Articles

Technical Sessions - June 2017

MORNING SESSION @ 11:00 AM 

Topic: Innovations In Flood Forecast Operations At The National Weather Service (NWS) West Gulf River Forecast Center (WGRFC)

Speaker: Kris Lander, P.E., CFM and Gregg Waller

Kris Lander serves as the Development and Operations Hydrologist at the National Weather Service West Gulf River Forecast Center in Fort Worth, Texas.  Kris directs the operational forecast modeling, science infusion and staff training at the West Gulf River Forecast Center.  Prior to his operations role in Texas, Kris served as a program manager in the National Weather Service Central Region, where he worked with local, state and federal partners to develop flood inundation mapping.  Kris holds a Masters degree in Agricultural Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a Bachelors degree in Biological & Agricultural Engineering from Kansas State University, and Kris is a registered Professional Engineer in the state of Kansas.

Gregg Waller received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Meteorology from Texas A&M University in 1992.  After working for a private firm in Houston for 2 years performing mostly marine and tropical forecasting, Gregg joined the National Weather Service (NWS) in May 1994, working in operational meteorology, at the NWS Offices in Columbus GA, Houston/Galveston, TX, and San Angelo, TX.  In December 2000, Gregg transferred to the West Gulf River Forecast Center, where he has served the last 16 years first as a hydrologist, then Senior Hydrometeorological Analysis and Support Forecaster (HAS), and finally as Service Coordination Hydrologist.

AFTERNOON TECHNICAL SESSION @ 1:10 PM

Topic: Engineers Without Borders: Sustainable Community Driven Design

Speaker:  Julie Jones, PE, CFM

Engineers Without Borders (EWB), a non-profit, humanitarian engineering organization, builds a better world through engineering projects that empower communities to meet their basic human needs and equip leaders to solve the world’s most pressing challenges. Julie Jones serves as the EWB-North Texas Professional Chapter President and Regional Texas State Representative. In her current role she has lead projects in Guatemala and Bolivia and has mentored the Southern Methodist University Chapter of EWB as well as other chapters around the region. Prior to this role, she served on various EWB leadership positions including EWB South Central Region President, co-founder of the Northwest Arkansas Professional Chapter and the University of Arkansas Student Chapter. Julie holds a Master’s degree and Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering with an emphasis in Environmental Engineering from the University of Arkansas. She is a registered Professional Engineer in the state of Texas, and works in Dallas at Nathan D Maier Consulting Engineers, Inc. for the Water Resources Division. Julie has ten years of experience as a design engineer, including nine years with NDM.