Jarrod Bell, Director, Division of Enforcement, Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection
Jarrod has over 30 years of experience with the Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection starting as a waste inspector in the fall of 1991.  Program experience includes air and waste inspections, compliance, enforcement, and permitting.  He was appointed as Director in August. Prior to this post he served as the branch manager of the Division for Air Quality Field Operations Branch where he led the day-to-day operations of 65 field staff across 8 regional offices. He has also worked for the Division of Waste Management in the hazardous waste, UST, and DOE Oversight programs, served as a technical and regulatory advisor to the air Director, made many presentations on a variety of compliance issues, and supervised the DAQ Frankfort Regional Office. Jarrod is originally from Somerset, KY, received his BA from Western Kentucky University, and his JD from the Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville.

Bethany Boehl, Environmental Consultant, Trinity Consultants, Inc.
Ms. Boehl (formerly Ms. Caspersz) is a Consultant in Trinity’s Kentucky office. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of Cincinnati.  Ms. Boehl’s experience with Trinity includes permitting and regulatory compliance projects in Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia, and Wisconsin among several other states. Recently, her experience has been primarily focused on National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) and New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) compliance for the chemical industry. Ms. Boehl has gained experience in a variety of other industries, such as primary aluminum manufacturing, engineered wood products industry, food and beverage, telecommunications, paper coating, fabricated metal, printing manufacturing.

Ben Browning, Staff Scientist, Terracon Consultants 
Mr. Browning has over four years' experience in the environmental field. He's currently working as a Staff Scientist for Terracon Consultants Inc. performing Waters of the U.S. Delineations, Threatened and Endangered Species Habitat Assessments, NEPA evaluations and documentation, and digital siting and routing for a variety of clients. He previously worked in the stream and wetland mitigation banking sector where he restored streams and wetlands throughout Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Ohio. His other experience includes wetland and stream delineation, restoration design, geomorphological surveying, construction observation, habitat surveys, mitigation crediting/debiting calculations, vegetation surveys, water quality assessments, GIS mapping/analysis, and aquatic macroinvertebrate sampling and identification.

Jennifer Cave, Esq., Attorney, Stites & Harbison PLLC
Jennifer Cave has over 20 years of experience working as an environmental consultant and attorney across the United States. As a member of the firm's Environmental, Natural Resources & Energy Service Group, she works closely with businesses to ensure compliance with local, state, and federal environmental laws and regulations. Ms. Cave advises clients on air quality, storm water, wastewater, and solid and hazardous waste permitting and compliance requirements and defends clients in administrative, civil, and criminal enforcement actions. Ms. Cave also regularly counsels equipment manufacturers on the importation and sale of mobile sources under the Clean Air Act and guides clients through transactions involving the purchase and sale of contaminated properties.

Ricardo Federico, PG, CHMM, CMQ/OE, Associate Principal, EnSafe Inc.
Ric is an environmental consultant with EnSafe where he serves as an Associate Principal and corporate Quality Manager.  Ric’s practice specialties include soil and groundwater investigation & remediation; merger and acquisition support including environmental site assessment and due diligence; and vapor intrusion assessment. He has over 30 years of experience helping industrial, commercial, governmental, and non-profit clients navigate the environmental regulatory landscape.

Sarah Gaddis, P.G., Director, Division of Water, Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection
Sarah Jon Gaddis most recently served as the Interim Director of the Division of Water. Previously, she served as Senior Environmental Consultant in the Division of Water. Earlier she was the Branch Manager of DOW’s Compliance and Technical Assistance Branch which included statewide field operations and much of Kentucky’s drinking water program. Originally from Somerset, Kentucky, Sarah has a B.S. in Geology from Morehead State University, an M.S. in Geology from Miami University and is a registered professional geologist.

Nicole Galavotti, PE, Principal/Sr. Environmental Engineer, Shield Environmental Associates, Inc.
Mrs. Galavotti has accrued 25 years of experience in the environmental field in both an industrial manufacturing setting and as a consultant assisting industries. After graduating from ESF at Syracuse University, Mrs. Galavotti was responsible for the environmental department at three industrial sites for a Fortune 500 company and handled the regulatory affairs and on-site compliance issues.  Due to the multiple relocations and eagerness to work with different manufacturing operations, Mrs. Galavotti decided to work in the environmental consulting field.  As the vice-president and the leader of the Industrial Compliance Group at Shield Environmental, she is intimately familiar with multimedia permitting issues and real-world application of designs.  This intimate knowledge of how manufacturers operate allows for the identification of regulatory and compliance issues.  Coupled with over 20 years of working with Kentucky regulators and inspectors, she has become a trusted name in the industrial compliance field.

Ken Gish, Member, Stites & Harbison, PLLC 
Ken is a renewable energy, energy regulatory, and sustainability lawyer in the Lexington office of Stites & Harbison, PLLC. Ken is a member of the Environmental, Natural Resources and Energy Service Group and Business & Finance Service Group where he assists corporate and institutional clients in meeting sustainability goals through renewable energy purchases. Ken also advises clients in the energy industry, routinely representing the firm’s utility clients in matters before the Kentucky Public Service Commission, as well as assisting renewable energy developers in all aspects of project development including negotiating offtake agreements, permitting, and financing transactions. He counsels the firm’s clients in all stages of the permitting process from application to appeals before administrative bodies and in state and federal courts. Ken also assists clients in managing regulatory compliance matters arising from federal, state, and local laws.  Ken previously practiced in the Charlotte and Seattle offices of K&L Gates, LLP. Prior to entering law school, Ken served as a watch and division officer on USS San Juan (SSN-751), a nuclear-powered fast attack submarine.

Rebecca Goodman, Secretary, Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet
Rebecca Goodman was appointed as the state’s top environmental officer in December 2019 by Governor Andy Beshear.  Secretary Goodman has spent more than four decades in service to the Commonwealth.  She most recently advocated on behalf of Kentucky utility ratepayers as the executive director of the Office of Rate Intervention within the Office of the Attorney General.  Through her work on both state and federal cases, Secretary Goodman regularly dealt with social and environmental justice issues that frequently involved low income, disadvantaged and residential customer needs. She has served as general counsel for the Kentucky Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, the Kentucky Executive Branch Ethics Commission and the Kentucky Electric Generation and Transmission Siting Board. Secretary Goodman also has served as the executive director of the Office of Legal Services at the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet after beginning her career as a staff attorney for the Kentucky Public Service Commission.  Secretary Goodman earned her Juris Doctor from Salmon P. Chase College of Law, and her Bachelor of Science, Business Administration, Magna Cum Laude, from Kentucky State University.

Tony Hatton, Commissioner, Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection
Mr. Hatton is Commissioner of the Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection. Mr. Hatton has held a variety of positions in the public and private sector, including key positions overseeing environmental cleanups at Superfund, Department of Defense and Department of Energy sites. He holds a Master of Science in geology from Eastern Kentucky University.

Michael Kennedy, PE, Director, Division for Air Quality, Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection
Michael Kennedy became the Director, Division of Air Quality in April 2022. Michael previously served as the manager for DAQ’s Permit Review Branch in March 2019.  He has been with the Energy and Environment Cabinet since 2009.  In that time, he also worked for DAQ’s source sampling and the Cabinet’s Office of Energy Policy.  Prior to working for the Division for Air Quality, he worked in the private sector as an engineer for a small but diverse manufacturing company located in his hometown of Manchester, Kentucky. Michael graduated from the University of Kentucky with a bachelor’s degree in Bio-systems and Agricultural Engineering.  He holds a PE in environmental engineering. He lives in Lexington with his wife, Heather, three daughters, and a son.

Clay Larkin, Partner, Dentons 
Clay is a partner in the Lexington office. Recognized in the fields of Environmental and Energy & Natural Resources Law by Chambers and Super Lawyers magazine, Clay has devoted a significant amount of his practice to representation of energy clients in the coal, oil and gas and electricity generation industries. Clay also regularly represents clients in environmental litigation and compliance counseling matters under SMCRA, the Clean Water Act and other environmental statutes, and also has experience in general litigation and transactional matters in the energy and natural resources field.

John Lyons, Deputy Secretary, Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet
Mr. Lyons’ entire 33-year career has been spent with the Energy and Environment Cabinet.  A graduate of the Morehead State University Environmental Science program, he began his lifelong passion for everything outdoors with an entry level position with the Kentucky Division of Water in the spring of 1989.  Since that time, John has served five different governors, holding various leadership positions that include Air Quality Director, Deputy Executive Director for the Public Service Commission, Deputy Commissioner for the Department for Environmental Protection and most recently being appointed by Governor Andy Beshear to Deputy Secretary of the Cabinet in August 2020.  In addition to various policy making and administrative duties, Mr. Lyons’ strong background as a scientist is an invaluable asset in dealing with the hundreds of day-to-day issues that face the Cabinet’s 1300 employees. Over the years, John has been a member of various boards, workgroups and task forces and has made numerous presentations on a variety of energy and environmental issues throughout the state and nation.  His prior work at the state and national level has helped shape the regulatory landscape on variety of public, environmental and energy policies. He currently serves as proxy board member for Secretary Rebecca Goodman on the Kentucky River Authority and the Electric Generation and Transmission Siting Board, proxy commissioner for Lt. Governor Jacqueline Coleman on the Ohio River Sanitation Commission and Kentucky representative on the Gulf Hypoxia Task Force.

Brandon May, Environmental Scientist Consultant, Division of Waste Management, Department of Environmental Protection
Brandon May has a BS in Biology and MS in Environmental Science and worked as a USDA research scientist in the university network prior to settling in as a regulator for the Kentucky Department of Environmental Protection. At KDEP Brandon spent five years as a NPDES permit writer and state pretreatment coordinator for the Division of Water before moving to the Division of Waste Management where he has been the state consultant for Kentucky's RCRA Hazardous Waste program, since 2018. He lives in Frankfort, Kentucky with his wife and three sons.

Monica Murphy, E.I.T., Project Engineer, Shield Environmental Associates, Inc.
Ms. Murphy works as a Project Engineer specializing in Industrial Compliance. She has five years of experience in environmental engineering both as a regulator and as a consultant. She has experience in air emissions, hazardous waste, and stormwater. Prior to working for Shield, Ms. Murphy spent two years working for the Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection (KDEP) in the Division of Waste Management. As a KDEP permit writer, she gained experience with RCRA and hazardous waste environmental regulations.

Brian Osterman, Director, Division of Waste Management, Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection
Brian Osterman is the Director of the Division of Waste Management. Prior to this post, he served as the the Director of the Division of Enforcement. Previously, he was the  branch manager of the Division of Waste Management Field Operations Branch where he led the day-to-day operations of over 80 field staff across 10 regional offices. He started his career in 2009 with the Division of Waste Management in the Underground Storage Tank Branch. He later served that division as a field inspector and environmental scientist. He received a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from the University of Kentucky. Brian is originally from the Waynesburg, KY, but now resides in Frankfort with his wife Stefanie and their two sons.

Kate Shanks, Senior Vice President, Public Affairs, Kentucky Chamber
Kate Shanks is Senior Vice President of Public Affairs for the Kentucky Chamber. She has been with the Chamber since 2015 and focuses her work on energy, environment, small business, and competitiveness issues. She is a lifelong resident of Kentucky and earned both a Bachelor of Science in Natural Resource Conservation and Management and a Master of Public Administration from the University of Kentucky. Prior to joining the Chamber, Kate spent 12 years working for state agencies focused on energy and environmental policy and regulation and has held multiple positions relating to communications, outreach, policy analysis and design, and legislative affairs.

Joye Beth Spinks, Attorney, English, Lucas, Priest & Owlsley, LLP
Joye Beth Spinks is an environmental law Associate Attorney at English, Lucas, Priest & Owsley, LLP in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Joye Beth helps corporate clients in various industries including water treatment, agriculture, aluminum processing, scrap metal recycling, and food processing. Joye Beth advises clients on permitting, compliance, and enforcement issues under the Clean Water Act; Clean Air Act; Resource Conservation and Recovery Act; and Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act or Superfund; as well as state environmental programs. Joye Beth has helped conduct and communicate findings and recommendations of environmental compliance audits for clients under the Federal Risk Management Program. Joye Beth also regularly practices in civil litigation and advises clients in local zoning and land use matters. Joye Beth taught high school environmental science for four years prior to becoming an attorney.

Bradley Strait, Managing Associate, Dentons
Bradley is an associate in the Environment and Natural Resources practice. His practice consists of aiding clients in a variety of environmental law related issues including permitting and regulatory compliance matters under federal, state and local laws, as well as transactional due diligence.

Kenya Stump, Executive Director, Kentucky - Office of Energy Policy 
Kenya Stump was appointed as the Executive Director of the Kentucky Office of Energy Policy in March of 2020. Prior to that, Kenya served as Assistant Director for the Division of Energy Assistance within the Office of Energy Policy. Before her work in energy, Kenya managed the environmental assistance programs at the Cabinet including environmental leadership, brownfields, and compliance assistance with the Division of Compliance Assistance. She also served as environmental scientist and policy advisor for the Director’s Office at the Division for Air Quality. Prior to moving to state government in Frankfort, she served as an environmental consultant with the Kentucky Business Environmental Assistance Program at the University of Kentucky. Kenya has master’s degrees in environmental science and public administration from Indiana University and the University of Kentucky, respectively. She also holds a post-graduate certificate in Environmental Systems and graduated from Western Kentucky University with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry.

Abby Terry, PE, Environmental Engineer / Project Manager, Tetra Tech
Mrs. Terry is a project manager and environmental engineer with Tetra Tech working on various environmental and sustainability efforts.