Charlie Vander Aarde is a Senior Account Supervisor at Tunheim where he works in public affairs, helping clients meet their public policy and communications goals. He has 16 years of Minnesota legislative experience where he worked as a lobbyist representing metropolitan region cities. Charlie’s policy and budget experience include housing and land use, economic development, redevelopment, and metropolitan government. He previously served as legislative staff in both the Minnesota House and Senate. His prior work also includes directing citizen diplomacy efforts with the U.S. State Department in Seattle. Charlie grew up in Minnesota and is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He serves as vice chair on the board of Minnesota Brownfields, chairs the Neighborhood STAR board for the City of Saint Paul, and is on the board of his local youth hockey association. He coaches baseball and hockey and resides in Saint Paul with his family.
Mike Wardwell is Chair of the ReScape Committee, and a Development Associate and Property Manager with Hyde Development, a developer that specializes in brownfields. At Hyde, Mike is responsible for the redevelopment and management of industrial properties, which includes the management of entitlement, financing, construction, and post-construction management. Mike also serves as an Urban Land Institute Young Leaders Grow Committee Member, and has served as a member of the Fridley Energy Action Planning Team and NAIOP Developing Leader Social Committee. During the course of his career thus far, Mike has gained experience with the various stages of the redevelopment process in addition to real estate, legal and environmental knowledge.
Sherry VanDuyn is Treasurer of MN Brownfields, and is one of the founding members and the President of Landmark Environmental, LLC, a small women-owned environmental consulting firm specializing in brownfield and regulatory driven assessments, investigations, and cleanups. She also serves as Membership Chair. Sherry has over 30 years of experience as a civil engineer and project manager overseeing investigation, design, and response actions for large property redevelopment and civil works projects. She is the Small Business Liaison and a former Board Director for the Society of American Military Engineers Minneapolis St. Paul Post and was on the Executive Advisory Committee to the University of Minnesota Department of Civil, Environmental, & Geological Engineering (CEGE). She assists with the UM CEGE Senior Capstone class on the business of engineering and enjoys mentoring young environmental engineers and scientists. She also co-hosted the Certified Hazardous Material Managers environmental regulatory review course for the Alliance of Hazardous Materials Professionals for nine years.
Richard Manser is the Director of Environmental Risk for Minnetonka-based The Opus Group where his responsibilities include integrating soil and groundwater characterization and remediation into their real estate development projects. Many of the projects, especially urban infill related projects, are considered brownfields. Prior to joining Opus, Richard held leadership roles in several environmental consulting companied based in both Minnesota and California. In addition to Minnesota Brownfields, other recent non-profit work includes the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District and the City of Edina Energy and Environment Commission. Richard has an MS in Hydrogeology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He lives with his family on Minnehaha Creek in Edina.