Administrative Profiles

Dick Pedersen - Director

Pedersen, who has been at DEQ since 1996, has served 30 years in positions in Oregon and Montana in water quality, environmental cleanup and natural resource damage repair. He was named Director of DEQ in June 2008.

Pedersen's past positions at DEQ include Deputy Director, Northwest Region Administrator and Land Quality Division Administrator. Pedersen holds a bachelor of art/combined science degree in Biology and Chemistry from Carroll College, Helena, Montana.

Email Dick or phone: 503-229-5300

Joni Hammond - Deputy Director

Hammond has served at DEQ since 1989, working in water quality, air quality and solid waste. Most recently, she has served as Eastern Region Administrator. She previously served as water quality manager for DEQ's Eastern Region.

Hammond has a B.S. degree from the University of Oregon in School and Community Health. Prior to joining DEQ, she worked for Yamhill County as an environmental specialist.

Email Joni or phone: 503-229-5332

Andy Ginsburg - Air Quality Division Administrator

Ginsburg has been with DEQ since 1990. Before assuming this post, he was manager of the Air Quality Program Development Section.

Ginsburg earned a B.A. degree in Environmental Conservation from the University of Colorado and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Michigan.

Greg Aldrich – Water Quality Division Administrator

Aldrich has been with DEQ since 2000, serving as DEQ's legislative liaison, watershed management manager and working on air quality issues for the agency’s air quality administrator.

Aldrich has worked for air quality programs in Michigan and California and as a transportation planner. Aldrich as a B.A. degree in Geography from SUNY at Buffalo and a Master of City and Regional Planning from Ohio State University.

Email Greg or phone: 503-229-6345

Wendy Wiles - Land Quality Division Administrator

Wiles has more than 20 years of private business and public service experience in the environmental health/safety field, most recently serving as manager for DEQ’s Hazardous Waste and Underground Storage Tanks programs. She oversees land-related programs based at DEQ’s headquarters, including environmental cleanup, emergency response, solid waste, hazardous waste and underground storage tanks.

Wiles has a bachelor of science degree in Environmental Health from Oregon State University. She earned a M.S. degree in industrial relations in 1987 from the University of Oregon.

Email Wendy or phone: 503-229-6834

Greg Pettit - Laboratory Division Administrator

Pettit has been with DEQ since 1977. He's held positions as vehicle inspector, on-site sanitarian, water quality monitoring specialist, groundwater protection coordinator and water quality monitoring manager. He has worked at the regional and national level on environmental policy development, including the development of the Oregon Groundwater Protection Act.

Pettit graduated from Portland State University in 1973 with a B.S. degree in Biology.

Email Greg or phone: 503-229-5983 x225

Nina DeConcini - Northwest Region Administrator

DeConcini has been at DEQ since 1993 and most recently served six years as manager of the agency’s Communications and Outreach office. She also worked in DEQ’s air quality program. Prior to joining DEQ, she managed transportation and other environmental programs at The Walt Disney Company in southern California.

DeConcini has a B.A. in Religion from The Colorado College, Colorado Springs, Colo.

Email Nina or phone: 503-229-6271

Keith Andersen - Western Region Administrator

Andersen has been with DEQ since 1992, working in water quality and cleanup programs in DEQ’s Eugene-based Western Region office. Most recently, he has served as Regional Environmental Solutions manager for Western Region, as well as Deputy Administrator for the Headquarters-based Water Quality Division. Prior to coming to DEQ, he worked in the private sector and for the U.S. Forest Service.

Andersen received a bachelor’s degree in Forestry from Oregon State University and a B.S. degree in Civil Engineering from Portland State University.

Email Keith or phone: 541-687-7355

Linda Hayes-Gorman - Eastern Region Administrator

Hayes-Gorman has been with DEQ since 1990, working first in the solid waste program of the agency, then moving on to provide business assistance in the air quality program. In 2006 she became an air quality manager in the Bend office and, in May 2010, became DEQ’s Eastern Region Administrator.
 
Hayes-Gorman has a master’s degree in Public Administration from Portland State University and two Bachelor of Arts degrees, one in Germanics and the other in International Studies from the University of Washington.

Email Linda or phone: 541-633-2018.

Kerri Nelson - Management Services Division Administrator

Nelson joined DEQ in June 1990. For the past several years she has worked as DEQ's Western Region Administrator. Nelson has worked in the tanks, hazardous waste environmental cleanup and water quality programs. Prior to becoming the regional administrator, she managed the Rogue, Umpqua and South Coast Basin water quality teams.

Nelson's educational background includes a bachelor's degree in Finance Law from Portland State University and a graduate degree in Geochemistry from Sul Ross State University, Texas.

Email Kerri or phone: 503-229-5045/541-687-7328

 Joan Stevens-Schwenger – Communications and Outreach Manager

Stevens-Schwenger has nearly 20 years of communications experience with the state of Oregon, having most recently worked for seven years as communications manager/regional coordinator for the state’s Department of Consumer and Business Services’ Building Codes Division. She also worked more than 10 years as public information officer and manager of the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries’ Technical Assistance for Employers Program.

Stevens-Schwenger has a B.A. in Art History/German from Portland State University.

Email Joanie or phone: 503-229-6585

Leah Feldon – Office of Compliance and Enforcement Administrator

Feldon has served at DEQ since 2005, working in the Office of Compliance and Enforcement as an Environmental Law Specialist before her current position. Prior to joining DEQ, she worked briefly with the Port of Portland coordinating litigation documents and researching.

Feldon received a J.D. from Lewis and Clark Law School in 2004 with a concentration in environmental and natural resources law, and became a member of the Oregon State Bar in 2005. Prior to coming to Oregon, she obtained a B.A. from the University of Dayton in Ohio.

Email Leah or phone: 503-229-6408