John D. Forcier, P.E. (Chair of the Board)

John D. Forcier

President, Forcier Consulting

John has a B.S. degree in Civil Engineering from UVM (1972). His unique experience includes 19 years in the construction industry and 25 years in consulting engineering, through planning, design, permitting and construction of small multi-million dollar municipal and private renewable energy, biogas, anaerobic digester, wastewater, and composting projects throughout the eastern United States. His related anaerobic digester/biogas experience includes farm-based, commercial, industrial, municipal, and wastewater treatment facility systems utilizing biosolids, manures, food waste, glycerin, SSO, DAF, and FOG. He was honored as the Vermont Engineer of the Year in 2000 and was inducted into Tau Beta Pi as an Eminent Engineer in 1999.

Anni Autio, PE, BCEE

 Anni Autio

Senior Engineer, The Thompson & Lichtner Co., Inc., Canton, MA

Anni’s background includes multidisciplinary team building, technical and regulatory compliance, federal government contracting, construction management, and financial reporting. She is experienced in all phases of environmental projects including air, water, solid waste, and hazardous waste, and is proficient in federal procurement and contracting requirements as well as public policy making. Anni got her B.S. degree in Civil Engineering from Worchester Polytechnic Institute (1982) and attended Executive Master of Business Administration program at Boston University (2004).

Darren Benoit

 Darren Benoit

Vice President, Director of Transportation DuBois & King, Inc., Bedford, NH

Darren is a transportation manager with over 25 years of experience working on a broad range of civil engineering projects. Over the course of his career, he has managed highway, bridge, and aviation design groups. He holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering (1993) and a Master’s in Public Administration (1997), both from the University of New Hampshire. He is a registered professional engineer in all six New England states. He served for nearly a decade as the Government Relations Chairman of ASCE-NH until 2016. He is a past board member of ACEC-VT, head judge of the Northeast Regional Concrete Canoe Competition for five years, a member of the UVM School of Engineering Steering Committee and was the chairman of the 2011 New Hampshire Infrastructure Report Card update committee. He is also a past member of the ASCE National State Government Relations Committee and in 2015 was named the ASCE National Civil Engineering Advocate of the Year. He also currently serves on the board of directors for FM-LP WNHN radio station.

Carolyn W. Carlson, P.E.

 Carolyn W. Carlson

Senior Structures Project Manager,
Vermont Agency of Transportation: Highway Division/ Project Delivery Bureau/ Structures Section, Montpelier, VT

Carolyn has worked at VTrans since she graduated from UVM CEE (1985). She also has a Master’s in Business Administration from UVM (1992). Carolyn routinely manages about 20 projects and a staff of 15 engineers and technicians.  She has designed and managed over 100 new and rehabilitated bridge projects throughout Vermont.   Carolyn has been a member of the Vermont Section of ASCE since 1985 where she served as a board member, including president of the board in 1996.  She has been a member of the Vermont Society of Engineers since 1985 and has served on the board of directors for the past 13 years where she advanced through the ranks to board president during 2010 to 2011.  She currently serves as the board’s treasurer. She actively participates in outreach including planning for Engineers Week in Vermont, judging for MathCounts, and mentoring young engineers both at work and at elementary schools, high schools, and colleges in Vermont. Carolyn was named Vermont Engineer of the Year in 2014.

Amanda Clayton, P.E.

 Amanda Clayton

Amanda Clayton, P.E. (B.S. Civil Engineering, University of Vermont, M.B.A. University of Rhode Island) is a project engineer at Krebs & Lansing. She previously worked for the Burlington International Airport overseeing all engineering and environmental permitting efforts. She has extensive experience with the design, permitting, and construction aspects for development projects, as well as the overarching permit portfolio requirements for a 1,000 acre industrial operation. Her background also includes designing and permitting road, roundabouts, and park and rides throughout the state.  Amanda is an active member and past president of the Vermont Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and was named the Vermont 2011 Young Engineer of the of Year.

Peter DeGraff, P.E.

Peter DeGraff

President, Otter Creek Engineering, Inc., Middlebury, VT

Peter graduated from UVM CEE (1985) and has lived and worked in Middlebury, since 1990. He is currently president and founding partner of Otter Creek Engineering. His professional career has been primarily focused on the design and construction of public community water systems throughout Vermont and he has volunteered his experience to assist with water supply projects in rural communities in Central and South America. Peter is an active participant in a number of community organizations, having served on the Porter Hospital Board since 2009, Ilsley Public Library, Sheldon Museum, and Middlebury’s Town Hall Theater. He has also been a board member of the Vermont/Honduras chapter of Partners of the Americas and the Vermont Professional Chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB), and a technical advisor to the University of Vermont’s EWB Student Chapter. 

Dr. David Dougherty

 David Dougherty

President, Subterranean Research, Inc., Boston, Inc.

Dave is a consultant on issues related to characterization, remediation, and assessment of groundwater and soil contamination. He recieved a B.S. in Engineering from Swarthmore College, and the next year earned an M.S. in Civil Engineering from Tufts University. His career started as an engineer with heavy construction specialty geotechnical contractor Moretrench American and its spinout engineering firm, working on and traveling to groundwater control projects across the country. Dave next attended Princeton University, where he earned a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering, with an interregnum at Dames & Moore and GeoTrans. His academic career began at the University of California Irvine. He was recruited to the University of Vermont, where he was a tenured faculty member in Civil and Environmental Engineering, with a secondary appointment in Computer Science. Dave was dissertation/research advisor to UVM’s first awarded Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering. Since 2001 he has practiced at the consultancy he co-founded.

Jennifer M. V. Fitch, P.E.

Jennifer M. V. Fitch, P.E., is  Commissioner of Buildings and General Services (BGS) at State of Vermont. She is with BGS since 2017. Jennifer began her career with the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) in the fall of 2004, serving as the Research Program Manager for the Materials and Research Section until the fall of 2011 when she became a project manager in the newly established Accelerated Bridge Program (ABP) within the Structure Section. Jennifer was promoted to lead the Project Initiation and Innovation Team (PIIT) in 2014. Prior to her work with VTrans, Jennifer was an environmental engineer for the Johnson Company providing construction oversight for a superfund site.

Jennifer has dedicated her career to continuous improvement, process efficiency, program alignment to strategic goals, heightened coordination and collaboration, and quality customer service. She graduated with a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Vermont in 2002. Jennifer received Vermont’s Young Engineer of the Year Award in 2014 and the VTrans Secretary’s Innovation Award in 2015. She is a licensed professional engineer, Lean greenbelt, and serves on the board for the Vermont Society of Engineers

Steven Keach, P.E.

 Steven Keach

Owner, Keach-Nordstrom Associates, Inc., Bedford, New Hampshire

Steven has a diversified background with over 25 years of experience in civil/site design, land use planning, transportation systems and associated local, state, and federal project permitting. His background includes experience as a member of the Merrimack, New Hampshire Planning Board and as the Town Engineer for several communities in New Hampshire. He has routinely served as lead engineer for dozens of civil/site engineering projects. He specializes in offering municipal services and has assisted various communities in the preparation of their master plans, capital improvements programs, and engineering design assignments for a wide variety of municipal projects. Steve is a proud graduate of UVM CEE (1984).

Jessica Louisos, P.E.

Jessica Louisos

Project Engineer, Water Resources at Milone & MacBroom, Inc., Waterbury, VT

Jessica has BS (2004) and MS (2006) degrees from UVM CEE. She works on a large variety of water resource projects.  Typical project goals involve river and/or water management to restore rivers or floodplains, increase aquatic organism passage, reduce flood and erosion risks, improve stormwater management, and protect or replace infrastructure.  To accomplish these projects, Jessica has developed technical skills and proficiencies with a variety of hydraulic modeling, hydrologic modeling, and mapping software.  She currently serves as the Past-President of the Vermont Section of ASCE and also serves as a Delegate representing Vermont at the Regional level and on the Vermont Engineers Week planning committee.  She is a member of the technical society the American Society of Ecological Engineering.  Jessica serves her community as Chair of the South Burlington Planning Commission.  She received the Vermont Young Engineer of the Year Award in 2013.

James B. McCarthy, P.E.

James B. McCarthy

Structures Bridge Maintenance Engineer, Vermont Agency of Transportation, Montpelier, VT

J. B. is currently the Structures Section Bridge Maintenance Engineer at VTrans. This position is responsible for the VTrans’ bridge preservation efforts on the Interstate and State Highway System. J. B. has worked for the Agency for over 37 years in a variety of capacities in the bridge engineering field including design, construction, inspection, program management, rail bridge engineering, and bridge preservation practices.  J. B. received a BS degree in Civil Engineering from UVM (1979). He is a member of ASCE and also a longtime member of the Vermont Society of Engineers.

Naomi Johnson, P.E.

Naomi Johnson

President, Dufresne Group, Springfield, Vermont

Naomi Johnson's education includes a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Vermont in Civil Engineering and an Environmental Engineering Master’s Degree, received from Montana State University. Naomi has a broad range of engineering experience, including water and wastewater treatment system design, water distribution system computerized analysis, geographic information systems (GIS) software applications and stormwater systems design.

Mark Suozzo, P.E.

Mark Suozzo

Project Engineer, KSPE Engineering, Bolton Landing, NY

Mark graduated UVM in 2011 and has worked in both Vermont and upstate New York since graduation. He is currently a member of KSPE in Bolton Landing, NY. His work primarily focuses on municipal engineering services with an emphasis on water, wastewater, and stormwater projects. He has been the lead on several innovative projects located in the Adirondacks, and in the Hudson Valley; including land-based aquaculture treatment systems, specialty enclosures for wildlife treatment centers, alternative wastewater treatment development/pilot testing, and rehabilitation of several water treatment facilities.

Kenneth Pidgeon

Kenneth Pidgeon

Owner, Engineers Construction, Inc., Williston, VT

Ken is currently the president of Engineers Construction, Inc. of Williston Vermont, a second generation family-owned heavy civil contractor. Aside from his executive duties, Ken’s leadership is focused on his vision of the future, his role as the led technical specialist, and maintaining a corporate culture of quality, safety and integrity. Ken’s company is frequently involved in various construction projects on the UVM campus.