Location:

Online

Date:

05/31/2024

Description:

Join us on May 31, from 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM for our third annual Membership Appreciation Webinar. Held in conjunction with National Dam Safety Awareness Day, the Membership Appreciation Webinar is provided FREE to all ASDSO Members. Not yet a member, join now and make plans to attend.

Different from our technical webinar series, our panel will explore an array of perspectives from those in the dam safety community. Building a career is an integral part of your professional journey, but building a career in dam safety is a unique path. Whether you’re just beginning your career, or are a seasoned professional, this webinar will explore what it means to build a meaningful and lasting career.

Moderator: 

Mia Kannik, P.E. 
Dam Safety Program Manager
Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Water Resources

Mia is currently President-Elect for the ASDSO Board of Directors. She is also a registered professional engineer with Ohio’s Dam Safety Program where she has worked for over 26 years. She currently works as a program manager coordinating work for dam safety inspections, remediation of existing dams and construction of new dams. She enjoys educating dam owners of the importance of operating and maintaining their dam safely. If dam owners are unwilling to do this, she also leads enforcement actions to ensure compliance with Ohio’s dam safety laws. She received a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Cincinnati and a Master’s degree in Geotechnical Engineering from Virginia Tech University.

Panelists:

Erin Gleason, P.E., PMP 
Dam Safety Engineer
Denver Water 

Erin Gleason, PE, PMP started her career in Dam Safety in 2000.  She has been involved in several aspects of dam evaluations, dam design, and construction. Erin is currently a Dam Safety Engineer at Denver Water and is involved in both dam safety programmatic work and project work.  Before starting at Denver Water, Erin worked for the Colorado State Engineer’s Office as a Dam Safety Engineer.  She has also worked for AECOM (formerly Boyle Engineering) and the Bureau of Reclamation. 

Gavin Tasker 
Business Development Manager - Heavy Civil Projects
Barnard Construction Company, Inc.

Gavin grew up in the Pacific Northwest spending time on both sides of Washington and Oregon.  When he wasn’t in school, summers were spent working on the family farm. He received his Bachelor of Science in Engineering (Construction Engineering Management) from Oregon State University in 2001 and began his career at Barnard Construction.  During his almost 23 years at Barnard, he’s worked both in the field as a Project Engineer and Project Manager and out of the office as an Estimator and Business Development Manager.
Gavin enjoys finding new and challenging business opportunities for Barnard. With nearly 23 years of experience on a broad range of heavy civil projects, he understands the complexity of Barnard’s work and seeks to develop and maintain relationships with partners and clients. While in the field, Gavin gained experience managing projects in earthwork, dams, reservoirs, pipelines, and power transmission. He is instrumental in both bidding and constructing heavy civil work throughout the U.S. and working with a variety of clients under different contract models.

Kate Naughton, P.E., CFM
Senior Principal Engineer 
Hazen and Sawyer 

Kate Naughton, PE, CFM has 10 years of experience in dam safety and water resources engineering. Her specialties include conducting dam inspections and assessments; performing hydrologic and hydraulic (H&H) analyses for various types of water resources projects; preparing Operation and Maintenance (O&M) Manuals and EAPs for dams; facilitating EAP exercises for dam owners and stakeholders; and analyzing water supply systems. In addition to holding her Professional Engineering (PE) license in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and Georgia, she is a Certified Floodplain Manager (CFM) and is active in multiple associations. Along with her membership and participation in the Association of State Dam Safety Officials (ASDSO) Technical Training Committee and Young Professionals Interest Group, she is a member of the United States Society on Dams (USSD), and Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM). In 2022, Kate was a recipient of the ASDSO Young Professional of the Year Award.

Michelle Yezierski, P.E.
Section Chief – Dams
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)

Michelle Yezierski serves as the Section Chief for Dams within the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). In this role, Ms. Yezierski is responsible for providing technical expertise and consultation, and ensuring the effective ongoing execution of security programs as well as ensuring effective public-private partnerships. Ms. Yezierski leads the development and implementation of sector programs, tools, and resources designed to strengthen the security and resilience posture of the nation’s dams, navigation locks, and levees. 
Ms. Michelle Yezierski is a Civil Engineer with over thirty years of experience in dam safety and security. Before joining CISA, Ms. Yezierski worked for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Dam Safety and Flood Control for fifteen years. Ms. Yezierski is a licensed professional engineer with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Rutgers University.

Ryan P. Stack, P.E.
Chief Engineer
Missouri Dept. of Natural Resources

Mr. Stack earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Geological Engineering from Missouri S&T in 2002.  Mr. Stack is the chief engineer of the Missouri Dam and Reservoir Safety Program tasked with ensuring dams are built, operated, and maintained in a safe manner. The past 16 years have been dedicated to this work.  Mr. Stack leads a staff of 6 engineers that inspect, and oversee 732 regulated dams. Prior to joining the State of Missouri he worked as a technical services engineer in the private sector of construction aggregate mining in Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee.  He is a registered professional engineer in Missouri.  He has been a member of ASDSO since 2008 and currently is one of the Midwest regional representatives on the ASDSO Board of Directors.
 

No PDHs will be provided for this webinar.