Environmental News
NEWS MEDIA ADVISORY
(Lenexa, Kan., Nov. 12, 2013) - E.P.A. officials will be accessible for interviews at the yearly National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB) Trade Talk event at the Westin Crown Center Hotel in Kansas City, Mo., on Thursday, Nov. 14.
Interview topics include outreach to the agricultural community, regulatory updates, animal feeding operations, nutrient management and pesticides.
WHAT: National Association of Farm Broadcasting Convention and Trade Talk
WHEN: 7:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 14, 2013
WHO: Karl Brooks, Regional Administrator; Sarah Bittleman, E.P.A. Agriculture Counselor; and Kris Lancaster, Agricultural Public Affairs Specialist
WHERE: Booth 74, Westin Crown Center, one Pershing Road, Kansas City, Mo.
Biographies of E.P.A. Booth 74 Staff
Karl Brooks is Regional Administrator for E.P.A. Region 7. He was appointed in February 2010 by President Barack Obama and reports directly to E.P.A. Administrator Gina McCarthy. His E.P.A. responsibilities include supervising environmental programs in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and 9 tribal nations. Previous to this appointment, Brooks taught American environmental, political, and legal history as well as environmental law and policy at the University of Kansas. Brooks practiced trial and appellate law for a decade. He was elected in 1986 to the 1st of 3 terms in the Idaho Senate. Retiring from elective politics, from 1993 to 1996 he served the Idaho Conservation League as executive director and legislative liaison.
Sarah Bittleman is the E.P.A. agriculture counselor to the Administrator. She previously served as senior advisor to U.S.D.A. Secretary Tom Vilsack, where she specialized in energy and E.P.A. issues. Before coming to USDA, she worked for the Department of the Interior, the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives on a range of policy and strategic development issues involving agriculture, energy, natural resources, Native Americans and climate change. She holds a Master's of Public Administration from East Carolina University, a JD from Tulane University School of Law and a BA in political science from Union College in New York.
Kris Lancaster is an E.P.A. spokesperson responsible for agriculture, pesticides, renewable fuels, water and wetland issues. His past agricultural employment includes serving as a licensed grain inspector, agricultural advisor to the chairman of the Missouri House Agriculture Committee and to 2 members of Congress, a farm real estate broker, a federal crop insurance broker, and a negotiator of agricultural leases for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. His family owns a corn and soybean farm in Scotland County, Mo. Lancaster has 3 decades of media relations experience and serves on Region 7's Agriculture and Renewable Fuels Team. He graduated from Central Missouri State University and completed an advanced sciences plan at Park University.
