December 3, 2012

9:30 – 11:30AM Eastern

Hosted by The Horinko Group’s Water Division

Watch a video recap of this webinar.
Download a PDF copy of the presentations.

Overview

As part of the Mentoring Environment & Energy Together project, The Horinko Group hosted a webinar on December 3 entitled, EPA Activities Relevant to Hydraulic Fracturing and Water Issues. The webinar was presented by G. Tracy Mehan, Principal at The Cadmus Group and former Assistant Administrator for EPA’s Office of Water.

The webinar provided an overview of EPA’s involvement in hydraulic fracturing issues concerning water, covering topics such as which EPA Offices are most directly involved, scope of the congressionally-mandated EPA hydraulic fracturing study, and activities currently underway within the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act.

Moderator

• G. Tracy Mehan, Principal at The Cadmus Group and former Assistant Administrator for EPA’s Office of WaterG. Tracy Mehan, III is a Principal with The Cadmus Group, an environmental consulting firm, since 2004. Mr. Mehan served as Assistant Administrator for Water at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from 2001-2003. He served as Environmental Stewardship Counselor to the 2004 G-8 Summit Planning Organization (2004). Mr. Mehan also served as director of the Michigan Office of the Great Lakes (1993-2001) and as Associate Deputy Administrator of EPA in 1992. He served as director of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources from 1989 to 1992. Presently, Mr. Mehan serves on the Water Science and Technology Board and the Committee on the Mississippi River and the Clean Water Act for the National Research Council of the National Academies. He has also served as an independent expert judge for the Municipal Water Conservation Achievement Award Program (2006) sponsored by The U.S. Conference of Mayors and its Urban Water Council. Mr. Mehan is a former board member for the Great Lakes Protection Fund and a current board member for the Great Lakes Observing System. Mr. Mehan is a graduate of Saint Louis University and its School of Law.

May 17, 2012
1:30 – 3:00PM Eastern
Hosted by The Horinko Group’s Water Division

Watch a video recap of this webinar.
Download a PDF copy of the presentations.

Overview

The Horinko Group’s Water Division will host the third installment in its 2012 free webinar series on May 17 at 1:30pm Eastern to examine the implications of biofuel production on our nation’s land, water, and energy supplies. The rising cost of traditional petroleum and intensifying political debate over our reliance on foreign oil are pushing up pursuit of alternative domestic fuel sources.

As biofuel production continues to increase, concern is building regarding excessive water usage and deleterious effects on water quality. This webinar will provide factual data and insight from experts on this range of issues; in addition to analysis weighing often overlooked inputs and outputs.

Moderator

• Noel R. Gollehon, Senior Economist, Natural Resources Conservation Service, US Dept of Agriculture

  Noel Gollehon is a Senior Economist with the Resource Economics, Analysis, and Policy Division, Natural Resources Conservation Service, USDA. With over 20 years of Federal experience examining water policy issues focused on water quantity and quality issues in relation to agriculture, he is frequently called on as a water-use expert for USDA and other government agencies. He has a broad understanding of national/regional irrigation water use and the productivity of water as an input in agricultural production. He also has a specific understanding of irrigation that comes from moving sprinkler pipe. He researched water policy issues while receiving a Ph.D. in agricultural economics from the University of Nebraska. He has Federal experience with the Economic Research Service in various research and administrative positions before moving to his current position in NRCS.

Panelists

• Elizabeth Erdmann, Assistant Director, Natural Resources and Environment, U.S. Government Accountability Office

  Elizabeth Erdmann is an Assistant Director with the Natural Resources and Environment team of the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) in Washington, DC. She is responsible for leading past work related to biofuels and other energy-water nexus issues, such as produced water from oil and gas extraction and energy required to supply, use, and treat water.Ms. Erdmann has been with GAO since 2000, during which time she has led a variety of reviews of federal programs, including those related to water resources, nanotechnology, hard rock mining, oil dispersants, and research dissemination. Ms. Erdmann received a Masters in Public Administration from the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University and a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration from the University of Illinois. She has received GAO honors for outstanding contributions to complex reviews of environmental and science issues.

• Dr. May Wu, Principal Environmental System Analyst, Center for Transportation Research, Energy System Division, Argonne National Laboratory

  Dr. May Wu, a Principal Energy Systems Analyst at Argonne National Laboratory, is the principal investigator of a research project on biofuel water sustainability funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. The research focuses on analyses of water quality and water quantity associated with large-scale biofuel development. In recent work, Dr. Wu and her team used large-scale watershed modeling to estimate the impact of increased production of cellulosic feedstock on nutrients, soil erosion, and water resource availability in the Mississippi River basin. Dr. Wu’s team has developed a data inventory and tools to assess the spatially explicit biofuel water footprint and water resource availability of conventional, cellulosic, and advanced biofuels in the entire U.S. at the county level.Before joining Argonne in 2004, Dr. Wu was a senior research microbiologist at Nalco Chemical. Prior to that position, Dr. Wu conducted her postdoctoral work at Argonne on the production of biologically derived succinic acid, which received an?R&D 100 award. Dr. Wu holds several U.S. patents and a dual Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering and Environmental Toxicology from Michigan State University.

• Ronald Pate, Principal Member of Technical Staff, Earth Systems Analysis & Energy Technologies and Systems Solutions, Sandia National Laboratories

  Ron Pate is a Principal Member of the Technical Staff at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he has worked since 1986 on a variety of technology and systems engineering research, development, testing, and analysis programs spanning the areas of national security, defense systems, sensors, energy systems, and critical resource issues. In recent years, Mr. Pate has focused on renewable energy, biofuels and the interdependencies of energy, water, land, other key resources, and climate change. He is currently engaged in project development, management, coordination, and technical contribution to several biofuel and renewable energy projects and a 2012 National Climate Assessment technical report on the interdependencies of energy, water, land, and climate change.In October 2011, Mr. Pate returned from a two-year temporary assignment in Washington, DC, working with the Office of Biomass Program (OBP) in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) at the U.S. Department of Energy. In this assignment, he provided technical support to OBP’s emerging algae biofuels program. This included being part of the core DOE team involved in the development and publication in 2010 of a National Algal Biofuels Technology Roadmap report under the auspices of OBP.

Join Us to Learn About

This webinar will break down consumptive water, energy, and land usage data related to biofuel production in the United States. Through a balanced and factual approach, we intend to provide a platform to raise awareness of the underlying issues, while identifying current and near-term efficiencies and improvements. Key take-aways include:

• A closer look at consumptive water, energy, and land usage as it relates to our nation’s biofuel production;

 

• Improved understanding of biofuel demands and their impacts on agriculture, land, water and energy; and,

 

• Better appreciation of opportunities for near-term efficiencies and improvements, including an outlook for emerging alternative biofuel sources.

Who Should Attend

This webinar is intended for all members of the water community, the entrepreneurial family farmer to the industry leader, professionals in the fuel and energy sectors, NGOs with an interest in agriculture, energy, and water usage, federal and state natural resources professionals, sustainable and agricultural research interests, students and practitioners of water resources management, and water sector policy shapers and decision-makers.

March 30, 2012
Noon – 1:15PM Eastern
Hosted with Vita Nuova

Watch a video recap of this webinar.
Download a PDF copy of the presentations.

Overview

Newly emerging technologies hold the promise of addressing environmental problems more cost-effectively, while encouraging new companies and promoting economic development. In October, 2011, EPA adopted a “road map” to chart a path for the Agency to play more broadly in the technology marketplace–helping to define new needs, using its regulatory agenda to encourage new technology solutions, and partnering with all levels of government, the financial community, and technology developers to assist in technology commercialization, both domestically and internationally. Two activities already underway to carry out the strategy will also be discussed.

Presenters

• Marianne Horinko, President, The Horinko Group (Moderator)
  Marianne Horinko is the President of The Horinko Group (THG). Ms. Horinko”s expertise is in watershed-based approaches to cleanup and revitalization, corporate sustainability, and collaborative solutions to environmental progress through unique public-private partnerships. Prior to founding THG, she served as Assistant Administrator for the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER) at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from 2001 to 2004, and Acting EPA Administrator in 2003. Following the events of September 11, Ms. Horinko served at EPA assisting in environmental cleanup activities at Ground Zero, the Pentagon, and the U.S. Capitol due to anthrax contamination. In 2003, she oversaw EPA’s response to the Columbia Space Shuttle Disaster.Ms. Horinko is an alumna of the University of Maryland, College Park (B.S. in Analytical Chemistry) and Georgetown University Law School (J.D.).

 

• Walter Kovalick, Former Director of EPA’s Technology Innovation Office
  Until his retirement in January 2012, Dr. Walter Kovalick served for five years as the senior official for management and administration for EPA’s Regional Office in Chicago, accountable for the region’s $700M budget, which included over $540M in contracts and grants. He also chaired the region’s Science and Technology Council and helped author the Agency’s environmental technology strategy–released in fall 2011. From 1990 to 2006, in Washington DC, Dr. Kovalick managed a technology innovation office that championed new remediation and monitoring technologies for both emergency and traditional hazardous waste site cleanups. His division provided policy leadership and technology information across EPA and enabled the broader use of such technologies by partnering with other Federal agencies, States, consulting engineers, technology vendors and other countries. In addition, the division provided high quality, cost effective environmental analyses for Superfund and other agency programs through a nationwide network of contract laboratories. He also managed a respected special field unit, the Environmental Response Team, which supported difficult and complex EPA emergency and traditional site responses nationwide, including the anthrax and ricin cleanups in the U.S. Senate and the Columbia Shuttle recovery.

  He served from January 1993 until June 1994 (during the Clinton Administration transition period) as the Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. For five years prior to January 1990, he was the Deputy Director of the Superfund program where he shared leadership responsibilities for a nation-wide program to respond to hazardous substance releases – both of an emergency nature as well as from abandoned waste disposal sites.

  Dr. Kovalick holds a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering and Management Science from Northwestern University and a Masters in Business Administration from Harvard Business School. He holds a Ph.D. in Public Administration and Policy from Virginia Polytechnic Institute. He is twice a recipient of the President’s Meritorious Executive Award (most recently in 2001) as well as EPA Bronze and Silver Medals for Superior Service.

Join Us to Learn About

Join Walter Kovalick, former Director of Technology Innovation Office in EPA’s waste programs, for a wide ranging discussion of the strategy and its direction as the nation tackles the “clean technology” sector. Marianne L. Horinko, President of The Horinko Group and former EPA Acting Administrator, will moderate and provide opening remarks.

February 16, 2012
1:30 – 3:00PM Eastern
Hosted by The Horinko Group’s Water Division

Watch a video recap of this webinar.
Download a PDF copy of the presentations.

Overview

The Horinko Group’s Water Division will host the second installment in its 2012 free webinar series to take an unbiased, data-driven examination of one of our nation’s most water intensive practices – agricultural irrigation. Irrigation of agricultural crops is a significant user of surface and groundwater, accounting for over 80% of consumptive water use in the United States. While recognizing and appreciating agriculture’s contribution to our economy and national security, we must collectively rise to the challenge of fully weighing and balancing the increased demands and competing interests (rural, urban, industrial, energy, environmental) on our stressed water supply. A necessary first step will be strengthening our nation’s water awareness through a candid discussion based on factual data. This webinar will present current accepted facts and numbers tied to national agricultural water usage and application methods in a format that is concise and easy to follow. Building on this foundation, we intend to broaden the discussion for improved efficiencies and use of innovative methods to help foster a more widespread water stewardship ethic.

Presenter

• Noel R. Gollehon, Senior Economist, Natural Resources Conservation Service, US Dept of AgricultureNoel Gollehon is a Senior Economist with the Resource Economics, Analysis, and Policy Division, Natural Resources Conservation Service, USDA. With over 20 years of Federal experience examining water policy issues focused on water quantity and quality issues in relation to agriculture, he is frequently called on as a water-use expert for USDA and other government agencies. He has a broad understanding of national/regional irrigation water use and the productivity of water as an input in agricultural production. He also has a specific understanding of irrigation that comes from moving sprinkler pipe. He researched water policy issues while receiving a Ph.D. in agricultural economics from the University of Nebraska. He has Federal experience with the Economic Research Service in various research and administrative positions before moving to his current position in NRCS.

Join Us to Learn About

This webinar will break down the complexities of irrigation practices through data analysis and graphical representation of trends to educate, identify efficiencies and improvements, and provide an accurate representation of the irrigation “story.” Key take-aways include –

• An analytical approach to agricultural irrigation that reveals the underlying drivers shaping current trends.

 

• Improved irrigation methods from a farm and basin-wide perspective, resulting implications and unintended consequences.

 

• Improved water management practices and application technologies with the potential for real change.

 

• Additional information on myths regarding consumption versus use and return.

Who Should Attend

This webinar is intended for all members of the water community, from production agriculture (entreprenurial family farmer to the industry leader), NGOs with an intersest in agriculture and water use, federal and state natural resources professionals, agricultural research interests, extension specialists, local community planners, and local officials including rural mayors and county board members.

January 18, 2012
1:30 – 3:00PM Eastern
Hosted by The Horinko Group’s Water Division

Watch a video recap of this webinar.
Download a PDF copy of the presentations.

Overview

This webinar, hosted by The Horinko Group’s Water Division, will explore some of the issues and opportunities tied to moving our nation forward on a path of sustainable agriculture practices, while strengthening small family farms and diversifying rural economies to foster more livable rural communities.

At the local, state, and federal levels, deliberations are ongoing on how best to chart a sustainable path forward. Many are attempting to craft and share the business case for sustainability. Efforts underway to address the next farm bill and future farm programs could have a profound effect on the family farm and rural communities. Rural landscapes support the natural capital that must be optimally utilized to feed a growing population while protecting the ecological services that natural systems provide us. Reclaiming and sustaining the economic vitality of rural communities is an imperative.

An uptick in consumer interest for local food systems and special attribute products present growing value-add and direct marketing opportunities for producers. Many farmers face financial challenges in diversifying and transitioning their operations to address these opportunities and lack access to viable local and regional markets. Local and regional food systems will likely play a much larger role if we are to secure a sustainable future. Federal policies and programs are cautiously responding to this changing market environment and a trend is emerging of “grow local, buy local.”

Influencers and change drivers point to the need for innovation and job creation in rural communities to ensure the long-term viability of rural America. Traditional economic models for business recruitment and retention simply don’t meet the needs of rural communities.
Grassroots entrepreneurship is part of the equation, but only part of it. There is a perceived need for incentive to mobilize and perhaps incubate small entrepreneurial operations during the transition to new practices, products, and markets. A number of organizations and programs offer technical assistance, innovation grants, assorted tools and other resources to help rural communities and growers in this transition, but more is needed.

Presenters

Panelists include a seasoned line-up of professionals:

• Richard Warner, Professor Emeritus, Natural Resource Ecology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Moderator)Richard (Dick) Warner is Professor Emeritus of Natural Resource Ecology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Warner is also Senior Scientist and Director of External Relations for the National Great Rivers Research and Education Center and Director of the
  Center for Community Adaptation. He has previously led the Illinois Water Resources Center, and the Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant College Program.

  His current research centers on sustainable natural resources management in urban and agricultural settings, as well as the integration of multiple natural resource objectives in agricultural policies and programs. He is also involved with the development of information technologies for economic development and regional food systems and is one of the leaders of the National Food Industry Market Maker network.

• Robert Stewart, Executive Director, Rural Community Assistance PartnershipMr. Stewart has served as Executive Director of the Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP) since January 2006. He has 25 years of experience in the rural utility field, including the provision of technical and training assistance to water and wastewater systems, water- quality management, regulatory compliance, financial and managerial capacity development, training for managers and boards of rural utilities, utility financing, contract management and consulting for local government entities.

  Formerly, he was the Executive Director for the Texas Water Utilities Association (TWUA), a 9,000-member professional association of water and wastewater operators. Prior to TWUA, he was employed at the Texas Rural Water Association (TRWA), where he served in several capacities, including State Contract Manager, Professional Development and Training Director, and Associate Executive Director. Prior to his employment with TRWA, he served as Texas Director for Community Resource Group, the Southern RCAP, where he oversaw a statewide program that provided direct, onsite technical assistance and training for small, low-income rural communities in the areas of water and wastewater utilities and affordable housing.

• Mark “Coach” Smallwood, Executive Director, Rodale InstituteMark “Coach” Smallwood’s professional experience has been dedicated to environmental sustainability and organic farming. Previously, he served as the Mid-Atlantic Green Mission Specialist and Local Forager at Whole Foods, where he was a 2010 National Award Winner for “Best Whole Foods Market Spokesperson.”

  His career also includes the following roles: founder of an organic lawn care company, messenger for Al Gore’s Climate Project, school teacher, and basketball coach. Last, but certainly not least, as a long‐time organic farmer and biodynamic gardener, Mark has raised chickens, goats, sheep, pigs, and driven a team of oxen. Given his array of experiences, he is uniquely suited to lead the Rodale Institute.

• Mark Gorman, Policy Analyst, Northeast-Midwest InstituteMark Gorman is a Policy Analyst at the Northeast-Midwest Institute, focusing on water and watershed issues. Prior to joining the Institute in 2009, he directed the Northwest Office of the Pennsylvania Environmental Council (PEC), based in Meadville. While there, he worked with numerous partners from the private sector, government, communities and individuals in the upper Allegheny River and Great Lakes basins to promote sustainable use of built and natural landscapes, particularly by focusing on links between the environment, the economy and quality of life.

  Prior to working for the PEC, Mr. Gorman served over 22 years with the Northwest Region of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP). There, he helped to launch PADEP’s new Hazardous Sites Cleanup Program statewide and directed that Program in PADEP’s Northwest Region. He was co-leader of the pilot PADEP regional watershed team effort (focused on the internationally-renowned French Creek watershed), and later co-chaired PADEP’s Lake Erie, French Creek and Oil Creek watershed team.

Who Should Attend?

This webinar is intended for NGOs interested in the future of rural landscapes and livable communites, federal and state natural resources professionals, agricultural research interests, extension specialists, local community planners, local officials including rural mayors and county board members, political science practitioners and students, sociologists, and educators and entreprenurial family farmers.

Join Us to Learn About

• Current status of efforts to promote sustainable agricultural practices and strengthen the role of the family farm and more livable rural communities.

 

• Opportunities to develop new markets for innovative farm products to support local and regional food systems.

 

• Role of upcoming farm bill in calling attention to farm program reforms that more directly support the family farmer, new market development, and rural community redevelopment.

 

• Perspective of leading practitioners, program managers, and advocates on efforts to more effectively rebuild rural landscapes and the communities they support.

Hear from the Experts

Learn from seasoned practitioners and advocates for stronger rural communities about what is happening and what is needed to reinvigorate rural communities and to strengthen the contribution of the small family farm. Find out the latest updates on farm market promotion strategies and grants and other emerging opportunities for local-regional food system assistance. Gain a better appreciation of other challenges confronting rural communities.