Director Mike Rolband

Director Mike Rolband was first appointed in 2022. He is a Professional Engineer, Professional Wetland Delineator, Professional Wetland Scientist Emeritus, and LEED (green building) Advanced Professional.

Mike has had a lifelong interest in wetlands and stormwater management and its interaction with natural waterbodies and has contributed much to the profession. He founded Wetland Studies and Solutions Inc. in 1991 and grew his company into a multidisciplinary natural and cultural resources consulting firm with more than 200 staff before retiring from it in 2020.

Mike was instrumental in developing Virginia’s new wetlands laws in 2000.  Before coming to DEQ, he served on numerous technical and stakeholder advisory groups developing wetland and stormwater regulations. From 1996-2001 he was a gubernatorial appointee to the Chesapeake Bay Local Assistance Board. 

In 2012, Mike established the nonprofit Resource Protection Group, Inc. which funds applied research in wetlands and stream restoration and enhancement activities.

In 2017, Mike was named a Professor of Practice by Cornell University, his alma mater, where he received his BS in Civil and Environmental Engineering, Master of Engineering, and Master of Business Administration. He enjoyed teaching engineering students there through 2020. 

Contact: (804) 698-4020
Michael.Rolband@deq.virginia.gov

Jonathan Rak

Jonathan Rak is DEQ’s Deputy Director. He was appointed in February 2026. He previously served as Chief Policy Advisor from June 2024 to January 2026. Prior to assuming the duties of this position, he served as a DEQ regulatory analyst and was instrumental in drafting regulations to mitigate the impact of utility-scale solar developments on forests and prime agricultural lands. Before joining DEQ, Jonathan practiced land use and environmental law as a partner with McGuire Woods LLP. While at McGuire Woods, he served as general counsel for regional water and wastewater utilities. Jonathan retired from McGuire Woods in 2022 to pursue a master’s degree in environmental management at the Yale School of the Environment. Jonathan is also a graduate of Yale College and of Washington and Lee University Law School.

Contact: (804) 929-5136
Jonathan.Rak@deq.virginia.gov 

Executive Team Members

Melanie Davenport

Melanie Davenport is the Chief Strategy Officer. She began her career at the State Water Control Board in 1986. She has held numerous positions at DEQ including Director of Enforcement, Assistant Air Division Director and as a special assistant to the Secretary of Natural Resources. She became Director of the Water Division in 2011 where she was responsible for  stormwater, VPDES, biosolids, animal operations, wetlands, nutrient trading, water quality standards, TMDL development, water quality monitoring and compliance. In 2022, Melanie became the Director of Cross-Media Programs and in January 2026, she became Chief Strategy Officer. She oversees numerous multi-media programs including enforcement, environmental justice, environmental impact review, communications, pollution response, permitting assistance and coastal zone management. During the time when her children were young, Melanie worked for the Virginia legislature, serving three years as the Virginia Director of the Chesapeake Bay Commission. She also spent 10 years practicing environmental law at a large law firm before returning to DEQ full time in 2008. She is past president of the national Association of Clean Water Administrators.  Melanie received her BA from Boston University in marine biology and her law degree from William and Mary. 

Contact: (804) 698-4038
Melanie.Davenport@deq.virginia.gov

Trisha Beasley

Trisha Beasley is DEQ's Director of Operations. Trisha joined DEQ in 2000 as a permit writer in the Northern Regional Office. She began managing the Northern Regional Office Virginia Water Protection Permitting and Compliance program (VWP) in 2007 and added Stormwater Management Plan Review and Compliance (SWM) in 2014. In 2022, Trisha  became the Director of Process Improvement.  During her twelve years managing Northern’s VWP and SWM Programs, Trisha facilitated many initiatives to increase efficiency, provide certainty for the regulated public, and provide clear guidance to support program operations. As the Director of Process Improvement, she was given the task of designing and implementing DEQ’s Permitting Enhancement and Evaluation Platform (PEEP) – a permit tracking system that brings transparency to DEQ’s permitting processes by providing current information about the critical steps and permitting schedules needed for permit approval. In addition to PEEP, Trisha provided agency-wide leadership and direction in: identifying program areas that needed improvement and enhanced efficiency; evaluating areas of risk; implementing new agency data applications; and managing DEQ’s process improvement program. 

Contact: (703) 583-3940
Trisha.Beasley@deq.virginia.gov

Brandon Bull

Brandon Bull is the Director of Policy at DEQ. In this capacity he manages the Division of Policy, which leads and coordinates the agency's policy and legislative initiatives, regulatory board coordinators, and DEQ's Freedom of Information Act officer. Brandon joined DEQ in 2015 as a Policy Assistant and previously was Water Policy Manager before becoming Director of Policy in 2022. Brandon is heavily engaged with DEQ's legislative initiatives and involvement with the General Assembly, as well as regulatory and guidance development processes. Before joining DEQ, Brandon worked on education and children's policy and legislative issues. Brandon earned his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he was an Articles Editor for the Journal of Law and Politics and a Dillard Fellow in the Legal Research and Writing Program. He received BA degrees, summa cum laude, in Economics and Political Science from Virginia Tech. Brandon also completed the Commonwealth Leadership Academy (2025) and the Virginial Natural Resources Leadership Institute (2019).

Contact: (804) 698-4092 
W.Brandon.Bull@deq.virginia.gov 

Alvie Edwards

Alvie Edwards joined DEQ as the Director of Administration in 2022. Alvie previously served as the Assistant Commissioner for Compliance, Risk Management, and Audit for the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services. In that role, Alvie was a member of the Senior Leadership Team, provided oversight and evaluation of many administrative, regulatory, and programmatic functions, spearheaded the creation of the Office of Compliance and Risk Management, and led the Office of Internal Audit. He also managed administrative, federal, and state compliance, and IT security projects, conducted special projects and investigations related to fraud, waste, and abuse allegations, and was the agency liaison for external oversight authorities. Alvie’s prior experience also includes serving as the Director of Internal Audit with the Virginia Department of Health, Assistant Director and Senior Auditor with the Chesterfield County Internal Audit Department, and Financial Analyst with the State Corporation Commission’s Bureau of Financial Institutions. Alvie holds a BS in Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting from Longwood University, and a Master of Public Leadership from Virginia State University. He is also a Certified Internal Auditor and Certified Fraud Examiner, and a graduate of the Virginia Public Sector Leader III program at the Virginia Tech School of Public and International Affairs. Alvie has served on various audit, financial, and leadership teams and committees including the Longwood University College of Business and Economics Alumni Advisory Board, Chesterfield Federal Credit Union Supervisory Committee, and the Chesterfield County Emerging Senior Leaders.

Contact: (804) 898-9883
Alvie.Edwards@deq.virginia.gov

Kathryn Perszyk

Kathryn Perszyk is Director of the Land Protection and Revitalization Division. She oversees the agency's solid and hazardous waste, petroleum storage tank, pollution prevention, pollution response, and land remediation programs. Kathryn joined DEQ in 2006 as a regional solid waste compliance inspector, before moving on to other roles at DEQ in solid waste permitting, guidance, and regulatory development, and most recently the Division Director in 2021. She is also the current president of the Association of State & Territorial Solid Waste Management Officials (ASTSWMO). Prior to joining DEQ, she was a consultant working in the areas of air permitting and emissions reduction. She holds a BS from Georgia Tech in Chemical Engineering.

Contact: (804) 698-4047
Kathryn.Perszyk@deq.virginia.gov

Jaime Robb

Jaime Robb is DEQ's Water Operations Division Director. She joined DEQ in 1997 where she began her career as an intern while completing her bachelor’s degree in environmental science at the University of Virginia. She later received her master’s degree in environmental studies from the Virginia Commonwealth University.  She has more than 26 years of experience working in DEQ’s Central and Piedmont Regional Offices in a variety of programs including air permitting, water permitting, stormwater, and wetlands and streams. Prior to becoming the Water Operations Division Director, Jaime served as the Deputy Regional Director for the Piedmont Regional Office where she oversaw the regional implementation of the VPDES, Virginia Water Protection, Construction Stormwater, Solid and Hazardous Waste, and Pollution Response Programs, and assisted in overall regional operations. 

Contact: (804) 527-5086

Jaime.Robb@deq.virginia.gov

Bryant Thomas

Bryant Thomas is the Water Resources Division Director for DEQ. He is a native Virginian and obtained his undergraduate and graduate degrees from James Madison University and Virginia Tech, respectively. He has worked with DEQ for 28 years, initially in the Air Division, then in water quality programs for 25 years. Bryant’s first 24 years with DEQ were at the Northern Regional Office where he managed the Regional Water Permitting and Planning programs for 14 years. These programs included surface water monitoring, the regional water quality assessment, local Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) development and TMDL implementation plan development, the regional Virginia Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit program as well as the regional Virginia Pollution Abatement permit program. Since 2021, Bryant has worked in DEQ’s Central Office.  Prior to his role overseeing the Water Resources Division, he managed DEQ’s Office of Ecology which contains several water quality programs, including Water Quality Standards, Water Monitoring & Assessment and the Chesapeake Bay Program. He is a proud civil servant to the Commonwealth of Virginia and is dedicated to DEQ, its mission and employees.

Contact: (804) 396-5846

Bryant.Thomas@deq.virginia.gov

Leadership Team

Regional Directors

Jerome Brooks Piedmont Regional Office (804) 527-5020	Richard Doucette Northern Regional Office (703) 583-3800	Jeffrey Hurst Southwest Regional Office (276) 676-4800
Craig Nicol Tidewater Regional Office (757) 518-2000	Brandon Kiracofe Valley Regional Office (540) 574-7800	Robert Weld Blue Ridge Regional Office (540) 562-6700