Clean Drinking Water: Water We Doing for People?

Hollie Janson Schmidt is a Principal and the Global Solutions Director of Sustainability, Resilience & Climate Response for the Americas Region at Jacobs. She provides consulting and advisory services to a wide range of public, private, and federal clientele. She is also the Director of the Sustainability, Resilience & Climate Response Business Advisory as a trusted business partner for the company’s internal project delivery and growth as well as external client services. 

In her 28 years of practice, Hollie has honed an integrated planning and delivery approach, with a particular focus on large-scale, complex projects. Hollie provides resilient solutions either as a preventative or recovery service for large-scale clients who are experiencing vulnerabilities to natural and man-made shocks and stressors. She addresses ESG and climate response while holistically considering the physical, human, and business aspects of the challenge.

Jilma Jiménez is a visionary, engaging, and inspirational leader with more than 30 years of experience in the management of engineering companies and projects. Her diverse and extensive background encompasses various roles within the engineering consulting field. Now as Vice President and Market Strategist of Jacobs’s Global Program Management, she applies her wealth of expertise to assess organizational performance and lead initiatives that sustain competitive advantage, enable strategy implementation, and support senior executive decision-making. In addition to her multifaceted engineering career, Ms. Jiménez is an expert in the realm of infrastructure construction supply chain management having spearheaded supply chain strategies for multibillion-dollar construction programs. Jilma’s strategic thinking and adaptability have been key in navigating the complexities of the construction industry particularly since the emergence of COVID-19 pandemic. Her proactive approach to mitigating risks, leveraging opportunities, and applying strategic escalation pricing techniques sets her apart as a trusted expert. Jilma’s expertise isn't confined to construction programs; she also stays ahead of industry trends, emerging technologies, and innovative contracting models to enhance efficiency and sustainability in the construction supply chain.

Marc DeSchamp is a Program Manager and leader in the Jacobs Transportation Decarbonization Practice. His particular focus is on delivering solutions to clients grappling with the challenges of fleet electrification. Through 15 years in the transit industry, Marc has managed transit bus procurements, led strategic planning efforts, and served as Program Manager for transit bus and facility programs. Marc currently leads the development of NY MTA’s Zero Emissions Fleet Transition Plan, which will serve as a roadmap to decarbonizing the largest transit fleet in North America. Marc holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and a Master of Science in Engineering Management from Northeastern University. He is a registered Professional Engineer in Massachusetts, where he lives with his wife and two young children.

EPA citation: Carbon Pollution from Transportation | US EPA

Peggy Whitson, Ph.D., America’s most experienced astronaut, flew on three NASA long-duration space flights and Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2), accumulating 675 days in space, more than any other American astronaut or woman astronaut in the world.

Whitson has over 37 years of space and science experience with NASA and is currently serving as director of human spaceflight for Axiom Space. Throughout her career, Whitson has held various positions to include NASA’s chief of the Astronaut Office, two-time commander of the International Space Station (ISS), chair of NASA’s Astronaut Selection Board, chief of NASA’s Operations Branch, and deputy division chief for both NASA’s Medical Sciences and the Astronaut Office.

On Ax-2, Whitson become the first female commander of a private space mission, adding to her accomplishments as the first female commander of the ISS, the only woman to serve as ISS commander twice, and the first woman, non-military chief of NASA’s Astronaut Office. During her three previous space missions to the ISS (Expeditions 5, 16, 50/51/52), she conducted 10 spacewalks, logging over 60 hours. Throughout Whitson’s career, she has contributed to hundreds of experiments in biology, biotechnology, physical science, and Earth science.

Whitson received degrees in biology and chemistry from lowa Wesleyan and a doctoral degree in biochemistry from Rice University. She has been honored with numerous awards, including NASA medals in Leadership, Outstanding Leadership, and Exceptional Service; Forbes 50 over 50 (2023); TIME 100 Most Influential People in the World (2018); and Women in Aviation Lifetime Achievement Award (2017).

Tom Skerritt, Emmy winner (Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series) for his series PICKET FENCES, is one of the most versatile and acclaimed American actors in movies and TV. At UCLA Film School, he acted in theatre and began writing for screen as a means to understand the full embrace of his primary interest, directing film. While acting on stage, he was seen and hired to be in a small film where he met Robert Redford and Sydney Pollack. Soon after, he met director Robert Altman, with whom he mentored as a filmmaker, which led Tom to be cast in the movie version of M*A*S*H. This led to a distinguished and decades-long career, starring in such acclaimed films as TURNING POINT (for which Tom won the National Board of Review’s Best Supporting Actor Award), ALIEN, TOP GUN, STEEL MAGNOLAS, A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT, CONTACT, TEARS OF THE SUN and THE DEAD ZONE. The recipient of UCLA’s Lifetime Achievement Honor in 1994, Tom is also a veteran of may television programs, including appearances on MADAM SECRETARY, THE WEST WING, LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT, CHEERS, WILL & GRACE and THE GOOD WIFE.  In 2007, Tom received a Life Achievement Award from Wayne State University, which was followed with a Laureate Award from The Rainier Club in Seattle. In 2011, he received the Saturn Best Guest Actor Award - TV.

Legendary film actress Veronica Cartwright began her career as a child actress in the classic films THE CHILDREN'S HOUR (directed by William Wyler), Alfred Hitchcock's THE BIRDS and SPENCER'S MOUNTAIN. A veteran of many beloved films, Veronica has appeared in over 50 movies and her resume includes two science fiction classics in the 1970's, Philip Kaufman's remake of INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS and Ridley Scott's masterpiece thriller, ALIEN. Veronica starred as Betty Grissom in the epic dramatization of NASA's space program based on Tom Wolfe's novel, THE RIGHT STUFF, also directed by Kaufman. She made an indelible impression on moviegoers in 1987 with her standout performance in THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK. Among Veronica's many television credits are the hit shows CRIMINAL MINDS, CSI CYBER, BOSCH, RESURRECTION, GREY’S ANATOMY, WILL & GRACE, LEAVE IT TO BEAVER, THE TWILIGHT ZONE, GOTHAM KNIGHTS, ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS, THE GOOD DOCTOR and THE X FILES. Veronica has been nominated four times for an Emmy Award with one win. At age 15 she won an Emmy for Best Actress in a television movie called TELL ME NOT IN MOURNFUL NUMBERS. She was nominated again in 1997 for her guest starring role of Mrs. Huston in two widely acclaimed episodes of ER. In 1998 and 1999 the Television Academy nominated her twice for her pivotal role of Cassandra Spender on Fox's THE X FILES.

In her role as Digital OneWater Strategic Growth Lead for Jacobs, Dr. Jennifer Baldwin is responsible for unifying Jacobs’ portfolio of digital tools that support an integrated and collaborative OneWater approach to water management. Dr. Baldwin also serves as the U.S. South Conveyance and Storage Regional Solutions Lead for Jacobs and is a principal technologist specializing in assembling and leading large program teams and planning and successfully delivering multi-billion-dollar water and wastewater infrastructure programs. She has over 20 years of experience, providing process mechanical expertise and quality assurance/quality control on a variety of infrastructure development projects, specializing in wastewater conveyance facilities such as pump stations and storage facilities.

Joshua Registe is a lead data scientist and professional engineer, recognized for his expertise in environmental engineering and advanced analytics. With a unique blend of skills in both domains, he stands at the forefront of cutting-edge AI solution development for Jacobs Intelligent O&M and external clients, tackling intricate environmental challenges head-on. Joshua's contributions span a wide range of critical areas, including solids treatment, disinfection, coagulant optimization, nutrient removal, energy optimization and more. Employing advanced statistical techniques, predictive modeling, deep learning, and scalable computing, he leverages the power of data to deliver unique and complex solutions. In addition to his role as a lead data scientist and professional engineer, Joshua takes pride in mentoring and guiding aspiring professionals in the field. Through his guidance, he fosters the next generation of environmental engineers and data scientists, ensuring the industry's continuous growth and advancement.

Todd Marks, a two-time EY Entrepreneur of the Year nominee, a member of Baltimore Magazine’s 40 under 40, and a three-time member of The Daily Record’s Most Admired CEOs, is the founder and CEO of Mindgrub Technologies. Mindgrub, a member of the Inc. 5000 for ten years, is a technical agency and creative consultancy specializing in award-winning mobile, web, and marketing strategy solutions. Todd is an experienced speaker and futurist and continually shares his vision for innovative technology at conferences across the globe. Under his leadership, Mindgrub has expanded to nearly 200 employees across North America and has moved its headquarters into the metaverse, reinforcing its commitment to a culture of inclusion and innovation.

Darrell Collett has 25 years of legal experience, including 10 years in private practice as a commercial litigator and 15 years as in-house counsel with Jacobs.  While at Jacobs, Darrell has provided operations counsel support for the water and O&M businesses, and worked as compliance counsel in the Ethics & Compliance department.  Currently, Darrell provides corporate legal services related to intellectual property, cybersecurity and data privacy.

Todd Busch graduated from the University of California, Irvine in 1990 and was hired by Lucasfilm’s EditDroid division the same year, where he was first exposed to digital post-production. An outlier, Todd has navigated his career over the past three decades by staying at the technical forefront of the movie industry, while also working on some of the biggest film franchises in recent memory, including Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Alita: Battle Angel, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Independence Day: Resurgence, and Furious 7, as well as various streaming series including Peacemaker, WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.  When his editing career hit roadblocks in the early 2000s, he turned to visual effects editing, and then from 2009-2013 he was the lead editor for The Third Floor, Inc., helping them become the predominant previs company in the world.  In 2013 he returned to feature editorial as both a visual effects editor, and first assistant editor.  Todd is currently editing the feature film, Lady Scorpions.

Michael Brown is the Data & Technology Director at Jacobs where he provides strategy and oversite to how Jacobs leverages data and analytics on its projects, solutions and services. Michael has built a large community of practice within Jacobs focused on advancing Machine Learning, Data Science, and Data Engineering in Jacobs work and embedding it into all Jacobs offerings. Michael works with innovation teams and strategic initiatives to help teams identify how to leverage advanced analytics within their solutions and has developed and launched multiple digital products within Jacobs, most recently Jacobs Hive, a data integration and insights platform for the Transportation market. Michael’s passion for innovation and advanced analytics has him constantly seeing new challenges and opportunities where he can bring creative, strategic thinking that is backed by technical excellence to disrupt the market status quo and create new channels for value with Jacobs’ clients.

Sean Co is the Director of Special Projects and Services at StreetLight where he manages custom projects using StreetLight’s Big Data analytics to provide insights on transportation metrics for clients. Sean built the Professional Services unit and expanded the team capabilities to deliver lean product launches and to offer services for customer support escalations. Sean works cross functionally with all the teams in StreetLight and has leveraged work the from the Data Science and product marketing teams to deliver the metrics using clear technical explanations that help all users understand the analytics. Sean has managed over 300 projects while at StreetLight which brings the experience of working with transportation agencies all over the country. Sean Co is a transportation planner with 27 years of experience working with cities, counties, MPOs, state governments and AEC firms to deliver projects on time and on budget.

Graceson Scariah, CNS&A Asset Lifecycle Management Lead at Airservices Australia, has over 15 years of experience working in the aviation sector delivering critical services to the industry. Graceson is currently leading the asset planning practice at Airservices with a focus on transformation of the Communication, Navigation, Surveillance and Aviation Firefighting capability.

Abhishek Singh brings over 25 years’ experience of leading technology-enabled transformation programs in asset-intensive organizations that operate in a highly regulated and safety critical environment. Abhishek currently leads the Technology Convergence practice at Jacobs Australia, enabling Critical Infrastructure clients to leverage emerging technologies to deliver improved sustainability, safety and efficiency outcomes. In his leadership roles with defense, aviation and consulting organizations, Abhishek has a track record of building organizational capability and realigning management of assets to service delivery outcomes and future-proof operations. Abhishek is a strong advocate of inclusion and diversity and has contributed immensely to shaping the culture of the organizations he has worked for. He also serves on the Board of ‘Engineers Without Boards Australia’ and is the Vice-Chair of Engineers Australia’s College of Leadership and Management Committee (Queensland).