New NEPA Specialist Joins R&M’s Fairbanks Office

R&M has expanded our service offerings in our Fairbanks office to include environmental services with the addition of Erica Betts, CESCL to our team.

Erica joins R&M as an Environmental Specialist focused on National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) compliance in our Earth Sciences Department. She will supplement the firm’s Anchorage-based environmental staff and be responsible for environmental compliance tasks, including NEPA impact analysis, regulatory permitting, environmental baseline monitoring, Phase I/II ESAs, storm water management, and other related office and field-based environmental services.

“I am thrilled to welcome Erica to our team. Her wide ranging, extensive experience will complement our department, the firm and provide an added benefit to our clients. Erica is well-versed in NEPA and brings a strong hydrology, GIS and engineering background, which positively supports the environmental process in so many ways. Her skills will foster project efficiency and I am looking forward to her input and contributions to ongoing and future projects.”

Kristi McLean, LEED AP BD+C, CESCL – Group Manager of Environmental Services.

Erica has six years of experience as an environmental specialist in Alaska, as well as an additional six years of environmental research and field experience. She has provided agency coordination, environmental documentation preparation and permit acquisition for transportation and utility projects, as well as managed numerous environmental projects. In addition, she has more than 15 years of GIS Experience Erica’s diverse educational and professional background has made her particularly skilled at facilitating engineering design projects through the regulatory process. Her past project experience includes the Moose Creak Water Expansion, where she led agency coordination, permitting and environmental documentation as needed to satisfy CERCLA requirements for an interim remedial strategy to mitigate PFAS contamination. Erica also provided environmental services for the Barrow Maintenance Facility and Airport Improvements; Seward Airport Improvements; Interior Gas Utility Phase I Design and Liquified Natural Gas Storage projects; and Nome Bering Street Rehabilitation, Port Road Reconstruction and Seppala Drive upgrades. Since joining R&M, Erica has been providing Section 106 consultation for the Chefornak and Kipnuk Airports Rehabilitation projects and delineating watersheds in Moose Pass for the Seward Highway MP 25.5-36 Rehabilitation.

“I’m excited to be a part of the collaborative team environment at R&M and to work with professionals that know the ins and outs of the environmental field.”

Erica holds a B.S. in Biology with a specialization in Ecology, Evolution and Population Biology from Purdue University, and a Masters in City and Regional Planning and M.S. in Civil Engineering, both from the Georgia Institute of Technology. She is an Alaska Certified Erosion & Sediment Control Lead and is trained in Wetland Delineation and RCRA Hazardous Waste Management.

Erica lives in Fairbanks with her two boys, as well as a menagerie of animals that includes two cats, a dog and a fish. She enjoys biking and running year-round and spent her summer RVing her way around Alaska, making it all the way down to Homer.

---

Services Mentioned

NEPA

Permitting