It’s been quite a year of growth for our Ecological Sciences practice in Knoxville! CEC more than doubled the size of the Knoxville practice in 2024 and now, together with our Nashville office, CEC has one of the largest Ecological Sciences practices in Tennessee.
Greg Babbit, PWS, a Principal and the Ecological Sciences Practice Lead in Knoxville, says with the addition of new people, the services offered have grown exponentially. “We have built a deeper bench and greater capabilities for a diversity of ecological services.”
Breadth of knowledge, skills, and expertise
CEC Knoxville has senior leadership, senior project managers, as well as staff level scientists. “We have a breadth of knowledge, skills, and experience to take care of client needs,” Babbit adds. We can determine the presence or absence of protected species, offer measures to provide mitigation solutions, work with regulators to resolve conflicts, and recommend permitting strategies. We’re experienced with natural channel stream design, watershed-based restoration, and on-site mitigation projects.
The Knoxville Eco team includes:
Greg Babbit – With almost 30 years of experience in and around Tennessee, Babbit leads the Knoxville Ecological Sciences practice. He has completed numerous wetland and stream delineations, wetland and stream restoration designs, SQT assessments, protected species surveys, compensatory mitigation banks, and coordinated with numerous stakeholders. He has been responsible for identifying, developing, permitting, and supervising the design, construction, and monitoring of stream and wetland mitigation projects. He has training in Stream Quantification Tool (SQT) functional assessments, Rosgen Level IV, USFS Stream Simulation, and is a Tennessee Qualified Hydrologic Professional with the Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation and a Professional Wetland Scientist with the Society of Wetlands Scientists.
Liz Porter – Porter is a Professional Geologist with more than 31 years of environmental consulting and ecological experience. A Project Management Professional (PMP) and a Principal in the Knoxville office, she has managed hundreds of multi-year and multi-discipline environmental and ecological projects throughout her career. Her project management experience encompasses a wide range of disciplines including brownfield redevelopment, site assessments, EPA assessment and cleanup grants, wetland delineations and stream assessments, Clean Water Act Section 404 and Section 401 permitting, mitigation and monitoring, NEPA coordination, regulatory coordination, mitigation banking, and stream restoration.
Michael Pannell – A Senior Project Manager, Pannell has more than 28 years of environmental and natural resources project experience across the Southeast. His expertise extends to a wide range of disciplines including wetland delineation; stream and wetland permitting; wetland mitigation; stream/geomorphic assessments; stream restoration; bank stabilization, natural channel design; mitigation monitoring, aquatic organism passage, continuous stream simulation; sediment sampling and analysis; stormwater management including design plans and monitoring; and bid procurement and contract period administration services. Pannell’s holds a Tennessee Erosion Prevention and Sediment Control Level I Certification, Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation and Certified Professional in Erosion and Sediment Control, Envirocert International, Inc.
Sarah Rowe – As a PWS and Project Manager, Rowe boasts 21 years of experience as a lead delineator for multiple statewide natural resource assessments in Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio. She has expertise in areas of complex Section 401 and 404 regulatory permitting issues; jurisdictional waters delineations and quality assessments; protected species habitat assessments and surveys. Rowe’s certifications include Qualified Hydrologic Professional and Level I Erosion Prevention & Sediment Control Inspector, Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation; Wetland Botanist, Swamp School, LLC; Wetland Delineation and Regional Supplement Training, Richard Chinn; Hydric Soils Training, Ohio Wetlands Foundation; and Fundamentals of Professional Practice, ASFE, The Geoprofessional Business Association.
Josh Rowe – Rowe is a Project Manager and has extensive experience in stream/wetland delineations, Stream Quantification Tool Assessments, ArcGIS, threatened and endangered species, and acoustic bat monitoring. He has spent the past 17 years as a project ecologist and project manager for numerous designs across Tennessee, including mitigation banking, public sector, transportation, and NEPA. Rowe is a member of the Tennessee Geographic Information Council, and his certifications include Rosgen Level IV, Wildlands Hydrology; Level I Erosion Prevention & Sediment Control Inspector and Qualified Hydrologic Professional, Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation.
Dan Spradlin – Spradlin is a Project Manager in the ecological services field with ten years of experience conducting water resources and natural resources assessments including; ecological assessments, fisheries surveys, benthic macroinvertebrate sampling, geomorphological surveys, surface water sampling, wetland delineations, jurisdictional waters determinations, threatened and endangered species habitat assessments, and mitigation site assessments. Spradlin’s certifications and training: Tennessee Qualified Hydrologic Professional, Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation; Rosgen Level IV, Wildlands Hydrology, Stream Quantification Tool, Tennessee Erosion Prevention and Sediment Control Level I Certification, Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation; and Wetland Professional in Training (WPIT), Society of Wetlands Scientists.
Cierra Davis – As an Assistant Project Manager, her expertise in stream & wetland delineations and Clean Water Act, Section 404/401 permitting has been built over the past four years. Davis’s certifications and training include Level 1 Fundamentals of Erosion Prevention and Sediment Control and Qualified Hydrologic Professional-In Training, both with the Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation, and River Course Level I by NC State.
Colson Karr – This Staff Scientist has two years of experience with ecological restoration and management. He has assisted with implementation of restoration designs and plans, identifying aquatic species, monitoring, and surveying aquatic environments. Karr has worked in compliance of the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Game Service, and many state wildlife management agencies. He has aided agencies located in Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming. Karr’s certifications include Open Water Diver, NAUI; Tennessee Qualified Hydrologic Professional In-Training and Tennessee Erosion Prevention and Sediment Control Level I Certification, Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation.
Taylor Mattioli – A Staff Scientist in Knoxville, Mattioli earned a master’s degree in Environmental Studies, Conservation Biology, from The University of North Carolina at Wilmington in 2024. She holds a FAA Remote Pilot Certification from the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration and has supported numerous stream and wetland delineations as well as 404/401 permitting.
As we add more people to our Ecological Sciences team, we continue to ramp up our capabilities and build on the skills and expertise to serve our ever-expanding client base in the southeast.
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