Cindy R. Pappas

KS2 Ecological Field Services

QUALIFICATIONS

Cindy is a Senior Ecologist with nine years of experience in ecological restoration, ecological risk assessment, natural resource management, and compliance monitoring.  Her experience in natural resource management includes restoration project planning and monitoring, vegetation sampling and evaluations, environmental toxicology and risk assessment, and native plant species inventory and seeding recommendations.  Cindy has experience conducting ecological impact assessments for evaluating the environmental impacts of contaminants on re-vegetative success, as well as exposure risk to biologic receptors.

PROFESSIONAL  SKILLS

·       Project Management

·       Proposal Development

·       Client Service Management

·       Ecological Modeling

·       Geographic Information Systems

·       Water Resource Management

·       Statistical Analysis

·       Natural Resource Management

·       Environmental Toxicology & Risk Assessment

·       Environmental Restoration

·       Closure Planning

·       Environmental Planning

·       Compliance Monitoring

·       Vegetation Monitoring & Evaluations

·       Soil Chemistry Analysis

PROFESSIONAL  EXPERIENCE

MWH GLOBAL, Fort Collins, Colorado                                                                               2002 – 2009
Senior Ecologist

EnCana Oil and Gas, Inc

Ecological Task Leader – Ecological Risk Assessment and Use Attainability Analysis Alkali Creek Watershed, Lysite, Wyoming. (2008-2009)

·       Developed a Site Specific Use Attainability Analysis (UAA) to petition the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality to apply an increased site specific water quality criterion for selenium for EnCana’s natural gas operations in the Alkali Creek watershed. 

·       Quantified the potential impacts of elevated selenium in the discharge waters by conducting a environmental risk assessment, including development of a sampling program to evaluate all potential hazards to terrestrial and aquatic and terrestrial wildlife.

Confidential Oil and Gas Company

Ecological Task Leader – •     Baseline Ecological Characterization and Screening-Level Risk Assessment for Produced Water Discharges, Wyoming (2007-2009)

·       Developed aquatic and terrestrial sampling program to identify and evaluate potential contaminants of concern.

·       Developed a baseline characterization of plant and animal communities residing in two watersheds and conducted a screening-level ecological risk assessment to review impacts of produced water discharges on biotic receptors.

United States Bureau of Reclamation

Ecological Modeling Task Leader – Evaluation of Ecological Impacts of Water Storage Operations for the Upper San Joaquin Valley Watershed, San Joaquin, California (2006)

·       Led team of scientists and software developers to evaluate ecological impacts of several water storage alternatives in Upper San Joaquin River Basin, applying ecological model, ECOS²T^TM, and habitat suitability model (CWHR) developed by California Department of Fish and Game.

·       Oversaw team coordination, report preparation, and ecological modeling.

·       Provided GIS expertise for model use and performed extensive review and validation of vegetation classifications for model parameterization, model calibration, and interpretation of results.

Los Angeles Department of Water and Power

Lead Ecologist /Project Manager – Local Water Resource Management, Owens Valley, California (2003-2006)

·       Provided project design, implementation, management, and support for projects including vegetation-monitoring programs; plant survivability studies; evaluation of natural resource impacts, groundwater fluctuations on vegetation, and water management strategies; and development and assessment of dryland revegetation strategies.

·       Acted as lead scientist for soils data, evaluating impact of soil properties on water resources and long-term vegetation dynamics in Owens Valley.

·       Oversaw project implementation, budget, schedule, and coordination of team of scientists tasked with reviewing and developing recommendations for Owens Valley Watershed Management Program.

·       Provided ecological and statistical support for conducting detailed analysis of relationships between depth-to-water, precipitation, and vegetation for permanent monitoring sites located throughout Owens Valley.

·       Coordinated team of scientists to design statistically based, long-term vegetation monitoring program to quantify Valley’s vegetation dynamics, and identify changes and trends.

BHP Copper

Ecologist – Development and Evaluation of Vegetation Cover Design for Mine Site Closure, Globe, Arizona (2005)

·       Conducted on-site vegetation sampling and evaluations, environmental toxicology, and risk assessment for elevated metals.

·       Served as task leader for ecological modeling to evaluate different cover design criteria for mine site closure and environmental compliance.

·       Provided cover design and seeding recommendations for restoration of native vegetation.

Lead Ecologist – Risk Assessment and Evaluation of Soil Properties for Revegetation Success for Mine Site Closure, Globe, Arizona (2004-2005)

·       Managed ecological impact assessment for mine site closure at numerous mine sites.

·       Evaluated site conditions for plant establishment and growth, and provided client with restoration planning and criteria based on site-specific chemical and physical properties of soils.

Lead Scientist – Development and Evaluation of Revegetation Test Plot Program for Mine Site Closure, Tempe, Arizona (2004-2005)

·       Led design, implementation, and evaluation of test plot program for Tohono Mine Site in southwestern Arizona.

·       Evaluated site conditions for plant growth and establishment, and provided recommendations for mine site closure using various soil cover design and restoration plans for environmental compliance.

·       Oversaw project proposal, budget, schedule coordination, and report preparation for on-site vegetation sampling and evaluations, risk assessment for elevated metals, restoration planning, native plant species inventory, and seeding recommendations for native vegetation restoration.

Colorado State University

Ecological Modeler – Integrated Control and Assessment of Knapweed and Cheatgrass on Department of Defense Installations, Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP), Fort Carson, Colorado, and Yakima Training Center, Washington, D.C. (2003-2004)

·       Evaluated impacts of military maneuvers and other disturbances on watershed quality for two military installations.

·       Provided ecological support to evaluate various management strategies for control of invasive species.

·       Applied EDYS model to evaluate effectiveness of revegetation techniques over time.

United States Army Corps of Engineers

Ecologist/Soil Scientist – Cibolo Creek Watershed Evaluation, Fort Worth, Texas (2002-2005)

·       Applied EDYS ecological dynamics model to evaluate different management scenarios including urbanization, cultivation, seeding strategies, fertilization/pesticides, forage consumption by wildlife, and various hydrological evaluations.

·       Coordinated with team to provide management guidelines for entire Cibolo Creek Watershed based on scientific evaluation of modeling results.

Ecologist – Ecological Risk Assessment, Joliet Army Ammunition Plant, Joliet, Illinois (2003)

·       Identified critical toxicities and threshold levels for plants and biological pathways to determine plant response to contaminants in soil and water at the Joliet Army Ammunition Plant.

·       Utilized baseline toxicity thresholds to determine if contaminant levels at the site posed an increased risk to biotic receptors and to determine appropriate remediation guidelines for contaminants of concern. 

COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY, Fort Collins, Colorado                                                1999 – 2002

Research Assistant, Range Science Department (2000-2002)

·       Designed and conducted research project to evaluate effects of soil chemistry and nutrient enrichment in populations of Oxytropis sericea and native rangeland vegetation.

·       Evaluated effectiveness of urban wetlands on nutrient removal from urban runoff, studied effects of plant quality on nutrient cycling, and evaluated effect of various seeding patterns on successional development in rangeland plant communities.