2021 Virtual Young Professional Workshop Series - April 13 Speakers

April 13 | 12:05 PM - 1:00 PM ET
Session: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: How to be an Ally in the Workplace

Kesho Scott
Associate Professor
Grinnell College

She is an internationally renowned Diversity Trainer/Consultant, an Associate Professor of American Studies and Sociology at Grinnell College, and an award-winning writer. Kesho was a founding member of International Capacity Building Services, a cultural competency training team that specializes in facilitating both “unlearning isms” and Human Rights workshops as well various seminars and training programs that have been successfully adapted for audiences throughout the United States and abroad. In over two decades of developing unlearning racism work, Kesho has led hundreds of professional and community-based workshops; she has been keynote speaker for national conferences as well as a participant on several dozen national and local radio debates, discussions and public service announcements. Grounded in this extensive experience, Kesho developed an “affirmative duty” technique for facilitating unlearning racism workshops. It is a method that helps shift participants’ awareness, commitment and skill-set toward being actively and personally anti-racist and anti-sexist, rather than remaining merely passive observers.

April 13 | 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM ET
Session: How to Work with Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Millennials, and Gen Z - oh my?! Improving Communications

Shelly Trent, CAE, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, JCTC, JCDC
Association Management Professional & Career Coach
Shelly Trent, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, CAE, JCTC, JCDC, is a career development and human resources professional who has spent her life guiding others toward lifelong learning, career growth, and personal enrichment. Shelly’s background includes human resources, college career services, corporate employee career development, and business and industry training.

Shelly is certified as a Senior Professional in Human Resources by the HR Certification Institute, as a SHRM-Senior Certified Professional, and is certified as a Job and Career Transition Coach and a Job and Career Development Coach by the Career Development Network. She also holds the Certified Association Executive (CAE) certification. She obtained her master’s degree in public administration with an emphasis in HR. She completed her Ph.D. (ABD) coursework at the University of Louisville in human resources development and career counseling.

She has been an adjunct faculty member in the School of Business at Indiana University’s Southeast campus, where she taught business students about career planning, business behaviors, and job search. She worked for the Society for Human Resource Management for over 16 years. She is a frequent conference and event speaker on career and HR topics.

Shelly has been interviewed for and quoted in publications such as Essence Magazine, Workforce Magazine, Pittsburgh Business Times, Kansas City Business Journal, and is a frequent writer and contributor on various HR and career management topics for books, magazines, and other publications. She is a contributing author to the anthologies Humans@Work and Compassion@Work.

April 13 | 2:15 PM - 3:30 PM ET
Panel: Lessons Learned and Insights from Young Professionals in the Job Market

Dr. Erfan Goharian
Assistant Professor
University of South Carolina College of Engineering and Computing

Dr. Erfan Goharian’s research focuses on applying systems thinking and Artificial Intelligence to support integrated management of water resources. He develops complex quantitative and computational models with the purpose of providing enhanced knowledge needed to better understand interactions in coupled human-natural systems and water-energy-food nexus, and how they are shaped by climate, environmental, economic, social and political changes. Before joining University of South Carolina, he was leading the research on re-operation of integrated water systems in California as a part of University of California Water Security and Sustainability Research Initiative (UC Water). Dr. Goharian holds a Ph.D. degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering with emphasize on Water Resources Management from the University of Utah. Beyond his technical background, he has experience working in collaborations across institutions and disciplinary boundaries.

Brandee Alexander
Engineer | Regulation Division
Southwest Florida Water Management District

Brandee currently works as a water resource engineer with the Southwest Florida Water Management District. There, she evaluates stormwater designs for residential, commercial, and municipal developments to ensure proposed works meet state water quality and quantity standards for 16 counties in the southwest Florida region. Her work supports the District’s mission of managing stormwater, maintaining crucial floodplain, and preserving Florida’s wetlands, rivers and other water resources. Prior to moving to Florida and taking on her role with the District, Brandee attended Oregon State University where she received her bachelor’s degree in Ecological Engineering.

Travis Flowers
Water Resources Engineer/Resilience Specialist
Jacobs

Travis Flowers is an alum of Howard University’s College of Engineering and Architecture, from Montego Bay, Jamaica with bachelor’s degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering. He is currently a Water Resources Engineer at Jacobs, based in Tampa FL, and has a passion for building a resilient and sustainable future for all.

Allison Lewis
Ecological Engineer
Jacobs

Allison Lewis is a Professional Engineer and Project Technologist with six years of experience at Jacobs Engineering specializing in Natural Treatment Systems for wastewater, stormwater, and minewater. She is an ecological engineer with a passion for improving water quality through the design, construction, restoration, and management of ecosystems that integrate human society with its natural environment for the benefit of both. Allison specializes in natural treatment systems technology with experience in the design, permitting, and construction of treatment wetlands, biochemical reactors, and beneficial water reuse systems. Her experience also includes pilot studies, ecological monitoring and assessments, services during construction, public involvement, and project management. Allison also serves on the Executive Committee as Secretary for the Florida Section of the American Water Resources Association.

Annabelle O’Neill
Hydrogeologist
BBA Water Consultants

Annabelle is a hydrogeologist at BBA Water Consultants, a water resource consulting firm in Denver. Essentially, she supports clients ranging from ranchers to municipalities in maintaining their water supplies and water rights. She specializes in ground water geology and well design and assists with water right administration. Prior to working at BBA, she graduated from Colorado College in 2019 with a degree in Geology. There, she studied how ground water flow, fens, and mining impacts converge in the Upper Animas River Basin. She is working towards a Professional Geologist certificate. She is an artist and baker.

Tabitha Espinoza
Wetlands Conservation Plan Coordinator
Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes

Tabitha Espinoza is a descendent of the Séliš (Bitterroot Salish) and Ql̓ispé (Upper Pend d’Oreille) Tribes, living on the Flathead Indian Reservation of Western Montana. She works as the Wetlands Conservation Plan Coordinator for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT). In this position, she works to protect and enhance reservation wetlands, preserving the multitude of impressive functions they provide for the land, animals and people. She is a mother of two and loves spending time with her large extended family in all the beautiful places they call home.

Casey Ryan
Hydrologist
Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes, Natural Resources Department

Casey Ryan is Séliš (Bitterroot Salish), and belongs to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of western Montana. Casey currently serves as a hydrologist with the CSKT Natural Resources Department, where he works to protect and enhance water resources of the Flathead Indian Reservation for current and future generations. He also serves on the National Interagency Burned Area Response Team where he helps to address emergency erosion and flooding issues for wildfires on federal and tribal lands across the western United States. His personal and professional interests include forest hydrology, wildland fire hydrology, climate change, storytelling, and traditional ecological knowledge.

Brittany Wright
Staff Litigation Attorney
Chesapeake Bay Foundation

Brittany Wright is licensed Maryland attorney, specialized in environmental law. She earned her J.D. and Master of Environmental Law and Policy from Vermont Law School and a B.A. in Urban Ecology from Hofstra University. Brittany is a native Marylander, who learned at a young age how important a healthy Bay is to Maryland. During her undergraduate studies, her passion for protecting water grew after learning more about water quality issues in Long Island Sound and studying coastal marine biology abroad in Belize. Brittany attended Vermont Law School, where she focused on environmental law and policy and specialized in water resource law. While in law school, Brittany interned with the Natural Resources Defense Council, the NOAA’s Office of General Counsel International Section, and was a student clinician for a semester in the VLS Environmental and Natural Resource Law Clinic. After graduating, Brittany worked with Oceana in Washington, D.C. before coming to CBF. Brittany started at CBF as the Litigation Fellow, before transitioning to her current role as a Staff Litigation Attorney. At CBF, Brittany has worked on a variety of cases and projects across state and federal issues, including climate change, federal roll backs of greenhouse gas emission regulations, offshore drilling, and hydropower dam water quality certifications. Brittany’s recent cases include challenging the repeal of the Clean Power Plan and litigating the regulatory changes to the definition of “Waters of the United States” under the Clean Water Act.