New AAWRE President-Elect and Trustees Announced
AAWRE is pleased to announce Dr. Robert Traver Ph.D., P.E., D.WRE, M.ASCE as the new AAWRE President-Elect and Pascale Champagne, Ph.D., P.E., D.WRE and Michael Markus, P.E., D.WRE, F.ASCE as new AAWRE Board of Trustees for 2011-2014. Mr. Markus and Dr. Champagne will fill the Board seats being vacated by out-going Past-President P. Kay Whitlock, P.E., D.WRE, F.ASCE and Kyle Schilling, P.E., BCEE, D.WRE, Dist.M.ASCE on October 1. Dr. Traver will extend his current term on the Board for an additional three years as President-Elect, as he is currently finishing the final year of a 3-year term. Each will serve on the Board beginning effective October 1, for a 3-year term ending in September 2014.
PRESIDENT-ELECT
Dr. Robert G. Traver, Ph.D., P.E., D.WRE, M.ASCE is a professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Villanova University and Director of Villanova Center for the Advancement of Sustainability in Engineering and Villanova Urban Stormwater Partnership. Dr. Traver has been a member of the Water Resources and Environmental Engineering Program at Villanova since 1988. Dr. Traver was honored as the Water Resources Engineer of the Year (2004) by the Philadelphia Section of ASCE, and in 2007 received the Outstanding Civilian Service Medal from the Commanding General of the Corps of Engineers for his work on ASCE's External Review Panel (ERP) of the Corps investigation of Hurricane Katrina. Robert teaches graduate courses in hydrology, hydraulics, urban storm water management, and undergraduate courses in all facets of water resources. Dr Traver was awarded the Schuylkill Action Network Education Award (2005), the Water Resources Association of the Delaware River Basin Ruth Patrick Education Award (2006), and the Chester County Watershed Stewardship Award (2008). In addition, he was a National Research Council Committee Member that authored "Urban Stormwater Management in the United States" (2008). This document is being used currently by U.S. EPA to restructure the nation's stormwater strategy. He was selected as a member of ASCE's National Energy, Environment and Water Policy Committee. He played a vital role in creating a Stormwater Best Management Practice Demonstration and Research Park on the Villanova Campus, and founded the Villanova Urban Stormwater Partnership to enable continuing long term stormwater research. Dr. Traver received his Bachelors in Civil Engineering from the Virginia Military Institute, his MSCE from Villanova University, and his Ph.D. from The Pennsylvania State University. Robert is a founding inaugural AAWRE Diplomate since 2005 and is a current AAWRE Board member in his final year of a 3-year term.
At-Large Trustees
Dr. Pascale Champagne, Ph.D., P.Eng., D.WRE is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering and cross-appointed to the Department of Chemical Engineering at Queen's University in Ontario, Canada. Dr. Champagne is a leading researcher in environmental engineering, where currently she is developing a process to extract useable organic materials from waste biomass, such as livestock manure and forestry residue, and convert them into valuable chemicals and sources of energy, like biofuel. Dr. Champagne has won numerous research awards such as Early Researcher Award in 2007, which is awarded by the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation to attract and retain and the best and brightest research talent in high-priority economic research sectors; Russell Ackoff Award in 2005 for Best Paper Award by the International Journal of Solid Waste Technology and Management for the best paper; and Petro-Canada Young Innovator Award in 2002 for being recognized as an outstanding young faculty researcher whose academic work is particularly innovative, enhances the learning environment in the department in which they study and has the potential to be significant to society. Pascale earned her Doctor of Philosophy in Environmental Engineering and Master of Applied Science in Civil Engineering at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, and she is a member of the Professional Engineers of Ontario (PEO), International Water Association (IWA), Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA), Water Environment Federation (WEF), and American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). Pascale has been an AAWRE Diplomate since fall 2008.
Mr. Michael R. Markus, P.E., D.WRE, F.ASCE is the General Manager of the Orange County Water District (OCWD) since September 2007, when he became only the sixth general manager in the District's 74-year history. With more than 30 years of experience, Mike is well known for his expertise in construction management, planning and water resource management. Mike joined OCWD in 1988 as construction manager and for the first 14 years of his career at the District oversaw construction of many of the water facilities OCWD depends upon today to refill and manage the groundwater basin. In 2002 he was given the responsibility to manage the implementation of the $480 million Groundwater Replenishment System program. In 2004, Mike was promoted to assistant general manager overseeing water production and groundwater recharge operations, in addition to serving as program manager for the GWRS. Under his leadership, the GWRS garnered twenty-one awards, including the prestigious American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) 2009 Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award for the year's most outstanding national engineering project, and the Stockholm 2008 Industry Water Award for the year's most outstanding international water project. Prior to OCWD, Mike spent two years with John Carollo Engineers and eight years with Peter Kiewit Sons' Co. He earned his bachelor's degree in civil engineering from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, and a master's in civil engineering from the University of Southern California. Mike was named one of the Top 25 Newsmakers of 2007 by the Engineering News-Record and received the international 2009 Said Khoury Award for Engineering Construction Excellence. He is a registered Civil Engineer in the state of California and has been an AAWRE Diplomate since fall 2009.