SKA CONSULTING - Key Persons


Brian T. Weaver - EVP

Job Titles:
  • Executive Vice President
  • Founding Member
  • Partner
  • Principal Geologist / Executive Vice President / Partner
Mr. Weaver is a founding member and the Principal Geologist, Executive Vice President, and Partner of SKA, where he oversees the direction, management, and coordination of multiple environmental remediation and consulting projects. Mr. Weaver oversees staff mentoring, staffing, and contracts and is also responsible for client services, business development/marketing, and financial management. His more than 28 years of environmental consulting experience has included Phase I Environmental Site Assessments, Phase II Investigations, UST/LPST Investigations and Closures, Oil and Gas Site Assessments and Cleanups, Risk-Based Corrective Actions, Affected Property Assessments, Voluntary Cleanup Program and Innocent Owner/Operator Program Evaluations and Closures, Municipal Settings Designations, Remedial Design/Remedial Actions, Litigation Support/Expert Witness Testimony, Pro-Forma Evaluations and Feasibility Studies, and environmental construction projects. Brian has served as Principal Geologist and Project Director/Manager for hundreds of environmental assessments, property cleanups, and regulatory closures for all facets of public and private-sector clients. Brian began his environmental career as a Geologist for KEI Consultants, Ltd., in Houston, Texas where he conducted numerous site assessments and soil and groundwater remediation projects across Texas, New Mexico, and Louisiana at oil/gas exploration and production (E&P) facilities, petrochemical and bulk storage tank farms, fuel terminals, refined and crude underground pipeline right-of-ways, and retail fueling stations. Brian then spent four years at Carter & Burgess, Inc. (C&B) in Houston, Texas, where he served as Geologist and Site Manager. While at C&B, Brian conducted site assessments, pre-acquisition due diligence, risk assessments, and remedial actions for environmental projects primarily involved with real estate transactions, development, or re-use (Brownfields) for commercial/industrial and residential property developers, managers, planners, banking/lending institutions, and attorneys. In 2001, Brian brought his vision to SKA to apply exceptional personal attention and service along with superior regulatory knowledge to a broad base of public and private-sector clients. Brian strives to assist his clients in achieving their business goals by investing time to understand their vision and business objectives. By understanding the bigger picture, Brian provides his clients with opportunities where others have not. Brian brings to each project extensive experience in geology, hydrogeology, environmental construction and remedial actions, strategic planning/forecasting, operations, and regulatory affairs to meet and exceed client expectations. At SKA, Brian specializes in risk-based assessments and soil remedial actions for regulatory closures in both the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) programs. In 1995, Brian earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Geology from Stephen F. Austin State University, where he focused his geology degree in environmental geology and hydrogeology. He received his Texas Professional Geoscientist license in 2003 (P.G. No. 274) from the State of Texas Board of Professional Geoscientists. Away from the office, Brian is an avid outdoorsman and especially enjoys going on new adventures (always the "rockhound") with his wife and two daughters.

Darrell Maudlin - VP

Job Titles:
  • Senior Project Manager
  • Vice President
  • Texas Licensed Individual Asbestos Consultant
  • Vice President / Senior Geologist
Mr. Maudlin is a Vice President and Senior Project Manager, having joined the firm in 2013. He has over 27 years of environmental consulting experience, ranging from large-scale Voluntary Cleanup Program and Corrective Action projects to retail petroleum properties and due diligence. He is also a licensed Asbestos Consultant in Texas with over 20 years of experience in the asbestos inspection and abatement industry. Darrell is a 1996 graduate of Southwest Texas State University (currently Texas State University) with a B.S. in Environmental Science. He holds Professional Geoscientist licenses in Texas (10023) and Louisiana (427) and is certified as a Corrective Action Project Manager (01620) by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Darrell is also licensed as an Individual Asbestos Consultant (105792) with the Texas Department of State Health Services. Darrell enjoys snowboarding, water sports, and fishing the bays of the Texas coast.

Mike Schultz - EVP

Job Titles:
  • Executive Vice President
  • Partner
  • Principal Engineer
Mr. Schultz is an Executive Vice President and Partner of SKA, having joined the firm in 2004. He has over 36 years of environmental experience, including 33 years in environmental consulting, widely ranging from large-scale Superfund and surface mining facilities to retail petroleum properties and due diligence. Mike spent the first five years of his career involved in environmental permitting studies for surface mining operations. Initially, he was on staff with the Railroad Commission of Texas, Surface Mining and Reclamation Division for about two years. He then joined Hall Southwest Corporation in Austin, Texas as a private consultant conducting baseline studies for proposed and existing mining operations. These studies included overburden characterization, hydrogeologic and surface water hydrologic investigations, climatological studies, alternative water supply investigations, modeling for estimation of the probable hydrologic consequences of mining, and permitting services for water rights permits, wastewater discharge permits, and levee permits. While at Hall Southwest, Mike also developed extensive experience in the assessment and remediation of PCBs and spent two years managing a PCB and oil spill emergency response contract for the City of Austin Electric Utility Department. Under this contract, crews were on call 24/7 to remediate PCB and oil spill sites in commercial, industrial, and residential areas. More than 150 spill sites were remediated under this contract. In 1994 Hall Southwest was sold to Groundwater Technology, Inc. (GTI), and Mr. Schultz moved to Houston, Texas, as GTI's Houston Operations Manager. During his tenure with GTI, Mike developed particular expertise in the assessment and remediation of sites impacted by petroleum hydrocarbons and chlorinated solvents in soil and groundwater. His expertise included the design and implementation of many groundwater remediation systems as well as implementing monitored natural attenuation remedial strategies for groundwater contaminant plumes. A number of the chlorinated solvent sites were dry cleaning facilities. Mike also developed a particular expertise for inspecting and assessing dry cleaning facilities for poor waste management practices and environmental releases. Mike joined Carter & Burgess, Inc. (C&B) in 1998 as a Senior Project Manager and continued to develop his expertise in site assessment and remediation and added Brownfields redevelopment assessments/cleanups to his portfolio of experience. Mike accepted a Senior Project Manager position with MFG, Inc. in 2001 and became heavily involved in federal and state Superfund projects along the Gulf Coast and at a former mineral processing facility in East St Louis, Illinois. He managed two Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study projects and a Post Remedial Action Evaluation project. Throughout his private consulting career, Mr. Schultz has also provided litigation support and served as an expert witness in many legal cases to include deposition and trial testimony in State and Federal court. These cases have often involved the source and extent of contamination and likely cleanup costs, and have dealt with both individual sites and class actions. Mike brought his entrepreneurial vision and extensive technical and management experience to SKA in 2004 as Operations Manager. Mike became a Vice President of SKA in 2008, a Partner in January 2009, and Executive Vice President in 2019. Mike is a 1985 graduate of the Colorado School of Mines with a B.S. in Mining Engineering. He holds engineering licenses in Texas (68765), Colorado (30797), Louisiana (26455), Oklahoma (17848), New Mexico (16145), and Wisconsin (35603-006), and is certified as a Corrective Action Project Manager (00944) by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Mike is an Eagle Scout, the father of two Eagle Scouts, a former Scoutmaster and Crew Advisor, and is actively involved with the Boy Scouts of America on the local and Council level.

Scott K. Leafe - CEO, Founder, President

Job Titles:
  • Founder
  • Managing Partner
  • President
  • Principal Scientist
Mr. Leafe is the founder and President/Managing Partner of SKA. His more than 38 years of practical environmental and nuclear engineering experience has included direction, management, and coordination of Phase I Environmental Site Assessments, Phase II Investigations, Risk-Assessment, and remedial construction projects. He has served as Project Director/Manager for hundreds of environmental assessments, property cleanups, and regulatory closures for all facets of public and private-sector clients. Scott has unique, in-depth knowledge of community redevelopment programs and property redevelopment strategies, especially regarding Brownfields properties. Following three years of initial studies in chemical engineering at Texas A&M University, Scott entered the U.S. Navy Nuclear Power program in 1984. He served four years as a navy instructor at the naval nuclear power plant prototype facility at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory in Idaho Falls, Idaho. His follow-on four-year tour was aboard the USS Gurnard, SSN 622 fast attack nuclear submarine homeported in San Diego, California. As a Non-Commission Officer, Scott served as the lead chemist and radiological controls/radiation health physics supervisor, and a nuclear power/propulsion plant supervisor. He was awarded the Navy Achievement Medal for his distinguished service and received an Honorable Discharge in 1992. Following his naval service, Scott joined International Technology Corporation in the Groundwater Services Division in Houston, Texas. His responsibilities included assisting in the design, installation, operation, and maintenance of soil-vapor extraction and vacuum-enhanced pumping, total fluids, and skimming groundwater remediation systems throughout the U.S. In 1993, Mr. Leafe was recruited by Carter & Burgess, Inc. (C&B) and was rapidly promoted to Project Manager in the Houston Environmental Services Division. In 2000, Mr. Leafe was promoted to Associate by the Board of Directors. Building on his vision to provide timely and high-quality environmental services to a wide variety of private and governmental clients and further expand his capabilities in Brownfields redevelopment, Mr. Leafe formed SKA in June of 2001. Since its inception, SKA has become renowned for its superior service and quality and its ability to provide real-world solutions to complex environmental challenges. Moreover, in the past two decades, Mr. Leafe has developed specific expertise in the assessment and return-to-re-use of environmentally impaired commercial and industrial properties. In addition, he has created and implemented pro forma estimating methodologies that allow expedited site assessment, property acquisition, and site redevelopment while maintaining cost efficiency and timely project completion. Scott graduated from LeTourneau University with a B.A. in Business Administration. In addition, he received a Master of Divinity in Theological Studies from Liberty University Baptist Theological Seminary and a Doctor of Ministry in Theology and Apologetics from the John W. Rawlings School of Divinity at Liberty University. As an ardent supporter of community outreach programs, Mr. Leafe has served on the Board of Directors of Scriptel Ministries, a private non-profit corporation, since 1995. He is presently the President and Executive Director. This organization provides classroom-style Christian education and training to communities in and surrounding Houston. Mr. Leafe also serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors for Fort Bend County Improvement District No. 24 in Katy, Texas.