2014 RESPEC Annual Report

Learning. Growing. Improving... Always.

2014

ANNUAL REPORT

North Carolina–In an effort to improve water quality and begin a water fund project, RESPEC modeled the Cape Fear River Watershed for The Nature Conservancy.

OUR LEADERSHIP We are committed to building a high-performance team through our collective strengths, our dedication to our clients, and our collaborative spirit.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

OFFICERS

Walter D. Jones, Lead Director* N. Douglas Fluke* Paul E. Fosdick* Todd J. Kenner Jason T. Love Alfred J. Serrano* Marvin D. Truhe*

Todd J. Kenner, CEO/President David E. Withee, Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer, and Vice President of Finance Dale R. Atkinson, Chief Information Officer Samantha L. Lapin, Senior Vice President, Information Technologies Jason T. Love, Senior Vice President, Water & Natural Resources John S. L. Morgan, Senior Vice President, Mining & Energy Kerry L. DeVries, Vice President Leo L. Van Sambeek, Vice President Karla R. Lipp, Secretary

POD, Inc. (a wholly owned subsidiary of RESPEC) BOARD OF DIRECTORS

OFFICERS

Dale R. Atkinson Walter D. Jones* Todd J. Kenner Samantha L. Lapin Alfred J. Serrano* Marvin D. Truhe*

Samantha L. Lapin, CEO/President Dale R. Atkinson, Chief Technology Officer Todd J. Kenner, Vice President David E. Withee, Treasurer Karla R. Lipp, Secretary

*External Director

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COVER PHOTO Louisiana–Working in extreme conditions, RESPEC characterized a developing sinkhole on the western flank of the Napoleonville salt dome in Louisiana for Texas Brine Co., LLC.

A MESSAGE TO OUR SHAREHOLDERS “As a 100 percent employee-owned company, RESPEC is committed to the success and professional development of our employees.”

New Horizons. We continue to broaden the interests of RESPEC, and 2014 was no exception. RESPEC’s horizons were expanded both internally and externally. Internal efforts this past year were focused on expanding employee ownership, strengthening our technology infrastructure, employee engagement, and setting a course for 2020.

Employee Ownership. Employees who have an interest in the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) increased from 54 percent to 84 percent in 2014! This was accomplished through the rollout of an ESOP 401(k) company match option and a transfer election between the 401(k) and ESOP. We are absolutely an “employee-owned” company.

Technology Infrastructure. Our efforts were focused on system integrity and scalability. Substantial improvements were made to our data protection and wide area network systems. Innovative steps were taken in the areas of a data center model and desktop computing. We shifted away from a distributed data center model, where established data centers in Rapid City, Albuquerque, and Denver housed the company’s data, and moved to a colocated data center model, where a single, external site stores our data. This centralized data center approach facilitated centralized computing and desktop capabilities. We now have the technology infrastructure in place to support the growth of the company well into the future.

Employee Engagement. We continue to explore ways to engage our employee-owners in our business. In 2014, the ESOP Committee shifted from a management centric committee to a diverse, nine-member, employee-driven committee. This committee represents the diverse geographic and demographic interests of our employee-owners. A monthly newsletter that highlights corporate, client, and employee activities was rolled out. This publication is a direct result of contributions from across the company. Our Lunch & Learn program continues to profile technical achievements from the breadth and depth of work we provide to our clients.

Vision 2020. A team of company managers developed our plan for the future. Vision 2020 presents a compelling challenge for continued growth, evolvement, and development. We will continue to build upon our 45-year history to achieve a successful and sustainable future.

Enjoy the 2014 Annual Report. It reflects the diverse talent and expertise of all of our employees!

Todd Kenner CEO/President

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GLOBAL PROJECT REACH In the past 12 months, RESPEC has provided services in 16 states and 18 countries throughout the world.

By serving our clients, we continue to expand RESPEC’s technical and geographic reach. The projects highlighted below illustrate the breadth and depth of the services delivered by our talented professionals.

RESPEC continues to evolve as a diverse, innovative consulting company that is committed to solving the global challenges faced by our clients.

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Key Projects From 2014

ER & NAT AT SOURC UR W RE ES A

1. Wetland Restoration in the Saltese Flats—Washington (Spokane County Utilities Division)

3. Watershed Modeling and Decision Planning—North Carolina (The Nature Conservancy) 4. Natural Gas Salt Cavern Evaluation—Alabama (Bay Gas Storage)

MIN ENE ING R

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INTEGRATED SOLUTIONS

2. Watershed Modeling, Restoration, Planning, and Design—Minnesota (Minnesota Pollution Control Agency)

5. Disposal Cavern Evaluation—Alberta, Canada (CNRL) 6. Field Monitoring at Mount Rushmore—South Dakota (National Park Service)

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7. Hydrogeologic Support—Singapore, Malaysia (Hyundai Engineering and Construction)

I TEC NF H

8. Natural Gas Salt Cavern Evaluation—Nova Scotia, Canada (Alton Gas Storage) 9. Hydrogeologic Plume Modeling Support —Louisiana (Innophos) 10. Natural Gas Salt Cavern Evaluation—Mississippi (PAA Natural Gas Storage) 11. Natural Gas Salt Cavern Evaluation—Veracruz, Mexico (SISA) 12. Liquid Petroleum Salt Cavern Evaluation—Utah (Magnum Energy, LLC) 13. Potash Mine Support—Saskatchewan, Canada (Mosaic)

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14. Salt Mine Support—Ohio (Cargill)

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15. Brine Cavern Evaluation—New York (Texas Brine) 16. Salt Mine Support—Kansas (Lyons Salt Company) 17. Salt Cavern Plugging and Abandonment—Texas (Chevron) 18. Lafarge Tarmac Due Diligence of Cement and Aggregate—England (CRH) 19. Technical Support to Holcim Lafarge Integration—Ireland (CRH) 20. Rochefort and Lumbres, Cement Plant and Aggregate Site Review—France (CRH) 21. Hoghiz and Medgidia, Cement Plants and Aggregate Reserves Assessment—Romania (CRH) 22. Parainen Quarry, Reserve Evaluation and Mine Planning—Finland (Finnsementti) 23. Review of Cement Plants—Brazil (CRH) 24. Karsdorf and Wossingen Due Diligence Review of Integrated Cement Plants—Germany (CRH) 25. Rohoznik and Turna Due Diligence Review of Integrated Cement Plants—Slovakia (CRH) 26. Novi Popovac Review of Integrated Cement Plant—Serbia (CRH) 27. Due Diligence Review of Four Integrated Cement Plants—Philippines (CRH) 28. Water Development Watershed Studies—Wyoming (Wyoming Watershed Development Commission) 29. Geothermal Geologic Characterization for Power Development—New Zealand (Mighty River Power) 30. Geothermal Geologic Characterization for Power Development— Columbia, South America (Dewhurst Group, LLC) 31. Collaborative Online Archive Library—Idaho (Division of Motor Vehicles) 29

32. Independent Validation & Verification—Montana (Department of Environmental Quality) 33. Motor Vehicle Data Migration—New Hampshire (Division of Motor Vehicles) 34. Cancer Screening and Tracking System Add-On—West Virginia (Department of Health and Human Resources) 35. Fleet Services Vehicle Management—New Mexico (Sandia National Laboratories Fleet Services) 36. Environmental Impact Statement—Tennessee (U.S. Office of Service Mining Reclamation and Enforcement) 37. Preparation of a Reserve Statement—Tanzania, Africa (Mamba Cement Company Ltd.) 38. Highway Drainage Design, Scour Critical Bridge Analysis, and Emergency Assistance—Colorado (Colorado Department of Transportation)

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2014 PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS RESPEC is providing our clients integrated technology and engineering solutions to solve the challenges of complex projects.

Decision Support Tools for Watershed Management

Developing Custom Tools to Interpret Model Results Watershed managers are faced with a difficult challenge of protecting and restoring surface water quality with shrinking financial resources, so it is important that they invest their financial resources where they will get the greatest return on their investment.

RESPEC developed Scenario Application Manager (SAM) to address this need. SAM is a decision support tool (DST) that combines engineering, programming, and visualization techniques into a custom product that puts the power of Hydrologic Simulation– FORTRAN (HSPF) model applications in the hands of decision makers and does not require modeling expertise.

SAM provides decision makers with a user-friendly approach to explore “what-if” scenarios that evaluate water quality changes under various conservation practices, as well as the associated costs and benefits. The tool’s framework consists of a Geographic Information System (GIS) for best management practice (BMP) site selection, a BMP database with pollutant removal efficiencies and associated costs, and the HSPF watershed model to simulate changes in water quality that result from applying user-specified BMPs. With this tool, watershed managers can leverage their knowledge and expertise of conservation practices to simulate alternative management scenarios by using the HSPF model without needing extensive knowledge of the model.

SAM

Modernizing Code to Maximize Results HSPF Code Conversion

HSPF is one of the key hydrology and water quality assessment tools that RESPEC uses. HSPF has been the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) standard tool for watershed-based assessment and planning because it is considered to be the most accurate and appropriate management tool for these purposes. While used worldwide, in the United States it is a key model used for developing complex Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) assessments and for assessing the effectiveness of restoration and protection scenarios. The HSPF code is written in FORTRAN 77, which was state-of-the-art at the time of its development; however, it has not undergone any significant update for over 30 years and is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain on current operating systems and enhance algorithms.

In addition, its ability to link with modern visualization and analysis tools is limited.

To advance this model, RESPEC invested internal research dollars to convert HSPF from FORTRAN 77 to Python, thereby increasing functionality and data validation. Part of the research development project is making HSP2 work with other tools and modeling software and providing easy compatibility with software that supports sensitivity studies, optimization, and uncertainty analysis.

Switching from the historical model of engineers and scientists who practice Information Technologies (IT) to engineers and scientists who collaborate with IT experts has resulted in incredible returns on our investments in developing HSPF tools and converting the code to a more modern language.

Scenario Application Manager

HSPF Watershed Model

CostEffective Solutions

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Watershed Practitioners

Minnesota/South Dakota–The power of watershed modeling is being put in the hands of decision makers through RESPEC’s custom-made Scenario Application Manager (SAM) tool.

The Power of Video Monitoring

Monitoring Movement and Vibration Using Video Technology RESPEC is on the frontline of an emerging measurement technology (called video monitoring) that measures movements and vibrations of structures. This unique tool provides the ability to make multiple measurements simultaneously by capturing the structure’s movement in a video and then analyzing the images in the video recording on a frame-by-frame basis. Measurements can be made to less than a millimeter, even on fullscale structures such as bridges, buildings, pit slopes, or equipment. Data processing can occur both real time (to verify the data quality in the field) and in postprocessing mode (for precise calibration of the measured displacements).

RESPEC was the first to use this technology to measure movements in the hoisting structure at a salt mine, vibrations caused by blasting in mines, deflections of a concrete pavement from heavy truck traffic, ground surface and pile movements during simulated pile driving, and drop efficiency of a hydraulic drop hammer.

Our partner for this technology is Imetrum, a software company in Bristol, England.

South Dakota–Amy DiRienzo (located in RESPEC’s Rapid City office) measures vibrations of a conveyor belt system at a limestone quarry near Rapid City.

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Streamlining Sandia National Laboratories Developing a Kiosk for Fleet Vehicle Management

Sandia National Laboratories’ (Sandia) Fleet Services has more than 2,600 vehicles, and the Fleet Services’ Customer Service Center provides monitoring, scheduling, maintaining, and purchasing services to more than 4,000 Sandia customers and multiple commercial vendors using and working on the fleet. POD (a wholly owned subsidiary of RESPEC) helped design and develop a time- and effort-saving electronic kiosk to streamline these functions. The kiosk is similar to what travelers use when checking in at airports. The old process, which used clipboards, hand-written notes on whiteboards, Excel spreadsheets, mail merges, and numerous telephone calls, took multiple people hours to perform.

Colorado–Implementing critical drainage improvements for U.S. 24 Fountain Creek and Waldo Canyon involved working closely with clients, suppliers, and contractors.

Expanding Transportation Support Providing Niche Services to State DOTs

Recent transportation infrastructure failures over the past several years have brought public attention for the need to rebuild our roads, bridges, and highways. Natural disasters, such as the flooding that occurred in Colorado in 2012, damage critical infrastructure (e.g., bridges), which exacerbates the issue.

Over the past 3 years, RESPEC has worked diligently to expand our portfolio of work with Departments of Transportation (DOT) throughout our geographic footprint. Through our efforts, we have become a preferred provider for Colorado’s DOT (CDOT) for highway drainage design, scour critical bridge analysis, and emergency assistance to plan and design mitigative response for infrastructure. Related to scour critical bridge analysis, RESPEC was recently awarded a major contract to provide services to CDOT over the next 3 years. Building on this momentum and niche service, RESPEC has been awarded new contracts with the South Dakota and New Mexico DOTs to perform scour critical bridge analysis. RESPEC was also selected to provide program support for CDOT’s Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4) permit.

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The first phase of the kiosk project was to automate the Preventive Maintenance (PM) scheduling of the 637 General Services Administration (GSA) vehicles currently leased by Sandia. The kiosk automates the Customer Dropoff, Vendor Pickup, Vendor Dropoff, and Customer Pickup processes.

The new process takes only a few minutes and greatly reduces the amount of incomplete and inaccurate data.

Albuquerque, New Mexico–Streamlining fleet management services to create an efficient and effective reservation and maintenance system.

Creating a Smooth Project Launch Independent Verification and Validation in Montana

POD is providing Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V) services for the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to convert the legacy Remediation Information Management System (RIMS) to the new Tracking Remediation and Environmental Actions Data System (TREADS). The purpose of IV&V is to provide an overall quality assurance assessment of IT project management and software product development, with a particular focus on risk. POD’s role is to ensure that the product being developed meets functionality standards and project goals through independently monitoring and testing the software. This is particularly important for a system such as TREADS, which stores large volumes of data that support a key regulatory program.

Bozeman, Montana–In an effort to restore ecology and create a new city park, RESPEC’s restoration design allows for processes to mimic natural hydrology that is necessary for a functioning riparian and wetland system.

Fill Repository

Bioengineered Bank Stabilization

Floodplain Restoration

Ditch Filling and Wetland Restoration Backwater Slough

Pond Naturalization

Restoring Ecological Functions in an Urban Environment Building the Story Mill Community Park in Bozeman, Montana The Trust for Public Land is endeavoring to create a new community park in the northeastern corner of Bozeman, Montana. The proposed 54-acre Story Mill Community Park is located at the confluence of Bozeman Creek and East Gallatin River and includes over 0.5 mile of the East Gallatin River. In the past century, the expansive riverine and wetland ecosystem was first transformed to support the Story Mill agricultural hub, including a mill and granary, stockyard, slaughterhouse, a pond, and stock pastures. Because of its unique location, this site offers a rare and remarkable opportunity to combine ecological restoration with multiple community benefits to residents and the city of Bozeman. RESPEC scientists and engineers are assisting The Trust for Public Land in planning and designing the restoration of this site. The goal of the restoration project is to “…restore and protect on-site natural processes necessary

for a functioning riparian and wetland system.” The ecosystem functions that will be improved by this project include water quality, the temporary storage of water in the spring and release of water later in the season (i.e., sponge effect), recreation and education opportunities for the Bozeman community (including Montana State University), and habitat for resident and migratory wildlife species.

A rigorous planning and stakeholder process resulted in selecting a preferred restoration alternative that will build resilience into the riverine ecosystem and help ensure river health.

Phase I of Story Mill Community Park construction was completed during fall 2014, and Phase 2 work is slated to conclude project construction in summer/fall 2015.

Bozeman, Montana–Restoration alternatives for Phase I of the Story Mills Community Park included stream bank restoration on the East Gallatin River.

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Evaluating Cement Plant Opportunities in Developing Countries Preparation of a Reserve Statement

Tanzania, Africa–Brian Groff (located in RESPEC’s Lexington office) on site with clients for exploration drilling.

Tanzania, Africa–MVS-generated Block Model viewed within Carlson Mining, colored by grade parameter.

Tennessee–Preparing an Environmental Impact Statement for the Lands Unsuitable Petition involved evaluating various surface coal operations in Tennessee similar to the operation shown below.

Rapidly developing countries require ever-increasing amounts of basic construction materials, such as cement, to keep up with growing populations and demands for housing and infrastructure. To meet such demands, Tanzanianbased Motisun Group is planning to construct the Mamba Cement Company Ltd. (MCCL), an integrated cement plant on the Tarawanda area limestone deposit in Tanzania. Construction of such a facility required the MCCL to seek additional financing from banks that require statements of mineral reserves compliant with Australian Joint Ore Reserve Committee (JORC) 2012 Code for reporting exploration results, mineral resources, and ore reserves for their investment decision making. RESPEC was contracted to provide these services, which required three members of the Kentucky office to become registered members of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration (SME) to provide such statements under JORC’s International Reciprocity of Competent Persons. RESPEC currently has four competent, qualified persons for reporting reserves in most countries.

The MCCL project proved to be one of the most thoroughly evaluated projects that RESPEC has performed. Beyond usual drillhole and geology modeling, cement plant raw mixes were evaluated as part of mine production scheduling, a thorough statistical analysis of the limestone deposit was conducted, traditional modeling techniques that were deemed unacceptable by the bankers’ technical experts required more advanced modeling techniques, and detailed mine planning beyond normal feasibility studies was completed. All of these tasks were completed in an effort to serve MCCL and receive approval from their financers. Today, the project is in the final stages of approval and full production is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2017.

Evaluating Coal Resources

Tennessee Lands Unsuitable Environmental Impact Statement The North Cumberland Wildlife Management Area and Emory River Conservation Easement (NCWMA/ERCE) is located in northeastern Tennessee adjacent to the Kentucky border. The NCWMA/ERCE constitutes approximately 172,000 acres that have unique geologic, environmental, and outdoor recreation potential.

This area also has abundant coal resources. To address these potentially competing uses, the state of Tennessee petitioned the U.S. Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE), which administers the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA), to declare these areas as unsuitable for mining.

The Morgan Worldwide division of RESPEC teamed with Louis Berger Group, Inc. and was awarded a contract with the OSMRE to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the above-mentioned Lands Unsuitable Petition.

Morgan Worldwide evaluated the coal resources for the entire NCWMA/ERCE area based on a geologic model built from drillhole and coal cropline information.

These coal resources were then analyzed, categorized, and quantified for all of the petition and nonpetition areas delineated in the six alternatives outlined in the Lands Unsuitable Petition. Mineable coal reserves were then evaluated by using economic considerations and methods of mining. An analysis of the supply and demand for coal in the NCWMA/ERCE was undertaken on a national, regional, and statewide basis.

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Montana–RESPEC completed due diligence work in 12 countries for the merger of two of the largest global mining companies including the Trident Plant in Montana.

In 2014, RESPEC provided mine engineering services for the aggregate and cement industry in 12 countries.

Due Diligence for Mining Merger Due Diligence for CRH Mining Acquisition

Two of the largest global mining companies, Lafarge and Holcim, agreed to merge in 2014. Consequently, they were required to divest assets to keep them from becoming dominant in the marketplace. CRH, a company based in Ireland, plans to acquire some of these divested assets of Lafarge and Holcim.

RESPEC’s Kentucky office worked with CRH in the due diligence associated with their purchase of the assets. Because of the purchase (valued at $7.4 billion [U.S.]), CRH became the world’s third-largest building materials supplier.

RESPEC oversaw all mining-related due diligence of aggregate operations and cement plant raw materials. RESPEC professionals worked in England, Ireland, France, Romania, Switzerland, Canada, Brazil, Germany, Slovakia, Serbia, and the Philippines. The intense weeks leading up to and during the due diligence required translators in several languages and educators from the nearby Transylvania University, and the University of Kentucky worked with staff to review records in Romanian, German, and Serbian.

Restoring the Saltese Flats Wetlands

Restoring Natural Hydrology After a Century of Change This unique project, located in the suburban Spokane, Washington, area, will restore natural hydrology to Saltese Flats (Flats). This 515-acre former lake bed historically supported a seasonal lake feature before being drained for agricultural purposes in the early 1900s.

The initial phase of the project will include reintroducing a natural hydrologic regime through the Flats as well as enhanced wetland features, open water areas, and connecting stream channels. Design considerations also include the potential future use of the site as a location to discharge reclaimed water from Spokane County’s wastewater treatment facility.

RESPEC completed a detailed analysis of the watershed by using the HEC-HMS computer model to simulate hydrologic response over a 32-year period. RESPEC’s flood hazard restudy work continues, as well as final design and permitting components of the project.

Spokane, Washington–After a century of being drained for agricultural purposes, the Saltese Flats lake bed is restored with the help of RESPEC.

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Testing the World’s Resources Improving Laboratory Testing Capabilities

The RESPEC laboratory continues to provide new and improved testing capabilities to its clients. Thermal testing equipment was added in 2014. This equipment tests thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity, and heat capacity of intact rock specimens. The equipment is already being sought out by clients, including the Department of Energy who wants to determine feasibility in using electric heaters for melting rock. Similarly, Mosaic is interested in measuring thermal properties of salt and potash in support of a ventilation study.

RESPEC contracted with the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology in 2014 to design and construct an improved direct shear testing machine for testing the strength of weak interfaces in rock.

The test system that was previously used had insufficient force capacity to adequately replicate stress conditions encountered in conventional salt and potash mines and had design deficiencies that created the potential for introducing error.

RESPEC is working in conjunction with METAROCK Laboratories to develop an acoustic system that is capable of measuring both compressional and shear wave velocities through salt and nonsalt rock during testing. The system will allow calculating the dynamic elastic constants of the rock as well as being an indicator for the onset of salt damage during testing. This will be the first instance where shear wave velocities are measured across an 8-inchlong salt specimen during testing. This system will initially be used for research projects sponsored by Sandia National Laboratories and the Solution Mining Research Institute.

Rapid City, South Dakota– RESPEC continues to develop new testing capabilities in their worldclass rock mechanics laboratory.

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Helping Minnesota Implement its Nutrient Reduction Strategy and Reduce its Impact on Downstream Waters Supporting Local, State, and International Water Quality Efforts

Because Minnesota is a headwaters state, excessive nutrients pose a significant problem not only for Minnesota’s lakes and rivers, but also downstream waters, including the Great Lakes, Lake Winnipeg, the Hudson Bay, the Mississippi River, and the Gulf of Mexico. To ensure high quality water resources in-state as well as downstream, Minnesota implemented the Water Management Framework, which outlines a 10-year cycle for assessing, restoring, and protecting surface waters.

As part of Minnesota’s Water Management Framework, RESPEC is developing HSPF applications for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) to develop a holistic watershed-scale approach for monitoring, assessing, developing TMDLs, and identifying watershed restoration and protection strategies (WRAPS). RESPEC has developed 70 percent of the HSPF model applications produced across the state including applications in watersheds draining to Lake Winnipeg, the Mississippi River, and the Gulf of Mexico.

Lake Winnipeg—RESPEC previously worked with the International Joint Commission (IJC) in the Red River of the North to develop nitrogen and phosphorus reduction targets for the Red River, which are being coordinated with nutrient objectives for Lake Winnipeg (Canada). This work involved coordinating with portions of Minnesota, North Dakota, and Manitoba. Currently, RESPEC is working with the IJC to build on the previous work and develop a stressor-response model for the Red River that will be used to investigate and describe the key relationships between excessive nutrients in the river and their ecological effects on the biota of the Red River. In addition, RESPEC recently completed an HSPF application for both the U.S. and Canadian portions of the 26,000-square-mile Lake of the Woods Basin, which is also tributary to Lake Winnipeg. In 2015, we anticipate being involved in WRAPS projects in the U.S. portion of the basin.

Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico—RESPEC developed HSPF model applications for most of the watersheds in the Upper Mississippi Basin north of the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area and currently is working on WRAPS throughout these watersheds, including the headwaters of the Mississippi River.

Additionally, we are collaborating with The Nature Conservancy to develop a project that leverages the HSPF model application and explores how the frequency, duration, and magnitude of low flows and peak flows are influenced by changing land use, forest condition and composition, and climate/changing weather patterns and the implications of these changes for water users.

As a 100 percent employee-owned company, RESPEC is committed to the success and professional development of our employees.

RESPEC’s innovative technologies that are used to reduce nutrient loadings to waterbodies of national and international significance will serve us well going into the future as we work with both public and private clients.

RESPEC works collaboratively with all stakeholders to ensure watershed protection and restoration strategies achieve success.

Northern Minnesota–Joe Pallardy (located in RESPEC’s St. Paul office) measures stream conditions in the Snake River to estimate streambank stability and erosion.

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GIVING BACK TO OUR COMMUNITIES RESPEC and its employees value the communities where we work; where we live; and where the next generation of scientists, engineers, and leaders will learn the skills necessary to meet tomorrow’s challenges.

Clark Fork River Cleanup Keeping a Resource Clean

The Clark Fork River is the hallmark of Missoula and many other towns as it winds for 310 miles through Montana and Idaho before entering the Columbia River. Pride in this resource runs deep, and each April, the Clark Fork Coalition River hosts an Annual River Cleanup event to keep this resource healthy. RESPEC staff and families from our Missoula and Helena offices, along with a thousand other volunteers, pulled an estimated 5 tons of trash from the riverbanks along 15 miles of the river before subsequent high flows carried debris and trash downstream. The event is the centerpiece of River Month, which focuses on clean water and emphasizes how each member of the community plays a role in ensuring the health of our rivers.

This event is also intended as a kick-off to Earth Week.

Montana–Members of RESPEC’s Missoula and Helena staff and their families assist in the Clark Fork River Cleanup.

Youth in Science

Demonstrating the Potential

South Dakota–Students measure nitrate concentrations in a stream sample.

Let’s face it, science can be a scary subject to try to master! Many factors lead to women being underrepresented in most fields of science. The goal of Youth In Science (YIS) is to remove some of the barriers by providing young women in grades 6–12 with engaging opportunities to learn about careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). By showcasing exciting careers and positive role models, students are encouraged to take math and sciences courses through middle and high school and eventually work in a STEM-related career. In 2014, 425 students from schools throughout the Black Hills attended YIS’s free, 1-day Women in Science Conference. RESPEC supports this effort by participating in planning and organizing the event, volunteering at the event, and donating pencils for each participant, as well as contributing funds.

Youth Hockey

Teaching Life Skills Through Sports Participating in sports offers youth the opportunity to learn essential life and social skills, including teamwork, discipline, initiative, confidence, respect, and problem solving. The Cheyenne Capitals Youth Hockey Association is dedicated to teaching these skills through the game of ice hockey to children from the ages of 4 to 18. This involves more than 200 youth from Cheyenne and the surrounding area. Since its origin in 2000, the Cheyenne Capitals Youth Hockey Association’s teams and players have represented Cheyenne in 49 cities across 19 states and 2 countries and have brought home six state championships. RESPEC sponsors the all-volunteer event to put such opportunities within reach for youth from all income levels.

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Cheyenne, Wyoming–Thank you card in appreciation of RESPEC’s sponsorship of the Cheyenne Capitals Youth Hockey Association.

OPENING DOORS... ­— To a lifetime of learning by sponsoring Starting Strong in Rapid City, which is a scholarship program that enables children from low-income households to attend high-quality preschools. ­— That remove the barriers of prejudice and provide greater opportunity by developing and delivering diversity curriculums in Minnesota and teaching English as a second language to the Mexican immigrant community in Albuquerque. ­— So that youth have better access to health and mentoring programs by founding the Pajama People Pizza Run, with 100 percent of the proceeds benefiting the First Nations Community Healthsource youth-mentoring programs in Albuquerque. ­— For all handicapped individuals to participate in outdoor winter activities by volunteering at the Black Hills annual 4-day Ski for Light event.

NOURISHING HOPE...

Punkin Chunkin

Sustaining Vibrant Communities In October, RESPEC was part of Rapid City’s effort to sustain a vibrant community by sponsoring the Punkin Chunkin event as part of a full-day celebration during the “Great Downtown Pumpkin Festival.” Students from the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology build the catapults that launch the pumpkins.

The Punkin Chunkin event is a major draw that takes place at Main Street Square in the heart of downtown. The success of the event is evident in that it creates one of the busiest Saturdays of the year and attracts over 10,000 people to the area.

­— For traumatically injured U.S. veterans and active service members from recent wars by volunteering at Warriors and Quiet Waters, which is a foundation in Montana that builds hope and resilience, facilitates camaraderie, and provides security and serenity through fly fishing and other recreational opportunities. ­— For the impoverished by collecting needed items for Joy Junction (a homeless shelter) at the Albuquerque Holiday party; distributing food provided by Sprouts Market and Community Plate to those in need through Casa de las Comunidades in Albuquerque; volunteering at a homeless shelter in Sante Fe; and sponsoring families during the holidays through the Watson’s Children’s Shelter and YWCA in Montana. ­— For children undergoing medical challenges by volunteering at the Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, through Project Sunshine.

SUSTAINING NATURE... ­— Through studying grizzly bear range and population by collecting bear hair across a 15-station network to support the Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks and U.S. Geological Survey joint grizzly bear study in the Helena National Forest. ­— By assisting in creating a permanent wildlife habitat in southwestern Minnesota through the Pheasants Forever Worthington Wells Project, which also protects the vulnerable groundwater of Worthington, Minnesota, from being contaminated by pollution. ­— By conducting a winter tracking study to document the presence of rare predators, such as wolverine and lynx, in the Helena National Forest through Montana Wilderness Association volunteer efforts.

LENDING A HAND... ­— To clean up Storybook Island (a free children’s theme park in Rapid City) as part of the United Way Day of Caring. ­— In an emergency as a volunteer firefighter and emergency medical technician in Bozeman. ­ — Through volunteer efforts, including teaching adventure camps in Missoula, mentoring young professionals in Minnesota through Engineers Without Borders, judging at the Hill City All School Science Fair, and volunteering at STEM events in Minnesota and South Dakota. ­— To many nonprofits as board members of organizations, such as Youth in Science (Rapid City), Board of Trustees of Mount Marty College (Rapid City), Habitat for Humanity (Albuquerque), United Way (Rapid City), Blue Earth County Soil and Water Conservation District (Minnesota), Engineers Without Borders professionals (Minnesota), Minnesota Association of Floodplain Managers, SDSM&T Alumni Board of Directors, Western South Dakota Hydrology Conference, Helena Hunters and Anglers Association, Montana Association of Geographic Information Professionals, and the Association of Montana Floodplain Managers.

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Learning. Growing. Improving... Always.

OFFICE LOCATIONS

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