New Positions/Employees
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CHL Welcomes new Deputy Director
Dr. Kevin M. Barry is ERDC’s new Deputy Director of the Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory. Barry holds a PhD in Coastal and Oceanographic Engineering from the University of Florida and a master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He received extensive leadership and management training as a cadet in the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in N.Y. and later as an officer in the U.S. Army. Barry hopes to use the aforementioned tactics to improve the CHL workplace.
Originally starting in CHL as a Principal Investigator (PI) in March of 2003, the Engineer worked in this position for a number of years before transitioning to the Information Technology Lab (ITL). As an Associate Technical Director in ITL, he assembled programs across several multidisciplinary labs, some of which were civil engineering programs for three years.
Barry says that upon leaving his position as PI, he hoped to return to CHL but as a more influential leader for the organization.
“This position is a way to be impactful.” “I really wanted to make a difference for this lab,” said Barry. “What this lab does is what I’m passionate about.”
Barry has made use of ERDC programs to fill key needs and established collaborative relationships within ERDC and other federal agencies as well as universities and will continue to work alongside the director to work on key issues within CHL. His plans include strengthening the military engineering team and growth of the military engineering work for the lab, developing a numerical modeling strategy, and implementing the Human Capital Plan within the lab.
“This is the best place in the world, in my opinion, to do what we do technically, so I want to make it that best place to be also,” Barry said.
Dr. Kevin M. Barry is ERDC’s new Deputy Director of the Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory. Barry holds a PhD in Coastal and Oceanographic Engineering from the University of Florida and a master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He received extensive leadership and management training as a cadet in the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in N.Y. and later as an officer in the U.S. Army. Barry hopes to use the aforementioned tactics to improve the CHL workplace.
Originally starting in CHL as a Principal Investigator (PI) in March of 2003, the Engineer worked in this position for a number of years before transitioning to the Information Technology Lab (ITL). As an Associate Technical Director in ITL, he assembled programs across several multidisciplinary labs, some of which were civil engineering programs for three years.
Barry says that upon leaving his position as PI, he hoped to return to CHL but as a more influential leader for the organization.
“This position is a way to be impactful.” “I really wanted to make a difference for this lab,” said Barry. “What this lab does is what I’m passionate about.”
Barry has made use of ERDC programs to fill key needs and established collaborative relationships within ERDC and other federal agencies as well as universities and will continue to work alongside the director to work on key issues within CHL. His plans include strengthening the military engineering team and growth of the military engineering work for the lab, developing a numerical modeling strategy, and implementing the Human Capital Plan within the lab.
“This is the best place in the world, in my opinion, to do what we do technically, so I want to make it that best place to be also,” Barry said.
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Tanya Beck will serve as Chief of the Coastal Engineering Branch. Prior to her employment at ERDC-CHL in 2009, Beck was a Research Assistant at University of South Florida's Coastal Research Laboratory. Her research focus has been on coastal environment related to navigation channel shoaling, estuarine and coastal erosion and sedimentation, beneficial uses of dredged material, coastal and inlet geomorphic long-term evolution, and regional coastal management projects. She has numerous publications in national coastal journals and is a member of the American Shore & Beach Preservation Association and Coastal Engineering Research Foundation. She also serves as the Deputy Program Manager for the Coastal Inlets Research Program (CIRP). Beck is a graduate of the Leadership Development Program and earned her bachelor and masters degree in Geology from the University of South Florida.
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James "Jim" Gutshall was selected as the Chief of the Harbors, Entrances, and Structures Branch at ERDC-CHL. Mr. Gutshall has worked for USACE since 1996 most recently serving as Project Engineer at Kandahar Resident Office (Afghanistan). Prior to deployment, he served as program manager and civil engineer at the Mississippi Valley Division. There he prepared portions of the MR&T Master Plan and developed plans for improving the Mississippi, Atchafalaya, Lower Red, and Old Rivers by means of revetments, dikes, improvement dredging, and foreshore protection. In addition, he serves as the Division Coordinator for MVD EGIS efforts. Mr. Gutshall also served as Civil Engineer with the Vicksburg and Memphis Districts. He utilized field inspections and surveys to design channel control structures. He has experience coordinating projects at the District, Division, and HQ. He holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering and a MS in Civil Engineering from Memphis State University. Mr. Gutshall has received numerous awards including Superior Civilian Service Award and Commander's Award for Civilian Service.
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Tracy Leeser has been selected to serve as the Chief of the Navigation Branch at ERDC-CHL. Leeser has worked for USACE Jacksonville District since 1994 where most recently she served as Chief of the Cost Section supervising a team of multidisciplinary engineers, budget technician, interns, and support staff. She holds a BS in Civil Engineering, a M. Ed., and participated in a graduate program at Princeton University. Ms. Leeser has served as the Senior Navigation Planner and led multi-disciplinary team in highly complex water resources problems including deep and shallow draft navigation, inland structures, shore protection, beneficial use of dredged material, and ship channel design. Ms. Leeser has experience in developing plans and costs for construction of many different navigation structures. She also has experience coordinating projects at all levels within the Corps. Leeser has a number of publications and is a registered professional engineer with the state of Florida. She is a certified cost engineer and has received numerous awards including Commander's Award for civilian Service, Certificate of Appreciation, and Certificate of Commendation.
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Dr. James W. Lewis recently joined CHL as a Research Hydraulic Engineer in the River Engineering Branch. He will be working with the Mississippi Valley Division on the Mississippi River Geomorphology and Potamology program, analyzing and modeling data by geomorphic reaches. A native of Ann Arbor, MI, Jim received his BS in Civil Engineering from the University of Kentucky, his BA in Physical Science from Asbury University and both his MS and PhD in Civil Engineering from the University of Michigan. Prior to coming to ERDC, Jim worked in the Detroit District for four years as the lead forecaster of Great Lakes water levels. He also served as a lecturer in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Departments at the University of Michigan from January-April 2014 and is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers. In his free time, Jim enjoys woodworking, board games, hiking and sports.
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Carol Coleman recently joined CHL as an Administrative Services Assistant in the Management Integration Office. She will process travel orders and travel vouchers, generate Visa PR&C's and submit Blackberry requests and ACEIT services requests. Prior to becoming a permanent federal employee, Carol worked as a Contract Administrative Specialist in CHL MIO and in the CHL Executive Office as Assistant to the CHL Deputy Director. She has also worked as a Contract Administrative Assistant to the Command Group, 412th Theater Engineer Command of the US Army Reserve in Vicksburg, MS. A native of Vicksburg, MS, Carol received her BA in Communications from Mississippi State University and her MA in Graphic Communications from New
York University. In her spare time, Carol enjoys reading, traveling, photography, New Orleans Saints football, SEC football and her cats, Brooklyn and Bronx.
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Victor M. Gonzalez Nieves recently joined CHL as a Research Hydraulic
Engineer in the Harbors Entrances and Structures Branch. He will work on
extremal analysis and joint probability of coastal storm hazards, the Coastal
Hazard System, the North Atlantic Coast Comprehensive Study (NACCS), and StormSim. Victor is originally from San Juan, Puerto Rico and received his BS and ME in Civil Engineering from the University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez Campus. As an undergraduate student, he worked as a summer intern at CERL and studied temporal rainfall distributions during his graduate years. Victor comes to CHL as a Professional Engineer (PE) and as a member of CIAPR, an engineering and surveying professional association. He has also worked as a Civil Engineer for CMA Architects and Engineers where he performed hydrologic and hydraulic studies in San Juan, PR. Victor is married to wife, Ivy, and they have an eight month old son, Eric. In his free time, he enjoys playing basketball, playing guitar and photography.
Engineer in the Harbors Entrances and Structures Branch. He will work on
extremal analysis and joint probability of coastal storm hazards, the Coastal
Hazard System, the North Atlantic Coast Comprehensive Study (NACCS), and StormSim. Victor is originally from San Juan, Puerto Rico and received his BS and ME in Civil Engineering from the University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez Campus. As an undergraduate student, he worked as a summer intern at CERL and studied temporal rainfall distributions during his graduate years. Victor comes to CHL as a Professional Engineer (PE) and as a member of CIAPR, an engineering and surveying professional association. He has also worked as a Civil Engineer for CMA Architects and Engineers where he performed hydrologic and hydraulic studies in San Juan, PR. Victor is married to wife, Ivy, and they have an eight month old son, Eric. In his free time, he enjoys playing basketball, playing guitar and photography.
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Cassandra Ross recently joined CHL as a Civil Engineering Technician for the Estuarine Engineering Branch. She will assist engineers and scientists conduct studies and research and development involving estuarine, coastal and other water resources projects. Additionally, she will provide numerical modeling assistance, validation and testing of Adaptive Hydraulics (AdH) 2D and 3D code, along with AdH website maintenance for the Estuarine Engineering Branch. She will also serve as the AdH user support contact to provide guidance and solutions between engineering and scientific staff and other model users. Prior to becoming a permanent federal employee, Cassandra worked as a Contract Engineering Assistant in the Estuarine Engineering Branch. A native of Vicksburg, MS, Cassandra received her Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science from Jackson State University. In her downtime, Cassandra enjoys movie nights with her husband, Alfred, and traveling with her family. She and her husband have three children, Jermaine, Rashad and Ronald.
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Waleska Echevarría-Mendez recently joined CHL as a Research Hydraulic Engineer in the River Engineering Branch. She will work with the Buffalo District on the 1-D sediment transport model to evaluate dam removal implications and improve the proposed approach. A native of Aguada, Puerto Rico, Waleska received her BS in Civil Engineering from the University of Puerto Rico and her MS in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She previously worked in the Buffalo District for four years in Hydraulic Modeling, Hydrologic Modeling and Sediment Transport Modeling. Waleska enjoys traveling, cooking and outdoor activities in her spare time.
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Natalie Elwart recently joined CHL as an Administrative Services Assistant in the Hydrologic Systems Branch. She will be assist Branch employees with travel orders, vouchers, ordering supplies, timekeeping and day-to-day administrative duties. She will also assist in property accountability, and serve as back up for requesting XMS passwords. Natalie is from Indianola, MS and received her Associates Degree in Travel Tourism from Hinds Community College. Prior to becoming a permanent federal employee and working as a Contract Administrative Services Assistant in the Hydrologic Systems Branch, Natalie served as Administrative Specialist for the CHL Senior Scientist Office of Dr. Donald Resio and she served as Branch Manager of our local Carlson Wagonlit Travel Office that was located on the station. In her free time, Natalie enjoys baseball with her two sons, ages 10 and 15, traveling and enjoying the lake.
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(ERDC PAO, New Faces) Debbie Jeter recently joined CHL as an Administrative Support Assistant in the Harbors, Entrances and Structures Branch. She will assist employees with travel orders, vouchers, ordering supplies, time keeping and day-to-day administrative duties. She will also help assist in property accountability. Prior to becoming a permanent federal employee, Debbie worked in ITL for six years as a contract data specialist. After taking nine years off to stay home with her children, she returned to ERDC as a contract administrative assistant in the Harbors, Entrances, and Structures Branch. A Vicksburg native, Debbie is married to Doug Jeter, who is a farmer. They have two children. She spends her time at the ball field with Baylee playing soccer and Carlton playing baseball. In between soccer and baseball seasons, Debbie and her family enjoy water skiing and riding horses.
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ERDC contractor, Thomas (Tommy) Kirklin recently joined CHL as a Civil Engineering Technician in the Field Data Collection and Analysis Branch.Tommy is the lead technician in the CHL Sediment Transport Processes Lab and will be responsible for conducting a variety of analyses as well as conducting field work. Tommy is a native of Vicksburg and attended Hinds Junior College and Clarke
College. In his free time, he enjoys camping, hunting and fishing. Tommy and his wife, Pam
have one daughter named Storey.
College. In his free time, he enjoys camping, hunting and fishing. Tommy and his wife, Pam
have one daughter named Storey.
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Anthony (Tony) Jackson has recently joined CHL as a Research Physical Scientist in the Field Data Collection and Analysis Branch, transitioning from contractor to federal employee status. He will be involved in conducting hydrographic, hydrodynamic and terrestrial surveying and data processing. Tony brings over 20 years surveying experience to the job. A Vicksburg native, Tony received his BS in Biological Science from Mississippi State University is a Professional Land Surveyor in the state of Mississippi. While away from work, Tony enjoys hunting and fishing. He and wife, Amy, have two sons, Jonathan and Andrew, and a daughter, Addison.
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Aron Ahmadia has recently joined CHL as a Research Mathematician in the Hydrologic Systems Branch. His duty station is in Lorton, Virginia at the HPC Modernization Office where he will be working on developing better algorithms and techniques for modeling hydrological systems, including working on PROTEUS and Ipython interfaces for our models. A native of Hilo, Hawaii, Aron received his PhD in Applied Mathematics from Columbia University. He is a member of NumFOCUS, American Geophysical Union (AGU), Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM), Association
for Computing Machinery (ACE) and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). Prior to coming to work for ERDC, Aron has experience with IBM,
Continuum Analytics and KAUST.
for Computing Machinery (ACE) and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). Prior to coming to work for ERDC, Aron has experience with IBM,
Continuum Analytics and KAUST.
Retirements
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Mike Schneider (l) of the Harbors, Entrances, and Structures Branch, retired 30 September 2013 with 30 years of service. He and his wife, Carolyn, former EL employee and recent Portland District retiree, visited ERDC on 28-29 April 2014 on which during that time, a retirement ceremony was held in his honor at the Water Quality Conference Room in Bldg. 3204. Mike began his career at the Waterways Experiment Station in the Hydraulics Laboratory of the Reservoir Water Quality Branch in June 1983. He relocated to Hood River, (OR) in August 2000 and began work in a field office at The Dalles Dam to support the Dissolved Gas Abatement Studies aimed at the dams on the rivers in the Pacific Northwest.
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Donna Richey (r) retired from the Management Integration Office 31 May, after 28 years of Federal service. In August 1986, Donna began her career as a Typist in the Structures Laboratory in the US Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station (WES). Four years later, she accepted a position as a Secretary in the WES, Hydraulics Laboratory where she served for the next 10 years. In 2000, she joined the CHL’s Technical Programs Office (TPO) as a Program Support Assistant and. Since 2007, she has served as a Program Analyst for the Management Integration Office (MIO) a position in which she performed with exemplary knowledge and skills of financial management and P2 resourcing.
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Michael Tubman retired from the Field Data Collection and Analysis Branch 31 May with over 22 years of service. Initially, Michael began his career at ERDC in the Prototype Measurement and Analysis Branch initially as a GS12 Physical Scientist April 1992, but was later reclassified to a Research Physical Scientist in January 1998. In 2001, Michael served the remainder of his career in the Field Data Collection and Analysis Branch (FDCAB) of the Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory (CHL), where he provided his expertise in several Dredging Operation and Environmental Research (DOER) Program initiatives.