Lynne Birkinbine
Environmental Manager, city of Tucson Environmental Services

Birkinbine manages brownfields projects and environmental compliance for the city of Tucson, and has been involved with the Fort Lowell Restoration project since the city acquired the property. She works closely with the historic preservation and parks and recreation communities, in addition to a variety of citizen groups. “I am excited to see the final development of this project, as it will be a huge community asset in the years to come,” said Birkinbine.

Barbara Rauch
environmental attorney, Office of General Counsel, Oklahoma Dept. of Environmental Quality (DEQ)

With an emphasis in remediation of contaminated properties in the Superfund and Brownfields programs, Rauch functions as more than a program attorney. Through her deep understanding of the legal issues, she assists program staff identify innovative measures that help ensure the success of project. Rauch was instrumental in securing the success of the 2008 Oklahoma Brownfields Conference, and functioned as the “speaker wrangler,” which ensures seamless transition between speakers and breakout panels. Rauch was involved in drafting Oklahoma's Brownfields Voluntary Redevelopment Act and administrative rules in the late 1990s and has worked with brownfields staff on various issues since. She was part of a DEQ team that solved critical environmental challenges of transforming brownfield sites into productive properties that won the Region 6 Strategic Alliance Award in 2003 and the Region 6 Phoenix Award™ in 2004 and again in 2006.

Rick Shean
Brownfields revolving loan fund coordinator and remediation oversight project manager, New Mexico Environment Dept., Albuquerque

Shean has worked at the local and state level for brownfields programs for almost eight years in New Mexico, starting his career in transportation research and water resources management. In his role, Shean finds the government's challenge in the re-development of brownfields is “knowing when to guide and when to just help facilitate. We have our cleanup standards and guidelines to assist with site remediation goals, but moving at the pace of commercial real estate decisions usually demands most of the regulatory specialists attention on brownfield projects. Being a part of a cleanup that's finished and immediately followed with construction is the most rewarding work experience.”

Dan Johnson
vice president, SCS Engineers

When purchasing tainted properties in southern California, buyers often turn to Johnson, regarded as a nationally-recognized expert in the area of brownfields redevelopment. Educated as an economist and environmental scientist and equipped with significant knowledge of environmental law, Johnson is well known for his acumen in real estate risk management, and has developed risk management programs for single assets and one-off transactions, as well for entire portfolios of contaminated properties with market values in excess of $100 million. More recently, Johnson was the principal strategist behind “SCS Secure,” the SCS program that offers a menu of risk transfer options to clients with environmentally impaired or stranded assets, including guaranteed fixed-price remediation programs. Johnson has worked on no fewer than 100 redevelopment projects, helping clients collect more than $1 million in brownfields project grants. Johnson has championed the benefits of brownfields redevelopment and the synergy between smart growth and affordable housing. His firm's most notable project is the Phoenix award-winning Petco Park redevelopment, a 26-block project located in the East Village in downtown San Diego, which won a 2005 Excellence in Smart Growth Award by the ULI San Diego/Tijuana region.

Ron Morrison
Mayor, National City, Calif.

Growing up in National City, San Diego County's second oldest city, Morrison was elected to the City Council, where he fought for residential property rights and led political campaigns against outside interests. Elected to the City Council in 1992, Morrison was eventually elected Mayor in 2006. Serving in his 17th year as an elected National City official, Morrison has provided leadership in key position at not only the local level, but also regionally, state, and nationally. Some of the positions that Ron currently serves on include San Diego County Water Authority and president, N BA California Chapter. Morrison has been the recipient of numerous civic and humanitarian awards. The one he is most proud of is seeing the positive changes in National City and the quality of life for its residents. He sings the praises of his fellow Council members, noting that they have good chemistry together. “All of us grew up here, we all graduated from Sweetwater High School and we all deeply care about National City.”

Patricia Beard
redevelopment manager, City of National City, Calif.

As manager of redevelopment and the lead staff member overseeing brownfields activities for National City, Beard facilitates project organization and financing within the city's 2,040-acre Redevelopment Project Area, with oversight of full project. Beard has 19 years of community development experience and nine years of brownfields experience in California. Earning her Bachelor of Science at Michigan State University, Beard views brownfield redevelopment as a vital approach to curtailing development sprawl and preserving wild spaces. She has accomplished the remediation and redevelopment of approximately 70 acres of properties impacted by hazardous materials since 2000.

Steve Andrews
chief, strategic planning, Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles

Andrews is responsible for developing new strategic directions for addressing economic development and community revitalization strategies and programs, serving as liaison on strategic planning and policy issues with the City Council, Mayor's Office, and other city departments and agencies. He represents the Redevelopment Agency on the city's interdepartmental team, developing and managing its Brownfields Revitalization program. Andrews also serves as co-chair of the California Redevelopment Assoc. Brownfields Committee and is a member of the Executive Committee of the California Chapter of the N BA. Ten years ago the city of Los Angeles formed an interdepartmental team consisting of the Mayor's Office of Economic Development, the Environmental Affairs Department, and the Redevelopment Agency to establish policy and direct program activities for the city's brownfields program. Andrews holds a Master of Arts degree in Political Science from the Eagleton Institute of Public Policy at Rutgers University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Government from the University of Redlands.