Meet the latest erosion and sediment control professionals of our Construction Environmental Management Team! Congratulations to Jayson Kurtz, Bret Jagger, Dave Winarski, Patrick Walshe, and Leaf Thunderstorm who recently received their Canadian Certified Inspector of Sediment and Erosion Control (CAN-CISEC) designation.
CISEC is a global standard recognized by the International Erosion Control Association, the world’s leading erosion and sediment control (ESC) organization. CISECs have a comprehensive understanding of how implementing and maintaining effective ESC programs throughout construction phases can help reduce offsite impact on the local environment. CISECs help proponents meet permitting requirements and avoid costly delays through a solid understanding of project specific ESC commitments, best management practices, and by implementing accredited auditing practices that help contractors and proponents keep their projects on track.
Meet our team!
Jayson Kurtz, B.Sc., R.P.Bio., P. Biol., CAN-CISEC
Jayson is a professional biologist (BC RPBio., Alberta PBio) and Canadian Certified Inspector of Sediment and Erosion Control (CAN-CISEC) based in Terrace, BC with over 25 years’ experience in life-cycle support of development projects: regulatory/permitting, baseline studies, environmental assessment, construction environmental management, and effects monitoring. He has worked in private consulting, industry and Government sectors and has expertise in pipelines, roads, hydroelectric, powerlines, marine facilities, mines, forestry, urban and other development projects. He is an expert on Fisheries Act issues including offsetting, authorizations, and policy. As the firm’s discipline lead for construction environmental management, Jayson supports a broad team of construction environmental management specialists in house and with our project partners. Jayson provides strategic and technical support for construction management planning, compliance management, and environmental monitoring on some of the largest projects in BC, including the Site C Clean Energy Project, Roberts Bank Terminal 2, LNG Canada, and Coastal Gaslink pipeline. Jayson also supports a wide range of environmental assessment and monitoring, project permitting, and client/agency/First Nations/stakeholder engagement, as well as expertise on fish and fish habitat matters.
Patrick Walshe, B.Sc., R.P.Bio., CAN-CISEC
Patrick is a Registered Professional Biologist and erosion control professional (CAN-CISEC). Patrick Walshe has almost 20 years of experience with construction environmental management, coastal and watershed planning, and the development of Erosion and Sediment Control Plans. Patrick participated in the Green Shores Program through the Stewardship Centre for BC, and has additional professional development in the fields of bioengineering and habitat restoration, erosion and sediment control, Riparian Area Regulation, and environmental construction monitoring. Patrick’s role as a Qualified Environmental Professional will be to provide technical expertise for the construction aspects of these projects both in the design and implementation phases.
Patrick has been involved with the management of stream and near shore habitat conservation strategies, monitoring, and development of Best Management Practices for projects, environmental assessments on small and medium-sized projects, and completion of restoration projects, monitoring of erosion and sediment control plans, and conducting water quality monitoring. Patrick has been involved in the preparation and delivery of numerous detailed Sediment Management Plans.
Bret Jagger, B.Sc., Dip.T., RPBio., P.Biol, BC-CESCL, CAN-CISEC
Bret Jagger is a Registered Professional Biologist, a BC Erosion and Sediment Control Lead (BC-CESCL) and a sediment and erosion control inspector (CAN-CISEC) with over 10 years’ experience in applied biology and environmental science. Bret’s experience includes collaborative development of environmental management plans for fisheries, wetlands, vegetation and wildlife for major projects under review in British Columbia. He has field experience conducting environmental monitoring for major construction projects bio-inventories, riparian areas assessments, and nesting bird surveys. Specifically, Bret was the Inspection Auditor and Environmental Monitor for the Golden Ears Bridge project and provided environmental monitoring for the South Fraser Perimeter Road Preload Works. Bret also spent seven years as a fisheries biologist for the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service deployed throughout the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands.
Bret has provided discipline leadership on Environmental Management Plans for BC Hydro new substation, substation upgrade, and transmission line projects, as well as for a number of mines which also required technical statistical input. His statistical skills include analysis for biological and environmental science, including fisheries, water quality and contaminated sites. Bret’s involvement with the South Fraser Perimeter Road project included development of the Environmental Management Plan for the Preload Works phase of the project located near Highway 17. Following development and implementation of the Environmental Management plan responsibilities included periodic and project-specific environmental monitoring field trips and follow-up reports and recommendations made to the primary stakeholders and regulatory agencies.
Dave Winarski, A.B.T., BC-CESCL, CAN-CISEC
David Winarski is an Applied Biology Technician (ABT) and an erosion control professional (BC-CESCL and CAN-CISEC) with a variety of fisheries, wildlife and environmental fieldwork experience on large projects throughout British Columbia and Alberta. His experience in environmental assessment and environmental inspection and monitoring over the past 21 years has built a strong background to support strong data collection, productive field programs, and effective project support and leadership.
Dave has performed key roles on large construction projects in support of project permitting, planning, compliance inspections and monitoring, and incident response. He provides practical knowledge to many aspects of environmental management including water quality, erosion and sediment control, fish and aquatics, wildlife, and soils and vegetation management. He has experience with water quality monitoring programs and compliance auditing. Additionally, he has developed expertise in fish salvage/exclusion, fish habitat assessment, and fish/aquatic sampling in a variety of applications including large-river techniques and riverboat electrofishing. As an experienced field technician in diverse conditions involving ATV, helicopter, back-country remote access and watercraft, David has well-exercised four-season field skills with safety and professionalism as demonstrated priorities.
Leaf Thunderstorm, B.Sc., BIT, BC-CESCL, CAN-CISEC
Leaf Thunderstorm is a construction environmental specialist and an erosion control professional (BC-CESCL and CAN-CISEC). With over 13 years’ experience working on construction projects in northern BC, she is skilled in environmental monitoring and compliance management, and has a background in aquatic and wildlife biology, and health and safety processes.
As an erosion and sediment control (ESC) practitioner, Leaf has developed and reviewed erosion and sediment control plans, including assessing water management, soil and site conditions, and sensitive receptors. She has installed, inspected, and maintained ESC measures, and has monitored ESC effectiveness including on and off-site water quality.
Ms. Thunderstorm’s broader construction environmental management experience includes developing and reviewing management plans, implementing and monitoring mitigation measures, and auditing compliance on a wide range of linear development and civil construction projects. She has experience with right-of-way clearing, road construction, temporary and permanent stream crossing structures, road deactivation, drilling programs, powerlines, electrical substations, and industrial construction sites. Leaf has worked with both project owners and contractors to ensure environmental risks are identified, mitigated, and documented. She has identified environmentally sensitive areas, developed site specific mitigation plans, implemented mitigation measures, evaluated contractor performance against environmental management requirements, and prepared environmental compliance reports. In addition to “environmental monitoring”, Leaf has conducted fish and amphibian salvages, bird nest surveys, hydroacoustic monitoring, benthic and riparian area assessments, wildlife surveys, and water quality monitoring for active construction projects.