Michael D. Baker - michael@michaeldbaker.com

Michael founded MDB in 2000. Throughout his over 25-year career, Michael has provided strategic-communications and management-consulting services to many federal agencies, private foundations, and Fortune 50 companies. Michael was the Managing Partner at The Widmeyer-Baker Group, a company that he helped to establish in 1987 and that grew to become Washington, DC’s largest privately held communications firm.

Michael serves as President and COO of MDB, providing leadership to position the company at the forefront of the industry. He oversees company operations and promotes revenue, profitability and growth as an organization.

Elmer Akin - eakin@michaeldbaker.com

Elmer has over 30 years of experience in technical research in the areas of microbiology, toxicology, and risk assessment. He served 14 years at EPA’s Office of Research and Development Laboratory (Cincinnati, OH) in the Microbiology and Toxicology Division, which he directed. Elmer then worked for 16 years as a technical risk assessor for EPA Region 4’s Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and Superfund programs in the capacity of Chief, Office of Technical Services, Waste Management Division.

Elmer serves as a Senior Scientist at MDB, providing technical expertise for clients including NIEHS and EPA.

Maureen Avakian - mavakian@michaeldbaker.com

Maureen has more than 20 years of experience providing a broad range of communications support to environmental-research organizations. Maureen has held science writing, data analysis, and management positions at firms conducting research in the areas of pesticide safety, air-pollution monitoring and regulatory support, and human and environmental health. She has coordinated the development of online content and has written peer-reviewed journal articles, review documents, plain English guidance documents, technical reports, standard operating procedures for laboratory and data-reporting procedures, and proceedings reports for technical meetings and peer-review workshops.

Maureen serves as a Senior Consultant and Program Manager for MDB’s contracts with the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences’ Superfund Research Program (SRP), and Science and Research Program Support (SaRPS).

Mike Carter - mcarter@michaeldbaker.com

Mike is a nationally recognized expert in quality-assurance systems and in the collection and use of environmental data to support critical decisions on compliance and environmental cleanup. Prior to Mike’s employment at MDB, he spent 38 years with the federal government at EPA and the Departments of Defense and Energy, retiring in 2007. He also worked in the private sector in the capacity of Laboratory Technical Director in Saudi Arabia.

Mike serves as a Senior Scientist at MDB working in the areas of exposure and cumulative risk assessment.

Michael Callahan - mcallahan@michaeldbaker.com

Michael is a former Senior Executive with the EPA. With more than 40 years of experience with the federal government, he has spent the past 30 years in the fields of exposure and risk assessment. While at EPA, Michael was a science program manager in three of the agency’s major programs: water, toxic substances, and research and development. Mr. Callahan also headed exposure-assessment organizations in each program. His most recent EPA position, prior to his retirement, was as a senior science advisor to the Regional Administrator in Dallas, TX.

Mike serves as a Senior Scientist at MDB working in the areas of exposure and cumulative risk assessment.

Bruce Engelbert - bengelbert@michaeldbaker.com

Bruce has over 30 years of experience in hazardous waste, Superfund and emergency response issues at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Energy (DOE) and the President’s Council on Environmental Quality. At EPA, he served as the Chief of the Response Operations Branch where he led EPA’s emergency response activities across the U.S. He has served on EPA’s National Incident Coordination Team and the Federal Catastrophic Disaster Response Group where he helped coordinate responses to the Exxon Valdez oil spill and Loma Prieta earthquake. Bruce is also a State of Virginia-certified mentor mediator and has mediated over 100 community, consumer and employment cases.

Bruce serves as a Senior Facilitator, helping clients and stakeholders work together effectively and deal constructively with differences and disputes. Bruce works with multiple EPA offices, including the Office of Wastewater Management (OWM).

Tim Fields - tfields@michaeldbaker.com

Tim has almost 40 years of experience addressing environmental-site assessment, cleanup, waste management, and environmental-justice issues, including 30 years at the EPA. While at EPA, Tim served for four years as Assistant Administrator for the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER), where he directed an annual budget in excess of $2 billion and a staff of more than 4,000. He has chaired multiple EPA advisory panels, including the Federal Facilities Environmental Restoration Dialogue Committee (FFERDC), the National Human Resources Council, and the OSWER Environmental Justice Task Force, where he led the development of an environmental-justice strategy for Superfund, solid- and hazardous-waste management, Brownfields, and underground storage-tank programs. He is experienced in developing and implementing RCRA and Superfund reform measures and in mediating complex environmental-justice lawsuits. Tim has received multiple President Rank Awards for Meritorious and Distinguished Executive Service and has been recognized by Virginia Tech as one of the "Top 100 Alumni of the Millennium."

Tim serves as a Senior Vice President heading MDB’s Environmental Justice practice. He is an expert mediator/facilitator, and serves as an expert witness on environmental cleanup and waste management matters.

Linda Garczynski - lgarczynski@michaeldbaker.com

Linda is a former member of EPA’s Senior Executive Service and a 30-year veteran of the EPA. She served in a variety of positions, including Director of EPA’s Office of Brownfields and Redevelopment since its inception in 1995. Brownfields is the only EPA program ever to win the prestigious Innovations in Government award from the Council for Excellence in Government and Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

Paige Peck - ppeck@michaeldbaker.com

Paige is a former contracting official and resources-management expert at EPA. She has over 33 years of experience at the federal level in a wide spectrum of resources-management functions. Paige’s background includes over 25 years of work as a Contracting Officer and senior-level manager of contracting staff. She also served as Associate Director of the Resources Management Division in the Superfund Program before retiring in 2007.

Paige serves as Senior Consultant and Contract Administrator. She provides advice and support on all of MDB’s Government and Commercial contracts, ensuring compliance with all contractual terms and conditions.

Larry Reed - lreed@michaeldbaker.com

Larry has 30 years of experience in environmental policy, public health, and science policy. Prior to joining MDB, he served as Deputy Director and Acting Office Director of EPA’s Superfund Program in Washington, DC before retiring from the Senior Executive Service in 2004. He also served as manager in two EPA regional offices and the Offices of Water Enforcement, Toxic Substances, Planning and Evaluation, and Research and Development.

Larry serves as Director of MDB’s North Carolina office and Senior Program Manager for multiple EPA contracts. He directs projects that provide asset-management analytic support for EPA’s Office of Water; provides analytic and IT expertise for the Federal Facilities Restoration and Reuse Office, the Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery, and others; develops performance measures for EPA’s Office of Environmental Information; and supports development of an updated OSWER Quality Management Plan.

Manfred Stanfield - mstanfield@michaeldbaker.com

Manfred has more than 12 years of experience designing, developing, implementing, and maintaining dynamic, enterprise-class Web-based applications and AJAX applications that connect to Oracle, MySQL, and Microsoft SQL Server database engines. Mr. Stanfield is a Microsoft Certified System Engineer (MCSE) and Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT) and has taught Microsoft Official Curricula for Windows NT/2000 System Administration, Core Technology, TCP/IP, and IIS for over four years. He has set up and administered Oracle, MySQL, Microsoft SQL, Windows servers, DNS, and e-mail servers.

Manfred is responsible for designing, developing, implementing and maintaining the dynamic, Oracle-driven web sites of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences’ Superfund Research Program (SRP) and Worker Education and Training Program (WETP).

Deborah Weinstock - dweinstock@michaeldbaker.com

Deborah is a national occupational and environmental safety and health leader with over 15 years of experience designing and directing public-health campaigns. Prior to joining MDB, she was a safety and health specialist in the AFL-CIO Department of Occupational Safety and Health. Ms. Weinstock has experience overseeing programs and projects with a variety of government agencies and departments, including the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

Deborah serves as the MDB DC Office Director overseeing DC office operations and ensuring efficiency, quality, service, and cost-effective management of resources. She also serves as Director of the National Clearinghouse for Worker Safety and Health Training, which is the national resource for hazardous waste worker curricula, technical reports, and weekly news on hazardous materials, waste operations and emergency response. Deborah is the project manager for contracts with EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice and National Center for Environmental Research (NCER).