Dr. Kimberly Yearick Spangler, Executive Director 

Phone: (571) 372-6565

Dr. Kimberly Yearick Spangler is the Executive Director at SERDP and ESTCP. In this position, she leads the Department’s research and development investment for installation energy and the environment. This includes responsibility for the budget, strategy, and management of a substantial research portfolio that encompasses installation resilience, environmental cleanup, pollution prevention, UXO remediation, resource conservation, and the sustainment and maintenance of defense weapons and platforms.

Prior to her current position, Dr. Spangler served as the Program Manager, OUSD(Research & Engineering) Joint Department of Defense/Department of Energy Munitions Program (JMP) and was responsible for leading the JMP in developing and exploring advanced munitions concepts and enabling technologies by preeminent scientists and engineers at the Department of Energy Nuclear Weapons Laboratories.

Dr. Spangler is a trained high explosives formulation chemist and has previously worked as a civilian at both the US Army DEVCOM Armaments Center and the US Army Research Laboratory (ARL). A recipient of the prestigious Clare Boothe Luce Fellowship, Dr. Spangler holds a B.S. degree in Biochemistry from Virginia Tech (summa cum laude) and a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Georgetown University.

Kimberly lives on a sustainable flower farm with her husband, Ryan, son, Bo, daughter, Liv, and an ever-growing number of farm animals. She is grateful for her community, inside and outside the Pentagon, who have consistently empowered her to live a life full of purpose. Kimberly believes that acceptance, inclusivity and collaboration are necessary drivers for accomplishing great work. She strives to create these conditions for those around her so they can live a life both rich in service and in fun.

Dr. Andrea Leeson, Deputy Director and Environmental Restoration Program Manager 

Phone: (571) 372-6565

Email: er@noblis.org

Dr. Andrea Leeson has been the Program Manager for Environmental Restoration at SERDP and ESTCP since 2001 and the Deputy Director since 2015.  Prior to her time at SERDP and ESTCP, she was a Research Scientist at Battelle Memorial Institute in Columbus, OH.  She has specialized in developing in situ treatment technologies for contaminated groundwater.  She holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering  from the Johns Hopkins University.

Kevin Hiers, Resource Conservation & Resilience Program Manager and Climate Resilience Program Manager

Phone: (571) 372-6401

Email: rc@noblis.org, cr@noblis.org

Kevin Hiers is the Program Manager for Resource Conservation and Resilience and Climate Resilience at SERDP and ESTCP. Kevin brings nearly 30 years of experience at the interface of natural resource management and science. His academic and management background have focused on fire ecology, conservation of threatened and endangered species, and the science support of prescribed fire modeling to meet ecosystem management objectives. His management experience has included fire ecologist, prescribed fire program manager, and wildland fire program manager at Eglin AFB, and he was a state fire program manager with The Nature Conservancy. His research appointments have included private sector positions at Tall Timbers Research Station and The Jones Ecological Research Center. He most recently served as Deputy Wildland Fire Science Coordinator for the U.S. Geological Survey.

Tim Tetreault, Installation Energy & Water Program Manager

Phone: (571) 372-6397

Email: ew@noblis.org

Tim Tetreault has been the Program Manager for Installation Energy and Water at ESTCP since 2015. Prior to his time at ESTCP, he was a Project Lead at the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) where he led technical and financial analysis of energy projects for clients including DoD and federal, state and local agencies. He holds a Master of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Dr. John La Scala, Weapons Systems & Platforms Program Manager

Phone: (301) 875-1270

Email: wp@noblis.org

Dr. John La Scala is the Program Manager for Weapons Systems and Platforms at SERDP and ESTCP and is a polymeric materials and manufacturing expert at DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory (ARL). He served as the Army Pollution Prevention Co-Chair from 2011-2022. He received a B.S. in chemical engineering from the University of Virginia in 1997 and a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Delaware in 2002.

Throughout his career, Dr. La Scala has continued his work in bio-based thermosetting resins, where he now has 25 years of experience. Since joining ARL, he has expanded his work to thermosetting resins for adhesives and coatings and environmentally friendly polymers for composites, adhesives, coatings, and additive manufacturing applications. His scientific advances are evidenced by over 100 open literature publications, while his ability to innovate are demonstrated by his numerous patents and his ability to transition new technology to the field and commercial industry. Dr. La Scala has been the recipient of numerous awards for his work on polymers including being Inducted as a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors in 2018, co-recipient of 2013 Presidential Green Chemistry and Engineering Challenge Award for Renewable Thermosets, 2011 Secretary of Defense Environmental Excellence in Weapon System Acquisition - Small Program award, RDECOM Environmental Acquisition and Logistics Sustainment Program (EALSP) Sustainable Painting Operations for the Total Army (SPOTA) project, and 2010 ESTCP Weapons Platform Project of the Year, Demonstration of Composites with Low Hazardous Air Pollutant Contents for Military Applications.

John Jackson, Munitions Response Program Manager

John Jackson is the Program Manager for Munitions Response at SERDP and ESTCP and is a geophysicist with the Environmental and Munitions Center of Expertise (EMCX), US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). He has 20 years of experience in the environmental and munitions response geophysics field in both the government and private sectors. His focus on electromagnetic techniques for munitions response led him to being an early adopter of advanced geophysical classification technologies through the ESTCP Live Site Demonstration Program.

Prior to his current position, he served as the Program Manager for the DoD Advanced Geophysical Classification Accreditation Program (DAGCAP). He is also a past president of the Environmental and Engineering Geophysical Society where he pushed for further communication between disciplines to further adopt geophysical minimum quality control standards. Through these roles, he has provided technical support to the Intergovernmental Data Quality Task Force (IDQTF), Interstate Technology and Regulatory Council (ITRC), Environmental Data Quality Workgroup (EDQW), DAGCAP, and the Munitions Response Dialogue (MRD).