APWA 2015 Jennings Randolph International Fellows

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (Feb. 9, 2015)—The American Public Works Association (APWA), in association with the Eisenhower Institute at Gettysburg College (EI), recently named two 2015 Jennings Randolph International Fellows. APWA’s Jennings Randolph International Fellowship program is a unique international study and professional exchange opportunity that promotes collaboration and the sharing of public works best practices, knowledge, and innovation, both internationally and with public works colleagues at home. 

Chosen from a field of 14 applicants, the two APWA 2015 Jennings Randolph Fellows will conduct public works study tours and make presentations at international partner associations’ annual membership meetings in Vsemina, Czech Republic, Tatry, Slovak Republic and in Rotorua, New Zealand. 

Frank Pandullo, P.E., PWLF, a public works department stormwater utility and technical manager from Charleston County, South Carolina, will conduct a public works study tour and make presentations at the Czech Public Works Association and the Slovak Public Works Association annual membership meeting in May, 2015. He will attend the National Public Works Conference in Vsemina, Czech Republic and Tatry, Slovak Republic. In addition, he will have the opportunity to learn from other public works agencies in the Czech and Slovak Republics about waste collection and disposal, handling of recycled materials, funding of their operations and the sociological impacts on their citizens in dealing with the spectrum of waste collection and disposal. In Charleston County, the management of the disposal of the waste streams is funded by user fees, tipping fees and the sale of recyclables.

His goals, in addition to the presentation and attendance at the Public Works Conference, are to compare the methodologies of handling and funding the waste streams in the Czech Republic and Slovak Republic from collection to ultimate disposal, and provide a valuable exchange with his counterparts with mutual benefits for both the European Countries and the United States. In his current position as the Charleston County Stormwater Utility and Technical Manager, he oversees the county’s Stormwater Division program for permitting and compliance with the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) protocol. His areas of specialization include the design and permitting of wastewater collection, treatment and disposal facilities, the preparation of storm water pollution prevention plans, the design and permitting of environmentally secure landfills, and other public works projects. 

Tom Jacobs, MS, MEM, the environmental director for the Mid-America Regional Council, residesin Kansas City, Missouri. Jacobs will conduct a study tour in New Zealand to assess how their Resource Management Act of 1991 facilitates the integration of watershed and natural resource management into the everyday practice of public works. He will also make a presentation at the Joint IFME World Congress on Municipal Engineering and the Institute of Public Works Engineers in Australasia (IPWEA) Congress in June 2015 in Rotorua, New Zealand.

Jacobs’ study will highlight the differences between the United States and New Zealand in national legislation and regional governance structures related to water resource management. His study will also explore how national policy and regional decision-making structures and dynamics shape the ways in which public works officials frame, engage in and implement watershed management. A structured, qualitative research approach will be used during the study tour, along with interviews, focus groups, and site visits that will be conducted with public works leaders and representatives of federal, regional, catchment and municipal agencies to better understand key issues and considerations.
Jacobs has led environmental policy and planning efforts for the Mid-America Regional Council since 2001. In his current role as Environmental Director at the Mid-America Regional Council, he manages collaborative policy, planning and education initiatives for regional planning agency on air and water quality, green infrastructure, energy and solid waste.

APWA Jennings Randolph Fellows are a distinguished group of accomplished public works professionals who have studied public works topics and projects internationally in association with APWA’s international partner organizations.  For more information, visit APWA.