Ryan Duckett is a Senior Engineer at Geosyntec, and also serves as President and Chair of the Communications Committee of VCC. He is a materials management consultant and practicing engineer in his professional life and an avid backyard and community composter in his personal life. He serves industry and societal needs by helping to address technical and other issues in the multi-faceted spaces of organics management and solid waste management. His work practice and volunteer work for composting and other forms of source separated organics collection and processing extends throughout the Commonwealth and elsewhere nationwide. In his free time, Ryan enjoys running, gardening, camping, hiking, paddling and backpacking.

Lisa Curll is a Sustainability Consultant at Dominion Energy, where she leads the company’s annual Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility Report and its internal sustainability-related employee engagement programs. Lisa launched Dominion Energy’s “Corporate Composting” program in 2018 and coordinated a “Scraps From Home” employee drop-off program in 2020, resulting in over 100,000 pounds of organic material being recycled in 2022. Lisa recently purchased a home with her husband in Richmond, Virginia, and has been leveraging compost – both homemade and purchased – to transform her hard clay soil into a welcome retreat for pollinators and a healthy bounty of fruits and vegetables for personal use. She enjoys hiking, volunteering, and engaging with community members to help them improve their soil biome and reduce their landfill impact.

Marshall Hall co-founded NOPE Compost Company in 2009 with his father, Chip. After celebrating his father’s retirement, Marshall took over in 2023 as the Owner-Operator, joined by an inspired team of a half-dozen compost professionals. NOPE’s fleet of specialized vehicles collect from schools, restaurants, and businesses across Central and Eastern Virginia, helping to divert over 5 million pounds of food scraps and organic material from landfills each year. As a Certified B-Corporation, NOPE is determined to make composting a well understood and established practice in Virginia. In his free time, Marshall and his wife enjoy dining at the many sustainable restaurants in the Richmond area.

David Holcomb has been working with McGill Compost for the last 5 years as the VA Sales Representative. His responsibilities include marketing, education and promotion of compost creation and use for establishing turf for sports fields, lawns, biofiltration, and growing ornamentals and crops. Previously he worked as a Sales Representative in the Manufacturing Division for Republic Services, Richmond and Charlottesville, managing recycling and special waste for large manufacturing clients. He is a passionate trout fisherman and advocates for clean, cold, sustainable mountain streams.

Brian Orrock, a seasoned professional with over 23 years of expertise in wastewater treatment and composting, serves as the Manager of Wastewater Treatment for Spotsylvania County Utilities. At the helm of the Livingston's Blend Compost Facility, he employs the innovative Aerated Static Pile Composting Process to transform biosolids from Spotsylvania's three wastewater treatment facilities into an Exceptional Quality compost. Brian's dedication extends beyond operational excellence as he ensures the distribution and marketing of this premium compost to local consumers and retail distributors, contributing significantly to sustainable waste management practices in the community.

Vijay Chaganti is an Assistant Professor of Byproducts Management and Use at Virginia Tech. His work at VT focuses on managing organic waste materials from different sources and converting them into value added products for land application. His research will look into the impacts of application of these organic amendments on soil, water and air quality in both agricultural and urban landscapes. Vijay’s specific interest in compost stems from his work during his PHD time at UC Riverside where he looked into the effects of compost applications on stormwater management and runoff control on hillslopes in California. He is a trained soil Scientist and is passionate about soil health and strives to promote regenerative agricultural practices for improving agricultural sustainability and resilience to changing climate. In his free time, Vijay loves to cook for his family.

Ryan Owenby is a sustainability professional focused on expanding food waste diversion & composting infrastructure to aid in regenerative agricultural practices. He enjoys working with restaurants, schools, and businesses to create successful composting programs that meet their organizational goals and make an environmental impact. In his free time, Ryan enjoys camping, hiking, and playing sports with his two young sons.

Klaus Ryan (they/them) went to college in upstate New York, where they quickly found community in the environmental protection groups on and off campus. While living in California, Klaus saw firsthand the devastating effects of extreme climate change and their passion for changing our world for the better intensified. Always drawn to the Richmond area, Klaus relocated and decided to make composting both easy and accessible by creating Enrich Compost, a sliding-scale-based compost collection service focused on reducing the amount of waste stream going into landfills.

Kateri Simon is passionate about soil health and optimistic about the multitude of environmental benefits that arise from promoting living soils. She gets excited about compost because of its key role in soil to sustain diverse life forms that are vital to keeping the carbon and nutrient cycles in check, affecting all aspects of the quality of our environment. Kateri’s roots in civil engineering, stormwater management and erosion and sediment control and her current position with Luck Ecosystems as Product Support Specialist for their engineered soil medias, have given Kateri a unique perspective on how our natural resources are impacted, protected, and mitigated and what opportunities there may be to improve upon how we interact with our planet.

Susie is a dedicated sustainability leader at Eastman, specializing in the development of long-term sustainability plans and spearheading top-line growth initiatives. With a deep passion for circularity, Susie has embraced composting at home as a way to actively contribute to a more sustainable future.

In addition to her role at Eastman, Susie holds esteemed positions within the sustainability community. She is a valued member of the Composting Council at the Sustainable Packaging Coalition and actively contributes to the Composting Committee at the US Composting Council. Through these engagements, she collaborates with like-minded professionals to drive positive change and promote sustainable practices.

Susie finds joy in envisioning a more sustainable future and is passionate about engaging her local community in turning that vision into reality. She believes that collective action and collaboration are key to achieving meaningful progress in sustainability.

Bruno Welsh is the founder of Compost RVA, launched in 2013 as a community program focused on compost education – getting kids excited about science, and demonstrating that composting can be as much a part of everyday life as brushing your teeth. Bruno is passionate about breaking down the science of composting into easily understandable terms and concepts. Compost RVA became a business that also serves the community through residential and commercial pickups of compostable materials. In addition to teaching educational classes about composting, Bruno also provides finished compost to community gardens.