Our Staff

Joseph D. Urbani
President
Fisheries Biologist
Joe Urbani holds a B.S. in Fisheries Biology from Colorado State University. The company’s principal, Joe has been involved in fish habitat improvement and water resource restoration projects since 1978. He has been heavily involved in spring creek and freestone stream construction and restoration projects since 1983. His extensive experience includes work with other fishery consultants and positions with the U.S. Forest Service and state fish and wildlife agencies in New Jersey, Colorado, Washington, Montana, and Alaska. Although skilled in fishery evaluations, his current focus concerns property management for optimal fish and wildlife habitat, and coordinating habitat improvement efforts among state and federal agencies, and professional and community groups. Joe is a member of the American Fisheries Society and Trout Unlimited.

William M. Gavin PG
Fluvial Geomorphologist/ Registered Professional Geologist
Will Gavin holds a B.S. in Geology from the University of New Mexico and a M.S. in Earth Science from Montana State University. His graduate thesis, done in conjunction with the Museum of the Rockies, involved the study of fluvial and lacustrine sediments. He has eleven years of experience as a professional geologist in the United States and Africa. Will’s areas of expertise are in fluvial and lacustrine geomorphology and sedimentology. Will has extensive experience in geomorphological and hydrologic assessment of streams and rivers and methods to rehabilitate degraded reaches. He has also been involved in the design of new stable stream channels. In addition, Will has experience in pond design, groundwater hydrology, construction supervision and revegetation of stream banks and disturbed areas. He has experience in the use of HEC- RAS, Rosgen stream classification, and wetland delineation through continuing education courses and practical experience. Will has worked with local conservation districts to develop new criteria for the evaluation of proposals dealing with fisheries enhancement. He is a member of the Geological Society of America and is a Registered Professional Geologist in Wyoming.

G. Lance Bigelow
Agronomist
Lance Bigelow received a B.S. in Agronomy-Plant Protection Option from Montana State University, Bozeman. He has worked in the natural resource and fisheries fields for the past 10 years, and has extensive experience in the implementation of range and stream bank enhancement techniques including stabilization, reconstruction, and revegetation. While working with the USDA/ARS/Rangeland Weeds Laboratory and the MSU Biological Control Department, Lance gained valuable experience in identification of common and exotic plant species and possible biological control agents for the target plant species. Project responsibilities included compilation of detailed preconstruction plant and insect inventories, design and implementation of stream bank reconstruction, slope stabilization techniques, and rehabilitation of sites degraded by historic land use practices. Specific revegetation and stabilization techniques include terraced bank construction, implementation of biodegradable materials (coir fabrics), introduction of woody debris for bank stabilization and creation of invertebrate and fish habitat, introduction of native vegetation to increase ecosystem diversity, placement of rock barbs and boulders, application of hydraulic mulches, and irrigation of manipulated areas.

Case Brown
Project Manager

Kenley M. Stone
Project Coordinator
Kenley Stone holds a B.S. in Environmental Biology and a B.A. in Spanish from the University of California at Davis. She also holds a M.S. in Land Rehabilitation from Montana State University. For her graduate work, she researched using native grass sod for steep slope stabilization. Prior to graduate school, Kenley worked as a naturalist at a science camp for sixth graders. She was also a volunteer for the NRCS in California where she taught Hispanic strawberry farmers soil conservation techniques. She has been a substitute teacher in Bozeman, a soccer coach, and a ski instructor. She has traveled extensively around the world to six of seven continents. Presently, Kenley's responsibilities include filing permit applications, maintaining records for fish pond licenses, coordinating fish plants and wetland planting, and keeping ponds weed and algae free using biological products rather than chemical products.

Teri Mazer
Administrator
Teri Mazer holds a B.A. in English Literature and Writing from Montana State University (1992). Prior to her employment at Joseph Urbani & Associates, Inc., she assisted in compiling and writing the Humanities Library Proposal promoting Native American oral history and tradition for the Montana State University Humanities Challenge Project. The focus of this $5 million dollar endeavor was to establish a strong collection of Native American history and literature through grants and private donations. Teri also assisted MSU writing professors in tutoring students and grading student writing assignments on various structures from story-based essays to research. She interned with the MSU Communications Services which included copy editing, proof-reading, writing news releases, coordinating and conducting interviews with written follow-up articles for newspaper publication, staff bulletins and writing a mechanical research article for publication in the MSU Research and Creative Activities magazine. She has served in several organizations as a technical writer and human resources director before her employment with Joseph Urbani & Associates, Inc. in 1997 as administrator. In 2002, in addition to her Joseph Urbani & Associates, Inc. responsibilities, she was production coordinator and assistant producer for Black Dog Films for the documentary “The Search for Lewis & Clark,” a Discovery Channel signature series documentary which first aired on the Discovery Channel in July 2003.

Daniel L. McGuire
Aquatic Ecologist
Dan McGuire holds a B.S. in Biology from Colorado State University and a M.S. in Biological Sciences from Montana State University. Dan has 18 years experience as an aquatic entomologist and fisheries biologist. He specializes in the use of macroinvertebrates to diagnose environmental condition and factors limiting fisheries. He has conducted fishery, water quality, and stream/riparian habitat investigations throughout the Rocky Mountain region. For the past 10 years, he has worked extensively in the restoration and management of ponds and riparian zones. Previously he was a biologist for Northern States Power Company and several consulting firms.

Wes Orr
Fisheries Biologist
Wes Orr received a B.S. in Fisheries Science from Colorado State University in 1962. During this time, Wes worked three summers for the Mcnenny and Spearfish National Fish Hatcheries; one season committed to conducting intermittent creel census for the South Dakota Fish and Game Department, and one summer conducting salmon investigation work for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. After graduation Wes was appointed a permanent position with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from which he retired after 39 years of productive employment. His experience of raising warm water, cool water, cold water, and anadromous fish species at 8 national fish hatcheries further hones his expertise. Wes has extensive field experience in spawning numerous species of fish including striped bass in North and South Carolina, splake and kokanee in Colorado, walleye and northern pike in Nebraska, and lake trout and cutthroat trout in Yellowstone Park. His qualifications also extend into planning, supervision, hatchery operations, and hatchery disinfectant procedures.

Douglas Parkinson
Fishery/Wildlife Biologist
Doug Parkinson received a B.S. in Wildlife Biology–Fisheries Emphasis, from Humboldt State University in 1977. His experience includes over 20 years fisheries investigationsof influences of timber harvest, instream gravel mining, water withdrawal and toxic discharges on the physical and biological systems of streams. Biological assessment methodologies include electrofishing, snorkeling, and aquatic invertebrate collection and identification. Physical assessment methodologies include stream temperature monitoring, stream habitat typing, Rosgen stream channel typing, Wolman pebble counts, riffle armor stability (RAS) index and use of scour chains for detecting gravel movements. He is proficient in performing several habitat typing methodologies: the California Department of Fish and Game stream Habitat Inventory, the U.S. Forest Service (R1/R4) Fish and Fish Habitat Standard Inventory Procedure 91997), and the state of Washington TFW Ambient Monitoring stream inventory methodologies. Mr. Parkinson has over 25 years experience in water quality analysis, synoptic studies, incorporation of stream and fish restoration guidelines, and as principal investigator monitoring fish response to reduced flow releases, documenting existing conditions, and quality control for hydroelectric projects

William R. Railton
Wetland Ecologist
Bill Railton has a B.S. in Biology and Local Government Administration. Bill has worked for 13 years with the U.S. Soil Conservation Service and the Washington Department of Natural Resources. During this time he worked as a resource planner and engineering technician on projects involving planning, design and construction of ponds, shallow water wetlands, animal waste control systems, site drainage, stream diversion, forestry management, wildlife enhancement and critical site stabilization. Since 1989, Bill has worked as a consultant in wetland delineation, mitigation, restoration and creation. In conjunction with these projects, Bill has acted as a project coordinator, planner and designer. Bill is also well versed in regional and federal permit acquisition and compliance.

Lewis L. Burton
Licensed Professional Engineer
Lewis Burton holds a B.S. in civil Engineering from the University of Idaho. He completed a portion of a master degree program at the University of Texas-Arlington with major areas of study in geotechnical engineering and stream mechanics. He has more than 30 years experience in the water resources engineering field. His 28 years with the USDA Soil Conservation Service (SCS) and two years in the private sector have provided him with considerable experience and expertise in stream channel hydrologic analysis, channel and bank stabilization, channel construction, and stream rehabilitation. He has worked on over 100 individual projects in Montana, Idaho, Arizona, Alaska, and Southern States. Work throughout his career has followed procedures and approaches developed by experts in the SCS as well as outside experts such as Rosgen. Work experience has included all aspects of project planning and design including hydrological analysis, hydraulic design, geomorphic design, and detailed rehabilitation design and layout. Lewis is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and is a Registered Professional Engineer in Montana, Idaho, and Alaska.

Robert Behnke Ph.D.
Fishery/Wildlife Biologist
Robert Behnke received a B.A. from Connecticut University with distinction and high honors in Zoology. He completed his M.A and Ph.D. at the University of California with his thesis on Trout of the Great Basins and the Systematics of Family Salmonidae, respectively. Ph.D. requirements also included fields of general zoology, ecology, vertebrate zoology, entomology, and vertebrate physiology. With over 35 years of extensive knowledge and experience, Dr. Behnke divides his time as a professor at Colorado State University in the Department of Fishery and Wildlife Biology, and private consulting. Dr. Behnke’s areas of specialized expertise include environmental factors influencing fish distribution particularly in relation to man-induced environmental changes; application of intraspecific genetic diversity of fisheries management; surveys, inventories, and fish identification; rare, endangered and threatened fish; fish distribution and speciation; and, systematics of family Salmonidae. He has conducted several fishery projects for the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, U.S., Fish and Wildlife Service, Wyoming Department of Game and Fish, New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, and the Colorado Division of Wildlife. He also provided fishery related services for the American Sportsman’s Club, Thorne Ecological Foundation, Colorado River Water Conservation District, U.S. Justice Department, and many private firms, law firms and public agencies. He also served as an advisor to the Iranian government for fishery studies on the freshwater fishes of Iran and Saudi Arabia in 1974-1975, and was a senior translations editor for Scripta Technica for Russian fisheries translations, and appeared as an expert witness in U.S. and Canadian courts. Dr. Behnke has written over 100 articles and publications on fisheries including fisheries conservation, habitat, and successful rejuvenation of freshwater fish.

Robert G. Piper
Fisheries Biologist
Bob Piper holds a B.S. in Biology and has 40 years experience in fisheries biology and fish culture. During his 29 years with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service he worked with the diagnosis and control of diseases of fish, fish nutrition, fish husbandry and genetics, and the proper design and management of hatcheries. Bob was the editor of the definitive manual on hatchery management, Fish Hatchery Management. He has been an instructor for the U.S.F.W.S and the National Fisheries Academy. Since his retirement in 1985 from federal service he has been a fisheries consultant and is editor of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services professional journal The Progressive Fish Culturist. Mr. Piper is a certified Fisheries Scientist with the American Fisheries Society and past president of the Fish Culture Section of the Society as well as the Montana Chapter of the Society.