Joe serves as chief geologist in the Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, office of Gannett Fleming, a full-service, global infrastructure planning and engineering consulting firm. With more than 24 years of geotechnical engineering and engineering geology experience, Joe specializes in the design and remediation of geologic hazards including landslides, rockfalls, and debris flows; and mitigation of cavities and sinkholes associated with karst environments. Joe has been involved in the investigation and design of various multimillion-dollar transit and rail, department of transportation, commercial, municipal, and vital infrastructure projects. He has authored a variety of papers related to the investigation, design, and remediation of sites with problematic geology. Joe is a registered professional geologist in Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware, and North Carolina and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in applied physics with a concentration in geosciences from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and a Master’s Degree in geology from West Chester University of Pennsylvania. In addition to the AGHP, he is a member of the Association of Engineering Geologists (AEG), the Pennsylvania Council of Professional Geologists (PCPG), and Geo-Institute. Joe lives in West Chester Pennsylvania with his wife, Jessica. In his free time Joe enjoys traveling, fishing, mineral collecting, and working in the yard.

Joe can be contacted at jkrupansky@gfnet.com

Ahren Bichler is a Quaternary geologist with an MSc. in Earth and Ocean Sciences that focused on landslides in post glacial sediments and the application of geophysics to geohazard investigation. He has been working with geohazards since 2000 in North America and Europe. In 2006 he became the General Manager of Trumer Schutzbauten Canada Ltd. and has brought the Austrian’s rockfall, debris flow, avalanche and slope stabilization solutions to the North American market. In addition, Ahren oversees Trumer's operations in New Zealand and Australia.

Ahren can be contacted at a.bichler@trumer.cc

Jake Davidson has been with IDS GeoRadar for ten years. In that time, he has provided technical expertise on radar data analysis to geotechnical engineering firms, mining companies, and asset owners across industries. He has helped develop TARPs for specific projects as well as helped mining companies integrate near-real time radar monitoring into existing TARPs. He has also worked with asset owners to create near-real time monitoring networks for various projects in the United States and Canada.

Jake can be contacted at john.davidson@idsgeoradar.com

Wes is a geotechnical engineer with twelve years of combined consulting and post-graduate experience with a focus on rock mechanics and natural hazards. He has an undergraduate degree in civil engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder and a master’s in geological engineering from the University of British Columbia.

Wes started his career in California working with Arup as a civil engineer in training in San Francisco. Most of his work focused on water resources and urban infrastructure. After battling the masses in and out of San Francisco to get to the Sierra Nevada, Wes decided it was time to move somewhere closer to the mountains and made his way to Canada. He completed a master’s degree at UBC studying under Olrich Hungr, and was exposed to the world of natural hazards and rock mechanics. He completed a thesis on dimensioning flexible barriers for debris flow mitigation.

Wes can be contacted at Wesley.Ashwood@wsp.com

Mike Koutsourais, PE is the Geohazard Mitigations Business Unit Manager of North America for Maccaferri, Inc. Mike has a B.S. in Civil Engineering from North Carolina State University and a M.S. in Civil Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Mike is a geotechnical engineer with over 34 years of experience and has authored and presented several technical papers at various industry conferences throughout his career. For the past six years, Mike has been an officer of the Association of Geohazard Professionals (AGHP) and Chairman of the ASTM Subcommittee for Geohazard Nettings.

Mike can be contacted at m.koutsourais@maccaferri.com

Pierce is currently the President and General Manager of Geobrugg North America. With over 25 years of experience as a licensed, Professional Engineer (PE), Pierce is a Certified Professional in Erosion and Sediment Control (CPESC) and is Certified in Production and Inventory Management (CPIM) . Pierce has served on the AGHP Board as Treasurer and Education Committee liaison. He is a member of ASCE and AEG and serves on the Geohazard subcommittee at ASTM as well as the Board of Directors for the Sandoval Economic Alliance, a local economic development agency. Pierce will continue to bring a wide range of experience and industry knowledge to the AGHP.

Pierce can be contacted at pierce.runnels@geobrugg.com

Starting as a laborer on the slope and working my way to my current position as a rockfall manager, I have had a passion for rockfall since day one. In my career, almost all rockfalls have required rope access techniques. Over the years, I have become versed in many different rope access techniques, and I look forward to helping make improvements and establish a standard approach that provides the best safety and common practice for the future.

Brandon can be contacted at bmanahan@apexrfm.com

Wayne Ingram is the Western Canada representative for Williams Form Hardware and Rock Bolt Canada. Wayne grew up in South Western Ontario and graduated from the Sir Sandford Fleming Drilling program in 1998. From there, Wayne was introduced to the anchoring, shoring, and high-scaling business by taking a job with Yenter Companies based out of Arvada, CO, and spent the next 13 years mostly working with Yenter Companies, but also worked with Janod out of Quebec, HC Matcon out of Toronto and Geo-Vert out of New Zealand. Wayne gained experience installing and running installation teams for various anchor systems with these companies, from simple rock bolts to multiple-strand anchor and rock fall systems.

After traveling from project to project, Wayne settled in Vernon, BC, with his wife and daughter. He enjoys the lifestyle and recreation opportunities of the north Okanagan region of BC.

Wayne can be contacted at wingram@williamsform.ca

Jill DeKoekkoek, C.E.G. is a senior engineering geologist at the Oregon Department of Transportation in Region 3, Roseburg, Oregon. Jill has 18 years of experience with field, design, and project management experience in the areas of geologic hazard mitigation, geotechnical investigations, and aggregate quarry management. She works in geologically diverse Region 3, which is southwestern Oregon (accretionary terrains - mélange, volcanics, sedimentary basins) with a team of exceptional geologists and geotechnical engineers. Together they work to provide creative, effective, and economical solutions for project related geo-deliverables and urgent/emergency geo-hazards for the state transportation system.

Jill can be contacted at jill.dekoekkoek@odot.oregon.gov