Michael Foster, CET
Principal Consultant

Mike started EBS in 1997 after a thirteen-year career with a major supplier of wastewater treatment chemicals and bioaugmentation cultures. EBS provides training and consulting services, as well as nutrients and biological products to industrial wastewater treatment systems, primarily in the pulp and paper industry. His clients include International Paper Company, Temple-Inland, Georgia-Pacific Corporation, Weyerhaeuser, Domtar, Graphic Packaging, and many more.

Mike has conducted several wastewater seminars for organizations, such as MS Water Environment Association (MWEA), the Arkansas DEQ, the Arkansas Environmental Federation (AEF) and the Technical Association for the Pulp and Paper Industry (TAPPI). He has presented on various nutrient topics for several National Council on Air and Stream Improvement (NCASI) Webinars. Mike authored numerous articles and papers on topics including nutrient optimization, activated sludge process control, bioaugmentation and micronutrient technology. He is the co-author of the manual entitled "Aerated Stabilization Basins in the Pulp and Paper Industry."

Mike received his B.S. degree in Chemistry from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1980. He is a Certified Environmental Trainer (CET) in wastewater and holds a Class IV Wastewater Operator Licenses in MS, LA and AR. In 2004, he completed a Masters in Instructional Technology at the University of Southern Mississippi.

Mike is a member of the Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry (TAPPI), the Water Environment Federation (WEF), the Louisiana and Mississippi Water Environment Associations (LWEA and MWEA) and the National Environmental Trainers Association (NESHTA). EBS is a member of NCASI. In 2005, Mike received the Roy F. Weston Prize for Outstanding Technical Contributions to the TAPPI Environmental Division.

Christine Foster
General Manager

Christine Foster is General Manager of EBS, joining EBS in 2002 as Operations Manager. Christine manages all the business, marketing, and personnel aspects of EBS. This includes meeting client needs for information, insurance issues, office and lab expansions, all P&L responsibilities, all personnel issues, and more.

Christine began her professional career in 1985 as a Sales Representative in the Formulator Group for Buckman Laboratories of Memphis, TN. In 1987, she joined Nalco Chemical Company as a field sales representative for the Metal Industries Chemicals Group. From there, Christine held various technical support and marketing positions for the North American and European Paper Industry Chemicals Group and the Absorbent Chemicals Group before leaving Nalco in 1998. She has written several papers industry related articles.

Christine earned her B.S. in Biology and a Minor in Management from Purdue University in 1985. In December 2003, she completed an MBA program through the University of New Orleans (UNO).

Christine is a Board Member for the New Orleans Chapter of the American Marketing Association, serving in five different positions since 1998 including President. She has been a member of TAPPI and the West St. Tammany Chamber of Commerce. She is a member of the Business & Professional Women of West St. Tammany. Christine is also one of the founding board members for the Harvey L. Foster Foundation for Science Education started by EBS in 2007.

J’ohnnie Wilson
Technical Director

J’ohnnie Wilson is the Technical/Safety Director for EBS in Mandeville, LA. J’ohnnie started working with EBS in August 2007 after a twelve-year career in the environmental department of a major paper mill. She has also worked in an analytical lab and for a major supplier of wastewater treatment consulting and bioaugmentation cultures.

J’ohnnie coordinates the EBS lab and it’s personnel as well as the field service personnel. She manages EBS’s treatability studies, special laboratory projects, and provides training and on-site consulting for the optimization of wastewater treatment systems.

J’ohnnie received a B.S. degree in Microbiology from Louisiana State University in 1992. She also has a background Chemistry. She is a Certified Wastewater Lab Analyst through the state of Georgia. She is a member of the Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry (TAPPI) and also completed a 30-hour training in General Industry Occupational Safety and Health Standards.

Beth Guidotti
Project Manager, Pulp and Paper

Beth Guidotti is the Pulp and Paper Project Manager for EBS, joining the company in early 2005. Her responsibilities are to supervise, perform, and write reports for comprehensive studies of paper mill performance. These include tracer studies, depth studies, performance profile studies, and river studies. Beth’s duties include organization, supervision, sampling location selection, sample collection, data collection, and pulling information together to form a cohesive and comprehensive report.

Prior to joining EBS, Beth was a Chemical/Process Engineer for Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF), Westinghouse Savannah River Site, subcontractor for the Department of Energy (DOE), in Aiken SC. She worked during construction and startup of this high-level radioactive waste disposal facility and served as the technical expert for the process.

Guidotti earned a B.S. in Chemical Engineering at North Carolina State University in 1988 and worked as a Co-op student for DuPont at their Fayetteville Works location in NC.

Christopher Agosta
Environmental Engineer

Christopher Agosta joined EBS in 2005 as an Environmental Engineer. Since then, he has traveled to many different paper mills across the southeast to monitor their treatment systems after upsets, assist in river studies, depth and tracer studies, and service different accounts. He also works with several non-paper mill clients.

Christopher earned a B.S. in Environmental Engineering from Louisiana State University (LSU) in Baton Rouge, LA in May 2005. He served in the Louisiana National Guard from 1997 to 2005. He is a U.S. Army Veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom and was stationed at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan for eight months where he operated heavy equipment.

Jim Ballard
Environmental Technician

Jim Ballard joined EBS in 2004 as an Environmental Technician. He was contracted to Tembec USA and then Graphic Packaging, West Monroe LA as an environmental technician. Before joining EBS, Jim worked at the International Paper, Natchez MS paper mill for sixteen years.

At International Paper, Ballard performed work as an environmental technician, relief analyst, and lab operator. He assisted in the research and development of testing a new pulp product and was formally commended for his work.

Dorothy DeCarli
Senior Wastewater Consultant

Dorothy DeCarli joined EBS in 2004 as a Senior Wastewater Consultant in central Pennsylvania. Dorothy currently has account responsibilities at the American Eagle Paper Mill in Tyrone, PA and Domtar in Johnsonburg, PA.

Dorothy began her professional career servicing chlorine dioxide generation equipment for Rio Linda Chemicals, a division of Vulcan Material Company (VMC). Her career with VMC included pulp and paper chemical sales and service with Vulcan Chemical Technologies and Callaway Chemical Company. Dorothy also spent 5 years at Weyerhaeuser Company (Willamette Industries, Inc.) working as a Process Engineer with direct operating control of the wastewater treatment plant.

Dorothy earned her B.S. in Environmental Science from the Rutgers University in 1995.

Donna Drummond
Project Manager, CPI and Refining

Donna Drummond started working with EBS in 2007. She is responsible for growing EBS’s wastewater presence in the chemical processing and refining industries. She presently lives in Sugarland, Texas.

Donna comes to EBS after a fifteen-year career as a sales representative and district account manager with Nalco Chemical Company in the Basic Industries Group. She has extensive experience in water and wastewater treatment. Prior to Nalco, Donna worked for Conoco as a plant engineer.

Donna earned her B. S degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama in 1985. Donna belongs to the AIChe (American Institute of Chemical Engineers) and is a life member of Tau Beta Pi, Engineering Honor Society.

Bronwyn Duos
Microbiology Consultant

Bronwyn Duos has worked as a Consultant for EBS since the spring of 2006 in the areas of microbiology and lab analyses for the main laboratory in Mandeville, LA. She is also involved in product research and development with emphasis on products primarily for the pulp and paper industry. Bronwyn wrote and filed the patent application for EBS’s Bacterial Acceleration Chamber or BAC units. She assists in various marketing activities and was instrumental in developing the paperwork to initiate The Harvey L. Foster Foundation for Science Education and obtaining its 501C3 status.

Bronwyn began her professional career as a project manager in a neurophysiology laboratory at Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge. From there she transferred to an Environmental Microbiology Laboratory at the United States Department of Agriculture in New Orleans, LA. Bronwyn has remained a part time instructor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Southeastern Louisiana University since graduation in 2002.

Bronwyn earned her B.S. in Microbiology from Louisiana State University (LSU) in Baton Rouge LA in 1999. She also earned a M.S. in Biological Sciences from Southeastern Louisiana University in 2002.

Kermit Francis
Wastewater Project Specialist

Kermit Francis joined EBS in April 2008 as a Wastewater Project Specialist. He conducts tracer studies and depth surveys on wastewater treatment systems as well as coordinating the water quality and fish population studies on the Pearl River for two area paper mills.

Prior to joining EBS, Kermit worked in a variety of environmental positions in both the private and public sector. These include stints with Anne Arundel County Department of Health, The Shaw Group, and the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ).

Kermit received a B.S. in Biology from the University of New Orleans (UNO) in 1995.

Marissa Jimenez
Wastewater Microbiologist

Marissa Jimenez joined EBS as a Wastewater Microbiologist in spring 2008. Her responsibilities include laboratory support and analyses in all areas including microbiology, support of non-local clients for sample analysis, and technical service and support for several local non-paper clients in the Baton Rouge LA area.

Marissa began her professional career in 2001 as a lab technician/microbiologist for Crescent Technology Incorporated (CTI). Central Analytical Laboratories (CAL) separated from CTI in 2003 and from there she worked as a microbiologist/microbiology lab supervisor through its purchase by Eurofins and renaming it to Eurofins Central Analytical Laboratories (ECAL) in 2007. Thus, Marissa worked for CTI/CAL/ECAL from 2001 through February 2008.

Jimenez earned her B.S. in Microbiology from Louisiana State University (LSU) in 2001.

Jeff LaVoie
Senior Wastewater Consultant

Jeff LaVoie joined EBS in 2004 as a part-time Sr. Wastewater Consultant located in Ticonderoga NY. He works with clients located in the Northeast USA and Eastern Canada. Jeff has provided consulting services for clients such as International Paper Company, Temple-Inland, Frasier Paper, Verso Paper, as well as various wastewater treatment systems serviced by Buckman Laboratories in Canada.

LaVoie began his professional career in 1979 as a Research Scientist for International Paper at their Sterling Forest Research Facility. From 1983 through 1989, he worked as the Laboratory, Environmental and Industrial Hygiene Manager at IP’s Pine Bluff facility. Jeff worked at Boise Cascade, International Falls for 1 year before returning to IP as the Quality Control Superintendent at their Natchez Mill. In 1993, Jeff went to IP’s Erling Riis Research Laboratory and then joined the Environmental group at IP’s Technology Center in Loveland OH where he serviced all IP wastewater treatment facilities and implemented the EPA’s Best Management Practices portion of the Cluster Rules. LaVoie spent three years at Ticonderoga as a Wastewater Engineer before beginning his teaching career and pursuing a part time career with EBS.

LaVoie earned his B.S. in Chemistry from American International College, Springfield MA in May 1979. In January 2006, he completed a MSEd in secondary education from SUNY Plattsburgh, NY. Jeff is primarily a high school chemistry and physics teacher who services local wastewater facilities during school breaks and via the internet.

James (Dusty) McGehee
Environmental Specialist

Dusty McGehee joined EBS as an Environmental Specialist in October 2008 located in West Monroe, Louisiana. Dusty is assigned to the EBS client Graphic Packaging in West Monroe where he is the site manager for EBS. His job includes monitoring and maintaining the EBS wastewater treatment system program as well as the primary lab technician for Graphics.

Dusty worked for Ballard Forestry and Surveying, LLC in Ruston LA, before joining EBS. He performed all Forestry duties for the company and was also the AutoCAD operator. Dusty graduated from Louisiana Tech University in 2006 with a B.S. in Wildlife Conservation.

Robert McKenzie
Environmental Specialist

Robby McKenzie joined EBS in mid-2008 as an Environmental Specialist located in Fulton, Alabama. His job is to support clients in the Alabama region by monitoring their treatment systems and maintaining effectiveness of biological programs. His clients include International Paper Company in Prattville, International Paper in Pine Hill, Georgia-Pacific Corporation in Brewton, Rock-Tenn Corporation in Demopolis, SCA in Barton, Alabama River Pulp in Perdue Hill, Boise Cascade in Jackson, and others.

Robby is a recent graduate of the University of West Alabama, graduating in May 2008 with a B.S. in Environmental Science. While in Livingston, he was active in the Blackland Prairie Restoration program under the supervision of Dr. Doug Wymer of UWA. Robby currently volunteers to judge science projects at local school science fairs.

Don Potter
Senior Wastewater Technician

Don Potter joined EBS in April 2009. Don will support all EBS applications in Georgia including on-site client support, tracer and depth surveys.

Don retired from the Graphics Packaging, Macon GA mill in 2008. He joined that mill in 1966 known then as Georgia Kraft, then Macon Kraft, then Riverwood, and finally Graphics Packaging. His position was as Wastewater Lab Analyst from 1992 to 2008.

During Don’s career he attended the Georgia Water and Wastewater Institute in 1995. He took the California State University, Sacramento CA Operation of Wastewater Treatment plants Volume 1 and Volume 2 courses in 1995. Don became a Georgia Certified Industrial Wastewater Treatment System Operator in 1995 and a Georgia Certified Industrial Wastewater Laboratory Analyst in 1996.

Kenny Smith
Production and Maintenance Coordinator

Kenny Smith joined EBS in March 2004. His responsibilities include the development, construction and installation of all EBS patented Bacterial Acceleration Chambers (BAC Units) as well as the routine maintenance on all BAC Units and nutrient pumps. Prior to moving in-house to the Mandeville LA offices, Kenny worked as an EBS employee assigned to maintain wastewater compliance during the plant closure and demolition of the International Paper Company in Natchez, Mississippi.

Before joining EBS, Kenny worked for 25 years at International Paper Company in Natchez, Mississippi. He worked as a power plant operator, control room operator, and a waste water treatment operator.

Todd Talley
Senior Environmental Specialist

Todd Talley joined EBS in August 2005 as a Staff Microbiologist. He presently provides on-site and laboratory support to EBS clients in LA, MS, and AL. Todd has also coordinated the water quality and fish population studies that EBS conducts on the Pearl River for two area paper mills and assisted in numerous depth and tracer studies for clients. Todd’s clients include Abitibi-Bowater in Grenada MS, Clearwater Paper (Potlatch) in McGehee AR, Georgia Pacific in Crossett AR, Georgia Pacific in Monticello MS, Georgia Pacific in Port Hudson LA, Leaf River Cellulose in New Augusta MS, and Temple Inland in Bogalusa LA.

Todd has a B.S. in BioChemistry from Louisiana State University and an M.S. in Biology from Southeastern Louisiana University. He is a member of the Technical Association of the Pulp & Paper Industry (TAPPI) – Gulf Coast Region.

Marie Tranchina
Marketing Specialist

Marie Tranchina is the Marketing Specialist for EBS located in our Mandeville, LA lab, training center and office location. She joined EBS in March 2007. Marie coordinates the EBS semi-annual Wastewater Training Seminar held in Mandeville, assists with in-house client support activities such as insurance and safety form compliance, manages the EBS contact management program, and performs general marketing. She has also worked in the EBS lab in the client support and research areas.

Marie has a B.S. in Ecology, Evolutionary, and Environmental Biology from Southeastern Louisiana University (SELU). She also volunteers with the American Marketing Association, New Orleans Chapter.