Julie Blackburn
ISG, Inc.

Julie leads ISG’s Water Business Unit with over 25 years of experience. She focuses on tapping into emerging talent, staying ahead of industry trends, and navigating regulatory changes that are shaping the future of the water sector. Her proactive leadership ensures that the team is always aligned with the latest developments in environmental policies and water resource management. By keeping a pulse on industry trends and regulatory drivers, she positions the Water Business Unit at the forefront of the industry, ensuring that clients are not just compliant but are also prepared to thrive in a rapidly changing landscape.

Jim Crum
Van Scoyoc Associates

Throughout his career, Jim Crum has been called on to lead teams responsible for addressing critical issues. As a Vice President at Van Scoyoc Associates, Jim uses his knowledge of complex federal programs and expertise working within federal agencies and on Capitol Hill to give clients the advantage they need to succeed in Washington.

During his federal career, Jim managed all phases in the life cycle of projects, from planning, design, and construction, to operation and execution. As a member of VSA’s Municipal Practice Group, Jim is well versed in many of the issues facing local governments, including Congressional appropriations, federal grant funding, transportation, tax, healthcare, emergency management, water resources, environmental initiatives, and infrastructure projects.

His federal experience includes working with such agencies as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Department of Homeland Security, FEMA, the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, the Department of Energy, and the Senate and House Appropriations Committees.

Highlights of Jim’s more than two decades of federal service include 18 years with the Corps of Engineers working with local government agencies, developing new national infrastructure protection policies at the Department of Homeland Security in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and leading the Army’s Iraq Reconstruction Office in Washington, providing oversight of over 2,000 projects worth more than $12 billion. In each of these roles, Jim worked closely with relevant Congressional offices and Committees, as well as other Federal agency partners, and maintains many of those close working relationships today.

Jim earned a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Loyola Marymount University and his Master of Science from Stanford University in Water Resources Planning and Management.

Debra Calhoun
Waterways Council, Inc.

Debra A. Calhoun is Senior Vice President of Waterways Council, Inc. (WCI), the national public policy organization that advocates for a modern and well-maintained system of inland waterways and ports. She has worked with WCI since its inception in 2003, and developed the communications program of its predecessor organization, Waterways Work! She previously and temporarily served as WCI’s Interim President/CEO.

She also serves as Secretary of the National Waterways Foundation, whose mission is to develop the intellectual and factual arguments for an efficient, well-funded and secure inland waterways system.

Prior to her work with WCI, from 1995 to 2012, she served as President/CEO of Colbert Communications, a communications consultancy practice that offered media relations, communications, public affairs, marketing and advertising counsel to a variety of clients, primarily in the maritime industry.

In 2019, Ms. Calhoun was awarded the prestigious National Achievement Award from the National Rivers Hall of Fame for her industry communications efforts.

Tony Comerio
Hanson Professional Services, Inc.

Tony is the Vice President, Environmental Practice Lead and Chief Water Resources Engineer at Hanson Professional Services Inc. During his career, Tony has been responsible for the analysis, design and permitting of numerous water resources and civil works projects throughout the U.S. and abroad.  Before joining Hanson, Tony was a Civil Engineer at the IDNR-Office of Water Resources where he worked primarily on urban flood control projects throughout the state.  In addition to his work at Hanson, Tony is active as a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, Association of State Dam Safety Officials, the Society of American Military Engineers, and the Illinois Association for Floodplain and Stormwater Management.  In 2018, Tony was named Civil Engineer of the Year by the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Central Illinois Section.  Tony is a graduate of the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana. He is a lifelong resident of Illinois, in the Upper Mississippi River Watershed.

Teri Goodmann
Director of Strategic Partnerships, City of Dubuque

Teri Goodmann was appointed Assistant City Manager in February 2007. The primary focus of her work is intergovernmental relations, strategic partnerships, private and public grant funding. She is the City’s legislative liaison working with other cities, Dubuque County, state and federal elected and appointed government officials maintaining effective working relationships and alliances.

Prior to her employment at the City of Dubuque, Teri led the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium’s (NMRMA) national development efforts. Teri’s work included management of government relations and strategic partnerships, fund development, national outreach, and education as the Director of National Advancement for the NMRMA and National Rivers Hall of Fame. In this capacity, she was the lead campaign coordinator for the nationally recognized and highly successful America’s River project, the $188 million phase one riverfront redevelopment initiative in Dubuque, Iowa which opened in 2003. Teri continued to raise funds for the museum’s national traveling exhibit RiverWorks Discovery and its second phase $40 million National River Center which opened in 2010 creating the largest national river interpretive center in the United States.

Prior to her employment with the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium, she worked for sixteen years as a political campaign manager and consultant, managing campaigns for city, county, state legislative, congressional, and presidential candidates. She also taught French and Spanish to elementary students at area schools.

Teri is a founding steering committee member of America’s Watershed Initiative. She also serves as a trustee for the National Waterways Foundation. Teri served on the advisory board for Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana and the Iowa Chapter of the Nature Conservancy. Teri is also served as a board member of the John C Culver Public Policy Center at Simpson College.
EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson appointed Teri to serve on the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) advising the Commission for Environmental Cooperation as defined in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Teri continues to serve in the current administration as a member of the EPA Local Government Advisory Committee (LGAC) advising the EPA Administrator.
Other political appointments include:

• 2011 Appointed by Governor Terry Branstad to the Norman Borlaug Congressional Statue Commissioning Committee
• 2010 Appointed by Governor Chet Culver to the State of Iowa Smart Growth Planning Task Force and appointed as Co-Chair of the Commercial Property Tax Reform Task Force
• 2006 Appointed by Governor Tom Vilsack to the State of Iowa Vertical Infrastructure Advisory Committee and to the State Historical Society of Iowa
• 1997 Appointed by Dubuque County Board of Supervisors to the Judicial Nominating Commission

Teri recently completed her term as a board trustee of Clarke University, Dubuque, Iowa, and Teri is past chair of the Dubuque Regional Airport Commission. She has served on the boards of Hillcrest Family Service, the Friends of the Mines of Spain and the Dubuque Arboretum and Botanical Gardens.

Charlie Hess
President of Infrastructure and Coastal Restoration, Brown & Root

Charlie Hess has 40 plus years of demonstrated and recognized vision and leadership in multiple USACE, DOD, DHS and private sector assignments directly and indirectly relating to the water resources / civil works missions of CPRA. Currently as President of Infrastructure and Coastal Restoration for Brown and Root, he is positioning this Louisiana-based company to take a leadership role in supporting CPRA programs and projects in the state. He has in-depth knowledge of USACE, Army, DOD and DHS FEMA organizations. Hess has a proven history of starting and completing challenging projects and assignments within and outside government through relationship building and open communication. He is essential to providing strong, committed leadership and applying his extensive experience in program and project management to ensure the project success.

As Program Manager for the Inner Harbor Surge Barrier (IHNC) in New Orleans, he provided the Corps and CPRA, the local sponsor, leadership for the design and construction of the world’s largest surge barrier. This $1B project was completed in 4 years and was named the ASCE Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement in 2014. Hess got his start in the civil works business in 1982 when he was assigned to lead the first-of-a -kind Cooper River Re-Diversion project in St. Stephen South Carolina for the USACE Charleston District.

He has a clear understanding of the water resources mission and challenges of the CPRA as well as national and state water resources issues from both multiple perspectives client/contractor, CPRA, USACE and other stakeholders. He has confirmed proficiency with multiple agencies and international interests as well as with bi-partisan congressional and administration interests. He has proven communications skills briefing media and others (Pentagon – Director Project & Contracting Office for Iraq Reconstruction 2004) congressional hearings (USACE 1997-2002 as Director Civil Works Operations) and numerous presentations to federal, state, and local political interests.

Dr. Barbara Kleiss
Tulane University

While I have worked throughout the United States, my career has focused on the rivers and wetlands in the lower Mississippi River valley. These efforts have been as varied as studies to understand sediment deposition and nitrogen dynamics in bottomland hardwood wetlands in Mississippi River tributaries, to sampling the water chemistry, ecology and groundwater to over forty rivers in the Mississippi Embayment, helping to develop Level IV ecoregions for the lower Mississippi Valley, and coordinating studies to assess the efficacy of river diversions.

In the most recent couple of decades, I have been involved in creating, developing and directing large interdisciplinary research programs associated with the Mississippi River and its delta, including serving as the Chief of the US Geological Survey’s National Water Quality Assessment Program’s Mississippi Embayment project, and the Director of both the Louisiana Coastal Area Science and Technology program and the US Army Corps of Engineer’s Mississippi River Geomorphology and Potamology program.

I am currently a Research Professor and the Coordinator of the River Science and Engineering Certificate program at Tulane University. My research interests include developing an improved understanding of the values of the residual lower Mississippi River floodplains, further understanding sediment and nutrient dynamics in the river and how they should be measured and developing programs by which principles of river science and engineering can be more readily conveyed to river management professionals across the country.

Norma Jean Mattei, PhD
Professor at University of New Orleans

Dr. Mattei earned her Ph.D. degree in Civil Engineering from Tulane University and has been a renowned researcher and educator in the areas of structures and construction materials. She is also a expert in sustainable engineering and construction and large watershed management initiatives. Dr. Mattei serves as one of two civilian civil engineer Commissioners on the Mississippi River Commission (MRC). She recently completed her year as 2017 President of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and locally she is still active on the Executive Committee of the ASCE New Orleans’ Chapter of the Structural Engineering Institute. Norma Jean also has served in the past on several National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) committees and task forces, most recently serving as chair of the Board-level NCEES Education Committee and is an Emeritus Member of NCEES. She was named by the Governor of Louisiana to Louisiana’s licensing board for professional engineers, LAPELS, serving as Chairman of the LAPELS Board in 2011-12. Dr. Mattei is a registered Professional Engineer in the state of Louisiana.

Dr. Tonja Koob Marking
Owner and President of Gaea Consultants, LLC

Dr. Tonja Koob Marking, PE, BC.NE, BC.WRE, DFE, CFM, is the owner and president of Gaea Consultants, LLC.  She has been the technically responsible party for Gaea Consultants’ hydraulics projects for the past 25 years. She is a licensed Professional Engineer in seven states. 

Dr. Koob Marking has worked her entire 30+-year career in hydraulic and navigation engineering.  While employed with the US Army Corps of Engineers, she created hydraulic models and designed projects on large rivers and small bayous.  She reviewed plans for dredged material disposal sites, sedimentation studies, and coastal restoration sediment diversion projects.  As a Visiting Assistant Professor, she taught graduate classes in river engineering and sediment transport at two universities.  As a consultant, much of her navigational work has been as a forensic hydraulic engineer, recreating navigational conditions for allisions resulting in significant property damage and loss of life.  She has served as an Expert Witness in state and federal courts in the areas of hydraulics, forensic hydraulics, sediment transport, and river engineering.  She has published her work in peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings, and has received multiple awards from technical societies recognizing her work and contributions to the engineering profession.

Doug Oberhelman
Former CEO of Caterpillar, Inc.

Doug had a celebrated 41-year career with Caterpillar, Inc. As CEO, Doug spearheaded a large gift for globally significant rivers, such as the Mississippi. This gift led to the creation of AWI under the umbrella of The Nature Conservancy. During his tenure as chairperson and CEO, Oberhelman led Caterpillar through accelerated business cycles, implementing cost-efficiencies and Lean manufacturing to simplify and improve global manufacturing and operations. He also led the company to renew its focus on customers, and reinforced its dedication to quality, sustainability, and innovations critical to the success of Caterpillar employees, customers, and dealers. With a strong commitment to giving back, Doug has served a leadership role on many boards including the Business Roundtable, the National Association of Manufacturers, the Wetlands America Trust, Max McGraw Wildlife Foundation, Intersect Illinois, and the Easter Seals Foundation of Central Illinois. Doug and his wife Diane Oberhelman, chairperson of Cullinan Properties Ltd., one of Peoria’s most leading developers, live on a farm outside Peoria, Illinois. They have four grown children and 13 grandchildren.

Yelena Rivera
Modjeski and Masters, Inc.

Yelena is a Civil Engineer located in New Orleans and currently serves as a Structures Engineer with a focus on bridge rating and repair projects at Modjeski and Masters. She has a strong background in roadway and flood control design and construction. Yelena served as Past President of the American Concrete Institute Louisiana Chapter and currently serves on the National ACI Chapter Activities Committee. In 2019, she was named the American Society of Civil Engineer’s Outstanding Young Civil Engineer in Louisiana and served as the Louisiana Civil Engineering Conference and Show Chairman from 2017 to 2021. Yelena also serves as a longtime volunteer for MATHCOUNTS, a nonprofit focused on building confidence in STEM for middle school students.

Frank Morton
Turn Services, LLC

Frank uses his interest and experience in all aspects of the Mississippi River Watershed to support AWI’s mission of convening diverse stakeholders to collaborate to chart a course for the future of the watershed.

Frank brings to AWI a decades-long career in the inland marine industry. From 1990 to 2012, he served as founder and president of Turn Services, a full-service barge towing, shifting, fleeting, cleaning, repair, and barge inspection company operating in eight locations on the Lower Mississippi River. Frank has served in a variety of leadership roles with the American Waterways Operators, the leading trade association for the U.S. tugboat, towboat and barge industry, including a term as national chairman in 2014-2015, as well as on its Leadership Council, Executive Committee, and National Board of Directors. He is also a member of the Waterways Council, Inc. the Gulf Intracoastal Canal Association, and the Louisiana Association of Waterways and Shipyards, among other professional memberships. In 2016, he was named the Propeller Club Port of New Orleans Maritime Person of the Year.

Frank holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Southern Mississippi, and completed post-graduate work in Business Administration at the University of New Orleans. He and his wife Virginia have three children and four grandchildren.

Rachel Orf
National Corn Growers Association

Rachel is the Director of Stewardship and Sustainability at National Corn Growers Association (NCGA), a membership organization representing over 40,000 active growers from 28 affiliated state corn organizations.

Rachel started her career with an internship at DuPont Pioneer, were she was a maize breeding intern. Her major project was pollinating corn plants to create new hybrids. Rachel has also worked for Monsanto where she tested software on a user perspective that was developed for the Sales Reps to use while out in the field. Rachel started her career with NCGA as the manager of the National Corn Yield Contest. This involved testing the contest software; collecting and processing all the entry and harvest forms; maintaining a positive relationship with seed companies, supervisors and growers; and recognizing the winners at Commodity Classic – the annual joint venture event hosted by NCGA, ASA, NAWG and NSP. Rachel is currently the Director of Stewardship and Sustainability where she works with the affiliated corn states on water quality, conservation, and air quality. She also oversees the National Corn Yield Contest, Good Steward Recognition Program and is the lead staff on the Stewardship Action Team.

She received her BS from Missouri State University in Ag Business with a minor in Agronomy and her MBA from Lindenwood University.

Craig E. Philip, PhD
Research Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Vanderbilt University

Dr. Craig Philip is a Research Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Former Director of VECTOR. Dr. Philip’s research focus includes infrastructure sustainability and the application of risk management tools to transportation systems, carrier safety management, and transport policy and regulation with a particular focus on Maritime Systems. Prior to joining Vanderbilt, Dr. Philip spent 35 years in the rail, intermodal and maritime industries, including Conrail and Southern Pacific Railroads. He joined Ingram Barge Company, the largest US marine transport carrier in 1982 and from 1999 until 2014 served as President/CEO. He has served as Chairman of multiple Maritime Groups and was a US Commissioner of PIANC and Chaired the US Chamber of Commerce’s Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Dr. Philip has served on the USDOT’s National Freight Advisory Committee and the Executive Committee of the Transportation Research Board and is presently a member of its Marine Board and Resilience Section. He is a Board-Certified member of the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists. In 2010, Dr. Philip was designated a Distinguished Diplomat in the Academy of Coastal, Ocean, Port and Navigation Engineers, and in 2014 was elected to the National Academy of Engineering.

Rainy Inman Shorey
Caterpillar Inc. Peoria, Illinois

Rainy joined Caterpillar in 2007 and spent the first half of her career as an Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) Professional and Manager in Central Illinois. After serving seven years overseas as a Project Manager and New Products Implementation Manager in Poland and Japan, Rainy returned to Illinois in 2020 as a Master Black Belt in the Lean Center of Excellence. She is currently Global Manager of Product Compliance & Support. Prior to joining Caterpillar, Rainy worked as a Professor of Natural Sciences at Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Michigan and Illinois Central College in Peoria, Illinois.

She has extensive laboratory and field research experience, including international projects based in remote locations such as Kenya and the North Slope of Alaska. Rainy holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biology with minors in Chemistry and Environmental Studies from Alma College. She completed both her Master’s and dual Ph.D. degrees from Michigan State University in the areas of Fisheries and Wildlife Management; and Ecology, Evolution and Behavioral Biology.

Kirsten Wallace
Upper Mississippi River Basin Association (UMRBA). St. Paul, Minn.

Kirsten Wallace is the Executive Director for the Upper Mississippi River Basin Association. The Association is a 5-state interstate organization formed by the Governors of Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, and Wisconsin to coordinate the states’ river-related programs and policies and work with federal agencies that have river responsibilities. In her position, Wallace develops regional positions, advocates the states’ collective interests before Congress and the federal agencies, and facilitates and fosters interagency coordination, cooperation, and communication.

Larry Weber
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of Iowa. Iowa City, Iowa

Larry Weber is the Chair in Hydraulics in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and director of Hydroscience & Engineering at the University of Iowa. His leadership of that world-renowned institute has advanced it to even greater prominence, doubling its number of graduate students and tripling its grant- and contract-supported research. In 2009 Weber co-founded the Iowa Flood Center, which has provided superb services to the state to help Iowans prepare for flooding events more effectively. The center has taken on a national profile, sharing valuable knowledge with communities and institutions across the country. In 2013, Weber led a collaborative effort with the Iowa Legislature, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa to form the Iowa Nutrient Research Center (administered by ISU), a Regents Center focused on developing science-based approaches to understanding point source and non-point source nutrients discharges in Iowa. Recently, Weber led a collaborative process that brought the Iowa Geological Survey to IIHR, expanding its role in better understanding the state’s precious groundwater resources. Weber serves the state on the Iowa Water Resources Coordinating Council and routinely provides guidance on water science and policy related matters to the legislature and various state/federal agencies. Through Weber’s leadership, IIHR has broadened its research, outreach and educational programs to cover groundwater to surface water flows, water quantity and water quality issues, by studying conditions ranging from drought to flood, and everything in between.