ANCR Water Technical Committee formed
The Alliance for National & Community Resilience (ANCR), a member of the International Code Council Family of Companies, announced its selection of a group of renowned subject matter experts to help develop the first U.S. whole-community resilience benchmarks related to water systems.
The ANCR Water Technical Committee — the second group of subject matter experts that ANCR has brought together to discuss the future of resilience in the U.S. — will determine the criteria to evaluate a community’s capacity, risk awareness, competence and resources to respond to disasters or other events that affect the quality or availability of water. It consists of government experts, utility representatives, engineers and other industry professionals from the New York City Department of Buildings, National Center for Computational Hydroscience and Engineering, Association of Water Technologists, and more.
“Water is an essential component for resilient communities. From access to clean drinking water to functioning sewage systems, communities must ensure that their water systems are strong, resistant to damage and quick to recover after an incident,” said ANCR’s Chairman Maj. General Warren C. Edwards USA (Ret.). “We are excited to have this distinguished group of water experts to discuss the best ways to measure and prepare communities for a potential disaster.”
Sunil K. Sinha, Ph.D, CEE
Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Director of Sustainable Water Infrastructure Management
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech)
Dr. Sunil Sinha is a National Science Foundation Career Award recipient in the area of sustainable infrastructure management systems. His research, teaching and consulting activities are focused in the areas of asset management, sustainability, pattern recognition, sensor informatics and resilient infrastructure, especially urban systems. He has documented and disseminated the results and findings from research work in over 200 publications in technical referred journals, technical conference proceedings and technical reports. Dr. Sinha was behind the PBS documentary “Liquid Assets: The Story of Our Water Infrastructure,” that shed light on America’s aging water systems. He has given many interviews on National Public Radio and was featured as a water infrastructure expert in a History Channel documentary.
Kathleen Baskin
Senior Project Manager
Weston & Sampson
Kathleen Baskin is a policy leader, manager and environmental engineer focusing on advancing protection, resilience and restoration of natural systems and built infrastructure, particularly in the face of climate change. She has a strong record of innovation, flexibility and effective collaboration. She previously served as the director of water policy at the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs where she managed the state’s climate change adaptation initiative, promoting protection and sustainable management of water resources for ecological and economic needs. She has a master’s degree in public administration from the Harvard Kennedy School, and a master’s degree in environmental engineering and bachelors’ degrees in civil engineering and biology, all from Tufts University.
Josh Stack
Consultant
Northeast Green Building Consulting
Josh Stack focuses on applying ecological performance standards in the framework of co-evolutionary design, a unique design and policy methodology. He is a Biomimicry Institute trained designer, an advisor in resilience, and an attorney and counselor at law admitted to practice in New York State. He has a bachelor’s degree in biology (focusing in ecology and evolutionary biology) from Cornell University, a Juris Doctor degree from the State University of New York’s University at Buffalo Law School, and a Master of Laws degree from the New York University School of Law. He adapts experience to create resilience and an ecology of life for buildings, cities and complex/strategic sustainability initiatives.
Cristiane Queiroz Surbeck, P.E., Ph.D., ENV SP, M.ASCE
Associate Dean
School of Engineering at the University of Mississippi
Cris Surbeck is a professional civil engineer, associate dean and associate professor with global experience working in academia and consulting, which gives her a unique perspective on the needs of environmental and water resources professionals in diverse forms of practice such as education, research institutions, firms, industry, government and non-profit organizations. She has experience consulting for Fortune 500 companies, doing research under federally funded grants as well as working with non-profit organizations such as Engineers Without Borders—USA and Living Waters for the World. She is the 2017–2018 president of the Environmental and Water Resources Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers and is a licensed professional engineer in California and Mississippi. Her areas of expertise include characterization of pollutants in surface waters, storm water quality, remediation of soil and groundwater, sustainability, and humanitarian engineering. She holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Maryland and a master’s degree and doctoral degree in environmental engineering from the University of California, Irvine.
Mustafa Siddik Altinakar
Associate Director and Research Professor
National Center for Computational Hydroscience and Engineering
Dr. Mustafa S. Altinakar is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), International Association of Hydro-Environment Engineering and Research (IAHR), American Geophysical Union, Association of State Flood Plain Managers and Association of State Dam Safety Officials. He serves as the chair of the Standing Committee on Global Water Issues of the International Flood Initiative of UNESCO/IAHR, vice chair of the IAHR Task Committee on Fluvial Hydraulics, and member of the Fluids Committee of the ASCE. His fields of specialization and research interests include fluvial hydraulics and its environmental aspects, sediment transport and local scour, flood simulation and management, integrated watershed management, diffusion and dispersion in waterways, stratified flows, computational fluid dynamics, optimization and decision support systems, and design of hydraulic structures. Has has bachelors’ and masters’ degrees in civil engineering from the Middle East Technical University, in Ankara, Turkey, and a doctorate in hydraulics from the Laboratoire de Recherches Hydrauliques, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland.
Jesus Suarez
Administrator for the Maintenance Division
Tucson Water
Gary Williams
Executive Director
Florida Rural Water Association
Gary Williams has been at the Florida Rural Water Association (FRWA) for an impressive 29 years. The FRWA is dedicated to assisting water and wastewater systems to provide Floridians with an ample affordable supply of high quality water, while protecting natural systems. He has a bachelor’s degree in business and finance from Iowa State University.
Alan Cohn
Managing Director of Integrated Water Management
New York City Department of Buildings
Alan Cohn develops strategies to advance resiliency and prioritize investments in water resource management at the New York City Department of Environmental Protection. He leads efforts on flood protection, coordinates national and international climate resiliency initiatives, promotes green approaches to drainage and water quality improvement, and advances studies of climate change impacts on water supply, storm water management, and wastewater treatment. He oversees a citywide Water Demand Management Program, including an On-Site Water Reuse Grant Pilot Program that provides up to $500,000 in cost sharing for commercial, mixed-use and multi-family residential sectors to install water reuse systems. He also represents New York City on the Water Utility Climate Alliance, which provides leadership and collaboration on climate change issues affecting the country’s water agencies. He has contributed to several sustainability plans, including PlaNYC: A Stronger, More Resilient New York; the NYC Wastewater Resiliency Plan; Comprehensive Waterfront Plan;and Green Infrastructure Plan. He holds a bachelor’s degree in atmospheric science from Cornell University and a master’s degree in atmospheric and oceanic science from the University of Maryland.
Joel W. May, LEED Green Associate
Director of Resilience and Resilient Construction Subject Matter Expert
BASF Corporation
Joel May is a multi-disciplined subject matter expert, engineer, and construction and building materials manufacturer who holds a bachelor’s degree in community development from Central Michigan University. He created Disaster Durable Solutions for BASF’s Performance Materials Business in 2012, and has worked on the front lines of mitigation for more than 25 years with a world-class network of scientists, academics, manufacturers and other experts who solve real-world building failures and produce solutions with finite, quantifiable results in the infrastructure, commercial and residential markets. In addition to dozens of other certifications, honors and professional group memberships, he serves on numerous boards for the advancement of sustainable construction, community and code development, risk, building science education and product development. He also holds several industry certificates in damage mitigation and restoration, building envelope failure, building science, building inspection, and energy management.
Peter E. Greenlimb, Ph.D., CWT
Principal
Chemagineering Corporation
Dr. Peter Greenlimb began his career in the industrial water treatment industry in 1973 for Dearborn Chemical Company. During the next 16 years, he held positions with Dearborn and Drew Industrial, and eventually incorporated Chemagineering Corporation in 1988 to provide chemical specialties and services to the plastics, chemical and printing industries. He is a published author and has presented numerous technical papers and conducted seminars and workshops for the Association of Water Technologists (AWT), the International Water Conference, the Society of Plastics Engineers and others. He served as AWT director from 2014 to 2016. He has a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Carthage College and a master’s degree and doctorate in organic chemistry from the University of Iowa.
Donna Boyce
Director of Recovery and Resilience Programs
Solix Inc.
Donna Boyce develops and manages programs related to disaster recovery and resiliency. She has participated in several resilience initiatives such as the New Jersey/New York Federal Emergency Management Agency Elevation Summit as a panelist member and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority Low-Income Forum on Energy Steering Committee. Boyce previously served as the Director of the Sandy Housing Recovery Program with the Community Development Corporation of Long Island where she developed and managed programs related to Superstorm Sandy housing recovery. She is a National Institute of Standards and Technology 2016 Community Resilience Fellow. She has a bachelor’s degree in history and political science from the State University of New York — Albany, and a Juris Doctor degree from Georgetown University Law Center.
Jennifer A. Adams, MPA
Adams is a recent MPA graduate from the University of Akron, with a bachelor’s degree in emergency management and a minor in geography. She completed her thesis on Resilience and Institutions of Higher Education and presented at American Society for Public Administration conference on “Practitioners versus Scholars, Big ‘R’, Little ‘r’ Resilience.” She has been in the emergency management field for almost 20 years. As a volunteer with The American Red Cross, she has seen the importance of not only individuals being resilient but communities and the effects of the recovery time.
Kevin M. Morley, Ph.D.
Manager, Federal Relations
American Water Works Association
Kevin Morley works closely with a variety of organizations tasked with advancing the security and preparedness of the nation’s critical infrastructure, including the United States Department of Homeland Security/Federal Emergency Management Agency, United States Environmental Protection Agency, United States Army Corps of Engineers, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Water Sector Coordinating Council. This has included facilitating the expansion of mutual aid and assistance via the Water/Wastewater Agency Response Network initiative. In addition, he has supported the development of water sector standards and guidance for security and preparedness, including ANSI/AWWA G430: Security Practices for Operations and Management, ANSI/AWWA G440: Emergency Preparedness and ANSI/AWWA J100: Risk and Resilience Management of Water and Wastewater Systems. Dr. Morley manages several other regulatory matters associated with risk management planning, source water protection and Safe Drinking Water Act contaminants. Dr. Morley received his doctorate from George Mason University and developed the Utility Resilience Index. He holds a master’s degree from State University of New York’s College of Environmental Science and Forestry and a bachelor’s degree from Syracuse University.
For more information on the ANCR Water Technical Committee and the ANCR Resilient Buildings Technical Committee, or the future Resilient Residential Housing and Construction Committee, contact ResilientAlliance@gmail.com.