HDR’s Michael Mayer Assumes New NAEP Leadership Role

Michael Mayer, HDR’s principal environmental project manager, has been sworn in as president of the National Association of Environmental Professionals Board of Directors. Rona Spellecacy, HDR’s environmental director for power, industrial, and waste sectors, previously held this role.

Spellecacy turned over the position to Mayer during the May 7–10 NAEP conference in Phoenix. HDR was the platinum sponsor of the conference and has long supported NAEP, an interdisciplinary organization dedicated to developing the highest standards of ethics and proficiency in the environmental professions.

Mayer, who will serve a two-year term as president, currently serves as vice president and chairs the NAEP biological resources working group. He is also the co-founder, former president, and current vice president of Minnesota state chapter. He has over two decades of experience working on various federal, state, and private sector projects related to natural resource management, mining, and energy development and transmission. He has been an active national member of NAEP for years, participating in conferences, presenting papers, and publishing articles.

Spellecacy has been an active member of NAEP since 2003, serving as the Northwest Chapter Representative to NAEP, participating in multiple conferences and publishing papers in Environmental Practice. From 2018 to 2021, she served as chair of NAEP’s Permanent Conference Committee and helped with the successful transition to a virtual conference format in response to COVID-19 travel restrictions. She will continue to be involved in NAEP going forward.

NAEP’s board includes several other HDR representatives including Chris Holdridge and Chuck Nicholson, co-chairs of HDR’s impact assessment practice group, Jenny Bring, the president and Minnesota Chapter Representative to NAEP, and Anna Kohl, the Alaska Chapter Representative to NAEP.