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CALIFORNIA   Facility

Marilyn O'Neill
Founder & CEO
Marilyn founded Nautilus Environmental in July 2004 after 14 years in large environmental firms as a scientist and manager. The vision for the company is to create a community of staff, become a part of each local community in which we operate, and provide a meaningful, scientific basis for environmental decision making.

With Marilyn as its driving force, Nautilus has moved up the rankings each year since its inception on the San Diego Business Journal lists of Top 25 Environmental Consulting firms and Top 50 Woman-Owned Businesses and quickly built a strong reputation for thoughtful scientific approaches and adaptive management. Marilyn was also featured in Entrepreneur’s Corner, in the September 2007 issue of the UCSD alumni magazine and will appear in Entrepreneur Magazine’s July 2010 issue.

Marilyn is a respected scientist with an undergraduate degree in Ecology from UCSD. She earned a scholarship to attend UCSD at 16 in pursuit of degrees in Ecology and Music. In 1997, she was a YMCA TWIN Award Honoree and served on the organizing committee for the 1998 TWIN Awards. Marilyn was honored in March 2008 as a founder of the Southern California Chapter of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC); she has served the organization as President and Board Member and currently serves on a committee for National SETAC. She will serve as a co-chair of the 2012 National SETAC Conference. Marilyn was recognized in September 2008 as part of the San Diego Metropolitan magazine’s 40 Under 40 Awards honoring young business and civic leaders in the community and was profiled on the blog www.entrepreneurgoddess.com. Most proudly, Nautilus was celebrated in spring 2009 as one of San Diego’s Best Places to Work by the San Diego Business Journal.

Her volunteer efforts have included speaking for the Toussaint Academy of the Arts & Sciences and mentoring for young women in the Women’s Global Network. She and her husband support several wonderful charitable organizations including Mama’s Kitchen, the Humane Society, Senior Community Centers, and the International Fund for Animal Welfare, which protects habitats worldwide.

Nick Buhbe
Ecology Group Manager
Mr. Buhbe's thirteen-year career has included a wide variety of projects related to the aquatic environment, including sediment testing, assessment of marine and estuarine biological resources, water quality studies, preparation of environmental planning compliance documents, and wetland-related project work. Sediment characterization project experience has included physical, chemical, and biological assessment of sediments in the three major southern California harbors, and also ports in the Pacific Northwest, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico. Projects related to water quality have included monitoring for dredging and beach replenishment projects, and studies related to brine discharges into sensitive habitats. Nick’s knowledge of southern California marine flora and fauna has been applied to projects which require assessment of the ecological condition of various biological communities , including estuarine, bay, and coastal environments. Nick’s multi-disciplinary experience is based upon an academic foundation which includes a M.S. in Marine Ecology from San Diego State University (1997) and a B.A. in Marine Biology from the University of California at Santa Cruz (1992). As a Program Manager at Nautilus, Mr. Buhbe’s primary role is to ensure that clients receive sound science-based information, that deliverables are on-time and of the highest quality, and that Nautilus' core values are maintained.

John Rudolph
Toxicology Group Manager
Mr. Rudolph has over 15 years of experience in aquatic ecology/biology and has been working at Nautilus (and predecessors) since 1999. As a Project Manager and the Laboratory Supervisor, his primary responsibilities include oversight and training of all laboratory technicians, coordinating both routine and specialized toxicity tests including aqueous and sediment TIEs, as well as organization, analysis, and reporting of a variety of test data. In addition to his laboratory duties, John manages the field efforts for various projects. He currently coordinates all bioassessment projects under both CSBP and SWAMP methods. In addition, as the Diving Safety Officer for Nautilus , John oversees all field collections requiring SCUBA. He has been SCUBA certified since 1988 and has logged over 300 dives for a variety of organism and sample collections. John received a M.S. in Marine Ecology from San Diego State University (1995), and a B.A. in Ecology from Austin College (1992).

Steve Carlson
Environmental Scientist, Toxicology Group
Mr. Carlson has worked in the bioassay field since 1992, and his experience has centered on aquatic toxicology and marine ecology. Steve is a Project Manager at Nautilus, who oversees and manages all NPDES effluent monitoring programs. This includes coordinating sample collection and transport, ordering test organisms and laboratory supplies, and ensuring final test results are reported in a timely manner. In addition to NPDES programs, Steve also coordinates the testing schedule for all laboratory projects. Steve holds a B.S. in Applied Marine Ecology from the University of California at Irvine (1987).

Kellyn Lupfer
Laboratory Supervisor, Toxicology Group
Ms. Lupfer has over three years of toxicity testing experience and has been working at Nautilus since 2006. Kellyn is proficient in conducting all assays including but not limited to WET, stormwater testing, and bioassays in support of WERs and WQC development. As Laboratory Supervisor, her primary responsibilities include oversight, basic training, and organization and scheduling of all laboratory technicians. She also continues to conduct routine and specialized toxicity tests, as well as analysis and reporting of a variety of test data. Kellyn received her B.A. in Marine Science from University of San Diego (2006).

Sarah Douglass
Environmental Scientist, Ecology Group
Ms. Douglass has been with Nautilus (and predecessors) since 2003. As a project manager at Nautilus, Ms. Douglass has worked on a variety of projects involving both consulting and bioassay testing services. She focuses on providing exceptional client service through communication and attention to project deadlines and budgets. Sarah has managed bioassay testing programs for multiple stormwater monitoring programs, and provided regulatory support along with data analysis and reporting for these clients. Sarah is also versed in all aspects of performing and interpreting toxicity tests under guidelines published by a variety of regulatory agencies and research institutions. Over the past year, major efforts have included working with the Port of Los Angeles supporting stormwater programs , preparing reports for Nautilus’ toxicity testing clients, and supporting the U.S. Navy in their efforts to quantify toxic responses in stormwater and effluent samples. In addition, Ms. Douglass has participated in the preparation Toxicity Reduction Evaluation and Water Effect Ratio work plans, as well as other projects with intensive reporting and database aspects. She currently administers contract compliance efforts under Nautilus’ on-call services contracts with the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Sarah received her B.S. in Biology (Marine Biology emphasis) from St. Francis University (2000), and has completed graduate level course work at the University of San Diego.

Christa Zacharias
Environmental Scientist, Ecology Group
Environmental Scientist, Ecology Group Ms. Zacharias’ career in the environmental sciences began in 2003 when she worked as a contractor for the Navy’s Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center (SPAWAR) bioassay laboratory. In due course, she went on to obtain a Master’s degree in environmental sciences. During her academic career, she took part in a diverse array of studies ranging from plant phylogeny to monitoring shellfish, and from documenting behavior of large mammals to creating a floral guide in western Africa. Christa also gained extensive plant identification knowledge while surveying Southern California’s post-fire chaparral communities for the U.S. Geological Survey in 2007.

Christa joined Nautilus in December 2008 as a project manager. Together with key Nautilus staff, she has played an important role in a variety of projects including nanoparticle toxicity, stormwater toxicity identification evaluations, experimental bioassays using bioluminescent dinoflagellates, and research and development studies. She has conducted freshwater, marine, and sediment toxicity testing utilizing a variety of aquatic organisms (fish, cladocerans, echinoderms, molluscs, crustacea, and giant kelp) under EPA, State of California, ASTM, and Marine Bioassay Project guidelines. Christa provides support with data management, in the laboratory, report writing, and with research activities. She also provides marketing support through the compilation of proposals and by providing consulting services.

Christa’s educational credentials include a M.S. in Environmental Sciences from Antioch University (2008), a B.S. in Biology from San Diego State University (2004), and an A.S. in Biological Sciences from Cuyamaca College (2002).

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BRITISH COLUMBIA   Facility

Howard Bailey
Senior Scientist & Technical Director
Dr. Bailey has over 30 years of experience in consulting and academic positions in the field of environmental toxicology. Specific areas of expertise include aquatic and terrestrial ecology, ecotoxicology, biomarkers and histopathology, statistics and study design , structure activity analysis, environmental monitoring and impact assessment, mitigation strategies, ecological risk assessment, and aquaculture. As Senior Scientist at Nautilus, Howard's roles include project management, regulatory liaison, expert witness, design and interpretation of toxicity identification/reduction studies, developing site-specific water quality criteria, and oversight of technically-oriented watershed-level and risk assessment studies. Howard also provides technical support for internal R&D. Dr. Bailey’s academic credentials include a Ph.D. in Ecology from the University of California at Davis (1993), his M.S. in Biological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California (1981), and a B.S. in Wildlife and Fisheries from the University of California at Davis (1973).

James Elphick
Environmental Scientist
Mr. Elphick is a Registered Professional Biologist with more than fifteen years experience as an Environmental Scientist, with particular expertise in the fields of environmental toxicology and chemistry. He has considerable experience designing, conducting and interpreting results from toxicity testing programs with aquatic and sediment samples. He has been involved in protocol development for a variety of test methods and has considerable experience identifying causes of toxicity in aquatic and sediment samples, and evaluating toxicity reduction strategies. He has developed water quality guidelines for a variety of chemicals, and tissue-based thresholds for selenium. James received a B.S. in Biological Sciences, with a minor in Environmental Toxicology from Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia (1996).

Armando Tang
Laboratory Manager
Mr. Tang is a professional biologist whose area of expertise is aquatic toxicology. With 13 years experience in environmental toxicology, he has extensive knowledge of conducting sediment and water column toxicity tests using a variety of freshwater and marine organisms, as well as interpreting data and reporting to clients and regulatory agencies. He is also experienced in conducting investigations to determine the cause of toxicity in effluent and sediment samples, which aids clients in successfully developing cost-effective toxicity reduction strategies. Armando has participated in numerous environmental monitoring programs, including sediment assessments using the Triad approach and receiving water monitoring of various discharges. In addition, Armando has extensive knowledge of sample collection and Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC) guidelines, having spent eight years on the QA/QC Committee of a large commercial toxicity testing laboratory. Armando holds a B.Sc. in Biological Sciences from Simon Fraser University (1991).

Andy Diewald
Laboratory Supervisor
Mr. Diewald joined Nautilus in January 2005 as part of the new business venture in British Columbia. He brings over 9 years of toxicity experience and is well versed in data management and analysis, project design, and the technical conduct of toxicity testing, including effluent and sediment sample TIEs. Mr. Diewald has conducted freshwater, marine, and sediment bioassays using several test species including rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas), Pacific topsmelt (Atherinops affinis), the three-spine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus), amphipods (Ampelisca abdita, Eohaustorius estuarius, Leptocheirus plumulosus, Hyalella azteca), bent-nose clam (Macoma nasuta), and midge fly larva (Chironomus tentans).

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