Environmental Protection Agency at MSU

Andrew Mutter currently serves as a senior advisor and program specialist for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Region 8 in Denver, Colorado.  There he provides senior advisory services in the areas of communication, outreach, human capital acquisition/talent management, strategy development, planning and operations. Previously, he served as the Director, Public Affairs/Office of Communication and Public Involvement in Region 8, and prior to joining the EPA he served as a senior program manager at the U.S. Department of Commerce in Washington D.C. and is a 27-year Army veteran.  

Wendy Dew is the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 8 Outreach and Education Coordinator.  She has worked at the EPA for over 27 years.  Wendy has specialized in environmental communications her entire career.  She has worked in the non-profit world as well.  She has a degree in Biology from the University of Montana.  Wendy has also been active volunteering with animal rescue groups over the years and lives with her husband and turtles in the Colorado mountains.

Wendy Cheung has been with Region 8 for over 21 years as an environmental engineer, all with the Underground Injection Control Program. The UIC Program protects underground sources of drinking water during injection of fluids to develop natural resources or for disposal. She has led various UIC projects focused on energy related and industrial fluid disposal activities, uranium in-situ mining, experimental technologies and carbon sequestration wells. She oversaw the development of a simple to use model to assist federal and state regulators in making aquifer exemption decisions through an EPA Regional Applied Research Effort grant. She also represented EPA as part of an Office of International and Tribal Affairs Team teaching NEPA fundamentals in Vietnam, deployed during the 2013 Colorado flood as part of the Region’s Water Emergency Response Team, and deployed to the Santa Rosa Fire, East Palestine Derailment and Maui Fire as an Environmental Unit Leader with EPA’s Incident Management Team. She has also served as a Regional Equal Employment Opportunity counselor, Co-Chair for the Asian and Pacific Islander Special Emphasis program, and Chair of the national UIC Technical Workgroup. The last few years, she designed and built the a first of its kind EPA multi-regional UIC database. She received her Bachelor of Science from Swarthmore College and her Ph.D. in Civil/Environmental Engineering from the University of Colorado – Boulder.

Jessica Gutting Smith remediates Superfund facilities across Montana as a Remedial Project Manager with Region 8 in the Helena, MT office. She has been with EPA for two years and worked with Montana Department of Environmental Quality on Superfund and Brownfields sites throughout Montana for 14 years prior. Jessica has worked on emergency responses over the years, including the Silvertip Oil Spill on the Yellowstone, the Bridger Pipeline spill in Glendive and the East Palestine Train Derailment in Ohio.  She has a BS in Environmental Biology and a minor in Native American Studies from Montana State University.   She currently lives in Helena with her family and visits Bozeman often.

Barbara Dehnert currently manages and provides oversight of Drinking Water Program contracts and manages the budget for the Region 8 Drinking Water Program. She has worked for the EPA for over 26 years as an environmental scientist and environmental protection specialist where she has conducted compliance monitoring of state and tribal environmental programs; provided technical assistance to states, tribes and the public regarding the direct implementation of the National Primary Drinking Water Standards and the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act. She served as co-coordinator for the Worker Protection Standard and Pesticide Applicator Certification & Training Program. Barbara also managed the Hispanic Employment Special Emphasis Program where she actively promoted environmental community outreach and education to Hispanic communities across Region 8. She has a BS in Microbiology/Medical Technology from Colorado State University.

Max Tolstedt is a senior undergraduate student from Billings, MT studying Microbiology with an emphasis on environmental health. Max served in the Marine Corps from 2018 to 2022 and was stationed at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton as a member of the 3^rd Assault Amphibian Battalion. He operated amphibious assault vehicles for his first three years and managed hazardous waste and materials for the battalion in his final year of service. Max is currently a Pathways student intern at the EPA, working within the Superfund Emergency Management Division’s strategic planning section. His internship is focused on contracting and acquisition procedures as it pertains to the needs and requirements of Superfund sites. His goal is to make a tangible, positive impact on both public health and the environment while continuing to grow personally and professionally in order to support those around him and improve our natural world for those to come. In his free time Max enjoys playing the drums, fly-fishing, golfing, and spending time with family, friends, and his cat, Dumpling.