Daniel Opdyke

About Daniel Opdyke

I am a principal engineer and the Environmental Analytics Practice Area Lead at Anchor QEA. My project work focuses on water in natural systems across a wide variety of technical, project management, client management, expert witness, and business development roles. As the Practice Area Lead, I manage a team of 50 scientists with roles ranging from data management, geospatial science, data analysis, computational modeling, and software development. Snapshots of my expertise include:COASTALGrants: I have closely studied RESTORE Act, NRDA, NFWF, CEPRA, GOMESA, and other funding streams and have crafted successful grant applications for multimillion-dollar projects. Restoration: I am technical advisor on several wetland and bird island restoration projects that will beneficially use dredged material along the Texas coast.Oysters: I have won and implemented oyster ecology and restoration projects.WATER RESOURCESWater quality: I helped conceptualize, win, and implement a series of watershed and water quality models in Central Texas. I also wrote a sediment diagenesis model that was subsequently incorporated into EPA’s WASP model. Surface water availability: I was an expert witness on the most complicated water right in the history of Texas.Water planning: I led TPWD’s involvement in state and regional water planning.Hydrology and hydraulics: I led the water quality and quantity discipline report for a major flood damage reduction EIS in Washington State.Hydrology, circulation, and salinity: I was the lead author of a chapter in the textbook \"Freshwater Inflows to Texas Bays and Estuaries\" Environmental flows: I led the development of a hydrologic statistics approach that was used throughout Texas to define environmental flow standards.CONTAMINANTSPFAS (PFOS, PFOA, etc.): I have spent years studying the fate and transport of this unique class of chemicals, with significant diversions into bioaccumulation, regulations, toxicity, remediation, and treatment. I have led internal R&D efforts, published in the peer reviewed literature, contributed to an NGWA publication, and presented at numerous conferences.Passive sampling: I have led SPME and SPMD sampling efforts.Surface water fate and transport: I have participated in several modeling studies of contaminated sediment and surface water. Groundwater fate and transport: My dissertation focused on the probabilistic groundwater modeling of PAHs under non-equilibrium sorption conditions.

Experience

1. Principal Engineer

   Anchor QEA

   Jan 2012 — Present · Austin, TX, US

   Water quality modeling; chemical fate and transport modeling; surface water rights negotiations; bioaccumulation evaluations; groundwater supply modeling; groundwater and surface water interactions; environmental flows; freshwater inflows; hydrology; coastal restoration; stormwater; PFAS.

Education

• Virginia Tech

  Bachelor's Degree, Civil Engineering, Environmental Concentration

  1989 — 1994

• The University of Texas at Austin

  Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Environmental Engineering

  1996 — 2000

• The University of Texas at Austin

  Master's Degree, Environmental Engineering

  1994 — 1996

Skills

• Environmental Compliance
• Hydrology
• Water Resources
• Sampling
• Environmental Permitting
• Environmental Engineering
• Gis
• Groundwater
• Environmental Awareness
• Ecology
• Water
• Environmental Consulting
• Environmental Policy
• Environmental Science
• Water Quality