has taught architecture at the University of Oregon since Fall 1967. He is particularly interested in the interaction between people, buildings, and energy use. He has served as an elected member of the Eugene Water and Electric Board, and currently is a board member of the American Solar Energy Society [ASES], The International Solar Energy Society, and the Energy Trust of Oregon. He has received honors such as the Passive Pioneer Award from ASES, the Haecker Distinguished Leadership Award from the Architectural Research Centers Consortium, and elevation to Fellow in both the American Institute of Architects and ASES. His personal investment in recycling is modest, but at least has composted his kitchen scraps and garden cuttings since becoming an Oregonian 38 years ago.

George Savage is Executive Vice President of CalRecovey Inc.  He has been involved in all aspects of waste processing for more than 30 years, including design and testing of systems. He is a registered professional engineer and received an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.

Adam Serchuk directs biomass energy activities for the Energy Trust of Oregon. He has over ten years experience developing market-oriented strategies for building clean energy capacity. Most recently, he served as Director of Renewable Energy for Primen, an affiliate of EPRI, where he managed an advisory service tracking renewable energy technology, policy and markets for electric utilities and other subscribers. In the past, Dr. Serchuk has served as Research Director of the Renewable Energy Policy Project, and taught on the history of technology as an adjunct professor at Virginia Tech's Northern Virginia Graduate Center. He has a doctorate in Science and Technology Studies from Virginia Tech, and served as a Peace Corps volunteer in São Tomé e Príncipe.

Bill Sheehan is Director of the Product Policy Institute, an independent nonprofit research and advocacy organization that promotes public policies advancing sustainable production and consumption and good governance. The focus of current research is on local government policies that distinguish between product and organic waste management. From 1995 to 2003, Bill co-founded and led the GrassRoots Recycling Network. During that time he helped launch a global movement for "Zero Waste" and worked to focus the recycling movement on extending producer responsibility for waste as a key to sustainability, with campaigns targeting Coca-Cola and Dell. Bill received his Ph.D. in insect ecology from Cornell University and held a post-doctoral appointment at UC Berkeley before working for USDA Agricultural Research Service in Tifton, Georgia.

Helen Spiegelman is an environmentalist with over 15 years experience in solid waste management policy advocacy. She was the Communications Director with the Recycling Council of British Columbia (RCBC) during the 1990s when BC was rolling out its landmark Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regulations and is currently board secretary of RCBC, as well as board president of the Product Policy Institute. She chairs RCBC working groups on disposal bans and electronics, is an active member of working groups on organics and packaging, and has co-authored several articles along with Bill Sheehan for the Product Policy Institute.

Daniel Thompson is manager of Wastewater Operations for the City of Tacoma Public Works Department Environmental Services Division. He has over 20 years experience in the environmental field including 15 years in water, wastewater, and biosolids management. He has served as Treasurer and President of the Northwest Biosolids Management Association. Dr. Thompson holds a Masters and PhD in Silviculture from the University of Washington.

Gabriella Uhlar-Heffner has worked primarily in the organics recycling arena for the City of Seattle over the past fifteen years. As a planner for Seattle Public Utilities, she has been assisting with the development and implementation of Seattle's ban on recyclables in the garbage and the new residential and commercial food waste collection programs. Most recently, she has been focusing on policy issues and projects related to construction and demolition debris recycling.

Bryan VanLoo is the manager for the ”Renewable Energy and Environmental Projects” area at Andgar Corporation.  Along with project development, Bryan also is involved in the construction management of projects throughout the western U.S.  Andgar Corporation has been the recipient of research and development grants including Washington Technology Center Grants in 2004 and 2005.

Darryl VanderHaak began dairy farming in 1968.  In the 1980s with sons Tim and Steve getting more involved in the Dairy, Darryl and his brother Ed developed several different recycling business ventures which are still very successful today.  In July 2004 Darryl began construction of an anaerobic digester on one of his dairy farms.  The construction was completed in October and began processing cow manure and producing biogas in November, 2004.  Along with recognizing the environmental benefits, Darryl also views his anaerobic digester as a self sustaining venture, creating value added products from a renewable resource. 

Jack F. Werner, Jr., a consultant based in Washington, D.C., works with local, state and regional government officials and the staff of their various associations, as well as many federal government officials, individuals, organizations and private companies involved in sustainable community programs. He has done consulting work on a number of federally and privately funded sustainability and clean energy projects for the: Climate Institute and the STELLA Group; Public Technology, Inc. (PTI); the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC); individual local governments (e.g., Clark County, NV and Tolleson, AZ) and state associations of local governments (e.g., North Dakota Municipal League). He has been a principal co-founder of many organizations (e.g., ACORE, NABCEP, IREC, NASEO, JCSC, and SRCC). He currently serves as the Intergovernmental Affairs Director for the New Uses Council. He has a Masters degree in Public Administration from the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University and a B.A. from the University of Nevada Las Vegas. He is a Certified Assessor/Auditor for the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and a Registered Auditor of ISPQ.

Sam Wilder has worked on waste reduction, recycling and organics projects in Washington state for the past nine years. She currently is part of Sound Resource Management Group and owner of Wilder Environmental Consulting. She specializes in on-site program implementation and education with a variety of groups including residents, businesses, festivals and schools.