Key Staff

Julie Smith has more than two decades of experience that includes managing California Environmental Quality Act/National Environmental Policy Act document preparation for infrastructure and water resources projects, directing the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission hydropower relicensing process for energy clients, and overseeing subsequent license implementation tasks to ensure compliance.

Julie has successfully managed the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission relicensing process for various clients, including Southern California Edison Company, Placer County Water Agency, and Pacific Gas & Electric Company. She has hands-on experience managing the overall Federal Energy Regulatory Commission process schedule, working with a multi-disciplinary team to produce key milestone deliverables (Pre-Application Document, Draft and Final License Applications, etc.), and has been involved with agency negotiations and stakeholder collaboration efforts.

She routinely and effectively communicates with the client to ensure that project goals are being met both from a schedule and budget perspective and that work products are of the highest quality.

Her experience also includes writing/editing environmental documents, coordinating efforts of technical specialists, scheduling, permit coordination, public outreach, and agency filings. Julie consistently leverages her extensive project/process management, organizational, and strategic planning skills to support project implementation and looks forward to helping clients find innovative and effective solutions for their most pressing challenges and navigating the ever-evolving regulatory environment.

Outside of work, Julie enjoys bass fishing with her husband, wrangling her ornery four-leggeds (boxer and English bulldog), recipe experimentation, and spending time with family.

Robyn Smith is a Senior Biologist with professional experience in field biology and environmental permitting & compliance. She develops technical studies and environmental documents for a range of regulatory processes, including California Environmental Quality Act and National Environmental Policy Act compliance, Endangered Species Act consultations, hydroelectric relicensing, and Clean Water Act (Sections 404 and 401) and California Fish and Game Code (Section 1600) permitting.

Robyn is experienced in directing wildlife habitat assessments, special-status plant surveys, and noxious weed risk evaluations. She regularly leads terrestrial field surveys across northern and southern California, performing botanical and wildlife monitoring and documenting results in state and federal resource databases.

She is highly proficient in the identification and mapping of vegetation communities, special-status plant species, and invasive species, and is well-versed in using California Invasive Plant Council and California Department of Food and Agriculture noxious weed inventories. Her species experience includes a wide range of California wildlife such as bats, raptors, songbirds, foothill and Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frogs, California red-legged frogs, western pond turtles, and Yosemite toads.

Robyn routinely develops technical study reports and leads presentations at technical working group meetings with stakeholders. Robyn also develops Federal Energy Regulatory Commission license application botanical, wildlife, and wetland/riparian effects analysis sections and assists in development of avoidance and protection measures and monitoring plans.