Aaron Kalberer Joins Houston Engineering

Aaron Kalberer has joined Houston Engineering’s Fargo office as a CADD technician. He is a native of Detroit Lakes, Minn. and graduated from Detroit Lakes Technical College with his associate’s degree in civil technology.

Welcome Aaron!

Thomas Eskro Joins Houston Engineering

Thomas Eskro, EI, has joined Houston Engineering’s Fargo office as civil engineer working in water resources. He is a native of Andover, Minn. and graduated from North Dakota State University this spring with his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. Thomas had previous internships with Anoka County Highway Department and Bolton & Menk, Inc.

Welcome Thomas!

Jacob Wognum Joins Houston Engineering

Jacob Wognum, EI, has joined Houston Engineering’s Fargo office as a civil engineer working in water resources. He is a native of Ely, Minn. and graduated from North Dakota State University this spring with his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. Jacob previously worked the past two summers at Houston Engineering.

Welcome Jacob!

Kara Orcutt Joins Houston Engineering

Kara Orcutt has joined Houston Engineering’s Fargo office as a proposal coordinator. She is a native of Steele, N.D. and graduated from Minnesota State University of Moorhead with her Bachelor of Science in mass communications. Kara has three years of previous proposal coordinating experience.

Welcome Kara!

Bismarck Office Competes for Corporate Cup

On April 20, the Houston Engineering Bismarck office stayed up pass their bedtime to compete in the Bismarck-Mandan Chamber’s Corporate Cup event at the YMCA. The event promotes health and wellness among area businesses and raises money towards the United Way and YMCA Strong Kids program.

The event featured several fun activities, including: wild trivia, tug-of-war (we dominated at this!), wacky races and relay, dodgeball, and talent competition (thank you Alan for the wonderful rendition of “Ring of Fire”).

Everyone had a blast showing off their athletic abilities and raising money for a good cause.

Possible Grant Fund for Klamath River Basin Water Management

Dr. Nancy Bellers-Sims, program manager for the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Sectoral Application Research Program (SARP) recently notified Dr. Mark Deutschman of Houston Engineering, Inc., a co-principal investigator, of the intention to fund the grant proposal titled, From Fisheries Manager to Family Farmer:  Improved Products for Communicating Water Supply and Drought Risk for Daily Decision Making within the Klamath River Basin, California and Oregon, USA.

The grant funded in the amount of nearly $230,000 is focused on the Klamath Basin located in southern Oregon and northern California. The goal is to achieve better understanding of how water supply forecasts are used by stakeholders in the Klamath Basin. Although daily decisions rely upon and use the forecasts issued by the Natural Resources Conservation Service and the National Weather Service, there is a general lack of understanding within these agencies about how their information is used by the broader stakeholder community for decision making and how the uncertainty associated with the forecasts is related to decision risk. The problems recognized by this research are developing the information necessary to address the lack of knowledge about water supply forecasts, and developing products that address the use of these forecasts for water supply and drought related decision making.

Mr. Robert Hartman of the National Weather Service California-Nevada River Forecast Center; Dr. David Garen of the Natural Resources Conservation Service of the National Water and Climate Center; Ms. Lani Hickey, natural resource manager at Klamath County Public Works; and Dr. Stephanie Johnson of Houston Engineering, Inc. are also principal investigators.

The project includes collaboration with and participation from many individuals including: Dr. Willie Riggs, director of the Oregon State Agricultural Experiment Station in Klamath Falls, OR; Mr. Greg Addington, executive director of the Klamath Water Users Association; Mr. Hollie Cannon, executive director of the Klamath Water and Power Agency; Mr. Jim Simondet, Klamath supervisor/coordinator, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service – SW Region; Mr. Jason Phillips, area office manager, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation; and Mr. Ron Cole, refuge manager of Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuges. The research is expected to begin in August of 2012.