Tonja L. Koob graduated from Newcomb College in 1990 with a B.S. in biology; from Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in 1993 with a M.S. in environmental toxicology; from Tulane School of Engineering in 1996 with a M.S. in environmental engineering; and will graduate from Washington State University in December 2002 with a PhD in civil engineering. Tonja worked with the New Orleans District of the Army Corps of Engineers for 3 years before starting her own engineering company, Gaea Engineering Consultants. Her area of expertise is environmental hydraulics, which includes hydrologic, hydraulic, sediment transport, and water quality modeling; and lake and river ecosystems restoration. While employed with the Army Corps of Engineers, Tonja worked on large-scale projects including Atchafalaya Basin Floodway System ecosystem restoration projects, Mississippi River sediment diversion projects, and Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection, and Restoration Act (CWPPRA) projects, as well as small-scale bayou and lake restoration projects. She continues to work in this arena as a consultant to the Corps of Engineers and to the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources. Tonja is also an adjunct faculty member in the Tulane Civil and Environmental Engineering Department teaching graduate level courses in Sediment Transport, Wetlands Treatment Systems, Urban Hydrology and Drainage, and Stream Restoration.

Presentation Topic : Current Trends in Engineering Design and Evaluation of Environmentally Sustainable Flood Damage Reduction Projects

By: Tonja L. Koob

Summary :

The Army Corps of Engineers has developed seven Environmental Operating Principles that will guide it in all of its work in response to the many lessons learned about the importance of maintaining a balance between human needs, economic growth, and sustaining the environment. In the past, the science was not adequate to fully understand the impacts of human actions on the environment, but that is changing as science improves. From the Everglades of south Florida to the rivers of the Pacific northwest, America is reevaluating those past decisions. As a nation, we must now take those lessons learned and apply them to the decisions we make today; decisions that will affect our children and future generations. The Environmental Operating Principles foster unity of purpose on environmental issues, reflect a new tone and direction for dialogue on environmental matters, and ensure that Corps employees consider conservation, environmental preservation, and restoration in all Corps activities.