Meet Our Board of Directors

Pieter Sheehan is the Director of the Division of Environmental Health with the Fairfax County Health Department in Fairfax, Virginia. Since 2012, he has overseen the regulatory and outreach activities including body art, childcare, drinking water, food safety, lodging, onsite sewage, public health nuisance, recreational aquatic, indoor air and vector surveillance/control. Prior to Fairfax County, Sheehan was with St. Charles County Department of Community Health and the Environment and St. Louis County Department of Health both in Missouri; Monterey County, Department of Health in Salinas, California; and Maricopa County, Department of Environmental Services in Phoenix, Arizona.

Jim Rada currently serves as Environmental Health Services Division Director for Jefferson County Public Health in suburban Denver, Colorado. As a Registered Environmental Health Specialist, he has devoted his entire career to service as a public health official at the county government level. His diverse career experience has taken him from urban to rural communities dealing with issues ranging from consumer health and water quality to the built environment relationship to health and the public health impacts of oil and gas development. 

During his seven years as Environmental Health Manager in Garfield County, Colorado, Jim collaborated with the oil and gas industry, all levels of government and diverse community groups on a variety of oil and gas development community impacts. He implemented a sophisticated air quality monitoring network, addressed temporary housing issues and wastewater reclamation opportunities. In 2009-10, he served as project manager over a health impact assessment in Battlement Mesa, Colorado related to an oil and gas development project in a residential community. 

Throughout his career, Jim has participated on many committees, advisory boards, and task forces in the development of policies, regulations, and legislation with statewide application most recently with Jefferson County Public Health and as a Colorado Water Quality Control Commissioner.

Jody Kneupper is a Regional Vice President for Premier Parks, an operator of multiple theme and water parks across the US and Canada. Part of his responsibility is to manage Wild Waves Theme and Water Park in Federal Way, Washington where he has worked since 2019. Prior to Wild Waves, Kneupper worked at Wet’n’Wild Splashtown in Houston, Texas where he had worked for the company since 2009. As a Regional Vice President, he also helps oversee several other properties as well as coordinate operations for the 13 properties Premier Parks operates.

Jody began his career in the water park industry in 1989 as a lifeguard at Schlitterbahn in New Braunfels, Texas. After graduating from the University of Texas in Austin, he worked in various management positions in revenue and operations around the country at many great parks such as Schlitterbahn, Raging Waters, Wet’n’Wild and Hawaiian Falls. Kneupper is currently an Instructor Trainer for Ellis and Associates (E&A), is C.P.O. certified, a Level 1 NAARSO Ride Inspector, an AIMS Level 1 Operator and was a licensed EMT in the State of Texas.

In addition to CMAHC's board, he currently serves on the E&A Advisory Board, ASTM F24 Committee, the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) Finance and IT Committee, and was the past Chairman of the IAAPA Water Park Committee.

Carl Nylander, P.E. is Principal and Studio Director at Counsilman-Hunsaker where he is responsible for the planning and design of aquatic facilities serving municipalities, universities, YMCAs, school districts, and hospitality establishments.  He has served as the Chairman for the Facility Design & Construction Technical Committee as part of the MAHC development process from 2009 to 2014.  He has also served as the Chairman for the CMAHC Technical Review Committee for the 2015 and 2017 Biennial Conferences.

Richard A. Carroll, known in the industry as “RAC”, currently serves as the Senior Vice President/COO of Ellis & Associates, Inc. and has 35 years of experience in the industry, the last 20 with Ellis & Associates. In this role, RAC leads all aspects of E&A’s Global Services including Litigation Support/Expert Witness, Consulting and Program Development. RAC has provided pre-opening and operational consulting for multiple Top 20 International Water Parks, has authored industry related articles and is frequent presenter at worldwide conferences including IAAPA International Safety Institutes, IAAPA Expo and WWA.

 

RAC’s operational resume started with the Morey Organization in Wildwood NJ, continued at Fame City Waterworks in Houston TX and culminated at Splish Splash in Long Island, NY, a Top 10 Water Park in the USA. RAC spent 10 years building, managing and operating the park whose staff grew from 100 to over 500 while the park’s attendance grew toward 500,000 in a 90 day season.

 

He currently serves on the IAAPA North American Safety Committee and the WWA Safety Committee. Past volunteer committee work includes IAAPA Board of Directors, Executive Finance, Global M&S Committee, Space Allocation and Government Relations. RAC is also an active member of ASTM F-24 and Model Aquatic Health Code (MAHC). RAC is an IAAPA Certified Attractions Executive (ICAE) and was honored in 2008 by the WWA with the Al Turner Commitment to Excellence Award.

Sung Choe joined the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO) in January 2022, as the Manager of Standards Development. He is responsible for the development of IAPMO and ASSE ANSI and SCC standards. Before joining IAPMO, Sung served as the Technical Operations Manager of NSF International’s Recreational Water Program where he spent 20 years growing technical service offerings, developing, and overseeing the technical evaluation and certification of products for the recreational water industry. He was NSF’s voting member for NSF International Joint Committee for NSF/ANSI 50. He is also a former Technical Committee Member for IAPMO's Uniform Swimming Pool, Spa, and Hot Tub Code, and currently serves as the past president for the Michigan Chapter of the Pool and Hot Tub Alliance. 

David T. Dyjack, DrPH, CIH, was named executive director and chief executive officer of the National Environmental Health Association (NEHA), effective May 4, 2015.  

Dyjack’s 30-year career includes expertise in environmental health, emergency preparedness and response, public health informatics, infectious disease, workforce development, governmental infrastructure, maternal and child health, health equity, and chronic disease. A board certified industrial hygienist, Dyjack also has advanced degrees in public health with a doctorate from the University of Michigan and a master’s degree from the University of Utah.

He most recently served as the associate executive director for programs at the National Association of County and City Health Officials managing the organization’s grant and contract portfolio and 75 health professionals in support of the nation’s 2,800 local health departments. Dyjack has a wealth of management and leadership experience ranging from local health departments to federal agency collaboration. 

Franceen Gonzales is the Chief Experience Officer at WhiteWater. She has outstanding credentials as a park operator and held top management positions at Golfland Entertainment Centers Inc., Waterworld Safari in Phoenix, Arizona, and Wet ’N’ Wild Waterworld in Texas. She was previously Vice President, Risk Management and Waterparks, for Great Wolf Resorts where she was responsible for safety and risk management as well as water park operations and maintenance for the company’s 12 water park resorts in North America.

She is a member of the IAAPA Global Safety Committee, has chaired the IAAPA Membership Committee, and served on the IAAPA Governance and Strategic Planning committees. In addition to the CMAHC board, she currently serves on the board of directors of Amusement Industry Manufacturers and Suppliers (AIMS) and National Swimming Pool Foundation (NSPF), Franceen teaches certifications such as the upcoming AIMS Pool Operators Certification Course. She is also a former board chair and board member of WWA (World Waterpark Association) and the IAAPA board of directors.

Vincent Hill is the Chief of CDC’s Waterborne Disease Prevention Branch (WDPB). He received his PhD in Environmental Science & Engineering in 2001 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School of Public Health and a Master of Science in Engineering degree in 1991 from Johns Hopkins University. He is a licensed professional engineer in Civil Engineering since 1996. Dr. Hill’s research has focused on the development and application of environmental sampling methods, microbial detection methods, and disinfection technologies for water, fecal waste and hygiene applications. He is an author of over 140 peer-reviewed journal articles and scientific reports focused on environmental microbiology, engineering, and waterborne diseases.  

 

Dr. Hill joined the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2003 to establish the Environmental Microbiology Laboratory for waterborne disease outbreak investigations and emergency preparedness, and became Team Lead for WDPB’s Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Laboratory Team in 2010. In 2016, Dr. Hill began serving as Chief of WDPB, overseeing the Branch’s programs in global and domestic WASH epidemiology, health promotion and communication, water-related emergency preparedness, environmental science, and laboratory surveillance and diagnostics.

Commander Joe Laco is active duty service-member of the US Public Health Service (USPHS) and is stationed at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. CDR Laco is an Environmental Health Scientist in the National Center for Environmental Health’s Water, Food, and Environmental Health Services Branch. He provides Environmental Health technical support and expertise to state and local health departments, US Territories, and tribes. CDR Laco works closely with the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, the Center for Preparedness and Response, the Center for Global Health, and the CDC Emergency Operations Center. His work focuses largely on recreational water, emergency and outbreak response, food safety, drinking water, wastewater, vector control, safety and PPE, and hazardous materials. He was the 2017 USPHS Environmental Health Officer Responder Of the Year and the recipient of the 2019 Edward Moran Award. CDR Laco has more than 25 years of experience working in: federal government, state government, clinical and research laboratories, and private industry. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Biology from Ohio University in 1995, and a Master’s of Science Degree in Environmental Health from East Tennessee State University in 2001. He is a Registered Sanitarian and Registered Environmental Health Specialist through the National Environmental Health Association.

Olivia McCormick works for the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) in the Office of Environmental Health Services. She is the Program Manager for VDH’s regulatory programs for bedding and upholstery, public swimming pools, hotels, campgrounds, and summer camps.  Olivia works to update regulations, set policy, and provide staff with guidelines on the protection of public health and the proper implementation of regulatory authority in these different program areas. 

Alvaro Mendoza, co-founder of Commercial Energy Specialists, Inc. (CES), is recognized as one of the leading aquatic water quality experts in the US. Alvaro's extensive experience in alternative energy technologies has provided a unique opportunity to pioneer energy conversions in aquatic treatment applications. Since 1983, CES has provided Service Supported Distribution (SSD) of water treatment programs for thousands of the premier pools in Florida and the Caribbean. These programs are custom-tailored to each site and treatment application. Currently CES provides 24/7 monitoring and/or water quality control services for over 500 million gallons of water. CES's commitment to continuing innovation and improvement, along with historically responsive customer service is a reflection of the deeply rooted beliefs of the CES management team. CES relies on its strong orientation on education and on-site training and support to assure success in each project and treatment application. He was also a member of the MAHC Facility Design and Construction Technical Committee during the development phase of the MAHC.

Jun Naotsuka graduated with a master’s degree in Environmental Health and began his career as an Environmental Health Specialist in 2005. Jun was involved in regulation of and enforcement of the rules for pools and spas, food establishments, and schools as a local health department inspector. He later attained a degree in teaching in Australia, returned to the US and began in his new position at the Washington State Department of Health Water Recreation Program as a lead plan reviewer and a trainer who trains local health department inspectors for water recreation facilities. Jun eventually became the manager of the program in 2017 and has been leading and overseeing the program at the state level. Jun has been a member of CMAHC, a member of Washington State Drowning Prevention Network, a member of the Standards Consensus Committee for Pool and Hot Tub Alliance, and a member of Floatation or Sensory Deprivation Systems Task Group for NSF International.

For more than eight years, Jason Ravenscroft has been the supervisor for the pools, septics and wells program at the Marion County Public Health Department in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Marion County pool program licenses and inspects over 800 pools in the summer months and over 200 year-round. Jason has been working for the Marion County Public Health department for 20 years in which time he has earned his masters degree in public health, become a registered environmental health specialist, taught Certified Pool Operator courses for operators and public health officials, and is an adjunct faculty with the Indiana University Fairbanks School of Public Health. In addition to serving on the CMAHC Board of Directors, he has served on a number of local, state, and federal boards and committees, including an informatics committee for the National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) and affiliate president for the Indiana Environmental Health Association. Outside of work, Jason enjoys hiking and kayaking outdoors and spending time with his wife and their four children.

Maurice is the Program Director for the Public Swimming Pool and Tourist Accommodations Program with the Georgia Department of Public Health’s, Environmental Health Section. In this capacity, he formulates plans, policies and interprets rules and regulations applicable to the programs. Redmond provides training for district and county environmental health personnel and monitors programmatic outcomes. He serves on the Environmental Health Section’s General Sanitation Committee, which reviews policies, procedures and regulations for the Tourist Accommodations, Public Swimming Pools, Recreational Waterparks and Body Art programs. 

Redmond began his environmental health career in the military as an Environmental Science Officer in Maryland and later served in assignments at Fort Benning and Fort McPherson, Georgia. He began his local county environmental health career with the Fulton County Department of Health and Wellness before joining the state Environmental Health Section. There he has worked 11 years as a Program Consultant and the last 9 years as a Program Director. Redmond was a Commissioner on the Georgia Structural Pest Control Commission for six years which is responsible for overseeing the licensure of pest control companies in the state. He currently services on the Georgia State Codes Advisory Committee representing the Department of Public Health. 

Redmond holds a Bachelor of Science degree from East Carolina University in Environmental Health and a Master’s in Management from Troy State University, Fort Benning Campus. He is a Registered Environmental Health Specialist with the National Environmental Health Association and a Diplomate in the American Academy of Sanitarians.