Valerie A. Flory, P.E. – Senior Project Engineer

Val is a Senior Water Resource Engineer and has been at LRE since April of 2009. She started her career in water resource engineering in 1998 at the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District.

Her work has included water quality testing for agricultural uses, evaluation of irrigation methods, developing water sources for the South Platte River Recovery Program, ground water modeling from recharge ponds, and developing purpose and need evaluations for the NEPA process for regional water projects. She also has experience in raw water and conservation master planning as well as water rights investigation and evaluation. Her current emphasis is in water resource planning, water rights analysis, consumptive use modeling, and surface water modeling.

Val has a B.S. in Agricultural Engineering and an M.S. in Civil Engineering with an emphasis on Water Resource Planning and Management, both from Colorado State University. Val is an At-Large Board Member of AWRA.

Miranda C. Larsen-Funk, P.E. – Senior Project Engineer

Miranda began her career in water resources in 2002 and joined LRE in 2007. Her primary focus is supporting clients in their water supply planning and water rights analysis needs. She has completed projects in Colorado (including the South Platte, Arkansas, Colorado, and Gunnison River basins) and also in South Dakota. Her clients include municipal, agricultural, and/or private parties. Projects which she has completed involved development of augmentation plans, preparation of Substitute Water Supply Plans, calculation of water supply demands, valuation of water rights, historical consumptive use analyses, supply and storage optimization, development of recharge, water availability evaluation, and exchange potential analyses.

Miranda graduated from Colorado State University with a B.S. in Environmental Engineering. She is a member of the Colorado Section of AWRA and has served as Chair of the Water Resources Group of the American Society of Civil Engineers Colorado Branch.

Melanie L. Lawrence, P.E. – Senior Project Engineer

Melanie has been with LRE since 2005. Her experience at LRE includes water resource investigations in support of water supply planning and water rights litigation. She has testified as an expert witness and has performed historical use analyses, analyses of exchange potential, and analyses of storage potential in support of water court applications. She has reviewed water court applications and engineering reports on behalf of clients as objectors and has also written and participated in environmental impact studies. Melanie has prepared Substitute Water Supply Plans, developed augmentation plans, negotiated with ditch companies for carriage agreements, and negotiated with municipalities and water providers for various water supply agreements.

Melanie is assisting in planning and developing potable and non-potable water supply systems for the City and County of Broomfield. For the City of Greeley, she has assisted in preparation of a No-Action Alternative Analysis for the Seaman Reservoir Enlargement Project.

Melanie's main interests are in Water Court Litigation and Environmental Impact Studies. She earned her B.S. in Civil Engineering with a minor in Geosciences from California State University, Chico, and her Masters in Resource Law Studies from the University of Denver. 

Dan DeLaughter, P.E. – Project Engineer

Dan has been with LRE since 2006. Dan has a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Union College, and an M.S. in Civil Engineering from Colorado State University. He enjoys working on projects involving complex water quality regulations and/or water rights challenges. Dan’s water quality experience includes tracking of state and federal regulatory developments relating to water quality and the environment for municipal, agricultural and watershed management agencies. He assists clients with water quality improvement planning, data analysis, regulatory summaries, water quality modeling, sampling plan design, watershed based planning, and discharge permit reviews. Dan’s water rights work has included water rights development, accounting and administration for clients in the South Platte River basin where he has performed work on plans for augmentation, Substitute Water Supply Plans, water rights change cases, consumptive use analyses, and supply planning and optimization of use.

Dan is an active member of the American Water Resources Association, Colorado Section. In his free time, he enjoys playing sand and grass volleyball, hiking, snow sports, and traveling.

Chris A. Muller, P.E. – Project Engineer

Chris has experience in water infrastructure design, wastewater infrastructure design, and construction observation. He graduated from Colorado State University in 2007 with a B.S. in Civil Engineering. While in college, he focused his studies in the areas for hydraulic design and water resource management. Work experience prior to coming to LRE was in land development engineering. Since joining LRE in 2008, he has worked on projects relating to infrastructure feasibility evaluations, water rights accounting, sanitary sewer design and construction observation, design of wastewater treatment plant improvements, design review, and surface water infrastructure design.

Chris has a strong interest in utility infrastructure management and design. Outside of work, he enjoys spending time with family and friends and playing recreation league sports.

John M. Rodgers – Technical Project Specialist

John has been a practicing environmental engineer since 1993.  He has a diverse background in engineering, applied information technology, and project management. His consulting experience has involved wastewater treatment, pollution prevention, site assessment, remediation, construction oversight, and other engineering services. John’s expertise includes applied information management systems, such as data collection and management, GIS-based analysis, remote-sensing, customized web interfaces, and development of environmental decision support systems.

John has degrees in Chemical Engineering and Environmental Engineering from the Florida Institute of Technology and a master's degree in Global Studies from the University of Denver. His hobbies include skiing and mountain biking, and enjoying all things Colorado.

Logan C. Burba, E.I. – Staff Engineer

Logan's professional experience includes water rights assessments, raw water master planning, environmental needs assessments, augmentation planning, water quality standards, and historical use investigations. She has extensive experience with water conservation planning per CWCB requirements and environmental compliance at the local, state, and federal levels.

Logan first came to LRE as a student intern and joined LRE full-time after receiving a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Colorado State University in 2007.

Andrew Case, E.I. - Staff Engineer

Andrew first joined LRE in 2011 as a student intern working on water resources planning, GIS, and data analysis. Since joining LRE full-time as a staff engineer, Andrew has been working on water supply planning projects as well as water quality improvement plans.

Andrew graduated from Colorado State University with a B.S. in Environmental Engineering. While in school, his focus was on water and wastewater treatment, watershed conservation, and pollution control. When not at work, he enjoys reading, golf, and hiking.

Adam T. Kremers, E.I., Staff Engineer

Adam has been a practicing water resource engineer since 2008. His expertise includes water resource planning projects involving database design, spatial analysis, consumptive use modeling, water rights analysis, and surface water modeling. Adam has been actively involved in the water resource planning project of the Little Snake basin in southern Wyoming properly sizing a prospective reservoir. He also has designed a relational database for Eagle River Water and Sanitation District that assisted in the migration of water quality data to reside in the Ambient Water Quality Monitoring System (AWQMS) for more advanced querying capabilities. He has been involved with several water rights analyses and accounting procedures including North Sterling State Parks, English Feedlots, Equus Farms, and the Kuner and Gilcrest Feedlots.

Adam has a B.S. in Environmental Engineering from Colorado State University. His professional activities include Activities Co-Chair for the Rocky Mountain Young Professionals of the American Water Works Association (AWWA), Water Environment Federation (WEF) and American Water Resources Association (AWRA). Adam’s hobbies include tennis, ultimate Frisbee, cycling, baseball, and DJ’ing.

Jojo La, E.I. – Staff Engineer

Jojo’s diverse range of skills and varied background has made her a highly compatible and valuable member of LRE since late 2011. Having received her degree from the Colorado School of Mines in General Engineering, she has been provided with the knowledge and expertise necessary to expand her scope beyond that of any specific engineering field. Her background and previous experience, focusing on environmental engineering and science, has led her to explore many aspects of environmental issues including environmental compliance, remediation, water quality, and design and infrastructure. 

Jojo is dedicated to understanding the tenets of environmental engineering, from initial testing and sampling to the conception of final recommendations. She has worked in the fields of water research and water infrastructure, as well as, the aggregate and concrete industry where she assisted in environmental compliance. Her previous work includes aiding in the research of river bank filtration of the South Platte River, acid mine drainage and soil contamination analysis along North Empire Creek, and peak flow analysis and soil erosion analysis of Bear Creek. These experiences have prepared her with a broad set of skills that are not limited to environment-focused disciplines of engineering. In addition, Jojo’s experience in Public Affairs has repeatedly helped her to bridge the communication gap between engineers, scientists, municipal leaders, professionals, and the public.

Stephanie A. Luce, E.I. – Staff Engineer

Stephanie joined LRE in 2009 with 5 years of experience in water resource planning and management, water rights assessments, water budget analysis, and support for litigation. Stephanie has worked specifically with Penrose Water District on a Change of Use and Appropriative Right of Exchange Case; Grand County Water & Sanitation District No. 1 on a Demand Analysis and Lawn Irrigation Return Flow Study; and the City of Black Hawk working on their monthly accounting. Stephanie provided, among other things, construction oversight and valuation of water rights.

Stephanie graduated from Colorado State University with a B.S. in Civil Engineering. While at work, she enjoys water resource planning, marketing, and networking, but on her own time she enjoys hobbies such as running, snowboarding and skiing, hiking, camping, and painting.

William M. Mihelich, E.I. – Staff Engineer

Billy has been with LRE since 2009 when he began his water resources engineering career as an intern. His experience includes water rights evaluations, historical use analyses, development of plans for augmentation, exchange potential analysis, water supply planning, preparation of Substitute Water Supply Plans; and extensive work with building, maintaining, and refining projection tools for ground water management subdistricts. Billy’s projects are primarily in Colorado with most of his focus being on the South Platte Basin. 

After graduating from Colorado State University with a B.S. in Civil Engineering in 2010, Billy joined LRE as a full-time employee. While not at work, he enjoys working on cars, drag racing, golf, and running.

Darren S. Beck – Staff Hydrologist

Darren joined LRE in 2006 and has 8 years of experience in water resources consulting including engineering and planning, hydrologic modeling and analysis, reservoir operations, and GIS analysis. 

Representative professional experience includes water resources consulting for the City of Brighton including development of augmentation plans and Substitute Water Supply Plans, water supply analyses, historical consumptive use analyses, and preparation of technical engineering reports in support of water change cases; analyses and preparation of technical engineering reports in support of a water change case for Consolidated Mutual Water Company; historical consumptive use analysis for Fox Hollow Golf Course; analysis of exchange potential for the City of Broomfield; water supply analyses for the City of Black Hawk; technical report preparation and analysis for a change of water case for Central Colorado Water Conservancy District; and hydrologic data collection.

Darren earned both a bachelor’s degree in Natural Resources Management with an emphasis in GIS and an M.S. in Watershed Science from Colorado State University.

Mark J. Mitisek – Staff Hydrologist

Mark has been a practicing water resource professional since 2005.  His primary expertise is water resource planning projects involving database design, spatial analysis, consumptive use modeling, water rights analysis, and surface water modeling. Mark was the developer of the South Platte Consumptive Use model used to quantify irrigation demands in support of the surface water modeling and ground water modeling efforts in the basin as a part of the Colorado Decision Support System. He also has developed and maintained real-time flood prediction models for Urban Drainage and Flood Control District. Mark has been involved in several water rights analyses, including the application for the State of Colorado’s first Precipitation Harvesting Pilot Study for Sterling Ranch.

Mark has a Bachelor's degree in Watershed Science with a minor in Geographic Information Systems from Colorado State University. His professional activities include American Institute of Hydrology (AIH), American Water Resources Association (AWRA), and Toastmasters International.  Mark's hobbies include fly fishing, archery, and golf.

Stephanie Ashley, G.I. - Staff Hydrogeologist

Stephanie has experience in ground water systems with expertise in predictive ground water modeling and modeling of ground water/surface water interactions, particularly using MODFLOW, UCODE, and PEST. She also has experience mapping subsurface geology, interpreting geophysical logs, ArcGIS mapping and analysis, and interpreting hydrologic systems. She has recently been involved in assisting multiple oil companies to comply with Colorado’s newly produced nontributary ground water rules. Stephanie holds a B.S. in Geology from Brigham Young University and an M.S. in Hydrology from Colorado School of Mines.

Stephanie is a certified Geologist in Training in the state of Wyoming and will sit for the Professional Geologist examination in March 2012. She currently serves as the vice president of the Colorado Ground Water Association and volunteers for Friends of Dinosaur Ridge. Her hobbies include traveling, running, and enjoying the outdoors.

Stuart W. Bancroft - Staff Hydrogeologist

Stuart Bancroft joined LRE in 2011 as a Staff Hydrogeologist. He holds a B.S. in Geology (2008) and an M.S. in Geology /Environmental Geophysics (2010) from the University of South Florida. His primary academic interest is using ground penetrating radar to study storm effects on coastal stratigraphy. In 2007, he entered the ground water consulting field as a data technician for a firm in Tampa, Florida. Stuart specializes in the analysis of hydrogeologic systems, ground water modeling, and GIS mapping. He is currently a member of the Colorado Ground Water Association (CGWA).

Stuart enjoys playing several musical instruments, most notably drums. He also likes to hike around the local mountains with his wife and golden retriever.

Sandip Desai - GIS Technician

Sandip specializes in geography; cartography; and aerial photo research, acquisition, and interpretation. He graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder in May 2002 with B.S. degrees in Physical Geography and Environmental Studies and a minor in geology. He received a certificate in GIS from Metro State College of Denver in May 2008 and earned an M.S. in Environmental Science with emphasis in geospatial analysis. His educational background includes human and physical geography, remote sensing, cartography, environmental and urban GIS, and web-capable GIS applications.

Sandip began working at LRE in 2011 with experience as GIS technical support for site suitability analysis, least cost-path determination, geostatistics, populating databases, georeferencing, digitizing, and geospatial analysis.

Shane C. Michael – GIS Technician

Shane is a GIS technician specializing in geography and cartography. He graduated from the University of Colorado at Denver in 2009 with a degree in Geography and a certificate in GIS. His educational background includes human and physical geography, remote sensing, cartography, environmental and urban GIS, and Web GIS. Shane began working at LRE as an intern in April 2008. He has experience in GIS technical support for historical consumptive use analysis, change cases, mass balance, populating databases, georeferencing, digitizing, and geospatial analysis.