Speaker Biographies
Speaker Biographies
Session I: Organics and RMDZ
Evan Edgar (Session I)
Neil Edgar has been a Senior Project Manager with Edgar & Associates in Sacramento, California since 2001. Edgar & Associates, Inc. is a governmental affairs and environmental engineering firm specializing in solid waste management, recycling, composting, renewable energy, and climate change issues.
Mr. Edgar has consulted on over two dozen organic waste management projects for client companies including technical feasibility, collection options, land use compatibility, site design, operations, grant and loan funding, financial modeling, regulatory compliance, and market development.
Mr. Edgar was co-founder of the California Compost Coalition, a statewide lobbying coalition that focuses on legislative and regulatory development regarding composting and other organics management options. Mr. Edgar is a member of the United States Composting Council’s Legislative and Environmental Affairs Committee and serves as a policy liaison for the California Organics Recycling Council, a statewide advocacy group dedicated to increasing the sustainable use of recycled organics.
John Wick (Session I)
John Wick is a rancher and venture philanthropist. He co-founded the Marin Carbon Project in 2007, and continues to work identifying and developing strategies that have the potential to lower Earth’s temperature and stabilize our climate.
In 2012, John co-founded the Carbon Cycle Institute, which has developed and demonstrated “Carbon Farming” from a suite of Climate Beneficial agricultural practices. This work has served as the basis for the COMET-Planner.
John has initiated and funded a statewide campaign of 17 NRCS Field Trial sites in all of California’s Major Land Resource Areas (MLRA’s) in support of the adoption of “Compost Application on Grazed Rangelands” as an NRCS practice eligible for Farm Bill funding. NRCS adoption of the practice will create a new market for compost in California.
The Marin Carbon Project’s “Compost Application on Grazed Rangelands Protocol” has been approved for CEQA mitigation in California as well.
Session II: Compost Technologies and RMDZ
Geoff Hill, PhD (Session II)
Dr. Hill is the Director of Technical Services at ECS. He has worked in the waste-to-energy sector for 15 years starting his career in biodiesel (2001), transitioning to straight vegetable oil as automobile fuel with his company Switchover Hybrid Conversions (2006). He focused on composting and anaerobic digestion in his PhD (2009-2013) and entered the commercial sector in 2013 leading an operational overhaul of Fraser Richmond (a 240,000 tpy SSO ASP and HSAD), reducing odor complaints by over 90% in a 6 month period, increasing stability 2 points on the Solvita® scale, and increasing revenue by >20%.
Session IV: Peer Share
Maureen Hart (Session IV: Peer Share)
Maureen Hart has been working in Recycling, Energy, and the Community Based Economy since1980, first in Michigan and then in California. Presently she is working with Redwood Regional Economic Development Corporation on the Manufacturer’s Network Project, the winner of the very competitive PG&E Economic Vitality Grant (2013). She completed a Master Certificate in Sustainable Supply Chain Management at the University of San Francisco. Hart has worked for corporations, non-profits, government, small business, and now with them as a consultant. As a contractor/staff, she was interim Executive Director and Program Manager at the Redwood Coast Energy Authority (6 years). She is the Zone Administrator with the North Coast Recycling Market Development Zone/CalRecycle (2000 to present). She has worked with manufacturers on increasing their energy efficiency and using recycled materials in their production. Hart was General Manager and Corporate Manager of large recycling centers and collection programs in San Francisco, marketing over 120,000 tons/yr. of recyclables to domestic and export markets (now Recology) and 120 employees. She worked with towns in Northern California facilitating their transition plan from a logging based economy (Center for Environmental Economic Development) and successfully worked with a theater school expansion capital campaign, grant writing and business planning (Dell Arte). Hart managed an Appropriate Technology Center in East Lansing for 5 years that still exists today, 35 years later (now Michigan Energy Options).
Session V: CalRecycle's Business Assistance Process
Marshalle Graham (Session V)
Marshalle Graham has just over 25 years of experience with CalRecycle. Marshalle serves on leadership teams for various statewide projects including school district diversion, local government environmental reporting systems, and business assistance for recycling manufacturers looking to site or expand operations in the state. Most recently, Marshalle serves on the education, outreach and implementation teams for new legislation, such as Mandatory Commercial Recycling (AB 341) and Mandatory Commercial Organics Recycling (AB 1826).
Bruce Quigley (Session V)
Bruce Quigley is a graduate of California State University, Sacramento with a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance (1983). Bruce has 30+ years of Commercial Banking and Financial Management experience. He joined CalRecycle in December 2014, and is responsible for overseeing the development and approval of loans to companies under the RMDZ and Green House Gas Programs.
Julie Trueblood (Session V)
Before coming to CalRecycle, Julie worked for various State Assembly Members and Senators on landfill, recycling, and agricultural legislation. When she began working at what was then the Ca Integrated Waste Management Board, she analyzed legislative bills affecting the Board. She later transferred to the Recycling Market Development Zone program and what is now Materials Management and Local Assistance Division, where she is a supervisor. She lives on a small ranch with horses, cows and sheep.