We are proud to welcome an industry expert to our Environmental Standards Team. John Bolakas, MBA, PG, LSRP, has been appointed as Project Director and Energy Executive, Consulting Geosciences in the Charlottesville, Virginia office
Much of what John applies in his practice of environmental consulting, passes through a Geologist’s lens of the earth’s natural systems and the influence humans have on those systems. John has, for many years, investigated and remediated site‑specific environmental impacts driven by state and federal environmental regulations. There is now a general consensus that our planet is undergoing global changes that are no longer restricted to only addressing site impacts. According to global population models, in the next 30 years, our planet will need to sustain 11 billion humans (a 43% increase over our current world population). As such, the context of environmental consulting now needs to address science, social and business considerations to deliver solutions.
As a consulting Professional Geologist, Licensed Site Remediation Professional and Energy MBA Executive, John has recognized that the predictable right, and justifiable expectation, to clean air, potable water and energy access are driving much of underlying global concern regarding climate change, resiliency and adaptation. As John learned this summer while attending international MBA classes in energy and economic policy in Amsterdam and London, individuals, companies and nations are faced with complex environmental, social and governance (ESG) decisions. To solve these complex problems requires a strong knowledge of our natural earth systems, multiple lines of evidence and experience.
John has led Groundwater Protection Teams; environmental incident response for spills, releases and loss of well control; ambient-air investigation, and, state and federal regulatory site investigation, remediation and closure; and, environmental business-decision analysis. He is recognized by his clients for his ability to assemble, direct and collaborate with teams of subject‑matter experts and staff to address complex environmental and environmental business matters. He serves as a retained expert and Professional Geologist of record for stray gas migration investigation and site closure. In his current role as Project Director and Energy Executive, Geoscience Consulting, John is leading strategy and decision analysis associated with ESG disclosure and directing geologic consulting projects. John is also an active member of the Marcellus Shale Coalition’s technical committees and has served as the Vice Chair on the US EPA Hydraulic Fracturing Report Workgroup that evaluated technical papers and monitored US EPA activities for coalition members.
John comes to Environmental Standards with 30 years of experience; a B.A. in Geology from Franklin & Marshall College; M.Sc. in Geology from the University of Delaware; and, Energy MBA from University of Oklahoma, Price College of Business. He is a Professional Geologist in Delaware, Florida, Louisiana, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wyoming, as well as a Licensed Site Remediation Professional in New Jersey.
