|
Designing for stability in NJ
Meeting Description
Join your fellow practitioners and learn about updates, tips, and permitting pitfalls when designing for stability in New Jersey. There will be three short presentations from NJ Erosion Control Engineer, USGS, and NJDEP followed by an moderated panel discussion. Feel free to submit questions for the panel in advance to sara.irick@fpaengineers.com.
Speakers
John Showler, PE,State Erosion Control Engineer for the NJ Department of Agriculture
John always wanted to be outdoors. As a young boy, his favorite playground was the woods. To this day he still loves to fish, hunt, camp and photograph the outside world. Therefore it was only fitting that when he went to college, he studied forestry. He wanted to be the guy on T.V. that put radio collars on elk and track their migration through the Rocky’s. That was a great dream until he discovered the need for food, clothing and shelter and realized that those things required money. Something that was not abundant in the world of elk collar tracking.
In 1985, while working as a park ranger in Monmouth County (which afforded ample time to re-consider his life’s choices), he was introduced to the NJ Erosion and Sediment Control Program, and its supreme technical leader, Hunter Birckhead, P.E., the state erosion control engineer. John seized an opportunity to leave the world of park ranger-ing and went to work for the soil Districts in 1987, where there was again, ample opportunity to re-consider his life’s choices.
During his time in the Districts (John is an alumnus of the Freehold and Glocester offices) he felt the need for formal engineering training. He attended Drexel University in their Engineering Geology Master’s program, and after a year, transferred to Villanova University where he earned his Master’s in Water Resources Engineering.During these years, Hunter Birckhead was instrumental in shaping John’s understanding of hydrology and hydraulics as they related to stormwater and watershed management.John says he would be remis if he did not acknowledge the tremendous help he received from his mentor and friend.
Like a diving bell slowly rising to the surface of the ocean from its deepest depths, John rose in the ranks at the NJ Department of Agriculture where the NJ erosion control program is housed. Eventually Hunter retired in 2008, having had enough time to fully consider his life’s choices. Seeing no one else interested in the job, they offered it to John, where he took over for Hunter as State Engineer.
At the Department, John is responsible for overseeing the technical work of all District staff who review soil erosion control plans, updating and revising the erosion control Standards and overseeing the NJDA detention basin database. Heprovides standards and H&H training to Districts and the public,and often lends a listening ear to other program staff who are reconsidering their life’s choices.
Joking aside, John has had the pleasure and privilege of working with many excellent colleagues in many places – the District’s, NJDEP, NRCS and NJDOT to name a few, and also many excellent engineers in private practice.
Jon Janowicz, Associate Director of Investigations at the New Jersey Water Science Center, US Geological Survey (USGS)
Thomas Suro, Hydrologist/Engineer at US Geological Survey (USGS)
Vince Mazzei, Jr., PE, State Floodplain Administrator at New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Watershed and Land Management (NJDEP)
PDH
Attendees will be eligible to receive 1 PDH (NJ, PA, and DE; check for eligibility in other states).
Schedule
5:00 PM – Social Hour
6:00 PM – Dinner
6:45 PM – Meeting Sponsor Presentations
7:00 PM – Presentation
8:00 PM – Closing Remarks and Upcoming Event Announcements
Cost (Registration closes on Friday, February 7, 2025)
ASHE Member
$65.00
Non-Member
$85.00
Public Employee/Lifetime Member/Retired
$25.00
Student
Free
ASHE SNJ Meeting Sponsorship
$250.00
Includes 1 free registration.
ASHE SNJ Annual Sponsor Meeting Sponsorship
$150.00
Available only to ASHE SNJ Annual Sponsors. Includes 1 free registration.
Registrations changed after the registration closing deadline will be charged the Non-Member price.
Sponsor this event!
For information on becoming a sponsor, please contactRichard Grubb atrgrubb@rgaincorporated.com.
Need Registration Help? Or a looking to register as a Student?
Email sara.irick@fpaengineers.com
|