Home About Us Expertise Our Clients Team Careers Contact Our Staff Lee Droppelman - President/Principal Scientist Since joining Eco-Tech in 1998, Mr. Droppelman has conducted numerous projects dealing with threatened & endangered terrestrial and aquatic species, ecosystem assessment, stream/wetland jurisdictional determination, 404/401 permitting, and restoration design. He is responsible for planning and coordinating with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and various state agencies. Mr. Droppelman holds a federal collection license for over 50 listed species from more than 20 eastern states. He is proficient in the identification of all eastern bats and is an expert in the biology of aquatic fauna (including fish, invertebrates, and mollusks). Additionally, he has professional interest in the correlation of aquatic assemblage to river geomorphology, restoration of aquatic habitats, restoration/enhancement of bottomland forested wetlands, wetland functional assessment, and ecological impact/risk determination. Mr. Droppelman directs all agency formal consultations and is proficient in the determination of effect and development of cost-effective/scientifically-sound minimization, avoidance, and mitigation measures to offset potential project impacts. Alton B. Owens - Senior Ecologist Mr. Owens has over nine years experience in wetland identification and delineation, stream surveys, 404 permitting, wetland and stream mitigation report preparation, planning and design, commercial wetland and stream mitigation bank establishment, mitigation implementation, construction supervision, monitoring of mitigation sites/banks, ecological inventories, protected species investigations, habitat conservation plan development and ecological restoration. As a project manager, Mr. Owens has coordinated with regulatory agencies in developing mitigation banking instruments as well as multi-site mitigation plans for numerous public water supply reservoir projects. Mr. Owens also prepares pre-construction notifications, mitigation bank credit purchase justification documentation, stream buffer variance applications, annual mitigation monitoring reports, and jurisdictional waters determinations. He specializes in Rosgen-based natural channel design techniques and stream and wetland restoration implementation. Scott A. Slankard – Senior Ecologist Mr. Slankard has been with Eco-Tech since the spring of 2005 and has a solid background in wildlife biology, ecology, botany, wetland/stream delineation and restoration, and GIS (ArcView). His regular duties include surveys for various species of threatened and endangered flora and fauna, jurisdictional waters determinations, botanical, small mammal, reptile, and amphibian surveys. Mr. Slankard has performed numerous surveys for federally threatened and endangered plants and bats. He is accomplished in several bat survey techniques, including mist netting, harp trapping, radio-tagging, tracking, emergence counts, ANABAT deployment and data analysis. Additionally, he regularly coordinates the development and implementation of native vegetation planting and monitoring strategies for stream and wetland restoration projects. Mr. Slankard has prepared several technical documents, including annual reporting of vegetation monitoring at Eco-Tech’s wetland and stream mitigation sites. He is knowledgeable in many ecological disciplines, but his main interests lie in native flora and botanicals. Jody Thompson – Senior Planner Mr. Thompson leads the company's Ecological Planning and Design Group, managing a staff of four restoration specialists and several projects to plan and implement habitat improvements, resource mitigation, and ecological restoration. He has over 10 years' experience in landscape ecology, forestry, and natural resource program management. Mr. Thompson previously served as the Kentucky Division of Forestry's Forest Health Program Manager, providing technical assistance across the state to private and public forest managers dealing with invasive species and other timber threats. He is an active educator and volunteer, instructing a course at the University of Kentucky Department of Forestry, leading events such as Reforest Frankfort, and serving as President of the Kentucky Exotic Pest Plant Council. Mr. Thompson has a BS in Landscape Horticulture and MS, Horticulture from Auburn University. Mike Silliman, Senior Forester Mr. Silliman is a project manager and the Senior Forester in the Ecological Planning and Design Group. He is responsible for developing and managing projects on public and private lands that address sustainable stewardship of natural areas. These projects range from reforestation efforts, forest health mitigation and assessments, stand delineation management and GIS mapping, individual tree care and prescribed fire implementation. Mike has previously served as a field forester for both Kentucky Division of Forestry (KDF) and the North Carolina Forest Service (NCFS)He was Chief Forester in Southeastern Kentucky, responsible for administration and supervision of all forest management activities and wildland fire suppression efforts within a ten-county district along the Virginia and Tennessee border. Mike also provided land management services to clients in North Carolina and Tennessee through his own consulting company. Mike is licensed Real Estate Broker in North Carolina and has a General Contractors license in Tennessee. He is also a Certified Arborist with the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) and Tree Risk Assessment Qualified (TRAQ) through ISA as well, a licensed Technical Service Provider (TSP) with the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) and can administer USDA Farm Bill programs for clients. Mike is also licensed as a Consulting Forester with the Association of Consulting Foresters (ACF) and has a Red Card for wildfire with many qualifications obtained through the National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG). Rick Larsen – Senior Ecologist Mr. Larsen is a Senior Ecologist and project manager in the Eco-Tech Louisville office. He leads the stream and wetland management practice, managing projects that range from wetland delineation to 401/404 permitting to complete design, construction, and monitoring of stream and wetland mitigation sites. Mr. Larsen has experience in mitigation bank planning and permitting, natural stream channel design, regulatory agency coordination, and construction oversight. He has a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from the University of Georgia School of Environmental Design and extensive training and certifications, including Rosgen I-IV, soil erosion control, interagency consultation, and delineation methods for jurisdictional determination. Richard Novy - Project Ecologist and UAV Pilot Mr. Novy is an ecologist specializing in UAV flight, GIS analyses, landscape biodiversity, wildlife surveys, technical editing/reviewing, and CAD. His bat research experience includes many aspects of summer and winter bat surveys, including: habitat assessments, acoustic monitoring and analysis, survey site selection, mist-netting, roost surveys, radio telemetry, and winter hibernacula surveys. Mr. Novy has completed a wide variety of wildlife surveys across North and Central America for large and small mammals, fish, amphibians, macroinvertebrates, and birds. He has a Master’s degree in Environmental Science and Policy from the University of Wisconsin – Green Bay, and holds an FAA Airman Certificate for Small Unmanned Aerial Systems (drones). Andy Oost - Restoration Specialist Mr. Oost has over ten years’ experience performing a wide variety of techniques in the field of ecological restoration and stewardship, including invasive plant management, native warm-season grassland and forb meadow establishment, and reforestation projects. He has managed the Natural Areas Team for the Parklands, a 4,000-acre urban-rural conservation park in Louisville, Kentucky, served as one of the first restoration technicians for the Louisville Olmsted Parks Conservancy, and was biological science technician for the National Parks Service in Rocky Mountain National Park. Mr. Oost plans and supervises the field operations for the Ecological Planning and Design Group at Eco-Tech, applying his extensive field experience and supervisory skills to a growing practice. Rebecca D. M. Smith – Project Ecologist Since joining Eco-Tech in 2002, Mrs. Smith has contributed to projects dealing with threatened and endangered species, ecosystem assessment, 404/401 permitting, and restoration design. She has been responsible for permit planning and coordinating with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and various state agencies. Mrs. Smith has experience with mistnetting surveys, telemetry, ANABAT acoustical monitoring, jurisdictional waters determinations, permitting strategies (federal and state), vegetation and hydrology monitoring of restored, enhanced, and/or created mitigation systems, biological and ecological assessments, surveys of threatened and endangered fauna and flora, and GIS (ArcView) and drafting services. Her professional interest lies in raptor ecology with 14 years research experience. Maggie Burton – Operations Manager Ms. Burton manages the company operations, including the office administration, corporate business, accounting, and marketing functions. She has over 20 years experience in office management and bookkeeping. Eco-Tech hires interns, technicians, and contractors as needed to meet project needs. Send inquiries and resumes to us through our Contact page http://www.ecotechinc.com/contact . You can find position openings on our Careers Page Project Gallery view more » Search our Site © Copyright 2011-2017, Eco-Tech Consultants, Inc. All Rights Reserved