Meet our staff:
R. Michael Prater - Principal
Mr. Prater has led Prater & York, since its inception as Prater Environmental Group in 2001. He has 20 years of experience in the environmental and safety industry. A regulatory compliance specialist, his prior employment history includes EHS leadership positions with defense industry Fortune 500 companies Northrop Grumman and Litton. He also has worked in the environmental industry for Waste Management and Safety Kleen. Mr. Prater holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from West Georgia and a Masters of Science in Environmental Management from the University of Maryland UC. Mr. Prater also has obtained multiple environmental and safety certifications.
Robert M. York - Principal
Mr. York has over 15 years of environmental consulting experience and is a Licensed Professional Geologist (P.G.) in Georgia and many other states. He has conducted, managed, or provided senior review of the assessment, remediation and/or monitoring of over 800 petroleum or hazardous waste release sites throughout the Southeast. In addition, he has conducted, managed, or provided senior review of approximately 600 Phase I and II ESA’s including some of the most high profile urban renewal projects in downtown Atlanta. He was presented with an award for “Outstanding Environmental Consulting” from the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority in 2004. He currently serves on the Executive Board of the Carroll County, Georgia Chamber of Commerce and will be Chairman of the Board in 2011. Mr. York earned his Bachelor of Science in Geology from the University of West Georgia.
Brian K. Parrish - Staff Geologist
Mr. Parrish is a recent B.S. Geology graduate from the University of West Georgia. Before his addition to the Prater & York team, Mr. Parrish was employed by geologic organizations such as the Upper Tallapoosa Watershed group, Soil and Water Solutions, and the Center for Water Resources (UWG). Mr. Parrish has also presented several publications at Geological Society of America conferences such as: "Sediment in West Georgia streams from 2001 - 2007: A Focus on Snake Creek, a critical drinking water source" (primary author) and "The correlation of fecal coliform and turbidity of the Little Tallapoosa River in the West Georgia Region" (secondary author) under Dr. Curtis Lee Hollabaugh and Randa Harris, M.S., P.G.. He has, in addition, assisted in dendroarcheologic and geomorphic research under Dr. Georgina DeWeese and Dr. Andrew Ivester, respectively. Mr. Parrish’s work focus at Prater & York is in the field of due diligence, primarily Phase I and II environmental site assessments.
Whit Kirkland
Mr. Kirkland is a 20+ year veteran of the environmental management industry serving primarily in aerospace and consulting. As a regulatory expert, Mr. Kirkland has proven to be exceptionally talented in obtaining, and maintaining, regulatory compliance for his clients. He also has developed client-specific computer programs to track all information, material usage, waste generation, and/or emission data required and used in regulatory permitting and reporting. Mr. Kirkland holds a Civil Engineering degree from Georgia Tech.
Kevin K. Gantz
Mr. Gantz has served hundreds of clients in his 20+ years as an environmental consultant. His primary fields of expertise include conducting Environmental Site Assessments and developing/ auditing ISO 14001 environmental management systems. Mr. Gantz is a Professional Geologist (P.G.) and a registered ISO 14001 auditor. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Geology from the University of Georgia |
