Key Staff
The following is an introduction to Hey and Associates’ principals and senior staff.
Gary Schaefer, PE, D.WRE | President [+]
Gary has over 30 years of professional experience focused on water resource related issues. Prior to joining Hey and Associates in 1990, he served as Director of the Natural Resources Department at the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission (NIPC) for seven years. During his tenure at Hey and Associates, Gary has conducted numerous flood studies across the metropolitan Chicago area, led stormwater management initiatives, represented both public and private sector clients on complex development projects, and has overseen the production of plans for hundreds of acres of restoration and flood control projects. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in Wisconsin and Illinois, a Qualified Engineering Review Specialist in Kane County, Illinois, and a Lake County Certified Enforcement Officer.
Vince Mosca | Vice President, Senior Ecologist [+]
Vince has been involved with hundreds of wetland and ecological assessment projects over the past twenty years in northeastern Illinois and Wisconsin. He also regularly leads regulatory permitting (local, state, and federal) efforts for both public and private sector projects. He has experience dealing with state and federal endangered species issues, and with all aspects of ecological restoration, particularly wetlands and streams. Vince brings an acute understanding of ecological processes and values to all projects he is involved with. He is a Certified Wetland Specialist in Lake County, Illinois and Qualified Wetland Review Specialist in Kane County, Illinois.
Tom Polzin, PE, CFM | Vice President, Civil Engineering [+]
Tom’s professional experience includes water quality best management practice design, stormwater infrastructure design, and hydrologic and hydraulic analyses of stormwater systems. His experience also includes the analysis and design of urban flood reduction projects as well as the design and implementation of restoration projects in urban stream corridors. Tom has more than 20 years of experience solving water resources problems and is a magna cum laude graduate of Northern Illinois University. He is a registered Professional Engineer in Illinois and Wisconsin, a Certified Floodplain Manager in Illinois, a Qualified Engineering Review Specialist in Kane County, Illinois, a Lake County Certified Enforcement Officer, and serves on the Lake County Stormwater Management Commission’s Technical Advisory Committee.
Neal O’Reilly, PhD, PH | Vice President, Water Resources Planning [+]
Neal’s unique expertise and experience includes preparation of lake and watershed management plans, particularly when water quality is at issue. He brings his extensive experience in lake management, water quality assessment and modeling, and stormwater management to complex urban watershed planning projects. Neal is a registered Professional Hydrologist in Wisconsin and received his PhD in Environmental Engineering from Marquette University.
Jeff Wickenkamp, PE, CFM, D.WRE | Vice President [+]
Jeff’s professional experience includes over 14 years of experience in watershed planning and management, flood management projects, water quality studies, best management practices implementation, environmental compliance studies, and grant administration. Jeff recently served as the Principal Water Resources Engineer for the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission (NIPC), during which time he was project manager for more than 15 grant funded streambank stabilization, water quality improvement, best management practice, and watershed planning projects. He is very knowledgeable of the potential grant opportunities in northeastern Illinois and has worked closely with state and federal agencies, and foundations that offer grants for environmental restoration projects. He is a registered Professional Engineer in Illinois and Wisconsin and received his Master of Science degree in Civil/Environmental Engineering from the University of Illinois.
Tim Pollowy, RLA | Senior Landscape Architect [+]
Built upon an education in landscape architecture and natural resources at the University of Illinois, Tim has over 15 years of experience in environmental planning and design. Areas of expertise include best management practices for stormwater management, wetland mitigation, soil bioengineering, native landscape design, passive recreation design, and the restoration and management of natural areas. Past project involvement has been diverse, ranging from open space planning and design to residential and commercial development to urban design. He has a thorough hands-on understanding of construction, and has overseen the successful implementation of a wide variety of projects. Tim is also a Registered Landscape Architect in Illinois.
Steve Rauch | Environmental Services Manager [+]
Steve has over nine years of experience conducting field surveys such as wetland delineations, tree surveys, and vegetation inventories. He is well versed in regulatory permitting issues, having successfully obtained federal and county wetland permits for many public and private sector clients throughout northeastern Illinois. Steve received his Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies from Northeastern Illinois University and completed graduate coursework in Urban Planning at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. As Environmental Services Manager at Hey and Associates, he is responsible for proposal writing, scheduling staff, project QA/QC, and related managerial duties. He is also a Certified Wetland Specialist in Lake County, Illinois and Qualified Wetland Review Specialist in Kane County, Illinois.
Steve McChesney, CPESC | Certified Professional in Erosion and Sediment Control [+]
Steve has international experience in wetland restoration and ecological management of natural areas. For the past several years, Steve has focused on assisting public and private sector clients with National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) compliance. He has extensive experience preparing Notice of Intent (NOI) paperwork, Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plans (SWPPPs), and soil erosion and sediment control (SESC) plans. In addition, he oversees ongoing construction-site inspection programs at dozens of active construction sites throughout northeastern Illinois. He was one of the first consultants in northeastern Illinois to receive his CPESC certification.
Dave Cassin | Field Services Manager [+]
Prior to joining Hey and Associates, Dave was employed by the Lake County Soil and Water Conservation District as the Resource Conservationist. As Field Services Manager at Hey and Associates, Dave’s responsibilities include overseeing and coordinating professional field disciplines including wetland monitoring and management for compliance with mitigation permits, and related activities. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Geography and Environmental Studies from Northeastern Illinois University, and spent several years as an Intelligence Specialist with the U.S. Navy. He is also a Certified Wetland Specialist in McHenry County, Illinois, a Qualified Wetland Review Specialist in Kane County, IL, and a Designated Erosion Control Inspector in Lake County, IL.
Kevin Kleinjan | Subsurface Drainage Services Manager/Engineering Designer [+]
Kevin’s 12 years of experience includes managing a wide range of projects with subsurface drainage components such as the identification, analysis, design and installation of underground drainage systems. Kevin has been responsible for over 250 subsurface drainage inventories and mapping reports focused primarily on agricultural drain tiles over the last 10 years in the Chicago-Milwaukee region. He has managed the design and installation of tiles on sites to increase drainage, re-route flows or restore functionality to compromised systems. In addition to increasing drainage functionality, he has utilized the results of these studies to modify or eliminate drainage networks for wetland mitigation and ecological restoration purposes. He is a landscape designer with expertise in native plantings and landscape design focused primarily on wetlands, creeks, and rivers. He is also an expert in GIS-based analyses and has used GIS, GPS and CAD applications for numerous projects pertaining to watershed planning, wetland mapping, data transfer, and flood hazard assessments.