As part of the Water Center’s 3rd Anniversary celebration, the Live Panel Discussion: Funding Solutions to Municipal Water Challenges is a virtual panel discussion that brings municipalities and governmental agencies together to show how collaboration can lead to innovative solutions for urban water challenges.

Federal agencies will propose funding solutions to water infrastructure needs from municipalities in Lancaster, PA and Burlington, VT. Federal panelists will brainstorm on how they could merge their agency solutions into a holistic solution for each municipality.

The event will provide time for a Q&A session with audience participation.

Jorianne Jernberg is the acting director of the WIFIA Management Division at the US EPA. Since 2016, she has managed the implementation of this new Federal lending program at EPA as well as overseeing the origination, underwriting, negotiation, and monitoring of water and wastewater infrastructure projects around the country. Prior to joining EPA, Jorianne served as the head of risk management and financial operations at the TIFIA program within the Department of Transportation where she was responsible for a team conducting a wide range of financial, programmatic, and credit functions. Jorianne has a BA and MPA from Cleveland State University.

Kiri Anderer is a Senior Environmental Engineer on the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Team at EPA headquarters, currently serving on a detail as the Acting Sustainable Systems Team Leader. The DWSRF provides water infrastructure financing for public health protection, with an emphasis on small and disadvantaged public water systems. She has spent much of her 12 years with the agency working on domestic preference requirements, as well as resiliency and eligibility aspects of the program. As the Sustainable Systems Team Leader, she provides oversight for the Capacity Development and Operator Certification programs, as well as works on partnership and workforce issues. Prior to EPA, Kiri spent 11 years working as a consulting engineer in the Baltimore and then Phoenix metropolitan areas, assisting communities with integrated water resource planning. Kiri is a registered Professional Engineer in Maryland. She has a BS in Civil Engineering from Lehigh University, and a Master of Public Policy from The George Washington University.

Nate Campbell is a Civil Works Project and Program Mangaer for the St. Paul District. Nate is currently on detail with USACE HQ working to help standup the Corps Water Infrastructure Financing Program (CWIFP), authorized under the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act. CWIFP will provide supplemental credit assistance to creditworthy civil works projects that are the responsibility of non-federal entities. The initial focus of the program will be on flood and coastal storm risk management projects of regional and national significance. For the St. Paul District Nate serves as the Program Manager for the Continuing Authorities Program and the Tribal Partnership Program. Additionally, Nathan has been the Project Manager for a wide variety of civil works projects and studies within the district. From 2009 to 2015, Nathan worked in the St. Paul District Regulatory Branch and implemented the Corps Regulatory Program primarily in western Wisconsin.

Nathan completed his Bachelor of Science with a major in Environmental Biology and a minor in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse in 2009 and received his Master of Science in Water Resources Science from the University of Minnesota in 2015. He has his Project Management Professional certification and has completed professional certifications in Stream Restoration Science and Watershed Specialist Training from the University of Minnesota.

Seema Thomas is the new Deputy Director for the Financial Management Division (FMD). To date, she has been working on community development challenges for the past two decades. Her career has focused on developing and expanding innovative and inclusive initiatives to support communities from the neighborhood to the metropolitan scale, both domestically and internationally. Before joining FMD, she was an adjunct professor of urban sustainability at the University of the District of Columbia. In the past, she has consulted and worked for numerous organizations, such as the World Bank, DHS’s Science & Technology Directorate, Freddie Mac, the Urban Institute, and Oliver Wyman & Co. She holds a BSE from the University of Pennsylvania, a MUP from Harvard University, and an MPA from Princeton University.

Moderator:

Karl Russek has over 25 years of experience in the areas of legacy pollutants, natural resources damage assessment, emerging environmental risks, industry/regulatory interface, and stakeholder management in the United States and globally. He holds a Master of Science degree in Environmental Quality Science from the University of Alaska where he focused assessment and restoration of freshwater systems. He most recently founded and managed the international environmental business for a leading global insurer.