Chapter 6 List of Preparers

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TIER 1 DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT | 289

6 LIST OF PREPARERS

This section lists the names, together with their qualifications of the persons who were primarily 

responsible for preparing the environmental impact statement or background papers, including basic 

components of this Tier 1 EIS.

Name Qualifications/Background Project Role/Responsibilities

FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION

Wynne Davis BA Economics, MA Organizational 

Management; 15 years logistics and 

transportation experience

Midwest Regional Manager/ 

Alternatives analysis, document 

review

David Valenstein MPA Public Administration; BAR Architecture; 

22 years of experience

Division Chief, Environment and 

Systems Planning/ Document 

review

Andréa Martin MA Ed. Curriculum and Instructional 

Development; BS Environmental 

Management; 10 years of experience

Environmental Protection 

Specialist/ technical direction and 

document review

Peter Schwartz BA Politics, Law and Society and 

Transportation; 15 years of railroad operations 

and planning experience

Transportation Industry Analyst/ 

Alternatives analysis, document 

review

MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Tim Hoeffner BS Civil Engineering; 30 years of experience Director, Office of Rail

Mohammed Alghurabi BS Engineering; 18 years of experience in 

MDOT Design Division; 5 years of experience 

at FDOT (Florida)

Project Manager

Lori Noblet MUP Urban Planning, BS Political Science; 26 

years of experience in preparation of NEPA 

documents.

Project NEPA coordinator, 

document review, Environmental 

Justice and Title VI Specialist

Al Johnson BS Economics & Business 

Administration/Mathematics; 24 years of 

experience in public transportation

Manager of Rail Operations, Rail 

operations analysis

Bob Kuehne MUP Urban Planning, BA Architecture; 53 

years of experience

Commuter Rail 

Specialists/development of train 

schedules, capacity analysis, 

ridership and revenue analysis

Therese Cody Bachelors of Science; 14 years of experience Intercity Passenger Rail Operations 

Program Manager/passenger rail 

operations and station 

development.
Tier 1 Draft Environmental Impact Statement

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290 | TIER 1 DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT

Name Qualifications/Background Project Role/Responsibilities

Kari Johnson BS Public Policy Studies; 19 years of 

experience in state government including 11 

years at MDOT, 9 years of experience in 

NEPA

Project Coordinator/project 

coordination

Elaine Villarreal 11 years of experience in state government 

reviewing documents and coordinating 

meetings and other related activities

Administrative Support

INDIANA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Michael Riley BT Civil Engineering; 21 years of experience 

working for railroads including engineering, 

design and construction, planning, operations, 

finance, transportation; 7 years of experience 

at INDOT

Manager, INDOT Rail Office/Rail 

operations analysis

Kenneth McMullen BA in Homeland Security, Grad. Cert. in 

Weapons of Mass Destruction, Certified 

Hazardous Materials Manager; 9 years of 

experience at INDOT

Environmental Policy 

Manager/INDOT NEPA Lead, 

document review

Venetta Keefe BA Liberal Arts; 15 years of experience in 

state-funded grant and loan administration

Senior Rail Planner

ILLINOIS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

John Oimoen BS Civil and Environmental Engineering; 30 

years of experience

Illinois rail program management

Elliot Ramos BS Civil Engineering; 9 years of experience in 

transportation and rail engineering

Passenger Rail Engineer/Illinois 

Project Manager

Dr. Ken Runkle DPA Public Health Policy; MA Environmental 

Risk Assessment; 20 years of experience

Environmental Specialist/ 

Document review

Felicia Hurley MS Environmental Science, BS Zoology; 12 

years of experience

Natural resources analysis and 

document review.

CONSULTANTS

HNTB CORPORATION

Randy Wade MS Water Resource Management; BA 

Economics; 38 years of experience in 

environmental management, policy and 

systems planning in natural resources, state 

economic development and transportation.

Project Manager/Senior Advisor –

Service Development Plan

Matthew Webb BS Resource Development, Michigan State 

University. 17 years of transportation planning 

and project management experience.

Project Manager/Environmental

Impact Statement
Chapter 6 List of Preparers

Chicago – Detroit / Pontiac Passenger Rail Corridor Program

TIER 1 DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT | 291

Name Qualifications/Background Project Role/Responsibilities

Ron Deverman Post-Graduate Studies-NEPA; MA Literature; 

BS Civil/Environmental Engineering; 30 years’ 

experience in NEPA, transportation and 

environmental planning, and project 

management.

Quality Assurance Manager of the 

Tier 1 EIS

Elizabeth Hude BA in Urban Planning; 8 years in planning, 15 

years in public involvement.

Planner/Program coordination, 

environmental planner/alternatives 

analysis, public involvement.

Matt Spiel BS Housing Studies; 7 years of experience in 

transportation planning, including 

environmental review and documentation.

Transportation Planner/Alternatives 

analysis and documentation, 

transportation impacts, and 

health/safety impacts assessment 

and documentation, mapping and 

graphics.

Connie White BS Natural Resource Management; 24 years 

of experience in land use and transportation 

planning including environmental review and 

documentation.

Environmental Planner/Assisted in 

drafting the Purpose and Need 

Statement, conducted 4(f) and 6(f) 

impact analysis, performed 

technical editing and QA/QC of 

various EIS sections and prepared 

document for publication.

Carolyn Seboe Master Urban Planning; BS Geography; 12 

years of experience in transportation and land 

use planning and public involvement.

Transportation and Urban 

Planner/Public outreach lead

John Jaeckel BS Applied Science and Engineering; 42 years 

of experience in the environmental analysis of 

transportation noise and vibration.

Environmental Quality 

Engineer/Noise and vibration 

analyses

Aaron Bowe BS Civil Engineering, 9 years of experience in 

railroad design

Transportation Engineer/track 

design and cost estimating

Jennifer Rybarczyk MS Urban Planning, BS Architectural Studies, 

15 years of experience in GIS

GIS Lead/GIS mapping and data 

collection.

Melissa Kennedy BS Civil Engineering, 28 years of experience Environmental Planner/ hazardous 

materials, habitat, land use, 

agriculture, socio-economics, 

visual, water bodies, wetlands, and 

coastal zones, energy use, indirect 

and cumulative effects.

Alan Tobias Masters of Urban and Regional Planning, 33 

years of experience in rail and public 

transportation planning, operations and project 

implementation.

Transportation Planner/Operations 

planning, Operations and 

Maintenance cost projections
Tier 1 Draft Environmental Impact Statement

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292 | TIER 1 DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT

Name Qualifications/Background Project Role/Responsibilities

HDR ENGINEERING, INC.

Janice Reid BS Sociology; AA Liberal Arts/Sciences; 21 

years of experience in transportation planning 

and environmental documentation

Environmental Lead for Illinois 

portions of impact analysis, as well 

as corridor analysis for cultural 

resources, air quality, energy, and 

irreversible/irretrievable impacts.

Michael K. Church PhD Anthropology, BA English, 14 years of 

experience in cultural resources management.

Lead for cultural resources impact 

analysis and corridor analysis for 

Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan

John Van Kirk MA Geography, BA Geography and 

Environmental Studies; 27 years of experience 

in air quality and NEPA analysis.

Project Lead for air quality, climate, 

and energy impacts 

Mike Marchyshyn M.S., Urban & Regional Planning; B.S., 

Geography; Six years of experience in 

transportation planning, including preliminary 

planning, transportation planning, alternatives 

evaluation, impact analysis, traffic studies, 

geometric highway design, railroad 

engineering, logistics management, 

socioeconomics, land use and zoning, 

environmental assessment, and Geographic 

Information Systems.

Resource Specialist - GIS; 

Management and analysis of GIS 

data as well as corridor mapping 

and evaluation of Hazardous 

Waste impacts for Illinois portions.

Richard Christopher J.D., BA English & American Literature; 38 

years of experience in environmental and 

water resources law

Senior Regulatory Specialist, 

QA/QC reviewer, analysis of 

environmental justice and 

indirect/cumulative impacts

Sara Merchan Paniagua M.S., Environmental Sciences; B.S. 

Environmental Biology; 7 years of experience 

in NEPA compliance, Section 404/401 

permitting, and wetland delineations.

Environmental Scientist II; 

Environmental Technical Writer for 

Illinois portions of impact analysis 

as well as corridor analysis for 

irreversible/irretrievable impacts

TRANSPORTATION ECONOMICS & MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS, INC.

Yang He PhD Systems Engineering; MS Systems 

Engineering; BE Engineering Management; 10 

years’ experience in rail ridership and revenue 

forecasting

Ridership and revenue forecasting

Alexander Metcalf PhD Transportation Economics; BSc 

Economics; 35 years’ experience in rail 

ridership and revenue forecasting

Ridership and revenue forecasting