Alan Arnold, lead environmental specialist at Alliant Energy, works on the environmental services and corporate sustainability team. His primary focus is on wind resources, overseeing all aspects of environmental activities associated with site development, construction and operational activities. This includes problem-solving for wind and wildlife issues at Alliant’s growing list of wind energy facilities owned and operated in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Most recently, he has led the sustainability certification efforts associated with the company’s new solar program. Alan has worked for Alliant Energy and its predecessor companies since 1987, supporting all forms of generation and energy delivery operations.

Steph Harris brings more than six years of experience in portfolio management and environmental commodities trading to the 3Degrees Carbon Markets team. She currently oversees all of the company's commercial carbon activity and primarily focuses on managing the carbon credit portfolio, supporting business partnerships and originating new carbon projects. Steph joined 3Degrees in 2015 as a REC originator and market analyst on the Environmental Markets team.

Rich Jude Hine oversees ThayerMahan's business and financial operations. He assists the CEO and leadership team with planning, tracking goals and objectives and provides leadership to the company’s directors. Rich also leads strategy, marketing and business development for the offshore wind market. After graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1982, he served aboard the nuclear submarine USS Pittsburgh (SSN720). Rich also served aboard USS City of Corpus Christi (SSN705) as a qualified submarines and nuclear engineer before leaving the Navy in 1987. In the private sector, he has an extensive business career across a number of industries, including real estate development, commercial and residential construction, and retail sales. He has supervised start-up business ventures and has extensive experience in capital formation, finance and budgeting. He also served as a school board trustee and president for nine years, managing a $50 million budget.

Marcus Krembs, Enel’s head of sustainability for the U.S. and Canada, is responsible for integrating sustainable business and stakeholder management practices into each of the business lines present in North America: Enel Green Power, Enel X and Trading. Marcus established Enel North America’s sustainability department in 2015, applying Enel’s Creating Shared Value model and directing a community affairs and sustainable solutions team focused on the company’s pillars of sustainability and circular economy across the full value chain of Enel’s USA and Canadian operations. For the past 20 years, Marcus has served in progressive roles within environmental markets, focusing on advisory and corporate sustainability with leading engineering, environmental commodity marketing and energy companies.

Since 2007, Kevin Kritz has been a wildlife biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Region 6, Migratory Bird Management Office (MBMO) in Lakewood, Colorado. In this role, he serves as the lead for Region 6 MBMO for eagle/raptor biology, conservation and management. Kevin has been extensively involved with eagle incidental take permitting for wind energy projects in Region 6 and has assisted permit applicants with the development of eagle conservation plans and bird and bat conservation strategies for wind projects. He has authored or co-authored USFWS, Region 6 guidance memos for wind energy projects as well as reviewed and provided input and recommendations on numerous short-term eagle take permit applications for a variety of development and human infrastructure projects.

Kevin serves as a program lead for impacts to migratory birds and their habitats resulting from energy development (both renewable and non-renewable energy) and energy-related infrastructure development (power lines, pipelines, etc.). He has assisted project proponents in various industries in developing migratory bird conservation plans. More broadly, he serves as a subject matter expert for his office on the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Kevin began working for the USFWS in 2001 as a biologist with the Ecological Services Office in Reno, Nevada. Prior to working for USFWS, he was employed as a wildlife biologist with the Bureau of Land Management in the Coos Bay District Office for roughly 10 years.

Since joining ThayerMahan in 2019, Kevin Lopes has been responsible for business strategy, marketing, planning operations, assessing risk, executing plans and producing contract deliverables. He managed autonomous unmanned vehicle tactical operations from a 24-hour command center where he supervised 24-7 “man on the loop” piloting, acoustic intelligence and electronic intelligence teams that delivered tailored analysis and near-real-time customer reporting. Prior to joining ThayerMahan, Kevin led anti-terrorism, law enforcement, search and rescue, oil pollution, and hazardous material response missions during a 27-year career with the U.S. Coast Guard.

Chris O’Meilia is a wildlife biologist for the Kansas Ecological Services field office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Much of his work has focused on compliance and permitting of energy development and opportunities for conservation of prairies and associated grassland wildlife, such as the lesser prairie chicken. For almost 20 years, Chris has worked for the Ecological Services Program, spending nine years in the Oklahoma Ecological Services field office and four years in the Region 2 regional office in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He has been in his current role in Kansas for six years.

Marco Restani, a wildlife biologist at NorthWestern Energy, develops and implements the avian protection program across the company’s service area of Montana, Nebraska and South Dakota. Previously, he was a tenured professor of wildlife ecology and holds a Ph.D. from Utah State University. Marco is a certified wildlife biologist and elective member of the American Ornithologists’ Union.

Chris Ruckman is the energy storage director for the energy division at Burns and McDonnell, where he oversees the development of energy storage solutions to meet growing electrical grid challenges. An electrical engineer with more than 25 years of experience, he combines a passion for sustainability with his deep technical understanding of the utility industry to develop safe, reliable and cost-effective energy storage solutions. Chris’ experience includes electrical system design and analysis, protective relaying, and detailed design for new and retrofit power generation projects, energy storage facilities, microgrids, and black start resources. Chris is an IEEE senior member and has participated in the development of multiple industry standards. He is a registered professional engineer in 10 states.

Paul Sherman leads the Burns & McDonnell national mitigation bank acquisition and planning effort and is responsible for project acquisition and coordinating large-scale restoration efforts. He has led the development of projects benefitting state and Federal streams and wetlands, threatened and endangered species, and, now with implementation of the Eagle Protection and Offset Program, eagles. Paul has spearheaded various mitigation and conservation efforts in California, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Oregon and Washington.

Kari Soltau is an ESA-certified ecologist with more than 10 years of experience in providing protected species permitting support, from conducting targeted habitat assessments and rare species surveys to developing and managing conservation plans and avian protection plans. Kari is the technical lead of the Eagle Protection and Offset Program (EPOP), where she lends her avian risk and conservation experience to bridge the connection between utility infrastructure sponsors, permittees and the USFWS to execute compensatory mitigation requirements.

Crissy Sutter is a bat ecologist who leads a team of engineers, network experts and cybersecurity professionals. Together, they're developing technology that reduces wind and wildlife conflicts while balancing the need for noncarbon energy production.

John Weber grew up around the rivers and lakes of the Missouri Ozarks, 10 miles from the confluence of the muddy Missouri and the green Osage rivers. He has worked in the nonprofit sector for land trusts, the Missouri Department of Conservation and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. For the last 14 years, he has worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Hawaii and Missouri. John believes in the power of investing deeply in human relationships to dissolve and detangle natural resource conflicts across the country.

Since 2018, Amy Watrud has been a member of Invenergy’s Environmental Compliance and Strategy team in Denver, Colorado. She manages environmental compliance for development and construction as well as operations for wind, solar and transmission projects in the west. Before her time at Invenergy, Amy spent four years working for an engineering firm, managing environmental permitting and stormwater inspections.

Stu Webster, senior director of wildlife and federal lands for American Clean Power (ACP), is responsible for wildlife-related permitting, policy and regulatory issues with wind, solar, and transmission development and operating assets. Prior to joining ACP, Stu served as senior manager of American Wind Wildlife Institute’s Technology Innovation Program, a wind-wildlife research organization he helped form in 2008. Stu has served in various industry capacities focused on environmental and permitting related to development, construction, and operation of wind and solar energy facilities. From 2006-2009, Stu served as a permitting manager for Clipper Windpower Development, overseeing permitting and environmental duties throughout the U.S., then became director of permitting and environmental affairs for Iberdrola Renewables. Prior to the renewable energy industry, he was an air quality technician, scientist and project manager for a variety of environmental consulting firms.

Robert Young has 24 years of construction, industrial, consulting and auditing experience. He as managed energy development and permitting projects in the U.S. and the Caribbean Islands, involving compliance with Federal, state and local regulations and World Bank Guidelines. In addition, Robert has managed siting, permitting and construction projects ranging from renewable generation facilities and electrical transmissions lines to pipelines and resort developments. His broad experience across industries and project types gives him a unique perspective to address the risks and challenges associated with obtaining project approvals and maintaining compliance in today’s regulated environment.

Robert utilizes strong project management skills combined with technical proficiency in regulatory siting and permitting to identify and mitigate project risks to meet client demands and aggressive schedules. His strength in strategic development also allows him to provide efficient leadership for seamless project construction and operation.