Location & Environment

As a child, Angie had dreams of anchoring the nightly news, but after completing a few semesters of journalism classes she took to the open skies and joined the Air Force. Since the Air Force, Angie has earned a B.S. in biology, and M.S. in civil engineering, and a graduate certificate in GIS. Angie worked for both local and state governments, and has over 15 years of transportation industry experience. Angie currently serves as the Director of the Location and Environment Bureau at the Iowa DOT. Angie hopes to make the future brighter and the choices more abundant for future generations that choose a career in the transportation industry.

Bryan grew up on a small farm near Ottumwa, Iowa and was ready to start his life journey after graduating from high school. He packed his bags and hitchhiked to Iowa State University for some college experience in Mechanical Engineering. After graduating from ISU in 1985, the Chicago city life was calling him to work in the machine design field.

Soon after the birth of his first child, he realized Iowa’s green acres was the place to be, so he packed up his young family and once again enrolled at ISU as a Civil Engineering Grad Student, and later a Chemical Engineering grad student. Not wanting to become a professional student, he tried his hand at teaching technology to elementary school kids and growing organic vegetables in the summers. But like a young Skywalker, the engineering force was strong and pulled him into designing water and wastewater treatment equipment.

Then in July of 2005, he unknowingly started his “last first day” at the Iowa DOT in the Methods Section of Design. Since then, he has held positions in Methods, Traffic and Safety, and Location and Environment. His longest tenure was 8 years as the State Utility Engineer. He feels one of the best things about working in the Location and Environment Bureau is knowing there is always more to learn, and each day brings new challenges.

As a fresh-eyed graduate with her Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology, Janee first worked at the Iowa Department of Transportation as an embedded consultant (a.k.a. Cultural Resources Assistant) for the Cultural Resources Section of the Office of Location and Environment (OLE). She learned the ropes and intricate knots of Section 106 and cultural resource management over the course of four and a half years.

Janee was then pushed off to graduate school in Pennsylvania, where she learned a great deal more and dabbled in some work at the Pennsylvania DOT and a thesis on Wild West Show Performer Camp archaeology. Upon receiving her Master’s degree in Applied Archaeology, Janee worked for a private archaeological consultant in northeast Iowa before her dream position opened up at the Iowa DOT. In the spring/summer of 2022, she became an actual Iowa DOT employee as a Cultural Resources Manager for the renamed Location and Environment Bureau (LEB). She now enjoys long days of project reviews, consultation, and resource management before settling down with a nice walk with her favorite companion Porter (the best dog).

Harris began his career with the Iowa DOT in February 1990, shortly after the internet was invented. He is a graduate of Iowa State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering. He traded the beaches and pineapple fields of Hawaii for an Iowa farm girl and cornfields. In his spare time, he enjoys ISU Cyclone sports of all kinds and wading into house projects for himself and the married kids. Grandpa’s his name, and spoiling is his game.

His current responsibilities include leading planning and project studies across Iowa that range from new highway interchanges to Super-2 enhancements in rural areas. He enjoys leading Project Management Teams (PMTs), serving with the Districts and other Bureaus in the DOT to come up with innovative solutions to the transportation challenges we face.

Trevor grew up on a small farm in southern Iowa where he learned the value of hard work and enjoyed the freedom of wide open spaces. He attended the small school of Diagonal Community where he was afforded the opportunity to play on any sports team that he desired.

After graduation he attended Southwestern Community College for two years before moving to Ames where he graduated with a degree in civil engineering in May of 2009. While attending college Trevor was able to hold jobs in various industries including constructing a house one summer, pouring concrete for a summer, working the loading docks at a local factory, and spending a summer in Cedar Rapids working as an intern for Weitz Industrial.

Upon graduation he was offered a position with Winnebago County as the Assistant Engineer before relocating to Wayne County and then to Taylor County as the County Engineer. He spent 12 years working for these counties where he was fortunate to work on a variety of projects including construction and maintenance activities. In July of 2022 Trevor returned to Ames accepting a position with the Location and Environment Bureau as a Location Engineer.

DeeAnn is from a small community in Iowa where the school name is the first letter of each community in the school district. This was her first exposure to the wonders of an acronym. After HS she began her studies at ISU and received a BS in HRIM. After working a few years in the hospitality industry, DeeAnn took an opportunity to work part-time in the ESS in the OF at the DOT. She eventually found a full-time position working for DHS for about a year until she was able to secure a full-time position back in ESS cleaning up LUST sites and developing SPCC Plans. She was so successful in that role that she ran out of work and had to take on other duties such as NEPA. DeeAnn has devoted her 40 hours per week to NEPA compliance for over 22 years. Two things she loves the most about NEPA is that the law requires compliance with other laws such as CAA, CERCLA, CWA, ESA, LWCF, NHPA and working with other agencies such as FHWA, SHPO, USFWS, USEPA, USACE…

Valerie has worked for the Iowa Department of Transportation for 12 years in the Public Involvement Section and is the PI representative for Districts 1, 2, and 3 in the state. She has been a part of the Public Information Management Application (PIMA) since it’s conception in 2013. Prior to working with the Iowa DOT she was the Marketing Coordinator for a healthcare clinic. She and her husband, Derek, own an acreage north of Boone, Iowa and have two girls, Keilah and Linnea. Valerie graduated from Buena Vista University with a B.S. in Clinical Psychology.

Kaitlyn Sommerfelt is currently a junior at Iowa State University, majoring in public relations and minoring in agricultural education and leadership studies. Outside of class, she is involved in Student Admission Representatives, Finance Club, and intermural sports. Before coming to the DOT, Kaitlyn interned at the Iowa Secretary of State’s Office and at BankIowa. In her free time, she enjoys exercising, being outdoors, spending time with family, and reading.

Brad graduated from Iowa State University in 1983 and not having any job offers or prospects and not wanting to return to live with his parents, he joined the Army to get away from small-town Iowa and see if the Army’s slogan "Be All You Can Be" had any basis in reality.

Using his three years of active service and its notable tuition assistance, he obtained an additional degree in 1986 from Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri. Brad followed his active duty service with three years in the Missouri Army National Guard while making an attempt to establish himself in private industry.

Brad returned to Iowa in 1990 still seeking a firm direction in life and a reliable source of income that would support his young family. With great gladness in his heart, he obtained stable and secure employment with the State of Iowa and started his DOT career in the Office of Maintenance.

Eighteen months later he was caught in the State’s 1991 reduction-in-force (RIF). After four long months of soul searching and visits to the local food pantry, he was selected for an Environmental Specialist position at the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. In 1995 he returned to the DOT and has been living the dream in various iterations of the environmental office ever since.

His current duties involve reviewing highway projects for known or potentially contaminated properties; overseeing contaminated properties where the DOT has been identified as a responsible party; dealing with asbestos, lead paint and mold issues at highway project parcels, bridges and DOT facilities; and handling a multitude of odds-and-ends related to statewide contamination and waste management issues.

Growing up in Cedar Falls, Iowa, Derek’s older brother of 10 could recite the capital of any South or Central American country at the drop of a hat. Looking up to his brother, he thought to himself, “Gee, When I grow up, I should live with mom and dad and attend UNI to earn a degree in Geography.”

He set his sights high and realized that dream in 1999. Upon graduating, he quickly realized the Geographer job market was tight, so he settled on driving a dump truck for the local sand a gravel company where he quickly developed a bronze left arm. However, his patience and perseverance paid off when he was offered a GIS position with the City of Cedar Rapids.

He worked here for 7 years learning the tools of the trade from his Jedi-like GIS Manager. In 2008, Derek had the opportunity to try his hand in the Transportation industry and was offered a position in the Trans Data office at the Iowa DOT. After a brief stint learning the meaning of a Linear Referencing System, he was offered the GIS Coordinator position in the Office of Location and Environment and has been in that role since.

Brandon grew up in Dyersville, IA and graduated from Iowa State University in 2017 with degrees in agronomy and environmental science. He began working at IDOT in 2015 as a summer intern in the Water Resources Section assisting project managers with field work.

After graduation, he was employed by Jacobs Engineering where he worked as an environmental scientist for three years (of which all three years was contracted out to IDOT in the Water Resources Section). In 2021, Brandon was brought on board as an IDOT Water Resources Project Manager, which is his current position. In his free time, Brandon enjoys camping, kayaking, fishing, and skiing, or pretty much any outdoor activity.

Mike grew up in Spencer, IA and later graduated from the University of Iowa. He lived and worked in Chicago and Minneapolis for a bit, but not wanting to be stuck indoors all day, he decided a career change was in order. Mike enrolled at the University of Minnesota and studied natural resources before working as an embedded environmental consultant for Hennepin County, MN. While here, he worked on monitoring and conservation of local wetlands and streams. In I997, Mike returned to Iowa where he began work at the Iowa DOT in the Wetlands Unit, which was housed in the Roadside Development Section of the Office of Design. Mike followed the Wetlands Unit through re-organizations and renaming and today remains a Water Resources Project Manager for the Location and Environment Bureau. In his spare time, Mike enjoys the outdoors, travel, films, live music and spending time with his family.

Mark started his career at the Iowa DOT in the Photogrammetry Section of the Office of Design in January 2006. Shortly after that, he began working in the Water Resources Section of the Office of Location and Environment. He has been working as a Water Resources Project Manager ever since. Prior to the Iowa DOT, Mark worked for the Iowa DNR, Iowa Department of Agriculture and Stewardship, Polk County Conservation Board, and National Park Service. Mark owns a small farm south of Marshalltown, where he bales small square grass hay, hunts, fishes, hikes, go on walks, works, bleeds, sweats, thinks, shed hunts, takes pictures, plants trees, scatters milkweed (and other good plants) seeds into the wind, and enjoys relaxing.