Dwight H. Merriam, FAICP
has been elected to the Anglo American Real Property Institute. Membership is limited to 50 lawyers in each participating country. Merriam is a partner in the Land Use Practice Group at Robinson & Cole where he represents developers, local governments, landowners, and advocacy groups in land development and conservation issues. He teaches land use law at Vermont Law School.

David Green
has been honored with the American Institute of Architects-Georgia Association's (AIA Georgia) Bronze Medal, given to AIA Georgia members for distinguished and outstanding service to the institute, the profession, and the community. Green, a principal in the Housing & Mixed-Use Studio at Atlanta architecture firm Lord, Aeck & Sargent, is one of three recipients of this year's medal.

Robert W. Jackson, AICP, has joined Halff Associates, Inc. as environmental operations manager, in the Austin, Texas, office. Jackson has more than 30 years of experience as an urban, land use, and environmental planner; historian; and technical writer. He is currently writing a history of the Holland Tunnel.

Mark T. Griffin, AICP, has joined TranSystems as an assistant vice president based in the Long Beach, California, office. Griffin is a transportation planner and program manager. Most recently, he was director of planning for an association of regional governments in California.

Kimberly Bereis, AICP, has joined STV/Ralph Whitehead Associates as a project manager and senior transportation planner. Bereis has 15 years of extensive planning experience.

Al Zelinka, AICP, recently joined the City of Fullerton Community Development Department as its planning manager. Previously, Zelinka was principal of RBF Consulting's Urban Design Studio where he led community-based revitalization projects throughout the United States.

Bruce Stiftel, FAICP, has been named the seventh director of the Georgia Tech College of Architecture's City and Regional Planning Program. Most recently associate dean of graduate studies at Florida State University (FSU) in Tallahassee, Stiftel was also a professor of urban and regional planning and a faculty associate of the Florida Conflict Resolution Consortium, of which he was a co-founder.

Gary D. Logston, AICP, joined Hanson Professional Services Inc.'s Dallas regional office as a senior aviation planner. Logston has more than 30 yeaqrs of experience in the industry and specializes in providing project management and administration for all aspects of airport planning and environmental studies. Previously, he worked with a variety of commercial airport facilities, and military-related and overseas aviation projects.

Zachary Branigan, AICP
an associate at Carlisle/Wortman Associates in Ann Arbor, Michigan, has earned LEED AP accreditation from the U.S. Green Building Council, making him one of only 360 community planners in the world so qualified.

Ray Weiss
has been promoted to director of the Community Development Group in the Central Valley/Sierra Region of Environmental Science Associates (ESA), headquartered in Sacramento, California. Weiss has been group manager since 2007. He specializes in environmental documents for public and private development proposals and has extensive experience in public participation, including workshops, charettes, and surveys.

Alece Otero will join the Orton Family Foundation's Denver office as senior associate for Rocky Mountain projects. Otero comes to the foundation with more than 10 years of planning experience. Most recently, she was planning director for the City of Federal Heights, and also worked as a planner for Jefferson County and the City of Colorado Springs.

Laurie A. Johnson, AICP, has been appointed to the board of directors of the Public Entity Risk Institute (PERI), a nonprofit research institute focused on risk management training and education. Johnson is a consultant currently providing services to the San Francisco-based nonprofit Fritz Institute. She previously served on the advisory panel that helped shape PERI's future direction.

Richard W. Unger, FAICP
has been appointed to the Government Policy Energy and Climate Change Technical Working Group. The working group provides suggestions for Florida Gov. Charlie Crist's Action Team on Energy and Climate Change, which is working on Phase Two of the policy that will form the basis for a comprehensive Florida Energy and Climate Change Action Plan. Unger is a team leader at MSCW, at MSCW, Inc., an Orlando-based design firm. He joined MSCW in 2003 after 10 years with the City of Orlando.

Jonathan M. Heilman, AICP
has joined Gannett Fleming, an international planning, design, and construction management firm. Based in the firm's corporate headquarters in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Heilman serves as a transportation and community planner with the Environmental Planning and Management Practice. He is responsible for conducting planning studies, modal studies, funding analyses, congestion management processes, and linkages between transportation and land use.

Lynne Marie Whately, AICP, has been named manager of transportation planning and environment in the Orlando office of TranSystems, a nationwide transportation consulting company. Whatley will provide expertise on a variety of the firm's transportation, land use, and environment projects throughout Florida and the Southeast.

Andrew Nicol, AICP, is a new project manager in the Orlando office of TranSystems, a nationwide consulting company. Nicol comes to TranSystems from another consulting firm where he managed numerous transit development projects in central Florida and a statewide scenic highways program.

Al Zelinka, AICP
was recently appointed to the California Planning Roundtable, an organization of experienced planning professionals who are members of the American Planning Association. Its mission is to provide a forum for prominent planners to exercise creativity and leadership in promoting understanding of California's critical public policy issues, and recommending action. Zelinka's practice in planning spans more than 28 states with a special focus on placemaking and public safety through urban design.

Margaret Bulat
has joined RBF Consulting's (RBF) Urban Design Studio as a lead community planner and associate in the firm's Irvine office. Bulat comes to RBF from Titan Group, a real estate development company where she was a project manager with responsibilities that included included community outreach, coordination of consultant reports and technical studies, and mentoring staff assistants.

Ariana McBride has been named senior associate, northeast projects, in the Orton Family Foundation's Middlebury, Vermont, headquarters office. She will be part of the foundation's Heart & Soul community planning effort. McBride formerly worked as the economic development planner for the Rhode Island Economic Policy Council where she led several initiatives focused on developing a place-centered approach to economic development.

Russell J. Burke, AICP, has joined BSC Group in Boston as director of planning. Burke is an urban planner with extensive experience in public and private planning, project feasibility, permitting, and development. Most recently, he was a principal of Real Estate InSite, providing planning services for residential, office, and waterfront properties in Massachusetts and Florida.

Paul Koch, AICP
a transportation engineer and planner in Stantec's Raleigh, North Carolina, office, has been promoted to principal. Formerly a senior associate with the firm, Koch helps lead the company's transportation group in the Carolinas. He has worked for more than 18 years as a transportation engineer and environmental planner, managing corridor studies, traffic analyses, and environmental studies for major transportation improvements, including those to sections of the award-winning "super-street" along U.S. 17 through Leland, North Carolina.

Scott Michie, AICP
has been named a stockholder with BWR. He joined the firm in 1990 and serves as the Team Leader for the Community Planning Team in the firms Kansas City office. He has been instrumental in the growth of this practice area, which includes the establishment of Geographic Information System (GIS) services. BWR (recently shortened name from Bucher, Willis & Ratliff Corporation) is a multidiscipline firm offering comprehensive consulting services in engineering, planning, and architecture.

Nando Micale, AICP, has been promoted to principal at the Philadelphia firm of Wallace Roberts & Todd, where he serves as that office's group leader for planning and urban design. His 20-year career includes TOD planning, community planning and design, and large-scale urban planning, which includes the Urban Design Element for the City of Omaha's Master Plan. Micale's recent work with PennPraxis and the Philadelphia City Planning Commission on the Civic Vision for the Central Delaware was granted a 2008 Charter Award by the Congress for the New Urbanism.

Jeanine Cavalli has joined PMC as a new associate planner. She has experience as a planner in the United Kingdom, where she was involved with current planning and smart growth. At PMC, Cavalli is currently assisting with the City of Modesto Kiernan Business Park Specific Plan and working to update the City of Dixon General Plan.

Deborah Jensen, AICP
an urban planner and associate with Cooper Carry, was recently appointed to Atlanta's SPI-1 Downtown District Development Review Committee. The committee was created when the Atlanta City Council adopted new zoning and design regulations for the downtown district. Jensen is one of nine committee members who will advise the city's planning bureau on future developments. Her role is to review proposed developments from an architectural and urban design viewpoint.

Alan D. Reynolds, AICP
recently celebrated his 30th anniversary with WilsonMiller. In the past decade, during which he has served as CEO, the firm has diversified its services and increased its revenues fourfold. Reynolds's areas of expertise include environmental and community design, as well as land use and strategic planning. He has served as planner for many communities in Southwest Florida, including the Town of Ave Maria, Babcock Ranch, the Town of Big Cypress, Berkshire Lakes, Bonita Bay, The Brooks, Grey Oaks, Hamilton Harbor, Lely Resort, Mediterra, Pelican Marsh, Winding Cypress, and Wyndemere.

Alan W. Roddy, AICP, formerly a shareholder with the Sarasota law firm of Matthews, Eastmoore, Hardy, Crauwels & Garcia, has rejoined the Sarasota County Attorney's Office. Roddy practices in the areas of land use and environmental law. A certified planner, he is also certified by the Florida Bar in city, county, and local government law.

Stephanie Keyes, AICP, has joined the Realtor Association of Greater Fort Myers and the Beach, Inc. as director of government affairs, where she will be addressing legislative and government/community relations activities for the association. Previously, Keyes was a principal planner for Johnson Engineering, Inc. and a long-range facilities planner for Lee County Schools. She also owned a local urban land use planning company for 12 years.

Erich Fischer
has been promoted to vice president and regional director for the Central Valley/Sierra region of Environmental Science Associates (ESA). Fischer directs ESA's Central Valley/Sierra Land Management and Biological Resources practice. He also has served as the region's Deputy Regional Director for the past year. Since joining ESA in 1999, Fischer has developed solutions for clients that balance species conservation and development, including plans for Native American clients and Clean Water Act compliance throughout the Central Valley.

Daniel Baer, AICP, has joined Parsons Brinckerhoff as East Coast planning manager, responsible for multimodal transportation, transit, freight, and environmental planning. He has more than 20 years of experience in managing large, multidisciplinary teams for transportation and land development initiatives. He has directed planning efforts for the Fulton Mall streetscape, Hudson Yards redevlopment, and Yankee Stadium parks and garages in New York City.

APA Past-President David Siegel, AICP, has joined Otak Inc. as a member of the firm's planning team in its Lake Oswego, Oregon, headquarters. He will contribute to a variety of Otak's smart growth and sustainability planning projects. In the West and Pacific Northwest, Siegel has led regional planning initiatives such as the Regional Growth Summits for the Las Vegas region and Blueprint Houston. He has also led community groups and decision makers in creating plans for neighborhoods and downtowns for Northwest communities. He also played a key role in the establishment of the Oregon Visions Project, culminating in its award-winning Guide to Community Visioning.

Brad Schwab, AICP, has joined Woolpert, Inc. as a planning and design group manager in the firm's Cincinnati office. Schwab brings 10 years of successful land use and development consulting experience, including work in community planning, redevelopment planning, zoning amendments, economic development and concept design. He also served in the Ohio National Guard for six years, and was active in the U.S. Army for three years.

Christine A. Wells, AICP has established a new transportation planning consulting firm, Crossroads Transportation, LLC. Wells has more than 25 years of experience. She holds a master's degree in city and regional planning from Morgan State University and has worked in planning at the local, state, and regional levels. As president of the firm, she intends to assist clients in identifying transportation and land use policies, projects and programs that will result in a more complete transportation system.

Byron Goynes is the new chairman of the Las Vegas Planning Commission, and Glenn Trowbridge is the new vice chairman. Goynes has served as an appointed planning official of the city of Las Vegas for 15 years. He is currently employed with Veolia Transportation, which provides public transit in the Las Vegas area. Trowbridge joined the commission in July 2005. A resident of Las Vegas for more than 30 years, he is a former director of the Clark County Parks & Recreation Department.

Ralph Becker, FAICP, was elected mayor of Salt Lake City, Utah, in November 2007. In his campaign, Becker told voters that some of his top issues were climate change and the environment, transportation choice, and the revitalization of downtown and other neighborhoods. Becker was the minority leader of the Utah House of Representatives and is a co-founder of the comprehensive environmental planning firm Bear West. Other planner-mayors around the country include Paul Dennis, AICP, Camas, Washington; Rhon Ernest-Jones, AICP, Coral Springs, Florida; Ron Littlefield, AICP, Chattanooga, Tennessee; Carl Morehouse, AICP, Ventura, California; and Tom Phillips, AICP, Manhattan, Kansas.

Peter Denitz, AICP, has joined HDR as the northeast transportation planning manager based in the firm's Philadelphia office. Most recently, Denitz was vice president and northeast planning services manager for Parsons Brinckerhoff. Before joining PB, Denitz served as chief of community planning for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission. He is a charter member of AICP, a registered Professional Planner in New Jersey, and a member of the Women's Transportation Seminar and Urban Land Institute.

Richard L. Woodruff, AICP, has assumed a new corporate role as managing principal of Wilson Miller, responsible for providing strategic consulting services to public and private sector clients throughout Florida. With more than 30 years of experience as an urban planner and public manager, Woodruff has overseen several of the firm's large-scale community and regional planning and master-planned community projects. He has also facilitated redevelopment and beautification projects and completed planning studies on behalf of government entities.

Rollin Stanley, AICP, has been named planning director of Montgomery County, Maryland. Stanley has been director of planning and urban design in St. Louis for five years. Before his stint in St. Louis, he spent 20 years in as a planner in Toronto. Stanley has twice won a World Leadership Award and is chairman of APA's City Planning and Management Division.

Anita Yap, AICP, was selected as the first permanent community development director for the City of Damascus, Oregon, from a nationwide recruitment. One of her duties will be to create a comprehensive plan for the first new city in Oregon in more than 22 years. In Oregon, Yap has served as planning director in Coburg, and a planner for Lane Transit District, Lane Council of Governments, and the cities of Bend, Junction City, and Veneta. She received the Governor's Livability Award for West Bend Village and the Excellence in Downtown Award for Locust Street Cottages in Coburg.

Wayne Grinnell, AICP, has accepted invitation to membership in the Counselors of Real Estate (CRE). CRE was established in 1953, and is an international organization of 1,100 high-profile real estate counseling professionals worldwide. Membership in CRE is by invitation only. Grinnell is vice-president of planning and development of CSA Consulting Engineers and CSA Design Group, Inc. of El Paso, Texas.

Christopher Yake, a senior planner, and Lesley Barewin, a transportation planner, have joined Otak's headquarters in Lake Oswego, Orgon. Yake has an extensive background in smart growth, community planning and transit-oriented development. He recently managed the Denver Transit-Oriented Development Market Study and completed the Alameda Transit-Oriented-Development Station Area Infrastructure Framework Plan. Barewin will use her expertise to specialize in environmental planning for transportation projects. Prior to joining Otak, Barewin worked in the planning department at the City of Milwaukie, Oregon, assisting with an update to the Transportation System Plan, and for the City of Beaverton in the Solid Waste and Recycling Department.

Erin L. Dorn, AICP, recently became a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Accredited Professional. She obtained LEED AP status by passing an examination administered by the U.S. Green Building Council, which established the LEED rating systems. A member of WilsonMiller's Community & Regional Planning Business Unit, Dorn is experienced in growth management, future land use assessments, and Developments of Regional Impact (DRIs). As a LEED AP, Dorn will incorporate specific planning and design techniques in her projects to increase their energy efficiency and to reduce impacts on human health and the environment.