Aman Bains
California Air Resources Board
Aman.Bains@arb.ca.gov
Aman Bains has over 13 years of experience within the Monitoring and Laboratory Division. Aman is currently an Air Resources Engineer and works for the Quality Management Section. His duties include serving as a PQAO Liaison for local air districts, developing quality management documents, and analyzing data generated by CARB's air monitoring network for the annual Data Quality Report. Aman is a key staff member for CARB conducted Technical Systems Audits of local air districts.
Rene Bermudez
South Coast Air Quality Management District
rbermudez@aqmd.gov
Rene Bermudez is an Atmospheric Measurements Manager at South Coast AQMD in the Monitoring and Analysis Division, Monitoring Network Branch. He oversees the criteria pollutant network of over thirty-eight ambient air monitoring stations and is responsible for coordinating activities for the monitoring network. Rene graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Technical Management, and a Master of Science in Environmental Studies from California State University Fullerton. He started at South Coast AQMD as an Air Quality Technician performing instrument maintenance and acceptance testing. Prior to his current position, he managed the group responsible for daily operation of the criteria pollutant network.
Eric Burton
California Air Resources Board
Eric.Burton@arb.ca.gov
Eric Burton is an Air Pollution Specialist in the Quality Assurance Section with over 15 years of air monitoring experience. He is primarily responsible for conducting performance evaluations at air monitoring sites throughout California and maintaining the section's database of audit related information. He also writes and reviews documents to ensure air monitoring equipment meets federally mandated criteria, helping to improve air quality throughout the state.
Jake Canney
Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District
CanneyJ@sbcapcd.org
Jake Canney graduated from University of California, Santa Barbara's College of Creative Studies with a degree in Chemistry and Biochemistry prior to working for the Santa Barbara County APCD as an Air Quality Specialist on their ambient air quality monitoring team, where he has worked for the last five and a half years.
David Cardiel
San Luis Obispo County Air Pollution Control District
dacardiel@co.slo.ca.us
David Cardiel is an Air Quality Specialist III for San Luis Obispo County APCD and formerly worked as an Air Pollution Specialist for the California Air Resources Board. David also worked in the private sector performing and managing source tests for companies throughout the United States.
Julia Carlstad, Ph.D.
United States Environmental Protection Agency
Carlstad.Julia@epa.gov
Julia Carlstad is a physical scientist at U.S. EPA Region 9 in the Monitoring and Analysis Section. She focuses on PM2.5, PM wildfire and prescribed fire exceptional events, air toxics, and American Rescue Plan (ARP) and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) grants. She is the geographic lead for CARB, San Luis Obispo County APCD, Pinal County AQCD, and Hawaii DOH. She holds a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley and a B.S. in chemistry from the University of Washington.
Angelica Carrazco, Ph.D.
California Air Resources Board
Angelica.Carrazco@arb.ca.gov
Angelica Carrazco is an Air Pollution Specialist in the Air Quality Planning and Science Division, working in the Air Quality Planning Branch on State Implementation Plan development. She joined CARB in 2022 after receiving her Ph.D. from UC Davis in Animal Biology, where she conducted research on agricultural air quality and greenhouse gas emissions.
Andrea Clements, Ph.D.
United States Environmental Protection Agency
Clements.Andrea@epa.gov
Andrea L Clements, Ph.D., is a research physical scientist with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Research and Development, located in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. Andrea leads efforts to evaluate sensor performance, test the usability of sensors for a variety of applications, summarizes best practices, and develops resources that educate and guide others in the most effective use of sensors and the data they produce. She holds a Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Rice University in Houston, Texas and also has degrees in Environmental Science and Engineering (M.S. Caltech), Chemical Engineering (B.S. Washington University in St. Louis), and Mathematics (B.A. Cornell College).
Fletcher Clover
United States Environmental Protection Agency
Clover.Fletcher@epa.gov
Fletcher Clover graduated from Sonoma State University with a BS in geology, has worked in environmental consulting and GIS, and has been with U.S. EPA since 2008.
Joel Craig
Independent Air Quality Consultant
Joel@craigaire.com
A lifelong love of the natural world, a strong environmental commitment, and interest in new technologies were largely responsible for Mr. Craig’s career choice. Over the past 43 years, Mr. Craig has specialized in the technical aspects of air pollution measurement and data analysis. Mr. Craig has worked for local government agencies, worldwide environmental consulting companies, and currently provides technical assistance to local air pollution agencies in California. Mr. Craig has installed and operated numerous air monitoring stations, managed large scale air quality studies, trained many in air monitoring technology and quality assurance practices, and applied new technologies to air monitoring that have resulted in dramatic cost reductions and improvements in data quality.
Kai Crombie
United States Environmental Protection Agency
Crombie.Kai@epa.gov
Kai Crombie joined as a physical scientist at the U.S. EPA Region 9 in 2020. He works in the Quality Assurance Office and primarily assists the Air Monitoring Section with Technical Systems Audits and quality assurance issues. In his spare time, he likes to enjoy the outdoors and go climbing.
Trisha Curran
United States Environmental Protection Agency
Curran.Trisha@epa.gov
Trisha Curran is part of the Ambient Air Monitoring Group (AAMG) in the Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards (OAQPS). She began her career with the U.S. EPA Region 6 Dallas Office in the Ambient Air Monitoring Section where she has worked on data certifications, AQS, exceptional events, network plans, QAPPs, Technical Systems Audits, and as a State/Local/Tribal Coordinator. She then joined OAQPS in early 2019 where she now works on the Quality Assurance (QA) Team in AAMG. She works on AQS, QAPPs, Toxics QA, PAMS QA, the standard reference photometer (SRP) program, the National Performance Evaluation Program (NPAP), and you guessed it Data Certifications.
Matthew Densberger
California Air Resources Board
Matthew.Densberger@arb.ca.gov
Matthew Densberger joined CARB in 2017 and is currently an Air Pollution Specialist in the Air Quality Analysis Section. Matthew’s primary focus is leading CARB’s efforts on Ozone Exceptional Events and frequently supports State Ozone Designations and Weight of Evidence Analyses for State Implementation Plans. He has previously worked on certification and testing of Abrasives for Dry Blasting as well as evaporative emissions testing of Small Off-Road Engines and Portable Fuel Canisters. Prior to joining CARB, Matthew worked in the private sector providing ocean weather routing and forecasts for shipping vessels around the world.
Scott Epstein, Ph.D.
South Coast Air Quality Management District
sepstein@aqmd.gov
Dr. Scott Epstein is the Program Supervisor of the Air Quality Assessment Group at the South Coast AQMD. His group specializes in the analysis, interpretation, and dissemination of air quality and meteorological data to help the public reduce their exposure to poor air quality. Scott joined the South Coast AQMD in 2014 after a postdoc in Atmospheric Chemistry at the University of California, Irvine. He has a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the Center for Atmospheric Particle Studies at Carnegie Mellon University.
Brandon Feenstra, Ph.D.
South Coast Air Quality Management District
bfeenstra@aqmd.gov
Brandon Feenstra is the Quality Assurance Manager for the Monitoring and Analysis Division at the South Coast AQMD. He is responsible for ensuring the environmental measurement programs at South Coast AQMD meet data quality objectives. Previously, Brandon was an Air Quality Specialist in the Air Quality Sensor Performance Evaluation Center (AQ-SPEC). In 2020, Brandon received his Ph.D. in Chemical and Environmental Engineering from the University of California, Riverside.
Dustin Goto
California Air Resources Board
Dustin.Goto@arb.ca.gov
Dustin Goto has over 18 years of air monitoring experience with CARB’s Monitoring and Laboratory Division. Dustin is currently an Air Pollution Specialist with the Air Monitoring North Section. His primary responsibilities include station operation, calibration, review of monitoring data, and writing standard operating procedures.
Walter Ham, Ph.D.
California Air Resources Board
Walter.Ham@arb.ca.gov
Walter Ham is the Chief of CARB's Monitoring and Laboratory Division. He is responsible for overseeing the agency's ambient air monitoring activities, developing, and implementing policies for small off-road engines and fueling systems, and coordinating air pollution control activities with state and local agencies. Prior to his current role, Walter oversaw CARB's diesel enforcement programs. He holds a Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of California, Davis and a BS in Biological Engineering from the University of Georgia.
Raiford Hann
California Air Resources Board
Raiford.Hann@arb.ca.gov
Dr. Raiford (Rai) Hann is an Air Resources Engineering in the Special Assessment Branch of the Air Quality Planning and Science Division at the California Air Resources Board (CARB). Rai is the lead engineer on developing and enhancing CARB’s new cloud-native air quality data portal (AQview). Rai has created a robust quality assessment framework for the air quality data currently in AQview from a wide range of regulatory- and research-grade instruments as well as air quality sensors, while ensuring that the data are provided to the public in a timely manner. Rai holds a Ph.D. in Materials Engineering with a Minor in Electrical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Prior to joining CARB, Rai was an embedded systems engineer working for Intel, conducting sensor-to-cloud data transfer development. Rai also worked for NASA, where he performed computational electromagnetics modeling and investigated the high-temperature chemistry of novel aerospace materials.
Kate Hoag
Bay Area Air Quality Management District
khoag@baaqmd.gov
Eric Holden
South Coast Air Quality Management District
eholden@aqmd.gov
Eric Holden served as the Senior Customer Service Engineering Tech for Teledyne API for 14 years, repairing, teaching, and installing instrumentation throughout the world. He left Teledyne 9 years ago to join with South Coast AQMD. Eric currently is the Senior Air Quality Instrument Specialist in the Special Monitoring Division of South Coast AQMD.
Melanie Levesque
California Air Resources Board
Melanie.Levesque@arb.ca.gov
Melanie Levesque has over 20 years of experience in the environmental laboratory industry. Melanie joined the Monitoring and Laboratory Division as an Air Pollution Specialist in the Quality Management Section in May 2023. As a PQAO Liaison for local air districts, Melanie's duties include providing oversight and support to meet federally mandated quality management responsibilities for CARB’s PQAO. Melanie is a key staff member for development of the annual Data Quality Report.
Jason Low, Ph.D.
South Coast Air Quality Management District
JLow@aqmd.gov
Jason Low is the Deputy Executive Officer of Monitoring & Analysis at the South Coast AQMD where he is responsible for the ambient network of over 35 air monitoring stations, laboratory, source testing, quality assurance, and numerous special air monitoring projects focusing on air toxics and the local impacts of air pollution, including emphasis on environmental justice communities (AB 617). He leads the air monitoring operations in response to air quality incidents such as the ethylene oxide investigation and Tustin Hangar Fire. He is also responsible for innovative work with air quality sensors conducted by AQ-SPEC, advanced remote measurement programs, and refinery community monitoring. He graduated from the University of California, Irvine, with a B.S. in both Chemistry and Biology, and a M.S. and Ph.D. in Chemistry with a focus on atmospheric chemistry.
Brian Marquardt
Tehama County Air Pollution Control District
bmarquardt@tehcoapcd.net
Brian Marquardt is an Air Pollution Control Specialist at Tehama County Air Pollution Control District in Red Bluff, California. Brian manages the operation and data collection of Tehama County’s air monitoring network. Brian has a B.S. in Microbiology from Chico State University. Brian has been with the APCD for a year and a half, before he worked in QC/QA in the brewing industry for nearly 10 years.
Victor Mendiola
California Air Resources Board
Victor.Mendiola@arb.ca.gov
Sam Michie
Ventura County Air Pollution Control District
sam@vcapcd.org
Sam Michie is currently the Air Monitoring Division Manager at the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District. Growing up in rural New England and spending most of his time enjoying outdoor activities, he gained a passion for environmental stewardship. Sam graduated from the University of Maine with a BS in Environmental Management and Policy. He started his air quality career in California and has 14 years of experience in both the private and public sectors with a passion for ambient air monitoring.
Michael Miguel
California Air Resources Board
Michael.Miguel@arb.ca.gov
Michael Miguel is the Assistant Division Chief of the Monitoring and Laboratory Division at the California Air Resources Board. His primary responsibility is overseeing the operation and maintenance of California's air quality and greenhouse gas monitoring networks, including related quality assurance, chemical laboratory analysis, and emergency response programs. He also oversees the certification and evaluation of vapor recovery control equipment, small off-road engines, and portable fuel containers and the development of regulations and strategies for controlling emissions from a range of gasoline-powered equipment and fueling systems. Michael graduated from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo with a degree in Industrial Technology and has worked for the California Air Resources Board for almost 35 years.
Wilton Mui, Ph.D.
South Coast Air Quality Management District
wmui@aqmd.gov
Dr. Wilton Mui is a Program Supervisor in the Monitoring & Analysis Division of South Coast AQMD. He specializes in aerosol measurement, test standard development, and air sensor evaluation using environmental chambers and mobile air monitoring platforms. Dr. Mui received his Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of Florida, and his Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in Environmental Science and Engineering from the California Institute of Technology. He has an Engineer-in-Training certification and is a South Coast AQMD Certified Permitting Professional.
Melissa Niederreiter
California Air Resources Board
Melissa.Niederreiter@arb.ca.gov
Melissa Niederreiter entered the air monitoring community in 2022, taking on the role of Quality Management Section Supervisor in the Monitoring and Laboratory Division. In this capacity, she oversees all quality management responsibilities for the CARB PQAO, the development of the Annual Data Quality Report, and PQAO Trainings. Since joining CARB in 2008, Melissa has been instrumental in developing new community-focused policies and emission reduction strategies through Assembly Bill 617, developing guidance and long-term planning initiatives for California Climate Investments, and developing and implementing regulations designed to advance the adoption of zero-emission technologies. Melissa holds a B.S. in Wildlife, Fisheries, and Conversation Biology from the University of California, Davis.
Beth Nordeen
California Air Resources Board
Beth.Nordeen@arb.ca.gov
Beth Nordeen entered the air monitoring community in May 2023 as an Air Pollution Specialist in the Quality Management Section. She currently serves as a PQAO Liaison to air districts, providing oversight and support related to their quality management activities. Beth is also overseeing logistics for the 2024 PQAO Training. Previous pursuits include high school physics teaching, guiding viewing sessions at Mt. Wilson Observatory's 60-inch telescope, and guiding rafts down raging rivers in West Virginia.
Aaron Plasencia
California Air Resources Board
Aaron.Plasencia@arb.ca.gov
Aaron Plasencia is an Air Resources Engineer with the Monitoring and Laboratory Division. As part of the Quality Assurance Section, he conducts performance evaluations of air monitoring sites for all air districts in California. Aaron earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from the California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.
Bilal Qazzaz
United States Environmental Protection Agency
Qazzaz.Bilal@epa.gov
Bilal Qazzaz has worked for the U.S. EPA since 2011. He started in U.S. EPA Region 5's Air Monitoring and Analysis Section and joined the air monitoring team in U.S. EPA Region 9 in 2019. Bilal has a B.S. in Biological Sciences from the University of Illinois Chicago.
Amy Seeds
United States Environmental Protection Agency
Seeds.Amy@epa.gov
Amy Seeds is a Physical Scientist within U.S. EPA Region 9’s Monitoring and Analysis Section. She currently works with ozone, gaseous sensors, and is the geographic lead for Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, Maricopa County, and Pima County in Arizona. She has worked with U.S. EPA since October 2022 and previously worked for the State of Kansas’ Air Compliance and Enforcement Section. She holds a BS in Organismal Biology and BA in Spanish from the University of Kansas.
Francisco Silvas
California Air Resources Board
Francisco.Silvas@arb.ca.gov
Francisco Silvas is an Air Pollution Specialist for the Standards Laboratory in the Monitoring and Laboratory Division. Francisco graduated from California State University, Sacramento with a BS in Mechanical Engineering. As the Senior Laboratory Verification Specialist for the laboratory, he oversees all verification testing, ensuring consistent collection/validation methods of the data generated by the laboratory to establish data quality objectives for California’s ambient air monitoring program. His technical engineering skills have also helped him and his team in designing, operating, and maintaining an environmental chamber for evaluating air quality sensors to generate technically sound ambient air monitoring data for identifying localized neighborhood scale air pollution issues.
Manisha Singh, Ph.D.
California Air Resources Board
Manisha.Singh@arb.ca.gov
Dr. Manisha Singh is Chief of Quality Management Branch (QMB) in CARB’s Monitoring and Laboratory Division. She is responsible for overseeing quality management activities to ensure that air monitoring and laboratory programs under CARB’s PQAO meet federally mandated requirements. As QMB chief, she is also responsible for development and implementation of regulatory programs to reduce emissions from non-transportation mobile sources, including small off-road engines. Prior to her current role Manisha has held progressively responsible positions in CARB’s Fuels Program responsible for developing and implementing regulations to reduce air pollution from California’s transportation fuels. Prior to working at CARB, she has over 10 years of experience working in the industry and academia primarily in the field of air pollution measurement and exposure research. She holds a PhD and MS in Environmental Engineering from University of Southern California and a BS in Chemistry.
Louise Sorensen
California Air Resources Board
Louise.Sorensen@arb.ca.gov
Louise Sorensen is the Quality Assurance Section Manager in the Monitoring and Laboratory Division, Quality Management Branch. She provides oversight and direction of the performance audit program, which ensures the quality assurance activities of air monitoring stations in the CARB PQAO comply with federal and state procedures and regulations. Prior to serving as the Quality Assurance Section Manager, Louise spent time as the Quality Assurance Officer for the Quality Management Branch and spent over a decade working in air pollution research at University of California, Davis. Louise understands of the importance of developing, maintaining, and monitoring the performance of quality management systems to ensure compliance with regulations. She has a certificate of achievement from NIST in completion of Fundamentals of Metrology and ISO/IEC 17025. Louise holds a B.S. in Animal Science from the University of California, Davis.
Grace Tuazon
California Air Resources Board
Grace.Tuazon@arb.ca.gov
Grace Tuazon has over 7 years of experience working in the Monitoring and Laboratory Division. Grace is an Air Pollution Specialist in the Quality Management Section and is PQAO liaison for several air districts within the CARB PQAO. In this role, she supports the districts in upholding the five common factors of a PQAO, which includes providing guidance and review of required quality management documents. Grace earned a B.S. in Biochemistry from California State University, Sacramento.
Lilian Turcios-Metho
Bay Area Air Quality Management District
lturcios-metho@baaqmd.gov
Kyle Vagadori
California Air Resources Board
Kyle.Vagadori@arb.ca.gov
Kyle Vagadori has over 7 years of experience working in the Monitoring and Laboratory Division. Kyle is an Air Pollution Specialist in the Quality Management Section. As a PQAO Liaison, Kyle is tasked with overseeing quality management responsibilities of several local air districts in the CARB PQAO. Kyle is lead staff overseeing the Curriculum Advisory Committee in development of the content for the 2024 PQAO Training. Kyle earned a B.S. in Environmental and Resource Sciences from the University of California, Davis.
Lloyd Williams
California Air Resources Board
Lloyd.Williams@arb.ca.gov
Jennifer Williams
United States Environmental Protection Agency
Williams.Jennifer@epa.gov
Jennifer Williams is a Physical Scientist within U.S. EPA Region 9’s Monitoring and Analysis Section. She currently specializes in PM10 and is the geographic lead for Morongo Band of Mission Indians, Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians, Eastern Kern APCD, Mojave Desert AQMD, Antelope Valley AQMD and is co-lead for South Coast AQMD. She previously worked in U.S. EPA’s Region 4 (Atlanta) and Region 5 (Chicago) offices in a variety of different sections and currently has 14 years with the agency. She holds an M.S. in Earth and Atmospheric Science from Georgia Tech and a B.S. in Earth and Atmospheric Science from Georgia Tech.