Meet Your Team
“Education is not the learning of facts, it’s rather the training of the mind to think.”
Albert Einstein
kyle thompson, pe
Principal Engineer/Owner
Kyle is a licensed professional engineer experienced in design, project delivery, and management. He enjoys working in a collaborative environment to find solutions for his clients’ challenges. His background in civil engineering encompasses water, wastewater, stormwater, street, and site design. He enjoys providing excellent client service and seeing a project go from concept to reality.
andrew szatkowski, PE
Senior Engineer
With over three decades of experience in water and wastewater engineering, Andy has built a distinguished career managing and designing critical infrastructure projects across the globe. As a Senior Civil Engineer at a leading engineering consulting firm in Portland, Oregon, Andy has spearheaded numerous high-profile projects, including the conceptual design for a large-scale membrane treatment plant and the construction of multiple aquifer storage and recovery facilities. He combines technical expertise with a deep understanding of social, cultural, and economic factors, ensuring that solutions are tailored to the needs of the communities they serve. His commitment to integrating community input and providing technical training has been instrumental in the successful implementation of projects in both urban and rural settings in the USA and several African countries.
ben hennebert
Construction Manager
Ben has extensive experience with public works contracting, working as a consultant engineer, project engineer as a public employee, and contractor. Ben performed construction management services and assisted with the preparation of water system master plans as a consulting engineer. As a public employee, Ben focused on the operations of public water and sewer systems, including the design and construction of facility improvements, hydraulic modeling, and condition assessment. Most recently, Ben was a project manager for an industrial contractor. Preparation of bids, oversight of submittals, developing and maintaining budgets, scheduling, material and labor coordination, and subcontractor oversight all fell under the purview of the project manager.
richard rice
Project Manager/Construction Manager
Rich, a seasoned Project Manager with over two decades of experience, has been instrumental in managing a wide array of construction projects across public and private sectors. His expertise spans city infrastructure replacements, including water, storm, and sewer systems, as well as stream restoration, site concrete work, multi-story concrete buildings, and asphalt paving projects. Rich’s career highlights include his role as Public Works Director for the City of Hood River, where he oversaw critical infrastructure projects, managed substantial budgets, and ensured compliance with regulatory standards. His diverse project management skills also extend to ecological construction, having led initiatives in stream and wetland restoration, shoreline stabilization, and low-impact design installations.
basil paulson, phd
Senior Scientist
Basil spent his high school years working in a family chemical business running reactions and scaling projects. After getting his PhD in chemistry, Basil did a post-doc at Argonne National Lab., volunteered through Peace Corps, worked at a traditional chemical manufacturing plant, a medical device company in Chicago, and later at a couple of start-ups in California developing enzymes and catalysts. He enjoys reading technical literature and the different process methods used for water and wastewater treatment.
haillee nunn, EIT
Design Engineer
Haillee graduated from Portland State University with a bachelor’s in Environmental Engineering. She has a passion for clean water, soil, and air. One thing Haillee particularly loves about the engineering profession is it guarantees lifelong learning which she finds extremely rewarding.
krista busby, EIT
Design Engineer
Krista graduated from Portland State University with a bachelor’s in Environmental Engineering. From the very beginning, she knew she wanted to work in water and wastewater. While in college, she became very passionate about providing clean water in a way that is sustainable for both the environment and the people being served.
Danica Flood
Design Engineer
Danica recently graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in Environmental Engineering. She is passionate about upholding high environmental standards and is committed to finding ethical solutions to environmental challenges.
Irina Belova, CPSM
Director of Operations
Irina oversees business operations at Grayling Engineers and supports the firm’s administrative, human resources, marketing, and business development functions. Irina brings more than 20 years of strategic marketing and communications experience working for private companies and nonprofit organizations in the United States and overseas.
