About Us
Our mission is to be the water firm of choice for both our clients and our team.
Here to Do the Best Work of our Lives –
Join Us!
West Yost is hiring! Join our team to feel fulfilled, appreciated, and appropriately challenged. Since 1990 we have been building partnerships and collaborative teams within our groups and areas of expertise. We help you bring your value to the forefront and contribute to creating successes together.
Mission – To be the water firm of choice for both our clients and team
Vision – To be the leader in water in the west
Purpose – To advance water resources for future generations
A Day in the Life at West Yost – Making an Impact Together
We have all come to West Yost because we know we will be supported in doing the best work of our lives! Together we have fun collaborating, doing what’s right, and delivering high-value solutions. We are encouraged to take ownership in a way that earns trust with one another and our clients.
We are West Yost
Together we take pride in advancing water resources for future generations
- We support our communities
- We are water focused
- We take pride in what we do
- We strive to become our best
- We do what’s right
- We believe in quality
- We listen
- We solve challenging problems
- We see the bigger picture
- We collaborate
- We have fun
Leadership Spotlight
Firm Leadership
Charles Duncan, PE
President and Chief Executive Officer
Charles Duncan, PE
President and Chief Executive Officer
“Every day, when I come to work, I’m inspired by the entire West Yost team. Our teammates are insanely talented. At West Yost, we are driven to solve challenging problems and do what’s right for our clients. My mission is to fully support them in our shared goal of doing the best work of our lives. I am proud of what we have accomplished for our clients and our teammates.
Since 1997, when I joined West Yost, I have been privileged to be a part of many challenging projects for our long-standing clients. As President and CEO of West Yost Associates, my focus is visioning our future, inspiring our team, partnering with our clients, and serving our community.”
Polly Boissevain, PE
Chief Engineer
Polly Boissevain, PE
Chief Engineer
“What excites me about coming to work each day is that I really like working with clients and helping them to develop solutions. I also really like mentoring younger staff. I am excited by learning new things and enjoy that our less experienced staff are too.
The project which was the most complicated and challenging was the 2015 Facilities Master Plan for Eastern Municipal Water District for a 550 sq mile area for which they needed a preliminary CIP in under a year. They had a short time frame, and I am proud that I was able to pull together six teams of expert level water modelers to work on it simultaneously. It was a cool project and the district was really happy with it.”
Greg Chung, PE
Operations Director, Vice President
Greg Chung, PE
Operations Director, Vice President
“I get excited by the discovery and challenge of engineering and the inspiration and energy I get from working alongside very smart and dedicated people.
I am proud that our team was able to help the City of Jackson improve their wastewater treatment plant on a very limited budget. The City had very limited funds and a lot to improve at the treatment plant and I was proud that our team was able to work through the many technical challenges and deliver a successful project.”
Elisa Levy, SPHR-CA, SHRM-SCP
Business Services Director
Elisa Levy, SPHR-CA, SHRM-SCP
Business Services Director
“I look forward to coming to work each day because of the people I get to work with. They are passionate about their work, contribute to our collaborative and supportive culture, and focus on caring for each other. Our company mission, vision, and purpose are very energizing and exciting!
I am proud to lead a team finding ways to maintain and enhance the culture that we have, trying to be an employer of choice and company with an outstanding reputation. Our internal surveys have shown that West Yost fosters continues to foster an environment that cares for its employees, that we do what’s right for them and were overwhelmingly positive that they feel supported in how we prioritize the health and wellbeing of our employees.”
Ernest Liu, PE
Chief Financial Officer
Ernest Liu, PE
Chief Financial Officer
“I am excited to support the mission of West Yost’s engineers and scientists as they work to improve the lives of everyone in our communities. I view my role as one of support; to make sure that our technical staff have what they need to provide their expertise to all of our very important clients and stakeholders over the course of the year. I am gratified to maximize the returns from their effort and to optimize our capital structure to ensure our long term viability as a firm.
I am very proud of being part of the leadership team that has improved our firm’s operational efficiency over the past two years since I joined the team. It has been very rewarding and gratifying to watch our firm evolve.”
Abigail Madrone
Business Development Director
Abigail Madrone
Business Development Director
“I am committed to preserving and enhancing our natural resources for future generations. My passion and dedication for water resources management grew from the ground up through my background in groundwater monitoring and management.
It is personally and professionally rewarding to collaborate with our technical leaders and clients to develop resources and solutions that enhance the communities we serve. We invest in the success of our teams and our clients, and the “people first” environment at West Yost brings many opportunities for growth and innovation.”
Nikki McQuaid
Director of Marketing
Nikki McQuaid
Director of Marketing
Nikki is recognized as one of the North Bay’s Forty Under 40 and brings experience leading local, state, and national teams. At West Yost, she is passionate about our clients, team, and communities.
Jeff Pelz, PE
Chairman of the Board of Directors
Jeff Pelz, PE
Chairman of the Board of Directors
“I enjoy digging in with clients to the point where I understand their needs and drivers, and then talking through an honest assessment of potential approaches to the project or problem at hand. Deciding what to do is as exciting for me as actually doing the work.
I feel a great sense of accomplishment in my roles as owner’s advisor on alternative delivery projects. Two of my assignments have been wastewater treatment plant projects (City of Davis Secondary and Tertiary Improvements Design-Build and City of Stockton RWCF Modifications Progressive Design-Build Project) where I’ve helped our clients negotiate and manage major design-build contracts. These and other similar assignments have provided me the privilege of working side-by-side with senior client managers and a team dedicated to achieving the best outcome on behalf of the public rate payers. Working through the details of a design-build contract and then staying closely engaged through construction is incredibly rewarding.”
Lindsay Smith, PE
Procurement and Program Management Business Sector Leader, Vice President
Lindsay Smith, PE
Procurement and Program Management Business Sector Leader, Vice President
“I love working with our great team at West Yost to solve challenging projects in partnership with our clients. I get tremendous satisfaction seeing our clients implement projects that make a positive impact for their communities.
The Davis Woodland Water Supply Project is a special project for me. I began working on the project in 2007 and continue to serve the Woodland-Davis Clean Water Agency today. The project brought a sustainable surface water supply to the Cities of Davis and Woodland and UC Davis, which also happens to be the area where I live.”
Area and Sector Leadership
Samantha Adams
Groundwater Business Sector Leader
Samantha Adams
Groundwater Business Sector Leader
“I’m passionate about the environment, sustainability, and water. I love that my work is a meaningful contribution to environmental stewardship, given the particularly challenging water management issues to solve in California. I grew to love consulting because of the diversity of clients I collaborate with. While the water management issues are similar, each client has unique challenges in need of creative solutions. That makes every project challenging and exciting.
I began the Upper Temescal Valley Salt and Nutrient management Plan for Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District and Eastern Municipal Water District in 2013 and am particularly proud of the results. I developed and implemented a creative regulatory solution that saved my client money and provided the Regional Water Quality Control Board with greater assurance for the long-term protection of beneficial uses of groundwater in the study area. I enjoyed leading the project team in the development and application of a technical approach, the negotiation of the regulatory compliance plan, and stakeholder outreach and communication. In 2020, the Regional Board approved a Basin Plan amendment to formalize the new SNMP. I now have the opportunity to serve as technical advisor to the implementation team, which is very rewarding.”
Timothy Banyai, PE, PMP
Treatment Business Sector Leader
Timothy Banyai, PE, PMP
Treatment Business Sector Leader
“Projects that touch many parts of the treatment plant are exciting to manage because they involve different aspects of the liquid and solids treatment processes. I enjoy working closely with clients to find the best solutions to problems that need both local knowledge and technical expertise.
I am proud that we are practicing what we preach around cyber security and resilience! I had the opportunity to hand pick the professionals I work with every day – it was a highlight of my career to “get the band back together” selecting the best experts I’ve worked with in the past. Together, we have stood up an electrical, instrumentation, and controls group within West Yost that embodies and delivers on resilience. We deliver CCE, CIE, and all of the methodologies which will change the water sector for the better to improve resilience of critical water infrastructure. I am honored to be able to provide that to all of our clients.”
Daniel Groves, PE, PMP, CISSP
Operations Technology, Cybersecurity, and Resilience Business Sector Leader
Daniel Groves, PE, PMP, CISSP
Operations Technology, Cybersecurity, and Resilience Business Sector Leader
“I enjoy working with a team of diverse, highly skilled Operations Technology, Cybersecurity, and Resilience professionals serving clients that provide essential water services to the community. Our team provides a mostly unseen essential service that is crucial to the operation of critical infrastructure in the water industry.
I am proud that we are practicing what we preach around cyber security and resilience! I had the opportunity to hand pick the professionals I work with every day – it was a highlight of my career to “get the band back together” selecting the best experts I’ve worked with in the past. Together, we have stood up an electrical, instrumentation, and controls group within West Yost that embodies and delivers on resilience. We deliver CCE, CIE, and all of the methodologies which will change the water sector for the better to improve resilience of critical water infrastructure. I am honored to be able to provide that to all of our clients.”
Kelye McKinney, PE
Northern California Central Valley Area Market Leader
Kelye McKinney, PE
Northern California Central Valley Area Market Leader
“I get great satisfaction when I can help our clients solve problems and advance projects for the betterment of their community. Having worked for a public agency for 23 years, I understand the responsibilities agency staff have to their rate payers and how smart solutions and quality work benefit communities. The West Yost culture embodies that with creative and committed professionals doing what’s right for their clients.
I had the pleasure to work closely with staff from Placer County to develop a Sustainable Agricultural Groundwater Recharge Program. This program uses developer fees that will support the health of the western Placer groundwater basin for local agricultural interests for years to come.”
Corie Moolenkamp, PE
Infrastructure Business Sector Leader
Corie Moolenkamp, PE
Infrastructure Business Sector Leader
“What I love about my jobs is helping people solve problems, whether they are clients or staff. It is extremely rewarding when a client calls with a difficult challenge keeping them up at night and I am able to pair them up with the ideal staff to provide a solution. As a business sector leader, I focus on my excellent team feeling satisfied and passionate about their work. Sometimes I facilitate changing around assignments to capitalize on their strengths, I want to make sure they feel fulfilled by their work.
The Washington Park Project has been an amazing experience. I am able to help a client with an extremely complicated project and a large number of stakeholders. Together we’ve seen through many successes through completed coordination efforts. For example, a piece of the design was not fully formulated and I was able to bring the geotechnical, civil, mechanical, and structural engineers in with the client and contractor and say “we are not leaving the room until we have a solution”. This resulted in very out-of-the-box thinking that really solved their problem with a unique solution and the client was very satisfied.”
J.P. Davis, PE, CCM, QSP
Construction Management Business Sector Leader
J.P. Davis, PE, CCM, QSP
Construction Management Business Sector Leader
“I am passionate about my job! I see my clients and the contractor on a day-to-day basis, face-to-face. I enjoy getting to know them and their work styles. My goal is to meet their needs so that the whole team can have a successful project. Start-up is one of my favorite phases because using my experiences from prior projects, I can head off challenges before they impact the project cost and schedule. It is rewarding to start from nothing, coordinate a large team, pull in large equipment, and bring a system to life!
I am proud of the successful completion of the City of Modesto Headworks, Dryden Box, Influent Flume Improvements Project this year. Working together with the City and Contractor to continue the Headworks project safely and effectively amidst the pandemic, which was quite a feat considering nobody on the project contracted the virus. I created a collaborative team and was able to show value to the City, which led to winning the River Trunk Realignment Project, so we can continue support to the City for the coming year.”
John Peairs
Bay Area Area Market Leader
John Peairs
Bay Area Area Market Leader
“I am motivated every day to help water, sanitary, groundwater and stormwater agencies meet the challenges of a changing climate and take advantage of technologies that can help them do more with less effort and less risk than ever before. My goal is to accelerate positive change and improve resilience for every West Yost client.”
Les Chau, BCES, AAEES
Water Business Sector Leader
Les Chau, BCES, AAEES
Water Business Sector Leader
“I am passionate and prudently optimistic in contributing my 30 years of water consulting experience to addressing California’s water and climate issues. I have been aware of the changing climate and its impacts on water supply since 2004. More than ever, the need is to maintain reliable water infrastructure and manage our precious water resources.
I am thrilled to work with my colleagues in diverse areas of practice to focus on the One Water paradigm to advance the integrated and sustainable uses of “all water”. We are on the advent of technology with thirsts to nurture the political will of Californians to find and manage “new water”. Lastly, we want to be a voice for safe drinking water for the underrepresented communities and reliable water supply to grow food!”
Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents; it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrowed it from our children. – Native American Proverb
Brian Pautsch, EIT
Southern California Area Market Leader
Brian Pautsch, EIT
Southern California Area Market Leader
“I am a native Californian and optimistic about the future of water with sustainable resources and renewable energy brought forth by converging technologies to address California’s water and climate issues. I am passionate about automation, technology, and analytics as innovation drivers in this sector to help clients solve challenges and make improved capital decisions.
Solutions require balanced changes to people, processes, culture, and technology. We apply our unparalleled industry knowledge to guide our clients to practical, sustainable solutions. The culture at West Yost is one of intellectual curiosity, innovation, collaboration, and we share that foreword thinking with our clients and partners to help deliver the future today.”
What Matters to Us
At West Yost we actively provide opportunities for growth. We support the health and wellbeing of each team member. Team-led initiatives provide connection and a means to have input into our culture. Through these examples, team members have gained tools, ideas, and access to wellness initiatives.
Diversity Equity and Inclusion
The DEI is a diverse group of team members in varying professions and stages of their careers. Their focus is both internally and externally on how we, as West Yost, support our communities and profession in a manner that promotes and strengthens diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Young Professionals
Our active Young Professionals group provides networking and professional development opportunities for those of us starting our careers. There are both at work and after work activities, depending on the YP’s preference.
Wellness Working Group
The members of this group bring perspectives and gather insights to reinvest into our team. The team gathers to assess, plan, promote, and implement West Yost’s robust wellness program and activities. We look forward to Active April, where we challenge each other to walk daily, and to upcoming fundraisers with organizations like Feeding America, where together we provided over 40,000 meals in a single month.
Our Founders
West Yost was founded by Bruce West and Jim Yost. This video is a tribute to celebrate their dream of creating a company founded on a “culture of goodness.” Friends before their careers launched, they met at the University of California, Davis while completing their engineering undergraduate studies. Their founding objective was deeply rooted in providing high-quality work, superior client service, and technical expertise. Annually, we gather for our All Staff and Duck Dinner social event in celebration of West Yost.