Guest Speakers for the CEC Ecosystems Panel

Dr. Simona Bălan is a Senior Environmental Scientist at California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control, where she leads the Safer Consumer Products team working on polyfluoroalkyl substances. Previously, she was Senior Scientist at the Green Policy Institute, managing international projects on the use of flame retardants and PFASs in consumer products.

Jonathan Bishop has served as Chief Deputy Director at the State Water Board since 2007, where he oversees the Division of Water Quality and the Division of Financial Assistance, among other responsibilities. Previously, he worked for the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board for 23 years and was named its Executive Officer in 2004. At the Los Angeles Regional Board, he developed a new program to investigate the sources of groundwater contamination impacting drinking water wells, created a comprehensive water quality data management system, and oversaw the adoption of the first urban trash TMDL in the nation. Jon received a B.S. in Environmental Engineering with an emphasis in water quality from Humboldt State University.

Sean Bothwell is the Executive Director of the California Coastkeeper Alliance, to protect and enhance inland and marine waters throughout the state. He leads the CCKA’s legislative program by developing and introducing legislation and representing Waterkeepers in Sacramento at legislative hearings and special committee panels.

Karen Cowan is the Assistant Executive Director of the California Stormwater Quality Association (CASQA).  In this capacity, she works on behalf of California stormwater permittees to advance sustainable stormwater management that is protective of California water resources.  Her areas of expertise include stormwater permitting, TMDLs, and watershed-based stakeholder processes.

Dr. Mark Gold is Executive Director for the California Ocean Protection Council and Deputy Secretary of Ocean and Coastal Policy for the California Natural Resources Agency. In this role, Mark serves as a key advisor to the California Governor and the Secretary of Natural Resources, and directs policy, scientific research and partnerships to increase protection of coastal and ocean resources in California. Prior to his appointment, he was Associate Vice Chancellor for Environment and Sustainability at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he led the Sustainable Los Angeles Grand Challenge effort. Prior to UCLA, Mark was the first hire at the environmental nonprofit Heal the Bay and served as the group’s President for 18 years. During that time, he worked on ocean and coastal legislation and policy, stormwater, watershed management, and marine conservation and coastal restoration issues, projects and programs. Over the course of his career, his research focused on beach water quality and health risks, as well as sustainable water resources management. Mark received his B.S. and M.S. in Biology, and Doctorate in Environmental Science and Engineering, all from UCLA.

Erika Kalve is an Engineering Geologist in the Recycled Water, Desalination, and Constituents of Emerging Concern (CEC) Unit. She provides support for the statewide CEC Initiative and the Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Action Plan. Prior to joining the State Water Resources Control Board, she was a consultant and served as an emerging contaminant focus group leader and team coordinator for an international PFAS team.

Adam Laputz is the Assistant Executive Officer of the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board. He manages NPDES Point Source Permitting, Irrigated Lands Assessment and Planning, and TMDL Baseline sections in the Central Valley Water Board’s Sacramento office.

Laura McLellan is a Senior Environmental Scientist overseeing the Recycled Water, Desalination, and CECs Unit in the Division of Water Quality at the State Water Board. She has worked for the State and regional water boards for seven years on recycled water, CECs, mercury TMDLs, and water quality control planning

Dr. Alvina Mehinto is head of the Toxicology Department at SCCWRP. She oversees a variety of projects related to molecular toxicology, traditional toxicity testing, and ecological risk assessment. Her research focuses on the linkage between exposure to specific stressors (e.g. emerging contaminants, plastics) and effects on health of aquatic organisms, and on the development of molecular screening assays – namely bioanalytical tools and RNA-based biomarkers – for monitoring the impact of chemical stressors in fresh- and coastal waters, recycled waters, and sediment.

Thomas has worked at the San Francisco Bay Water Board for 37 years and has been Assistant Executive Officer since 2007. Thomas has experience in all program areas of the Water Board including development and implementation of water quality standards, TMDLs, NPDES wastewater and stormwater permits, and enforcement. He helped create the San Francisco Bay Regional Monitoring Program, serves as the chair of its Steering Committee, and participates on its Emerging Contaminates Work Group. Thomas received his B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in 1976 and his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley in 1983.

Catherine O’Dell is a hydrogeologist and works as a policy specialist with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. Her experience as a policy analyst and planner encompasses groundwater quality and protection, CECs and other emerging issues, and more recently, development and promulgation of water quality standards pursuant to state rules and the federal Clean Water act.

Jeremiah Puget is a Senior Environmental Scientist at the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board, where he is the Program Manager for Waste Discharge Requirements, Irrigated Lands Regulatory Program, and Solid Waste. Since 2013 he has been the lead staff on the implementation of the Recycled Water Policy and Constituents of Emerging Concern (CEC) initiative for the North Coast Region.

Dr. Rebecca Sutton is a Senior Scientist with the Aquatic Science Center and the Regional Monitoring Program for Water Quality in San Francisco Bay, where she leads a team investigating microplastics and CECs in the Bay and other regions of California.  She has been appointed to California’s Green Ribbon Science Panel to aid in the implementation of the state’s Safer Consumer Products Regulations.

Dr. Jennifer ‘JT’ Teerlink is the Environmental Program Manager of the Surface Water Protection Program at the California Department of Pesticide Regulation. Her team of scientists characterizes pesticide residues, identifies the sources of contamination, determines mechanisms of off-site movement of pesticides to surface water, develops site-specific or pesticide-specific mitigation strategies, and uses modeling tools to evaluate pesticides submitted for registration with the state.

Dr. Elin Ulrich is a Supervisory Chemist in the Advanced Analytical Chemistry Methods Branch within the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Center for Computational Toxicology and Exposure. Her research interests are on using mass spectrometry and analytical and environmental chemistry to develop methods for analyzing enantiomers of chiral pesticides, with a recent focus on suspect screening and non-targeted analysis for exposomics.

Dr. Daniel L. Villeneuve is a research toxicologist with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Great Lakes Toxicology and Ecology Division. His present research is focused on the use of new approach methodologies to characterize and evaluate hazards organic contaminants pose to fish and wildlife. Dr. Villeneuve has published over 180 peer-reviewed papers in the field of ecotoxicology and his work has been recognized with over 20 US EPA Scientific and Technical Achievement awards.

Jared Voskuhl manages the regulatory advocacy program of the California Association of Sanitation Agencies. Previously, he has worked over three legislative sessions for a local public agency and a state trade association, and has serves as president of the National Association of Graduate-Professional Students.

Claire Waggoner is an Environmental Program Manager overseeing the Sustainable Water Plans and Policies section in the Division of Water Quality at the California State Water Resources Control Board on projects and program including recycled water policy, recycled water research, stormwater capture and use, constituents of emerging concern, salt and nutrient management, seawater desalination, the California Environmental Quality Act, and restoration projects for the Santa Monica Bay National Estuary Program.