Instructors Biographical Sketch

Jane Fowler, Community Development Consultant
Jane Fowler is an economic and community development professional. She has over 25 years experience, primarily with the Tennessee Valley Authority, in the development and implementation of a wide range of initiatives in such areas as community strategic planning, leadership development, new and expanding business development, sustainable development, tourism development, and downtown revitalization. She played a major role in the design and implementation of the Tennessee Growth Readiness program.  Currently, she is a program coordinator with the Southeast Watershed Forum, a nonprofit organization that works with organizations in a nine-state region to enhance local state and regional watershed initiatives through education, training, and regional dialogue. She is also the owner/senior consultant of JCF Associates, a Tennessee based consulting firm that assists community leaders, businesses and organizations to develop effective programs, build consensus for action, and improve organizational effectiveness. She received her BA in Sociology from Mount Holyoke College and her Masters of Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Pittsburgh. She and her husband live in Knoxville,Tennessee.

Timothy Gangaware, AICP
Timothy R. Gangaware, who has been on the staff of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville since 1980, specializes in environmental planning in the areas of water resource management, nonpoint source pollution and watershed assessment. He has received a MSP in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Tennessee and a B.S. in Environmental Sciences from Emory & Hery College. He has served as a Senior Research Associate with the Graduate School of Planning Research Center and currently is the Associate Director of the Tennessee Water Resources Research Center (TNWRRC) and Assistant Director of the Energy, Environment and Resources Center (EERC) at the University of Tennessee. In this capacity he is responsible for overseeing the research program for the TNWRRC, which supports research projects at all major universities and colleges in the state, and the information dissemination and technology transfer activities of the Center. His major research interests include urban stormwater management, nonpoint source pollution control, water resources management planning, water policy issues in the Southeast and integrated watershed assessment.

Joel Haden, Sustainable Development Project Manager
Joel Haden is TVA’s Sustainable Development project manager. In that capacity, he is responsible for working with a variety of partners to develop, deliver and promote the Tennessee Growth Readiness program. He is working with partners in other states that TVA serves to adapt the Tennessee program. Other projects include developing an Industrial Site Conservation Design Guide and an Air Quality Toolkit for local government officials. Since joining TVA in 1980, he has managed a range of design, marketing and business consulting programs and projects. A number of these projects have won national and international design awards. He is a licensed architect in Tennessee, and graduated from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville with a Bachelor of Architecture. Joel lives in Tennessee with his wife and their dog, Jazper.

Ruth Anne Hanahan
M.S., Ecology, University of Tennessee.
M.S., Nutrition (Public Health Minor), University of Tennessee.
B.S., Biology, Belmont Abbey College.
Ms. Hanahan coordinates education and outreach activities for the Water Resources Research Center. Her primary focus over the past six years has been to build and manage the Knox County Adopt-A-Watershed (AAW) Program. Ms. Hanahan conducts the program on behalf of the Water Quality Forum, a local consortium of agencies and organizations dedicated to protecting and improving regional water quality. The Knox County program is one of the largest and most active AAW programs in the Southeastern United States. Some 14 Knox County middle and high schools, 25 teachers, and more than 2,000 students participate in this hands-on environmental education program annually. As part of her program oversight responsibilities, Ms. Hanahan organizes annual teacher-training workshops, supervises the AmeriCorps Team that helps implement the program, and facilitates community partnerships that provide in-kind and direct programmatic support.
In addition to coordinating the AAW program, Ms. Hanahan has been instrumental in developing the Water Quality Forum's Web site (waterqualityforum.org). She also has helped organize and implement other educational/community outreach and technical projects, such as the Forum's Adopt-A-Stream Program, stream soil biorestoration demonstration projects, and grassroots watershed initiatives (the Beaver Creek Watershed Association, for example).
During this past year, Ms. Hanahan joined the Tennessee Growth Readiness (TGR) Delivery Team. TGR, a statewide training program designed to build awareness about water quality issues related to land use, is a collaboration among the Water Resources Research Center, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and local, state, and federal agencies. TGR training specifically targets community planners and engineers who must respond to new Clean Water Act requirements in the face of rapid community growth.
Ms. Hanahan also has a special interest in volunteer monitoring and is currently examining state volunteer monitoring programs in the Southeast. The overarching goal of this study is to provide a set of recommendations to Tennessee policy decision makers and other stakeholders regarding the viability of initiating a statewide volunteer monitoring program and identifying actions necessary to implement such a program.
Ms. Hanahan has recently been recognized for "Outstanding Support for Water Quality and Conservation Measures" by the Knox County Soil Conservation District, "Outstanding Work with the Water Quality Forum" by the CAC AmeriCorps Program, and "Special Recognition for Support of the Water Quality Forum, 2003" by the Water Quality Forum.

Frank Sagona, Watershed Consultant
Frank is a water quality professional with 24 years of experience in the field of watershed management and consensus building. He has 22 years of experience with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) where he conducted nonpoint source pollution assessments, piloted TVA’s community-based watershed approach, served as regional manager for an interdisciplinary watershed team, and conducted watershed training programs throughout the seven-state region. He served as facilitator and chair of the National Watershed Roundtable Capacity Building subcommittee, and works to forge intergovernmental cooperation to improve and protect watershed water quality at the local level. He assists the Southeast Watershed Forum; a non-profit organization working in nine southeastern states to promote watershed development principles and practices, and is the watershed director for the Conasauga River Alliance, a local bi-state watershed organization in north Georgia and southeast Tennessee. Frank received his undergraduate degree in environmental studies from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge; and his masters in water quality management from Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. Frank lives in north Georgia with his wife and daughter.