BEC Environmental, Inc.
Our Team
Our team
Executives
Eileen Christensen
Principal
Eileen Christensen founded BEC Environmental, Inc. in 2002 to focus on addressing Brownfield Projects. She was fascinated by the opportunity to not only assess and clean up contaminated properties, but also to work with communities to transform those blighted properties into community assets. Eileen wanted to develop personal relationships within each community to better understand the unique needs and wants of the residents and leaders within that community. By obtaining a better understanding of the underlying drivers behind each project, she was able to help identify appropriate funding opportunities, technical assistance programs, and economic development diversification tools.
Elizabeth Nelson
CFO
Elizabeth Nelson moved to Las Vegas after a full career as a Florida Certified Public Accountant and Enrolled Tax Agent who specialized in small business development and financial planning. She Shared Eileen’s passion for working to improve the environmental one project at a time and decided to lend her accounting and financial expertise to Eileen’s scientific approach to project development. The combined approach – scientific/technical evaluation (Eileen) and business/economic application (Elizabeth) proved successful and demonstrated the broader view to redevelopment process.
Richard Nelson
Executive Vice President
Richard is Executive Vice President and Senior Project Manager for BEC. He has over 30 years of experience in a variety of fields, including: management, administration, and public safety as well as U.S. Air Force intelligence, security, and investigative operations. Richard specializes in systems management – analyzing existing operations and identifying process and control measures to improve performance. Richard has experience working cooperatively with local, state, federal, and foreign government officials as well as all levels of corporate management. He has a successful track record of dispute resolution and creating partnerships/ interfaces between individuals and agencies.
Our team
Team Members
Anthony Acosta
Project Support
Anthony works as project, safety, marketing, and administrative support for BEC. His experience includes daily office duties such as data entry, sorting and filing documents, office cleanliness, and greeting and directing clients over the phone or at the front desk. Anthony maintains the company contacts, schedule updates, and office inventory. He has also done research on the stages of grant writing. In the field, Anthony has obtained experience in tortoise monitoring and stormwater pollution prevention inspections alongside the BEC Team.
Erika Balderson
Operation Manager, Senior Environmental Scientist, Safety Officer
Erika has over 20 years of professional experience in Environmental Assessment, compliance, reporting, and permitting. Working for government agencies and private consulting firms, she has established a strong knowledge base on biological, environmental, and regulatory aspects for a variety of ecosystems and industries. As Project Manager and Field Team Supervisor, she has: reviewed and summarized permitting requirements for multiple project types; conducted sensitive plant and animal population surveys for various state and federal agencies; and prepared reports in support of field surveys, including fatal flaw analyses, Biological Evaluations, Biological Assessments and Environmental Assessments.
Stefanie Costa Rica
Certified Environmental Manager
Stefanie has 11 years of experience in environmental consulting for environmental compliance and reporting. As a Nevada Certified Environmental Manager, she has conducted environmental assessments and environmental cleanups for private, state, and local governing agencies. As an AHERA certified Building Inspector and Contractor/Supervisor, she has participated in asbestos and other hazardous materials surveys and abatement projects throughout Nevada. She specializes in Brownfields Project Management associated with community engagement, Phase I and II Environmental Site Assessments, and environmental cleanups.
Giavanna Fernandez
Environmental Technician
Giavanna is an Environmental Scientist with 2 years field and lab experience with collecting, sampling, and analyzing desert soils and has 2 years of experience in environmental consulting. Giavanna is certified as an AHERA asbestos building inspector and contractor supervisor, and an EPA Lead inspector. Her consulting experience includes site characterization and assessments, aquatic delineation, stormwater pollution prevention monitoring, environmental sampling such as soil, air, and groundwater, and conducting Phase I and Phase II ESAs throughout Nevada.
Juan Garcia-Hernandez
Environmental Scientist
Juan is an Environmental Scientist and Geographic Information System (GIS) Specialist with 4 years of experience. His experience includes conducting Environmental Assessments (EAs), Phase I Environmental Site Assessments (ESAs), Waters of the US Delineations, and Biological Surveys. He is also proficient in ESRI ArcGIS and is skilled in cartography, spatial data analysis, and data collection. He has made major contributions to the BEC Team by updating and standardizing BEC geodatabases and maintaining ArcGIS Online and internal GIS servers. Juan’s skills also include his development of basic Python scripts and tool add-ins for ArcGIS.
Tommy Heider
Environmental Scientist
Tommy is an Authorized Desert Tortoise Biologist and Wildlife Biologist at BEC Environmental, Inc. He received his Bachelor of Science in Conservation Sciences from Muskingum University in 2013. He has implemented mitigation and conservation measures to minimize impacts from construction activities on the Mojave Desert tortoise and other resources. In this capacity, he has conducted presence/absence surveys, provided worker environmental awareness training, and monitored construction activities.
Brenda Gilbert
Program Manager, BEC Environmental, Inc.
Brenda Gilbert is BEC’s Northern Nevada Program Manager and has more than 30 years of experience in private and Non-government Organization (NGO) program management.
She has been instrumental in developing energy policy and building interest in utility scale renewable energy projects throughout Nevada. She led BEC’s team for the Nevada Solar Nexus Project, a Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE) program to explore the relationship between solar energy, water, and environmental research. She worked with NSHE institutions to develop relationships between utility-scale developers, university professors, and brownfields professionals to explore opportunities for collaboration. Throughout her career, Brenda has demonstrated the ability to engage dissimilar entities to organize and execute complex projects.
Alana Holt-Hall
Environmental Scientist
Alana has more than 6 years of combined laboratory research, analytical testing, and hazardous materials and environmental consulting experience. She provides project support for a wide variety of environmental projects, including brownfields redevelopment projects, Phase I Environmental Site Assessments (ESAs), cleanup planning, lead-based paint (LBP) risk assessments, and stormwater pollution prevention planning (SWPPP). She also drafts environmental reviews and Biological Evaluations for multiple county, state, and federal agencies. She has assisted with planning initiatives to promote economic development, conservation, and preservation for local, state, and federal agencies as well as private clients throughout Nevada. Alana is experienced in desert tortoise surveys and Phase I ESA site surveys.
Roxanna Nielsen
Environmental Technician
Roxanna is an Environmental Technician at BEC Environmental, Inc (BEC). She received her Bachelors of Science in Botany with a concentration in Communication from Oregon State University, Corvallis (OSU) in 2023. She has three years of experience in a laboratory setting as a sample receiving technician, logging samples in to a LIMS system and conducting laboratory analysis. Roxanna’s experience also includes participating in rare plant surveys for Desert Research Institute in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Becky Putman
Accounting Manager
Becky has more than 20 years of experience in accounting and banking. Her experience includes budgeting preparation and administration, audit, taxation, monthly closing of books, account reconciliation, and journal entry adjustments. She prepares monthly, quarterly, and annual reports summarizing and forecasting company’s business activities and financial position in areas of income, expenses, and earnings based on past, present, and expected operations. Becky is our go-to lady for invoicing, payments, and Accounts Receivable / Accounts Payable.
Danny Rakestraw
Senior Environmental Biologist
Danny has over 30 years of experience in biological resources, environmental sciences, permitting, and regulatory compliance. He has supported and managed interdisciplinary teams and projects in the areas of highway, rail, and airport facilities, land development, fossil and renewable power generation and transmission, water resources, and federal programs. He has effectively coordinated commercial, state, and federal clients through numerous regulatory processes including those associated with the National Environmental Policy Act, Endangered Species Act, and Clean Water Act.
Vivan Sam
Environmental Scientist, Botanist, Grants Manager
Vivian has 6 years of experience in the southwestern US conducting field surveys, flora and fauna data collection, habitat restoration studies, pollinator surveys, biomonitoring habitats, and soil sample collection. Vivian’s experience also includes experimental design development, data analysis, technical writing, and laboratory and greenhouse techniques in soil analyses and seedbank assays. As BEC’s Grants Manager, she is adept at grant development and writing, and associated reporting. Vivian has participated in developing Phase I ESAs and ERs. Additionally, she has gained experience in SWPPP and reporting in accordance with regional, county, and state regulations.
Evandy Severt
Environmental Technician
Evandy Severt is an Environmental Technician at BEC. She received her Bachelor of Science in Biological Science from Great Basin College. She has experience giving public presentations and conducting biological surveys including spring snail surveys and freshwater sampling. At BEC, Evandy conducts biological surveys, researches and evaluates effects of proposed activities on natural resources, performs data management, and provides GIS support.
Autumn Smith
Environmental Technician
Autumn is an Environmental Technician at BEC Environmental, Inc. (BEC). She received her Bachelor of Applied Science in Environmental Management and two associate degrees from the College of Southern Nevada in Las Vegas in 2023. She has conducted field surveys, studied small mammal morphology, and mapped geologic features. She has experience collecting and processing environmental samples using scientific instrumentation including Ion Chromatography (IC), UV/Vis and Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectroscopy (ICP-OS). Additionally, she has skills in experimental design development, data analysis, geographic information system software (GIS), Phase I ESA preparation, HUD Environmental Reviews, and laboratory techniques for soil analyses.
Samantha Tantlinger
Environmental Technician
Samantha Tantlinger is an Environmental Technician Intern at BEC Environmental. Inc (BEC). She received her Associate of Biological Science from the College of Southern Nevada and is currently a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Management student at the College of Southern Nevada. Samantha is passionate about protecting the natural environment and bringing sustainable practices to communities.
Our team