Annie Vest CFM – Chair
Jesse Beck CFM – Vice Chair
Rachel Cooper PE, CFM – Secretary
Carolyn Schultz CFM – Treasurer
Jonathan Phillips CFM – National Floodplain Insurance Program Coordinator
Mike Kimbro PE, CFM – Region I Representative
Kenny Schwab PE, CFM – Region II Representative
Dennis Yochum – Region III Representative
Johnny Barron PE, CFM – Region IV Representative
Travis Small PE, CFM – Region V Representative
Lincoln Irvine PE, CFM – Past Chair
Annie Vest is the Mitigation and Disaster Planning Lead at Freese and Nichols, and the Vice President of the National Hazard Mitigation Association. She currently serves as a Subject Matter Expert to the Department of Homeland Security CISA, Resilient Investment Planning, and Development Working Group. Annie is the former State Hazard Mitigation Officer (SHMO) for Oklahoma. She has extensive, real-world experience in hazard mitigation, pre and post-disaster, and emergency management. As SHMO, Annie was directly responsible for $130 million in Federal Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) funds and the review and approval of Local Hazard Mitigation Plans. In 2016 she received the FEMA Region VI Regional Administrators Award for streamlining Hazard Mitigation and Hazard Mitigation Planning throughout FEMA Region VI. She has conducted the FEMA G318 Local Hazard Mitigation Planning workshop throughout Oklahoma on several occasions. Annie was a key contributing member of the first formal FEMA Region VI Regional Advisory Council subcommittee for Mitigation Planning. She assisted in developing streamlined planning tools now being used throughout FEMA Region VI. She is a proven leader and is often invited to participate in policy discussions at the national level, specifically in flood buyout policy to practice. Annie assists various clients in achieving community resilience. She holds a bachelor’s in Psychology and Disaster Management and a dual masters degree in Adult and Community Education and Executive Development for the Public Sector.
Jesse Beck, CFM
Jesse Beck is the Assistant City Engineer and GIS Manager for the City of Ponca City. He is also the City’s CRS coordinator and recently successfully defended the City’s status as a CRS Class 5 Community. Jesse started school at the University of Missouri–Rolla in Civil Engineering but completed a degree in Geology and Geophysics – the first in many interesting life choices. Fifteen years of working in the environmental realm exposed him to GIS work, which he fell in love with, and he finally took a full-time job managing Ponca City’s GIS. When the Assistant City Engineer job later became available, he saw a chance to set an old wrong to the right and, at age 41, relearned how to factor a polynomial and passed the FE exam.
His day-to-day work includes:
- Designing and managing road and drainage construction projects
- Reviewing proposed developments
- Addressing floodplain inquiries
- Seeing the varied demands of the CRS
- Maintaining the City’s GIS
- Discovering ways to integrate new data and share the system with City users
Jesse lives with his wife and three children in a 1905 home that constantly threatens improvement. In his “free” time, he enjoys woodworking, metalworking, falling off his mountain bike, tinkering with microcontrollers, and sporadic forays into writing novels.
Rachel Cooper is native to Wagoner County and currently serves as the Wagoner County Engineer and Director of the Planning and Zoning Department. Rachael attended the United States Air Force Academy and Southern Mississippi State University to gain her Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering and Master of Science in Sports Psychology, respectively. She served in the United States Air Force just under 6 years as 32E Functional and separated as a Captain. She served a short stint as a College Soccer Coach and Campus Engineer before returning to government service in 2017. Rachael also works with Cross Timbers Consulting as a design engineer for Tribal Transportation Projects. In OFMA, Rachael is the Board Secretary and has been a CFM since February 2018.
Carolyn Schultz is retired from the US Army Corps of Engineers, after 24 years of service in the Tulsa District. During her career at the Corp’s Floodplain Management Services Planning and Environmental Division, she was involved in the development of floodplain, flood protection, and flood insurance studies for communities in Oklahoma. Her responsibilities included coordination with various local, state and federal officials for data gathering, preparation and reporting of flood studies. She also attended to all customer inquiries related to floodplain matters.
Carolyn is currently serving as OFMA’s Treasurer and Secretary for the Professional Development Committee (PDCC) for Certification of Floodplain Administrators. She is a member of the National Association of Floodplain Managers Association and a Certified Floodplain Manager. She has attended Northeastern Oklahoma State University and holds an Associate Degree in Civil Engineering from Tulsa Junior College. Carolyn is a Certified Floodplain Manager in Oklahoma.
Mike Kimbro graduated from the University of Oklahoma in December 2000 with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. He started his career at the Oklahoma Department of Transportation in January 2001, where he discovered an interest in modeling rivers and creeks and started working on bridge hydraulics in March 2002. Mike is a CFM since 2005. His hobbies include woodworking, electronics, photography, ham radio, and motorcycles. He also enjoys traveling, attending Broadway shows, movies, and art festivals with my wife of 31 years.
Patrick Wilson bio to come.
Dennis Yochum bio and photos to come.
Johnny A. Barron PE, CFM
Johnny grew up in Georgia and graduated from Southern Polytechnic State University with a B.S. Degree in Civil Engineering Technology. He obtained his professional engineer license in 2006. While in Georgia, he served as the Atlanta Area Representative on the Board of Directors for the Georgia Association of Floodplain Management (GAFM).
He moved to Oklahoma in 2010 and has worked for the Oklahoma Water Resources Board and the City of Ponca City. Johnny currently works for the City of Altus where he is the City Engineer and Public Works Director for the City of Altus, OK. He is also the NFIP Floodplain Administrator for Altus.
Johnny and his wife, Dawn, have been married since 1988 and they have 4 children and 4 grandchildren.
Travis Small currently serves as Engineering Manager for Transportation & Drainage at the City of Stillwater. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Oklahoma State University in May of 1997. Since that time, Travis has worked for various consulting firms and municipalities focusing on both transportation and drainage infrastructure. He is a licensed professional engineer in Oklahoma and holds a license as both a water works and wastewater works operator. Travis became a Certified Floodplain Manager and member of OFMA in 2017. He and his wife, Darice, live in Stillwater where he enjoys attending OSU athletic events and being a Special Olympics volunteer.
Lincoln Irvine currently serves as a roadway & hydraulics/hydrology engineer for a vast array of publicly funded transportation projects. He is experienced in providing drainage solutions and engineering designs for various ODOT and county projects and has been recruited specifically for challenging drainage projects. As part of a multi-disciplinary engineering design team for a large scale project, he served as a drainage lead as part of a drainage design team. Lincoln is also proficient in analyzing hydrology and hydraulics, mapping floodplains, evaluating storm water systems, storm water treatment, and permitting.
Lincoln has a degree in civil engineering from the University of Utah. He is a Professional Engineer in Utah, California and Oklahoma and a Certified Floodplain Manager in Oklahoma.