AIH - Key Persons
Brennon has been employed by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture as a hydrologist since 2009. His focus has been on agricultural-related water quality issues in Minnesota groundwater. He is a licensed professional hydrologist through the American Institute of Hydrology and a licensed professional geologist in the State of Minnesota. He received his M.S. degree from the University of Minnesota in Water Resources Science in 2006 and his B.S. degree from Iowa State University in Environmental Science in 2000.
Chance Fulk is a native of western North Carolina and spent the other half of his childhood in Macon, Georgia before graduating from Georgia Southern University's Geology program with a B.A. in Geology/Geography. As an Eagle Scout his drive drove him out west of the Mississippi River right after graduating in 1997. Chance began working for the U.S. Geological Survey in Tulsa, OK in 1998 as a Hydrologic Technician before moving onto the Atlanta, GA U.S.G.S Science Center. In 2000, Chance moved to Flagstaff, AZ where he worked on the Colorado River in and around the Grand Canyon. During this period he worked on stream gaging but supported many special investigations dealing with Water Chemistry and Sediment Sampling. Chance assisted the U.S.G.S with their two week field techniques course in Lakewood, CO for 2 years. In 2008, Chance decided to experience another side of having the Hydro Tech skills by working with the Wyoming State Engineer's Office in Riverton where he was Hydrographer-Commissioner regulating the Wind and Bighorn Rivers. Chance had the "chance" to learn water rights and regulation. He also worked alongside the NRCS performing snow surveys along Wyoming's Continental Divide. In 2010, Chance moved to California to work with Pacific Gas and Electric as a Hydrographer and mainly works in the McCloud, Pit, and Fall River watersheds in Northern California and lives in Mount Shasta, CA. Chance is a fan of hiking, backpacking, volunteering, and exploring the forest. Chance holds a Hydrologic Technician III with AIH and is happy to serve.
Job Titles:
- SMA Director of Marketing and Design Development
David Garrison is the SMA Director of Marketing and Design Development. He is responsible for the design and layout of marketing and communication materials for client conferences and education events as well as branding. With a background in editorial design, David has more than 10 years of working in association and freelance design creating more than 100 publications, dozens of branding for conferences and other events and has developed strategic marketing campaigns for more than 20 associations. David also designs and facilities leadership and team-building workshops as well as facilitating strategic planning sessions.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Advisory Board
- Emergency Operations Coordinator / National Geospatial Technical Operations Center
Job Titles:
- Member of the Advisory Board
Job Titles:
- AGI Executive Director / Alexandria, VA
Job Titles:
- Professor Texas a & M University / College Station, TX
Dr. McMahon has accumulated more than 50 years of global water resources planning, engineering, design, construction, operations, and management experience. Areas of practice include: water resources engineering; hydrology and hydraulic analysis and design; hydropower engineering and design; comprehensive river basin planning studies; multipurpose water project benefit-cost analysis and cost allocation studies; plan formulation studies; institutional and regulatory capacity-building for participatory planning and integrated water resource management; reservoir and water resource systems analysis; modeling and model integration; statistical hydrology; water control decision support system implementation; permitting and environmental impact assessment; dam safety and emergency actions planning; coastal and waterways engineering; peer review, and expert testimony. Dr. McMahon has authored one book and more than 60 peer-reviewed journal papers, conference proceedings papers, and technical reports on technical, economic and policy aspects of water resources engineering and management. He currently serves as a Associate Editor for the ASCE Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management.
Jamil is a Senior Principal Hydrologist with Stantec Consulting Services Inc. in Sacramento, California. He has more than 20 years of hydrology, water quality, and water resources planning and management experience on projects for local, regional, state, and federal clients. Projects include hydrologic analyses, feasibility studies, and environmental impact assessments for ecosystem restoration, water supply reliability, flood risk management, and navigation improvement projects. Before consulting, he worked with agencies and research institutions. Jamil received his BS in Environmental Studies from the State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, and MS in Hydrologic Sciences from the University of California, Davis. Jamil was certified as a Professional Hydrologist (PH) in 2006 and served on the AIH Board of Registration, then as Vice President for Institute Development from 2016-2018, and President-Elect from 2019-2020. Jamil enjoys cooking (and eating) and exploring with his family. Like all hydrologists, he's a water geek and bores (or fascinates) his family and non- hydrologist or water professional friends with water facts wherever they go.
Job Titles:
- Secretary - Membership Liaison
- the AIH Member
Jolyne Lea, P.H. Certificate number 02-H-1564 Jolyne is a Hydrologist with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service at the National Water and Climate Center in Portland Oregon since 1991. In her position she is the lead for model calibration and operational seasonal water supply forecasting in the Great Basin, Pacific basins and Alaska based on mountain snowpack runoff. She is the business area expert in overseeing the agencies' operational SNOTEL data collection and processing. In addition, she oversees the climate data and products for the NRCS to support conservation activities of the agency.
Jolyne Lea, the AIH Member-Liaison Secretary, is available for questions for current members on your membership and concerns that have not been responded to or resolved by the admin staff. In addition, please use this email for feedback, concerns and ideas to be brought before the AIH Board. Contact her at: membership@aihydrology.org
Julé Rizzardo is a Professional Hydrologist and Registered Civil Engineer with over 20 years of experience in water resources engineering and management. She is currently the President Elect of AIH and a Principal Engineer with the California Water Board. As lead of the Permitting and Enforcement Branch, she administers California's complex system of water rights, considering water availability, senior water rights, and flows needed to protect public trust resources. Ms. Rizzardo also has a decade of experience in the Board's Division of Financial Assistance, serving the drinking water and wastewater needs of small, disadvantaged communities throughout California. She received her B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of California, Davis and her M.S. in Hydrogeology from the University of Nevada, Reno. She and her team are committed to an integrated approach to hydrologic modeling, collaboration, compliance assistance, and public engagement. When she's not conducting water right enforcement negotiations, she's out on the pitch using her conflict resolution skills to coach youth soccer.
Job Titles:
- VP for Institute Development
Job Titles:
- Civil Engineer
- Board of Registration Chairman
Nick Textor is a Civil Engineer with a BS in Physics from Notre Dame and an MS in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Wisconsin, Madison with post graduate work in Geo-environmental Engineering at the Illinois Institute of Technology. He is a Registered Professional Engineer, a Professional Hydrologist certified by the American Institute of Hydrology, a Diplomate of the American Academy of Water Resources Engineers and a Certified Floodplain Manager. His experience includes over 47 years work in hydrology, hydraulics, stormwater management, dam design and rehabilitation and hazard mitigation. His career includes assignments in both the public and private sectors on national and international projects in both design and modeling.
Job Titles:
- President Elect
- Civil and Environmental Engineer
Salam Murtada is a civil and environmental engineer working as floodplain hydrologist with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources in St. Paul, Minnesota. His job duties include developing and reviewing hydrological and hydraulic models for FEMA Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHA) and floodplain studies, culvert design using the geomorphic approach, watershed modeling to evaluate best management practices, and review of FEMA letter of map change (LOMC) projects and floodplain analysis/no-rise submittals. Before moving to Minnesota in 2008, he worked for the North Carolina Ecosystem Enhancement Program (currently Division of Mitigation Services) to provide construction oversight and FEMA compliance of stream restoration projects. He has presented at several national and state conferences, including Transportation Resilience: International Conference on Resilience to Natural Hazards and Extreme Weather, International Drainage Symposium, Minnesota Water Resources Conference, North Carolina Stream Conference, Minnesota Association of Floodplain Managers Conference, and North Carolina Association of Floodplain Managers Conference. He graduated from West Virginia University with a Master of Science degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering and a Master of Science degree in Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with Bachelor of Science degrees in Civil Engineering (Structural) and Petroleum Engineering. His post-graduate courses include Advanced Stream Design at North Carolina State University, Geographic Information Systems at the University of St. Thomas, and Watershed Hydrological Modeling at the University of Minnesota. Salam became a Professional Hydrologist in 2018. He joined the AIH Executive Committee as Treasurer in January of 2020 and became the VP of Institute Development in the spring of 2021.
Job Titles:
- VP for International Affairs
Job Titles:
- Research Professor of Civil
- VP for Academic Affairs
Dr. Zhang is a Research Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Adjunct Professor of Geography at Portland State University and a Senior Scientist at LimnoTech. He has been working side-by-side with the Corps of Engineers team for the development of contaminant, water quality and vegetation modeling capabilities. He is the primary author of a set of water quality modules that are currently coupled with HEC-RAS, HEC-ResSim, and AdH hydraulic models as a companion water quality model. He is a co-developer of the HEC-RAS riparian vegetation module and a contributor of 2D reservoir hydrodynamic and water quality CE-QUAL-W2 model. He has conducted a wide range of hydraulic and water quality modeling applications for many of the major US river systems including the Columbia and Snake River system, Lehigh River system, Jacksonville Harbor-St. John River, Minnesota River, Missouri River, and Mississippi River. Additionally, He has developed and lectured at water quality modeling workshops and short courses. He has been an active participant in professional organizations and served on several committees for ASABE, ASCE, and AWRA, and WEF.