About Us
At the core of the LID Center's beginnging was a major retrofit project managed by the city of Puyallup, by and through grant funding from the Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) in combination with WSU in-kind staff time. This project involved the coordinated efforts of many departments, programs, businesses and individuals. Read about the project partners below.
The LID Center now operates under the direction of LID Center Director Curtis Hinman. As part of information-sharing efforts, the research from the LID Center is transferred to the Washington Stormwater Center (WSC) which serves as an information clearinghouse for stormwater technology, information, and permittee assistance. For information on the WSC, click here.
Project Partners
Ralph Dannenberg
Project Co-manager, City of Puyallup City Manager
Jim Morrow
Project Co-manager, City of Puyallup Director of Public Works
Mark Higginson
Project Co-manager, City of Puyallup Civil Engineer
Mark Higginson is the Civil Engineer at the City of Puyallup responsible for stormwater management. He develops and manages stormwater project designs, prepares specifications, supervises field inspectors, and coordinates permit requirements. He is responsible for the review and approval of private and public stormwater facilities within the City. Prior to his service with the City, Higginson worked as a construction manager actively managing subcontracts, project schedules, and contract documentation. He has extensive experience working with project team members including owners, engineers, architects, and contractors. Projects include the Washington State Legislative Building Rehabilitation-Olympia; 30-story Elliot Grand Hyatt-Seattle; SeaTac Parking Garage Expansion-SeaTac; Fort Lewis Whole Barracks Renewal and Battalion Barracks Renewal-Fort Lewis, Boeing 777 Expansion-Everett as well as others. He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering from Oregon State University.
John Stark
Project Co-manager, WSU Puyallup Research and Extension Director
John Stark is an ecotoxicologist who specializes in ecological risk assessment of threatened and endangered species. He runs the WSU Salmon toxicology research laboratory and has recently started work on the effects of pesticides on endangered butterfly species. Stark is also a population modeler and has developed population-level risk assessments based on matrix models and differential equation models. more
Curtis Hinman
Project Co-manager, WSU Faculty and LID Research Program Director
Curtis Hinman is Associate Professor with Washington State University Extension and Adjunct Faculty with WSU Department of Natural Resource Sciences. He directs water resource programs for WSU Extension in Pierce County to protect water quality and aquatic habitat in Puget Sound basin. Hinman is the author of the "Low Impact Development Technical Guidance Manual for Puget Sound" and the "Rain Garden Handbook for Western Washington Homeowners". He is researching, designing and monitoring various low impact development strategies applicable in western Washington, as well as serving on advisory committees that develop regional stormwater management policy and identify funding and research needs. Hinman earned a B.S. degree in Environmental Policy Analysis and Planning (specializing in lake ecology and water resource management) from University of California Davis. He holds a Masters of Science degree with a concentration in stream ecology and watershed management from the Yale University.
Craig Cogger
Project Collaborator, WSU Faculty, Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, specializing in soil sciences and organic agriculture
Rita L. Hummel
Project Collaborator, WSU Faculty, Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, specializing in Environmental Horticulture
Rita L. Hummel is an Associate Professor in the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture at Washington State University-Puyallup. She is part of the project design/implementation team for bioretention areas. She has a Bachelor's degree in Botany and Horticulture, and Master's and Ph.D. degrees in Horticulture from the University of Minnesota. Hummel specializes in research and teaching in Environmental Horticulture with emphasis on the improvement of cultural practices for the production and landscape establishment of nursery and greenhouse plants. Her program also emphasizes research in the areas of new plant development, cold hardiness physiology and strategies for producing structurally sound root systems in woody plants. Before coming to WSU in 1985, she taught courses on landscape management, plant materials and residential landscape horticulture at the University of Florida and the University of Minnesota. Hummel is on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Environmental Horticulture, is a member of the Scientist Advisory Panel for the American Nursery and Landscape Association's Horticulture Research Institute and has numerous publications in the scientific literature. She served as the President of the Landscape Plant Development Center from 1991 to 1997, is currently a member of the UDSA United States Plant Hardiness Zone Map Technical Review Team and has been an Honorary Member of the Washington state Nursery and Landscape Association since 1988. In addition, she participates in extension and public outreach activities related to her research by speaking to grower groups, presenting seminars, and contributing articles to extension and trade publications.
Eric Miltner
Project Collaborator, WSU Faculty, Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, specializing in turfgrass and environment interactions
Eric Miltner is an Associate Research Agronomist, specializing in turfgrass/environment interactions. He is part of the project design/implementation team for bioretention cell specifications and construction, and will conduct water quality monitoring in the cells and subsequent analysis of bioretention cell construction. He will also help select construction variables (infill mixes and grass species) and coordinate the evaluation of performance. Previous experience includes monitoring bioretention cells and bioswales for effectiveness in filtering fertilizer nutrients, and monitoring runoff of fertilizers and pesticides into salmon-bearing streams in urban environments. He has designed and evaluated seeding mixtures for reduced input golf course maintenance, and conducts research in organic fertilizer use in turf. Miltner has a Ph.D. in Crop Science from Michigan State University, and M.S. and B.S. degrees in Agronomy from the University of Georgia.
Andrew I. Bary
Project Collaborator, Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, specializing in soils in agricultural and urban areas
Andrew Bary is a Senior Assistant Scientist, specializing in the measurement of soil and crop response in agricultural and urban settings with emphasis on soil chemical and physical properties and on organic nitrogen mineralization. He has an A.A.S. from Alfred Agricultural and Technical College in Agronomy and Environmental Protection, a Bachelor's degree in Plant Science from the University of Idaho and an M.S. in Agronomy from Washington State University. He has published 17 refereed journal articles, four extension publications, and 30 other publications and received awards from the American Society of Agronomy for Educational Materials and the Washington Organic Recycling Council for Achievement in the Field of Recycling Research. Bary conducts research related to grant funded activities in agricultural utilization of different waste products including biosolids, composts and animal wastes. His additional relevant responsibilities include the development, design, and preparation of grant proposals, management of grant budgets, statistical analyses, and supervision of field and time-slip personnel. He communicates with grantors regarding progress and prepares abstracts, posters, manuscript drafts and reports to granting agencies. Bary also conducts outreach and education to other faculty and the public.
Dory Clausnitzer
Project On-site Operations Manager, WSU Puyallup Research and Extension Facilities Services Manager
Dory Clausnitzer is the Facilities Service Manager at the WSU Puyallup Research and Extension Center and brings over 30 years of experience in construction and the trades to the Project Team. He has also spent over five years as a General Contractor in both residential and light commercial construction. He has worked at the Puyallup Center for 26 years and is familiar with the WSU site and the existing stormwater system. Clausnitzer possesses extensive knowledge of interpreting blueprints, the bidding process, working with engineers, contractors and permitting procedures. He supervises a staff of twelve highly skilled and competent members of the WSU Puyallup Facilities Maintenance Operations Team who have the skills to install, maintain, and sustain major portions of this retrofit using Low Impact Development technologies.
Dick Johnson
Project On-site Water Systems Specialist, WSU Puyallup Research and Extension Construction and Maintenance
Dick Johnson is the WSU Puyallup Construction and Maintenance Project Specialist, specializing in plumbing and flow systems. Johnson has 30 years of experience in the plumbing trades including: public water systems; septic systems, well drilling; metal trades pipefitting; residential and commercial plumbing systems; steam fitting. He is actively involved in setting up and maintaining monitoring and analysis work at the Puyallup Center, including farm water and manure irrigation system design, construction, maintenance, laboratory equipment installation and maintenance with sensitivity to research methods. Johnson has demonstrated ability in the practice of campus sustainability in building maintenance technologies with economical application in heating and plumbing; implementing, installing, maintaining and testing backflow prevention, building "Rain Gardens" for demonstration of a roof rainwater detention system and using porous asphalt in a current project.
Steve Potratz
Project University-relations Advisor, WSU University Project Advisor
TanyaLee Erwin
Project Coordinator, WSU Faculty, Research Associate
Tanyalee Erwin is a recent Masters of Science graduate from Washington State University. She focuses on sustainability in communities and natural resource management. She holds a B.S. in Environmental Science from the University of Washington, a B.A. in Economics/Urban Planning from Northwestern University and an M.B.A in Marketing and Management from Pacific Lutheran University. Prior to joining the Director's office at the Puyallup Center, she managed alternate delivery, administration, information systems and customer service departments at The News Tribune. Erwin is a published writer and has been active in developing wetlands restoration, sustainability and climate change initiatives and programs for WSU.
LID Center Management
Director
Curtis Hinman
chinman@cahnrs.wsu.edu
Curtis Hinman is Associate Professor with Washington State University Extension and Adjunct Faculty with WSU Department of Natural Resource Sciences. He directs water resource programs for WSU Extension in Pierce County to protect water quality and aquatic habitat in Puget Sound basin. more
Co-Director
- currently un-filled -