Evan Engber is President and CEO of BioEngineering Associates, Inc. He is the Chief Bioengineer with 33 years of experience in surveys, design and construction, restoring rivers, streams, hill slopes and gullies using bioengineering technology working primarily in Mendocino, Napa, and Sonoma Counties of California. Mr. Engber has been involved in the design and construction of the nearly 150 projects that BioEngineering Associates has performed since its inception.
Current Professional Registration: Oregon Commercial General Contractor Level 1, License Number: 192441. California General Engineering Contractor License Class A #599522
Awards and Professional Recognition:
- 2015: Salmonid Restoration Federation Lifetime Achievement Award
- 2014: American Fisheries Society Western Division’s 2014 Award of Excellence in Riparian Management: Russian River Canyon Odd Fellows Recreation Club Restoration Project.
- 2003: Governor’s Environmental and Economic Leadership Award: Certificate of Recognition of meritorious contributions to environmental protection and resource conservation in the State of California.
- 1998: Consultant to the State of California Resources Agency, Dept. of Fish and Game for “Bioengineered Erosion Control”, the first bioengineering to be included in the California Salmonid Stream Habitat Restoration Manual,
- 1994: Awarded the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Hal Wise Award, “For exceptional leadership in promoting the control of non-point sources of water pollution and ecological management and restoration of watersheds.”
Patrick Higgins
Role: Consulting Fisheries Biologist
Years of Experience: 40 Years of professional experience; 10 years with BioEngineering Associates, Inc.
Education: B.A. Biology: Humboldt State University, Arcata, California. Graduate Studies in Fisheries, Master of Science Program at Humboldt State University
Project Experience: Patrick Higgins is our Consulting Fisheries Biologist. He has worked with the company since 2006 performing biological assessments, post project monitoring, and biological monitoring during construction.
- Among his numerous projects, Pat has worked with the National Marine Fisheries Service doing recovery planning for large areas of the California coast and for coho salmon recovery in southwest Oregon.
- He has written or assisted with water quality plans for several Indian Tribes, including the Hoopa Valley Tribe for the mainstem Klamath River.
- Since 2011, Pat has been monitoring the Eel River and its tributaries as part of the Eel River Recovery Project (www.eelriverrecovery.org).
- As a part of his monitoring work, Pat shoots underwater videos of fish in their newly constructed habitats.
Philip Buehler
Role: Associate Engineer and Project Manager
Years of Experience: 7 years; 5 years with company
Education: B.S. Civil Engineering, California State University Sacramento
Current Professional Registration: Engineer-In-Training, EIT No. 139024
Project Experience:
- 2011 – Present: Member of the design team on all BE projects.
- 2013 – 2015: Member of the design team and assistant project manager for the Seaside Wastewater Treatment Plant Shoreline Stabilization Project. As a member of the design team the duties included surveying, designing, producing construction documents, writing permits, and communicating with the permitting agencies and other firms involved with the project. Construction responsibilities included assisting the Senior Engineer in managing construction of the project, inspecting materials, and keeping an accurate account of the labor and material costs.
Cameron Hill
Role: Lead Heavy Equipment Operator
Years of Experience: 30 years of experience operating heavy equipment; 10 years with BE.
Education: Studied Forestry at Humboldt State University
Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response Standard (HAZWOPER) Certification
Project Experience:
- 2005 – Present: Motorcycle road racing instructor.
- 2005 – Present: Heavy equipment operator on all BE projects.
- 2011 – Present: Emergency Heavy Equipment Operator with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire).
- 2015: Lead heavy equipment operator on the Seaside Wastewater Treatment Plant Shoreline Protection Project. As a member of the design team he assisted with determining equipment access points and type and size of equipment needed. On-site duties included training two local heavy equipment operators on how to construct bioengineering structures in addition operating an excavator on the project.
Mauricio Manzo
Role: Senior Labor Crew Foreman & Irrigation Specialist
Years of Experience: 8 years of experience with BE, 15 years of experience in landscaping construction and maintenance.
Project Experience: Senior labor foreman on all BE projects. Responsible for training and leading new crew members. Experienced in constructing all bioengineering techniques. Responsible for selectively harvesting live willow for different bioengineered structures. Designs and constructs our irrigation systems.
Jose Gonzalez
Role: Labor Crew Foreman
Years of Experience: 4 years with BE
Project Experience: Responsible for training and leading new crew members. Experienced at constructing all live bioengineered structures. Responsible for the selective harvest of various types of live willow for different bioengineering structures.