COASTAL RESOURCES - Key Persons
Bridgette Garner is a Principal of Coastal Resources, Inc. that not only manages the daily operations of the business but is also an environmental manager and technical lead for large, complex projects that require a variety of field studies and environmental assessments for the public and private sector. For over 24 years, Bridgette's work has focused on managing natural resource assessments, documentation, permitting, agency coordination, and mitigation. She provides a high level of expertise and interface between clients and agency personnel, using a solutions-oriented approach to address complex permitting and mitigation challenges on some of the Mid-Atlantic region's largest infrastructure projects. Bridgette has worked on numerous General Engineering Consultant (GEC) contracts effectively representing client interests on both standard Design-Build and P3 Design-Build Contracts. Bridgette has also prepared portions of the RFP for the design build contract that detail environmental commitments, including all NEPA commitments and permit conditions.
Since taking over CRI, Bridgette and Sarah have focused on maintaining the firm's many long-term client and prime relationships as well as the principles of technical excellence and collaboration that have led to CRI's success over the last 40 years. They are grateful for the vision and workplace culture of the previous owners that nurtured their own careers and are excited to uphold that legacy while exploring new opportunities to expand CRI's services, markets, and geographic reach in the years to come.
Job Titles:
- Senior Environmental Scientist
David Smith, PWS, has more than 30 years of environmental consulting experience in the Mid-Atlantic region, with over 23 years at Coastal Resources, Inc. David is considered an industry leader in the identification, delineation, functional assessment, and monitoring of tidal and nontidal wetlands; rare, threatened, and endangered species surveys and consultations; and avian and other wildlife censuses and inventories. David is also skilled in NEPA compliance and has managed and contributed to enumerable NEPA documents and technical reports over his career. He is on the Maryland list of qualified birders and is qualified in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland to conduct Phase 1-3 bog turtle surveys and to serve as a bog turtle monitor for development projects. His experience includes a broad range of markets in both the public and private sectors, including residential and commercial development, transportation (highway, transit, aviation), communications, and utilities (water and sewer, gas and electric, nuclear). CRI's clients regularly call upon David's extensive experience for their most technical and challenging projects.
Job Titles:
- Environmental Scientist
- Natural Resources Team / Co - Team Leader
Jeff is an Environmental Scientist with more than 9 years of experience in a range of aquatic ecology disciplines. Jeff has a strong fisheries background in aquatic resource assessment and management related to environmental disturbances in lakes, streams, and rivers. As one of CRI's water quality leads, Jeff conducts and manages the assessments of both tidal and non-tidal aquatic environments and communities. Jeff also manages projects related to aquatic organism passage, including mitigation site searches and the development of recommendations for aquatic organism passage at road-stream crossings. He provides support for the development of NEPA planning documents, including Environmental Assessments, Environmental Impact Statements, Section 4(f) evaluations, and other technical reports. Jeff earned his Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in Biology with a minor in Environmental Studies from Juniata College, and his Master of Science (MS) in Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences (Fisheries) from the University of Illinois.
Job Titles:
- Environmental Scientist / Inspector
Job Titles:
- Stream Restoration Specialist
Job Titles:
- Senior Water Resources Engineer
Job Titles:
- Environmental Scientist / Inspector
Job Titles:
- Natural Resources Team / Co - Team Leader
In 1988, Nancy hired Betsy Weinkam, a biologist previously working as an environmental sanitarian in Southern Maryland, and, in 1991, sold the business to Betsy. As an owner, Betsy prized the closeness of a small company of dedicated professionals, and company growth was intentionally slow over the almost 25 years she owned the company.
Job Titles:
- Marketing & Contracts Coordinator
Job Titles:
- Environmental Scientist / Inspector
Job Titles:
- Water Resources Team / Team Leader
As a Principal of Coastal Resources, Inc., Sarah oversees the day-to-day operations of the firm while also providing her 30+ years of natural resource expertise to infrastructure clients in the firm's key environmental services. She has extensive experience in facilitating interagency coordination to achieve strategic project success while meeting regulatory requirements and environmental commitments on large complex infrastructure projects in the Mid-Atlantic region. She regularly manages and prepares the natural resources portions of NEPA and other environmental documents and oversees the compilation of environmental data and assessment of impacts for environmental planning documents, technical reports, and permit packages. Sarah's technical expertise as a Senior Environmental Scientist includes a variety of field assessments including, delineation of wetlands and waterways, identifying potential mitigation sites, evaluation of water quality and stream biology, including benthic macroinvertebrates and fish, and assessment of vegetative communities for health, diversity, and wildlife habitat potential.
Bridgette and Sarah started their careers at CRI as Environmental Scientists and had a long history of collaboration through their technical work and management roles as Team Leader and Department Heads of the firm's Natural Resources Team. By the time they took over ownership, they had been managing and growing the capabilities of the firm's Natural Resources Team for many years together and had built a strong relationship they were confident could weather the stresses of running a company. Along with sharing the duties of overall firm management and staff oversight, Bridgette and Sarah continue their roles as Senior Environmental Scientists, managing some of the firm's larger and more complex projects.
Job Titles:
- Natural Resources Team / Co - Department Head
- Senior Environmental Scientist
Sean is a Senior Environmental Scientist with over 19 years of experience. He co-leads the NRT and oversees CRI's water quality and biomonitoring studies in non-tidal and tidal habitats, with broad expertise in natural resources disciplines such as rare, threatened, and endangered species and habitat surveys, waters of the U.S. (including wetlands) delineations, and mitigation monitoring. Sean conducts, reviews, and assembles complex natural resource studies related to residential, commercial, transportation, and utility projects, both private and public. He holds numerous accredited certifications, including Professional Wetland Scientist, Professional Wetland Delineator, Benthic Macroinvertebrate Taxonomy, Fish Taxonomy, Fish Crew Leader, Qualified Bog Turtle Surveyor, and Small Whorled Pogonia. He is well-recognized for his technical expertise and regularly provides professional training to natural resource professionals in the region in wetland delineation, plant identification, and other technical disciplines.