AQCC commissioner profiles | Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment

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Gary Arnold
Gary Arnold is a labor leader currently serving as the Business Manager/Financial Secretary Treasurer for Denver Pipefitters Local #208, Business Manager/Financial Secretary Treasurer for Rocky Mountain Pipe Trades District Council #5, and Financial Secretary Treasurer for the 5-states Pipe Trades Association. Prior to being elected Business Manager, Gary served as Head Training Coordinator for Denver Pipefitters Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee, leading one of the largest registered apprenticeship programs in the state. Previously, he was a General Foreman for multiple Mechanical Contractors overseeing installations, modifications, and servicing of HVAC/R systems, steam systems, and process piping systems; apprenticeship instructor for Denver Pipefitters JATC; and journeyman pipefitter. His community involvement includes an appointment to the Colorado Business Experiential Learning Commission, a term on the Denver Building Code Revision Committee, and the Governors Emergency Council on Economic Stabilization and Growth. He also served on the sponsorship committee of Imagination Library Denver a child literacy advocacy organization. In 2007, he finished 1st place in the United Associations International Apprenticeship Contest, Welder Division, as the top apprentice in the US and Canada. Gary is a 6th generation Colorado native and currently resides in Englewood.

Dan Blankenship
Dan Blankenship is a registered Professional Engineer with 38 years of experience in local government administration, utilities, and public works. Currently, Dan is the Utilities Director for the City of Fountain. Dan is active in his community and professionally by serving on the Fountain Valley Chamber of Commerce Board as President, the Pikes Peak Regional Water Authority as Chair, the Colorado Association of Municipal Utilities Board, and the Fountain Sanitation District Board. Prior to his position in Fountain, he worked for the City of Stillwater Oklahoma for 15 and half years as the Deputy City Manager and Director of the Stillwater Utilities Authority. While in Oklahoma, Dan was appointed to the State Environment Board by the Governor and served in that capacity for 4 years, taking an active role in rule making for air, land, and water. Dan grew up in Cañon City, Colorado and has a Civil Engineering Degree from Colorado State University. Dan and his wife Lisa, who is a high school teacher in Colorado Springs, enjoy a very active lifestyle and all things outdoors, especially mountain biking, two-stepping their way around Southern Colorado, floating the Arkansas River, and camping. Together Dan and Lisa are blessed with 12 grandchildren with 2 more arriving in 2025.

Jana Milford
Jana Milford is Professor Emerita of Mechanical Engineering and Environmental Engineering at the University of Colorado at Boulder, where she taught from 1994 to 2022. Jana’s research and teaching interests focused on air quality modeling and data analysis, environmental impacts of energy systems, and environmental management. She also worked as a Congressional Fellow and Analyst at the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Connecticut, and Senior Scientist and Staff Attorney at the Environmental Defense Fund. Jana has served on the Board of Environmental Studies and Toxicology of the National Academy of Sciences, the Science Advisory Board of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Regional Air Quality Council, and the Research Review Committee of the Health Effects Institute. She holds a B.S. in Engineering Science from Iowa State University, a M.S. in Civil Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, a Ph.D. in Engineering and Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University, and a J.D. from the University of Colorado School of Law.

Shelly Miller
Dr. Shelly L. Miller is an Emerita Professor of Mechanical Engineering and faculty member in the Environmental Engineering Program at the University of Colorado Boulder, holding an M.S. and Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, and a B.S. in Applied Mathematics from Harvey Mudd College. Dr. Miller studies urban air quality and works diligently to understand the impact of air pollution on public health and the environment. She is an expert on indoor air quality, airborne infectious disease transmission, air pollution, air cleaning technologies, and assessing and mitigating urban air pollution exposures in underserved communities. Dr. Miller is a member of the Academy of Fellows of the International Society for Indoor Air and Climate (ISIAQ) and is also an Executive Editor for Environmental Science and Technology. Dr. Miller has published over 120 peer-reviewed articles on air quality.

Martha Rudolph
Martha Rudolph was the Director of Environmental Programs for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment from 2007 to January 2019. As the Director, Ms. Rudolph oversaw the Air Quality, Environmental Health and Sustainability, Hazardous Materials and Waste Management, and Water Quality Divisions. In 2010, Ms. Rudolph served as the Executive Director of the Department of Public Health and Environment under Governor Bill Ritter. Martha is an advisory member of the Division on Earth and Life Studies of The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, an advisory member of The National Academies’ Environmental Health Matters Initiative, a member of the Board of Directors for the Environmental Research Institute of the States, Co-Chair of the Membership Committee of the American College of Environmental Lawyers, and a state advisor for the Georgetown Climate Center. Martha was a recent chair of the Colorado Regional Air Quality Council, selected by Governor Polis in 2019 and serving until January 2021. Martha was a past President of the Environmental Council of States, co-chair of the ECOS Shale Gas Caucus and chair of the ECOS Air Committee. Martha served as a member and vice-chair of the Colorado Water Quality Control Commission from 2000 to 2007. An environmental attorney, Martha was a First Assistant Attorney General in the Colorado Attorney General’s Office, and was in private practice, and in-house at a natural gas pipeline company. Martha received her JD from Georgetown University Law Center.

Curtis Rueter
Curtis Rueter serves as a Principal Advisor on the Technology & Innovation (T&I) team in Chevron’s Rockies Business Unit (RBU). In that role, he acts as the RBU’s Lower Carbon Champion, collaborating with various planning and operations teams to identify and implement new technologies and operational practices to voluntarily reduce greenhouse gases from Colorado operations. In previous roles at Chevron (and its predecessor Noble Energy), Curtis worked primarily at the intersections of energy production, environmental stewardship, and air quality. This included serving as the operations liaison to two large landowners in Colorado, ensuring that Chevron (and its predecessor Noble Energy) conducted operations and production in ways that protected and supported the environment and on-going ranch operations; developing and implementing Noble’s LNG/CNG strategy for using natural gas as a transportation and motor fuel throughout its operations and in its supply chain; and serving as environmental/regulatory manager, overseeing Noble’s permitting and compliance activities throughout the life cycle of their operations. He was also engaged in a number of rulemaking processes with COGCC and other state agencies. Before joining Noble, Curtis had spent the previous 19 years of his career in environmental and engineering consulting. Curtis received his B.S. in chemical engineering from Texas A&M University. In addition to AQCC, Curtis serves on the board of the Adams County Regional Economic Partnership and as a representative of Colorado to the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission (IOGCC). Curtis and his wife, Ruth, have four children and reside in Westminster.

Jim Sewell
Jim Sewell recently retired from Shell after a 35-year career providing environmental support to their operations throughout the United States. Most recently he was the environmental manager at a new petrochemical facility constructed in Pennsylvania. In previous roles he has provided environmental support to product terminals, pipelines, mining, legacy properties and oil/gas operations throughout the United States. Responsibilities included air and water regulatory permitting, compliance, emission inventories, monitoring and auditing as well as environmental program development required to support various operations. He developed innovative technical solutions to reduce NOx and VOCs in ozone non-attainment areas and identified methane reduction opportunities for the onshore oil/gas portfolio. He collaborated with various stakeholders to better understand air quality issues and to monitor air quality parameters where operations are located including adjacent Class I airsheds, federal lands and near communities. He was appointed to work on Pennsylvania’s Air Quality Technical Advisory Committee, participated in Wyoming’s Ozone Technical Working Group and a member of Air Waste Management Association. He holds a B.S. in Geology from the University of Toledo and M.S in Geology from Bowling Green State University. Jim also volunteers his time to the Cutthroat Chapter of Trout Unlimited where he serves as the Conservation Chair for their efforts to protect and conserve cold-water fisheries in the area. He enjoys fly fishing, floating on the Colorado River, as well as photography, golfing and reading. He and his wife Chris live in Castle Rock. They have two adult daughters and a granddaughter.

Jon Slutsky
Jon Slutsky is recently retired after working 41 years as a dairy farmer. He received his bachelor’s degree in biology in 1972 from the University of California-Riverside. Jon is a member of the Rocky Mountain National Park Ag Sub-Committee working with other Ag, State, and Federal partners to find ways to reduce nitrogen deposition in the Park. He was also a member of a USDA/NRCS funded group that produced a web-based tool to help livestock producers identify where air emissions on their farms originate and find ways to reduce them. Previously he served on both the Air Quality and Water Quality Control Commissions for a total of 11 years starting in 2007 and was the AQCC representative to the North Front Range Metropolitan Planning Organization for five years. He was a member of the Larimer County Agricultural Advisory Board for 21 years and served as Chair for two years. Jon also served on other Ag related boards and helped them to advocate for worker and immigrant rights and other Ag causes. Currently he also serves on the Larimer County Planning Commission, and previously on the USDA Ag Air Quality Task Force, and the Wellington Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. Jon and his wife, Susan, have an adult daughter, Raisa, and live in Fort Collins.

Gregg Thomas
Gregg Thomas is the Environmental Quality Division Director in the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment (DDPHE). This division is responsible for ensuring clean air, land, and water, minimizing the city’s environmental risk and liability, and furthering environmental initiatives across the city, in partnership with other city departments. Gregg’s experience also extends into solid waste management and he oversees Denver’s Environmental Services Enterprise Fund. Gregg has been with DDPHE for 25 years and started as an air quality specialist and policy analyst. Gregg previously worked as a meteorologist in the private sector for 5 years. Gregg has served on several volunteer boards; he is currently the Board chair for the Air and Waste Management Association – Rocky Mountain States Section. Gregg has a Bachelors degree in Meteorology from the State University of New York at Oswego and a Masters degree in Environmental Engineering from Montana Technological University in Butte, MT. Gregg enjoys spending time with his family (Denise, Simon) and he and his wife are avid golfers.