Richard Kamp – Director
Richard Kamp has been Director of E-Tech International since 2003. His work at E-Tech has included assisting development and implementation of all E-Tech projects; co-authoring mining analyses in Guatemala, Ecuador, and Peru; assisting in annual fora in Peru on independent monitoring, indigenous environmental protection, and oil-gas industry best practices; assessing impacts in the Chevron-Texaco Ecuador oilfield case; and evaluating oil and liquid natural gas (LNG) development impacts in Northern Mexico. Separately from E-Tech, Dick was an environmental journalist and editor for Wick Newspapers from 2005 through 2014. From 1983-2005, Dick directed the Border Ecology Project (BEP), wrote and oversaw two draft treaties with Mexico, and helped establish and implement NAFTA side agreements. Dick was named a Purpose Prize Fellow in 2010, received the Gildardo Acosta award for outstanding protection of the US-Mexico border in 2005, co-chaired the US-Mexico environmental protection board in 1992, and received the 1991 UNEP children’s award for global environmental protection.
Dr. Ann Maest – Chief Scientist
Ann Maest is an aqueous geochemist and Chief Scientist with E-Tech International in Boulder, Colorado. Dr. Maest’s primary area of expertise over the last 25 years has been the environmental effects of mining and oil and gas development. After her PhD, Ann worked as a research geochemist in the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Research Program in California, as a senior scientist at Environmental Defense Fund in Washington DC, and as a consultant to state and federal agencies, NGOs, and tribes in the US. She works internationally with community and indigenous groups and governments and has reviewed over 200 Environmental Impact Assessments and associated technical documents for large-scale development projects in Peru, Ecuador, El Salvador, Panama, Mexico, the United States, Suriname, Laos, Ghana, and Mali for potentially affected communities. Ann has served on a number of national and international committees, including several National Academy of Sciences committees related to earth resources, and has been an invited speaker at national and international conferences, universities, and the United Nations. She holds a PhD in geochemistry and water resources from Princeton University.
Bill Powers – Chief Engineer
Bill Powers is the Chief Engineer of E-Tech International and principal of Powers Engineering, an environmental engineering firm established in San Diego in 1994. He specializes in emission control technology assessments and water conservation for new and existing industrial sources, principally in the power generation, petroleum, aluminum, and copper sectors. He has developed renewable and conservation energy plans for the San Diego and Bay area regions; authored an oil industry best practices manual for tropical forest regions, speaking widely in Peru on this issue; and analyzed and independently predicted pipeline ruptures at the Camisea Natural Gas Project in Peru. Since 2006 he has overseen efforts to guide cleanup of oil concessions in the Loreto, Peru, region for E-Tech and analyzed Chevron-Texaco best practices in the Ecuador oilfield litigation. Past projects have included development of Peruvian power plant air standards, analysis of Venezuelan aluminum industry environmental liability, and analysis for US and Mexican environmental regulators with Dick of the effectiveness of a US-Mexico copper smelter pollution control accord. He has been an advocate for stringent environmental power plant and liquid natural gas terminal siting standards in the U.S.-Mexico border region. Mr. Powers has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Duke University, a master’s degree in environmental science from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and is a registered professional engineer in California.
Maria Guadalupe de Heredi – Ecuador Coordinator
Maria Guadalupe de Heredia is the Ecuador Coordinator for E-Tech International. Maria Guadalupe de Heredia is based in Quito where she maintains the E-Tech office. Lupita is a journalist and the main liaison meeting with all stakeholders in Ecuador on the Cordillera del Condor and other issues. Her academic expertise is in human rights, and she was the spokesperson for the Ecuadoran plaintiffs in the Texaco-Chevron case.
Ricardo Segovia – Andean Project Manager and Engineer
Ricardo Segovia is a Canadian-Salvadorian hydrogeologist who previously worked as a groundwater consultant in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He is now based in Quito Ecuador as the Project Coordinator for E-Tech International. He has taken part in water and sanitation projects in The Philippines, Lesotho, El Salvador, Honduras, and as E-Tech, has been involved in environmental evaluations and community training in Ecuador and Peru. While in Ecuador, he helped train native Shuar communities on environmental baseline monitoring near a proposed open-pit mine and ran workshops to illustrate the impacts of mining on surface water and groundwater. In Peru he worked with the with native Quechua environmental monitors on the Pastaza river to increase their knowledge of contaminated site characterization. He also supported the Kukama community of the Marañon River in a field evaluation of environmental damage caused by oil exploitation in the Pacaya Samiria natural reserve. Ricardo has a bachelor of science in geological engineering from the University of British Columbia where he was part of Engineers Without Borders and the EIESL project, which took a critical look at North-South relations in development projects.
Laura Silvan – Program Coordinator
Laurie Silvan is the Program Coordinator for E-Tech International. Laurie is based in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, and has 30 years of nonprofit environmental leadership. She was the co-founder of and directed the Proyecto Fronterizo de Educación Ambiental in Tijuana, Mexico from 1991 to 2007, and has served as Chairperson of the organization to this date. In 2000 Laurie was appointed by the Environmental Minister of Mexico to serve until 2004 as a member on the Joint Public Advisory Committee, which is composed of five citizens from each country and acts as a source of information and ensures public participation in the actions of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation. Laurie was the Executive Director of Fundación La Puerta in Tecate, Mexico from 2007 to 2011 and served as the Coordinator for drafting the State of Baja California Environmental Education Plan from 2012 to 2013.
Paxty Weddy Tananta Melendez – Director of E-Tech Peru
Paxty Weddy Tananta Melendez is Director of a Peruvian nonprofit, E-Tech Peru, that is 100% independent of E-Tech International. He is the legal representative of E-Tech/COAM, the consortium between E-Tech and Conciencia Ambiental a Peruvian environmental consulting firm that began in 2021-2022 implementing government contracts in Loreto, Peru for capacity building and training in the areas of environmental remediation and communal business at the request of the indigenous federations. By 2023 the goal is for E-Tech Peru to begin managing this long-term training project. He has a degree in accounting and finance from the Universidad Católica los Ángeles de Chimbote.
Cliff Jones – Software Systems Engineer
Cliff Jones has been working in software development and administration for 40+ years, with the past 15+ years on environmental projects in Alaska and Latin America. He has bachelor’s degree in biology (concentration in ecology) from the University of California San Diego and a master’s degree in computer science from Arizona State University. He owned and operated a software engineering consulting business for 20 years in Los Angeles and Kansas City. In 2015, he left his home and position as GIS Coordinator at the Department of Environmental Conservation in Alaska to dedicate his time to assist various small NGOs with forest restoration, sustainable agriculture and resource extraction-related social justice projects in Central and South America. This work has involved developing databases and interactive web mapping applications, general IT consulting and planning, technology use training, as well as managing servers and websites.
