Environmental News
NEWS MEDIA ADVISORY
(Lenexa, Kan., Nov. 7, 2012) - E.P.A. Region seven 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. 8.
Interview topics include regulatory updates on air and water quality programs, 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. 8, 2012
WHO: Karl Brooks, Regional Administrator; Josh Svaty, Senior Adviser; 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 Lisa Jackson. 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.
Josh Svaty is a senior adviser to the Region seven Administrator. He is the fifth-generation of his family to farm in Ellsworth County, Kan. The Svaty farm is a diversified operation that includes wheat, milo, soybeans, corn, sunflowers, a cow/calf herd and sheep. Svaty served as the State Representative of the 108th District in Kansas for 7 years. His committee assignments included the committees for Energy and Utilities, Agriculture and Natural Resources, and the joint committee on Energy and Environmental Policy. Svaty later served as Secretary of the Kansas Department of Agriculture. In this position, he managed a $27 million budget, a 380-employee workforce and statutory duties for 17 programs. He holds a B.A. from Sterling College in Sterling, Kan.
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 adviser 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 29 years 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.
