Orbis Environmental Consulting

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Meet Our Expert Team of Consultants

The Orbis Team has more than a century of combined experience providing clients with innovative solutions to complex environmental problems. They provide cultural resource management, botanical, ecological and wildlife surveys, and wetland delineation services, primarily in the Midwest U.S. We also offer training and workshops in plant identification and inventory, wetland delineation, approaches to restoration and mitigation, wildlife management, and archaeology.

J Ryan Duddleson

Senior Archaeologist, Principal

Jeremy Sheets

Senior Wildlife Biologist, Vice President

Tessa M. Aby-Kruger

Botanist

Megan K. Martin

Senior Wildlife Biologist

Brad Slaughter

Senior Botanist

Elizabeth Straub

Archaeologist

J Ryan Duddleson​

Senior Archaeologist, Principal

Ryan is a founding member of Orbis and directs its cultural resource management services, and brings over 20 years’ experience helping clients assess and minimize the risk of impacting places with cultural value.


Ryan works with public sector clients including federal, state, and municipal government, as well as private firms in energy, transportation, industrial, and development sectors. He also coordinates with agencies and consulting parties involved with the National Environmental Policy Act, Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, and other related cultural resource laws and regulations. He performs archival research, analysis, and excavation. Ryan also has experience in artifact and archival curation. He has applied innovative techniques to traditional artifact analysis, such as examining organic residues from prehistoric pottery to determine prior contents. Ryan also has experience with human remains in archaeological settings. Ryan meets the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards and Guidelines for Archaeology and Historic Preservation, 48 FR. 44716 and is a Qualified Professional Archaeologist in Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

Jeremy Sheets

Senior Wildlife Biologist, Vice President

Jeremy is a founding member of Orbis and directs its ecological and wildlife surveys, assessment and planning services, and brings over 20 years’ experience conducting various wildlife surveys with a focus on bat ecology and urban wildlife management.


Jeremy has managed wildlife projects for private firms and the public sector including for wind facilities, pipelines, roadways, military bases, and airports. Jeremy is proficient in wildlife management/control techniques, wildlife identification, threatened and endangered species, and surveying and analysis techniques for mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, and insects. Jeremy is a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Qualified Airport Wildlife Biologists who develop Wildlife Hazard Assessments (WHA) and Wildlife Hazard Management Plans (WHMP) for airports. Jeremy is qualified to inspect erosion, sediment and stormwater plans, and their implementation. Furthermore, Jeremy is federally permitted to conduct endangered bat surveys in USFWS Regions 3, 4, 5, and 6 and includes acoustic surveys, mist-netting, and radio telemetry.

Tessa M. Aby-Kruger

Botanist

Tessa is a geologist, botanist and vegetation ecologist with over 10 years of experience managing and conducting projects, specializing in ecological and floristic inventories, rare plant surveys, and vegetation monitoring. She also performs wetland evaluations and is a guided hike leader.

Megan Martin

Senior Wildlife Biologist

Megan has 19 years’ experience conducting terrestrial wildlife surveys in the mid-western, eastern, and southern U.S. She is a bat specialist but also has experience with birds (emphasis in raptors), small mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates. She helps clients (government and private) assess and minimize the risk of impacting places with ecological and wildlife value. She also coordinates with agencies and consulting parties to comply with NEPA and the Endangered Species Act, including writing portions of large regulatory documents such as Habitat Conservation Plans, Biological Assessments, and Environmental Impact Statements. Her bat-related work expertise includes summer and winter habitat assessments, winter bat hibernacula surveys, radio-telemetry, diet analysis, acoustic surveys and qualitative call analysis, mist-netting surveys, harp-trap surveys, and post-construction wind farm mortality surveys. She is familiar with 13 species of bats and has conducted bat surveys in 13 states including: Indiana, Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, New York, Iowa, and Wisconsin. Her survey experience with birds includes auditory and visual surveys for birds (point counts) and visual surveys for eagle or other raptor nests.

Brad Slaughter

Senior Botanist

Brad is a botanist and vegetation ecologist with over 20 years of experience managing and conducting projects, specializing in ecological and floristic inventories, rare plant surveys, and vegetation monitoring. He also performs wetland evaluations and teaches plant identification workshops. Brad is a coauthor of A Field Guide to the Natural Communities of Michigan and the 3rd Edition of the Floristic Quality Assessment of Michigan. In addition to his writings, Brad delivers presentations and leads field trips for a variety of audiences.

Elizabeth Straub

Archaeologist

Elizabeth has ten years of experience in archaeology, including both academic and private sector projects. She has had the pleasure of participating in archaeological investigations in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Kentucky, and Georgia. She has taken part in archaeological surveys with the goal of helping both private and public sector clients to assess the potential impact of their projects on cultural resources, as required by Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. She also works with nonprofit organizations to conduct archaeological investigations. This work includes assistance in project planning, grant writing, project execution, and reporting. She has extensive experience in collections research, artifact curation, and ceramic reconstruction. Her expertise is in precontact pottery, where she has utilized various forms of microscopy, including Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Petrography. She has experience in tribal consultation, community outreach, and human remains in archaeological settings.