Board Members & Staff

The current chair of the Louisiana Board of Professional Geoscientists is William H. Schramm, who was appointed to the board in 2018. Schramm retired in 2017 after 28 years with the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ). During this part of his long career, he worked closely with industry, consultants, regulators, and private citizens, to investigate and remediate over 3000 contaminated sites. As a supervisor in the Remediation Division, he...

Mike Simms is a geologist and hydrogeologist in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  His education in geology was at Johns Hopkins University (Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences) (B.A., 1977; M.A., 2002; and Ph.D., 2011) with training in structural geology, sedimentology, geochemistry, and hydrogeology.  He taught hydrogeology at LSU (Department of Geology & Geophysics) from 1985 to 1988 and has worked in the areas of groundwater contamination assessment and remediation, groundwater resources,...

Bill grew up in Lake Charles, LA, and graduated from LaGrange High School in 1965. Returning to college on the GI Bill, Bill finished his course work with a B.S. degree in geology in 1974 and an M.S. degree in geology in 1975 from the University of Southwestern Louisiana (now ULL).

Bill started with Gulf Oil Corporation in New Orleans in 1975 performing regional exploration in the MAFLA (Mississippi...

Melanie Stiegler, Ph.D., P.G., is an igneous petrologist and faculty in the Dept. of Earth & Environmental Sciences at the University of New Orleans. She received her Bachelor of Science in geology from Louisiana State University and a Doctor of Philosophy in geology from Stanford University. She lives in New Orleans with her husband and three children.

David B. Culpepper, PG, is Senior Geoscientist with Leaaf Environmental and has over 3 decades of experience in geosciences and environmental consulting.

David has an extensive background in environmental science, specializing in geological hazard identification, environmental remediation, and complex project management. He has overseen environmental assessments and managed projects across the United States, with clients ranging from federal agencies to Fortune 500 companies. Before joining Leaaf, David led The...

Lloyd Hoover is the engineering representative on the Louisiana Board of Professional Geoscientists. Besides being a licensed Professional Engineer, Lloyd is also a licensed Louisiana Professional Geoscientist. Having served his profession on several boards, including the Louisiana Engineering Foundation and the Louisiana Engineering Society, Lloyd is a natural choice to bridge the two professions of engineering and geology. His work as a geotechnical engineer has spanned several decades, and his...

Chantel McCreary, ABA, BSP, has been employed as the assistant executive secretary and bookkeeper with the LA Board of Geoscientists since 2017. She is also employed with the LAPELS Board as a compliance investigator.

Liz McDade is a geoscientist with a career focus on south Louisiana and the Gulf of Mexico basin. She is a licensed geologist (PG, LA), has a BS from Newcomb College, Tulane University, as well as an MS and Ph.D. from LSU. Her education focused on south Louisiana organic geochemistry - source rocks and depositional environments. She has gained valuable professional experience at LSU’s Basin Research Institute, Texaco Exploration &...

David Ray Williamson has served as a Board Member of the Louisiana Board of Professional Geoscientists and Chair of the License Review Committee since 2018. He is a National Association of State Boards of Geology (ASBOG) Council of Educators Subject Matter Expert in Geology. 

Mr. Williamson is a Licensed Professional Geoscientist in Louisiana, and a Registered/Licensed Geoscientist/Geologist in Arkansas, Mississippi and Texas.  He is a graduate of Millsaps College with...

Brenda Macon is the executive secretary of the Louisiana Board of Professional Geoscientists. In this position, she works with the board as its administrative manager. Prior to serving in her current position, she was with Louisiana State University, where she held a variety of positions, including managing a major literary journal (The Southern Review) and producing a vital college magazine (Kaleidoscope: The Magazine of the LSU College of Arts &...