Master of Public Health in Environmental Health, University of Minnesota (Attended on EPA Air Pollution Fellowship). Title of thesis: Environmental Health Hazards from Use of Treated Wastewater as Cooling Tower Make-up

Graduate studies in Engineering Management, George Washington University and Drexel University

B.S. Aeronautical Engineering, Northrop Institute of Technology

Certified in Comprehensive Practice by American Board of Industrial Hygiene in 1982 (Certificate #2427); re-certified in 1988, 1995, 2001 and 2005 (expires 6/1/2011).

Accredited under EPA AHERA regulations for work in schools, and ASHARA regulations for public and commercial buildings, as an Asbestos Inspector, Management Planner and Project Designer.

Licensed as an Individual Asbestos Consultant in Texas. License 10-5430, expires 2/28/09

ASTM International (formerly American Society for Testing and Materials)

Chairman, Task Group E6.24.03 on Asbestos Management, 1986 -present. Responsible for ASTM E1368Standard Practice for Visual Inspection of Asbestos Abatement Projects; E2356 Standard Practice for Comprehensive Building Asbestos Surveys; and E2394 Standard Practice for Maintenance, Renovation and Repair of Installed Asbestos Cement Products.

Author of Manual on Asbestos Control: Surveys, Removal and Management – Second Edition (©2005, ASTM International) and Manual on Asbestos Control: Removal, Management and the Visual Inspection Process (©1995, ASTM International).

Member of the Program Committee for the ASTM Critical Issues in Monitoring Asbestos conference, July 14-18, 2008, sponsored by Subcommittee D22.07 on Asbestos Sampling & Analysis. Chairman of Session VI: Application Of Monitoring Techniques To Real-World Projects.

Member of committees on Performance of Buildings, Air Quality, and Environmental Assessments.

Environmental Information Association (formerly National Asbestos Council)

Served as President, 1998-1999, President-elect, 1997-1998, Vice-President and Treasurer, 1990 - 1993 and Board of Directors, 1986 - 1989 and 1995-1997. Chairman, Asbestos Abatement Conference and Exposition, San Antonio, TX, 1990. Chairman and member of various technical and administrative committees. Has presented technical sessions and courses at numerous NAC and EIA conferences since 1985. Recipient of the President's Award for Outstanding Service in 1989 and 1991, and the Jack Snider, Jr. Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006.

American Industrial Hygiene Association

Chairman of Asbestos Subcommittee of the Indoor Environmental Quality Committee, 1999-2001. Moderator of 1999 AIHCE Roundtable on Asbestos : Global Developments in Technology and Regulations and 2002 AIHCE Forum on AHERA regulations. Named as an AIHA Fellow by the Board of Directors in 2007.

Secretary, AIHA Texas Hill Country Section from 2002 - 2004 and webmaster from 2004 - present.

Served as a member of a panel advising EPA on Vermiculite Attic Insulation (VAI) Sampling and Analysis Methods Development in February, 2004.

Served as a member of the panel that advised the Global Environment & Technology Foundation on preparation of the Asbestos Strategies report submitted to EPA in May, 2003.

Invited to deliver presentations titled "The Management of Installed Asbestos Products: Surveys, Assessment, and Removal" and "Asbestos-Cement and Contaminated Soil" at the "Malignant Mesothelioma in the 21st Century” conference in Cairo, Egypt on February 20, 2008. Read this paper

Invited to deliver keynote address titled "The Management of Installed Asbestos Products: Surveys, Assessment, and Removal" at the International Symposium about Asbestos Hazards and its Safe Removal in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on January 26, 2008.

Presentation titled "An Instructor's View of On-line Asbestos Training" at the Environmental Information Association EIA2007 Conference, Charlotte, NC, March 21, 2007.

Presentation titled "Risk Assessment And Remediation Prioritization For Asbestos-Containing Materials" at the European Conference on Asbestos Risks and Management, Rome, Italy, December 6, 2006. Read this paper

Professional Development Seminar titled “ASTM Standards for Asbestos Surveys and Abatement” at the Environmental Information Association EIA2006 Conference, Phoenix , AZ , March 26, 2006 .

Presentation titled "Asbestos Floor Tile Issues for Sports Facility Contractors" at the American Sports Builders Association Technical Meeting, Tampa, FL, December 6, 2005.

Presentation titled "New Asbestos Standards from ASTM International" at the Environmental Information Association EIA2005 Conference, New Orleans, LA, March 21 - 23, 2005 and the Environmental Information Association - Arizona Chapter Conference, Las Vegas, NV, March 3 - 4, 2005.

Presentation titled "A New Standard for Repair and Maintenance of Installed Asbestos-Cement Materials" at the Global Asbestos Congress, Tokyo, Japan on November 20, 2004.

Presentation titled "ASTM Standard Practice for Comprehensive Building Asbestos Surveys" at the American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition, Atlanta, GA on May 10, 2004.

Seminars titled "Asbestos Management for the Utility Industries" at the Utility Safety Conference & Exposition, Nashville, TN on May 8, 2002 and San Antonio, TX on April 24, 2003.

Co-presenter of paper titled "Investigating violations of EPA asbestos regulations – the roles of the analyst and consultant" and presenter of paper titled "Current thinking on visual inspection for dust contamination" at Environmental Information Association EIA2003 Conference, Savannah, GA on March 23-26, 2003.

Presentations titled "Case Study: An Asbestos Cement Plant in Israel -- Contamination, Clean-up and Dismantling," and "The Development of Standard Practices for Work on Asbestos-Cement Products," Hellenic Asbestos Conference, Athens, Greece, October 29 - 31, 2002.

Presentation titled "Proposed ASTM Standard Practice for Comprehensive Building Asbestos Surveys," Environmental Information Association EIA2002 Conference, Austin, TX, March 24-27, 2002 (proceedings published by EIA: www.eia-usa.org).

Poster presentations titled "Asbestos-Cement Materials: a Practical Approach to Protecting Worker Health During Maintenance and Construction" and "Remediation of Land in Israel Contaminated by Asbestos Cement Waste Material," Global Asbestos Congress, Osasco, São Paulo, Brazil, September 17 - 20, 2000. See this presentation

OSHA Respiratory Protection Rules for Asbestos, Workplace HR & Safety, Vol. 9, No. 3, May/June 2007.

Standards for Asbestos Control: A holistic approach to managing a health hazard. Standardization News, ASTM International, May 2005. Read this article

Asbestos Control Standards Showcased in Tokyo.  Standardization News, ASTM International, February 2005.

New ASTM Standard for Asbestos Surveys, Compliance Magazine, Vol. 11, No. 11, November/December 2004.

Oberta, A. F. and Fischer, K. E. Negative Exposure Assessments for Special Floor Tile Work Practices," Advances in Environmental Measurement Methods for Asbestos, STP 1342. ASTM International, January, 2000.