Alumni A

CEES Alumni Web Page (A)

Jason Aamodt '95

I think when we last talked I was working at the University of Tulsa Law School as the Research Fellow. That was the BEST job - I got to write about a dozen journal articles, and I was the assistant author (four associates authors ahead of me) on West's Textbook, International Environmental Law and World Order. I also edited West's Nutshell on the same topic, a policy book about Biodiversity published with Duke Press, and a policy/philosophy text that equates the Lords Prayer into general legal principals that was authored by His Excellency Christopher Weeramantry, Vice President of the International Court of Justice.

At Tulsa Law I was really in the right place at the right time, as Lakshman Guruswamy, my boss, had each of those projects in the works, and it created tons of opportunity for me. Somehow, while I was at TU, I helped Lakshman to host three conferences (with the Yale School of the Environment and Forestry, the University of Oklahoma, the Democratic Leadership Council (not the DNC), and others), and I taught Environmental law, Legal Research and Writing and assisted Lakshman with his International Environmental Law class from time to time.

Well, Lakshman headed to Colorado to take a better position at CU Boulder, and I took a job with a big law firm (Gardere Wynne Sewell) that had an office in Tulsa, and that practiced primarily in Environmental Law. I did that for a couple of years, and then the Tulsa office fizzled.

I looked around - almost took a job in Alaska, desperately tried to find a good firm in Upstate NY - but instead decided to develop my own practice. While at Gardere and TU, I had the opportunity to develop my own clients, primarily on issues relating to Native American Natural Resource and Environmental Law. I am General Counsel to the Quapaw Tribe, Attorney General for the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, and I represent the Chickasaw Nation on environmental and water law related issues. Another lawyer (A friend from Law School) has come to work with me, and we no have an office of five (two lawyers, two paralegals, and one awesome secretary).

I'm having a blast, with too much to do, too little time to do it in, and tons of satisfaction at the end of each day. However, I'd leave it all for a job in the academy. I just had a blast teaching and writing. Maybe one day.

Bea, my wife,is well (you may remember that we met at Plattsburgh). She finished at Clarkson, worked with two engineering firms in Tulsa, passed her PE licensing exam (Civil), and now is one of two construction engineering managers for the City of Tulsa with about 20 hairy guys reporting to her! We live in a funny little house built during on of Tulsa's oil booms (about 1917), and I think that we've actually adjusted to the Midwest.

Amy Adams '97

BS Environmental Science (PSU)
ME Environmental Engineering (Clarkson) Project Engineer
NOBIS Engineering, Inc
1 Griffin Brook Drive, Suite 204
Methuen, MA 01844 978-683-0891
978-683-0966 FAX

aadams@nobis-eng.com
aadams75@msn.com

Amy has been working at Nobis for almost a year on a variety of projects. Most of her work deals with the hazardous waste remediation at Superfund sites and for the Army Corps of Engineers.

Matt Abdallah '93

Image of Matt Abdallah - CEES alum

Mabdallah@CRAworld.com

BA Environmental Science (PSU)

CRA SERVICES
The Construction Division of Conestoga-Rovers & Associates
14496 Sheldon Road
Suite 200
Plymouth, Michigan 48170
(734) 453-5123 Fax: (734) 453-5201 Cell: (248) 361-0578
web: http://www.CRAworld.com

After receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree at Plattsburgh, Matt began his career at O�Brien & Gere Engineers Inc. working on a Pesticide (DDT) cleanup project on the Delaware River in New Jersey.At the completion of the project, Matt headed west to Michigan where he was employed at GZA GeoEnvironmental Inc. from 1994 to 2000. At GZA, Matt�s responsibilities ranged from site assessment investigative sampling to MDEQ Part 201 Cleanup Closures. Matt moved on to Malcolm Pirnie Inc. in 2000 and worked closely with the MDEQ Environmental Response Division as a Site administrator/manager under the state contract program. Matt left Malcolm Pirnie in 2001 and is currently employed by Conestoga-Rovers and Associates as a construction manager (CM). Matt�s responsibilities as a CM at CRA include estimating, bidding, procuring schedules, managing operators and laborers and project management.

Project experience at CRA includes the following: Field manager for a buried drum reclamation and cleanup project that contained PCBs and Lead concentrations greater than TSCA/RCRA action levels; Field manager for numerous landfill cap and leachate collection system repairs; Design-build groundwater pump and treatment systems; CM for Soil Vapor Extraction (SVE) system installations and pilot studies; and, CM for In-situ groundwater treatment systems with impermeable and reactive barrier walls.

Matt has experienced the environmental consulting sector. Subsequently, he has found his calling at CRA Services as a field/construction manager implementing remedial action plans.

Matt has been married for 4-wonderful years and has 2-children that fulfill his life outside of his career.

Michael Alowitz '98

BS Environmental Science (PSU)

Graduate Student, Environmental Engineering
University of Iowa
Iowa City, IA

email:michael-alowitz@uiowa.edu
website: http://malowitz.8m.com

Mike is currently a master's degree candidate in environmental engineering at the University of Iowa. He is working with iron metal as a treatment media for permeable reactive barriers. This work will provide information about the long-term reactivity of iron walls.

Marc P. Armstrong '74

Institute for Man & The Environment (Miner) '73

Geographer

Coralville, IA

marc-armstrong@uiowa.edu

Mark received a Ph.D.from the University of Illinois in 1986 and is currently the Chairperson of the Department of Geography at the University of Iowa. He has published extensively on GIS and remote sensing.

Contact Information

To learn more about the Center for Earth and Environmental Science, please contact:

Dr. Robert Fuller (Director)
Campus Location: Hudson Hall, 102
Plattsburgh, NY 12901

Phone: (518) 564-2028
Toll-Free Phone: (877) 554-1041
Fax: (518) 564-5267
E-mail: cees@plattsburgh.edu