Vitae for Rick Denhart

Recent Employment History

Mercy Corps, Program Director, Kyrgyzstan, USAID Food Security Program to 300,000 beneficiaries, March to December 2009
Mercy Corps, Program Director, Gulf Coast Hurricane Recovery Program, New Orleans, LA. March, 2007 to January, 2009
DeConstruction Services, Director, managing a wide scale, innovative deconstruction program for the Rebuilding Center (Division of Our United Villages) 2004 to 2007
NK Design and Construction, Project Manager, Commercial/Residential construction, 2003-2004
R&H Construction, Project Manager/Cost Estimator, Commercial/Residential construction, 2001-2002
Bridgeway / Belfor Construction, Operations Manager/Cost engineer, Commercial/Residential construction, 2000-2001
DesignGreen, Owner/Designer, consulting firm in sustainable construction and deconstruction as well as training, education and research in sustainable construction practices (1986-2006, Design Build Construction)

Selected Projects

USAID Food Security (Kyrgyzstan). Traditional USAID projects ship food from the US to food insecure countries at a significant economic and carbon expense. This project procured 8,400 tons of food commodities from local and regional sources for delivery to 300,000 people using a staff of over 80 locally hired employees. Several hundred village leaders collaborated to mobilize municipal community resources and participate in the selection of households for distribution of food commodities. The project stimulated economic development during one of Kyrgyzstan’s most serious economic crises while also reducing the project carbon footprint. The project demonstrated sustainable and democratic practices to local communities.
Mercy Corps Deconstruction for Hurricane Recovery, New Orleans. Traditional FEMA response to disaster calls for wide scale demolition of destroyed buildings. In this project, over 60 buildings were hand deconstructed reclaiming material for reuse in order to reduce part of the enormous carbon footprint of reconstruction as well as to provide low cost building materials to residents being priced out of the rebuilding of the city. Two research studies were conducted on the program and published in the scholarly press.
The Museum at Warm Springs, Oregon. A project requiring the complete design and installation of exhibits for Warm Springs Native American Tribe (Oregon) preserving their contemporary and historical culture and artifacts.
Microsoft Museum, Exhibitry Design and Installation, Redmond, WA
Natural History Museum Los Angeles County, Seamobile, Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Artmobile , Los Angeles, CA
Museum of Flight, Control Tower Exhibit & Retail Store, Seattle, WA
Ancient Life and The Artistic Spirit, Exhibitry Design and Installation, Museum at Blackhawk, CA
Naval Undersea Museum, Bremerton, WA
Jack Murdock Aviation Center/Pearson Air Park, Vancouver, WA
Hanna Andersson Inc., Corporate Headquarters Renovation, Portland, OR
King County Waste Transfer Stations, Seismic Upgrades, Seattle, WA
Port of Entry, US/Canadian Border Crossing, Oroville, WA
BLM Hazardous Material Addition, Medford, OR
Skyview Acres Water District Transmission & Storage, Portland, OR

Presentations/Trainings

5/12/08 Deconstructing Disaster: Race, Place and Environment after Katrina. Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, New Orleans.
4.4.08 Deconstruction for Historic Preservation. Historic Green Volunteer Project, USGBC, New Orleans.
11.07 Using Data in Grant Writing. Managing Data through GIS Systems. Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government. New Orleans, LA.
3/06/07 Deconstructing & Recycling Your Job Site, City of Portland, Oregon.
9/06 Sustainable Practices for Old and New Worlds, The Athens Center, Athens, Greece.
11/05-6/06 Deconstruction for Historic Preservation, training in deconstruction for disaster recovery, New Orleans.
2/06 How to Deconstruct Your Home, Portland Home and Garden Show.
11/05 DeConstruction in the preservation of New Orleans Architecture. The Green Project, New Orleans, LA
11/05 A DeCon Project through Ink and Paper. Building Materials Reuse Association, Atlanta, Georgia   

Media Appearances

11.10.09 Press Conference, USAID Food Distribution Project, Balykchy, Kyrgyzstan.
8.04.09 Press Conference, USAID Food Distribution Project, Aki Press, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
10.27.08 Northwesterners Push to Recycle Katrina-damaged Homes Facing Demolition by Hal Bernton, Seattle Times, p. A-4.
9.26.08 This Old Reyclable House by Jon Moolallem, New York Times Magazine
4.17.08 Notes from New Orleans: Salvage Remains an Afterthought, by Walter Gallas , Preservation Nation, National Trust for Historic Preservation.
http://blogs.nationaltrust.org/preservationnation/?cat=13
4.3.08 Reclaiming History by Roger Burks; Mercy Corps Action Center to End World Hunger. http://www.actioncenter.org/reclaiming-history
4.3.08 Materials from C.J. Peete Salvaged by Volunteers, by Katie Reckdahl, The Times Picayune, P. B1. http://www.nola.com/timespic/stories/index.ssf?/base/library-145/1207200650309700.xml&coll=1
3.24.08 Notes from New Orleans: Affordable Housing Shortage by Walter Gallas. Preservation Nation, National Trust for Historic Preservation. http://blogs.nationaltrust.org/preservationnation/?p=522
3/20/08 Notes from New Orleans: Historic Green by Walter Gallas. Preservation Nation. http://blogs.nationaltrust.org/preservationnation/?p=519
3/05/08 Demolition throws away useful items, by Lolis Eric Elie. The Times Picayune, P. B 1. Http://www.nola.com/timespic/stories/index.ssf?/base/library-143/1204698210267450.xml&coll=1
3/1/08 Deconstruction Recycles The Best Of Damaged Homes, by By Molly Reid. Newhouse News Service. http://www.newhouse.com/deconstruction-recycles-the-best-of-damaged-homes-2.html
2/28/08 This Old House, New Orleans Project, Part 6, Public Broadcasting Service (PBS)
1/30/08 Deconstruction, deconstructed by Peter Reichard, New Orleans Homes and Lifestyles. http://neworleanshomesandlifestyles.com/in-this-issue/articles/news /deconstruction-deconstructed-3292.html
1/12/08 Salvaging History by Molly Ried, The Times Picayune
http://www.nola.com/timespic/stories/index.ssf?/base/living-0/1200118836266050.xml&coll=19/12//07 In New Orleans, Building Back Begins With Taking Down - By Hand, Katrina Today http://katrinatodaynews.com/article.cfm?articleID=2264 9/9/07 Demolition by Hand a Test Case, SunHerald.Com: South Mississippi’s Newspaper Online. The Associated Press9/1/07 Easy Does It, Coleman Warner, The Times Picayune
8/30/07, 8/31/07 Boneyard: Katrina, The History Channel.   
8/29/07 Katrina Year Two, KLCC Radio, Eugene, Oregon
8/29/07 Katrina Second Anniversary, Amy Troy KGW Channel 8 News, Portland, Oregon
8/21/07 Katrina-Hit Homeowners Try to Salvage What’s Left, Elizabeth Wynne Johnson, Day to Day, National Public Radio.
8/16/07 Breaking News: Building by Dismantling. Mercy Corps News. Retrieved 8/21/07 from http://www.mercycorps.org/countries/unitedstates/1794
8/15/07 Deconstructing New Orleans. bliptv retrieved 8/15/07 from http://blip.tv/file/155317
7/24/07 Brick By Brick: Demolition With Dignity In New Orleans, Elizabeth Wynne Johnson, Oregon Public Broadcasting.
6/4/07 Preserve, Share, and Remember, a Press Conference for the rebuilding of Beecher Memorial United Church of Christ: WWL 4 New Orleans, WDSU Channel 6 New Orleans, Fox Channel 8 New Orleans, Associated Press, Time Picayune.
4/30/07 Answering the Call, KGW Channel 8 News at Six, by Amy Troy.
4/23/07 Get This, KBOO Radio, with host Chris Andreae.
4/7/07 Oregon Volunteers Take Green Approach To Deconstruction, Newhouse News Service, www.newhouse.com/oregon-volunteers-take-green-approach-to-deconstruction-5.html
4/4/07 Deconstructing New Orleans, by Todd Nolan, Portland Tribune
4/4/07 Hammering Out Ideas, by Bruce Nolan, The Times-Picayune, metro p.1.  
4/4/07 New Orleans Is Us by Marcus Mundy
http://www.mercycorps.org/topics/hurricanekatrina/1710
4/1/07 Oregon Governor in Flight of Friendship to New Orleans, KPTV Fox Channel 12 the 10 O’clock News.
1/7/07 The One Dollar House, KATU Channel 2 Television Evening News (5:30 segment), Portland, OR.
8/24/06 Taking Apart Buildings can Build Community, by Chatten Hayes, In Portland section, The Oregonian, p. 15.
8/9/06 Best Way to Break It Down, Special Section, Best of Portland Willamette Week
7/06 ReBuilding Center brings communities together, by Lee Perlman, The Star (Portland, OR), p. 28.
6/28/06 Deconstructing For FEMA Dollars, by Ian Demsky, Willamette Week, p. 17.
6/06 Too Good to Throw Away, BioCycle Vol. 47, No. 6, p. 21.
1/7/06  Outlook Portland with Nick Fish, WB 32 television, Portland, OR. Talk show covering deconstruction in New Orleans with the ReBuilding Center.
12/17/05 Groups Salvage Materials, Memories by Carefully Dismantling Houses, by Martha McNeil Hamilton, The Washington Post.

Professional Development

March 2009, The State of Access: Success and Failure of Democracies to Create Equal Opportunities. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. Boston, MA.
December 2007 – Best Practices in Neighborhood Revitalization: Increasing and Sustaining Community Participation and Control with the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative. Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government, New Orleans, LA.
August 2007 – Institute for Study of Race and Poverty: partnership for the Transformation of Urban Communities. Tulane University New Orleans
June 2007 – Institute for Study of Race and Poverty: partnership for the Transformation of Urban Communities. Tulane University. New Orleans
May 2007 – Building Materials Reuse Association annual conference, Madison, WI.
Institute for the Study of Race and Poverty; Partnership for the Transformation of Urban Communities. New Orleans, LA
March 2007 – 1st Annual Green California Summit and Exposition. Sacramento, CA.
Nurturing Motivation, Self-Discipline & Resilience in Our Youth, Conference on Learning Disabilities And Abilities. Prentice School, Los Angeles, CA.
Vision and Revision: The Flexible Adult Brain. Brain Awareness Teacher Workshop, Oregon Health Sciences University. Portland, Oregon.
January 2007 – Laying the Groundwork: Sustainable Efforts to Relief and Reconstruction in the Gulf Coast. Portland Oregon
June 2006 –Sixth Annual Conference on Diversity in Organizations, Communities and Nations. Sponsored by Common Ground (Australia) and Xavier University.  New Orleans, LA.
August 2005– Lead based Paint Hazards During Renovation, Remodeling, and Rehabilitation in Federally Owned and Assisted Housing. Oregon Remodelers’ Association.
March 2005 – 6th Environmental Technology Symposium and Workshop. Portland, OR
December 2004 - Biodiesel in the Northwest, Columbia-Willamette Clean Cities Coalition (U.S. Department of Energy)/National Coalition of Fleet Administrators.
November 2004 - Green Build International Conference and Expo. Annual Conference of the United States Green Building Council (USGBC).
   Safety and Your Hispanic Workforce, Oregon Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) seminar on safety issues and training.
 June 2004 - Second International Green Roof Infrastructure Conference, Portland, OR.

Community Service

Steering Committee Member, Landry High School, Recovery School District, New Orleans, LA
Judge -  Louisiana Landmarks Society, Annual New Orleans, LA, Nine Most Endangered Buildings, May 2008
Judge – Associated Builders and Contractors, competition for deconstruction in improvement and deconstruction, March, 2006
Advisory Committee Member – Humbolt Gardens development. Portland, OR.  2006.
Co-Faculty – Urban Foresters, Senior Capstone course at Portland State University in deconstruction and community development. Spring, 2006
Business Advisor/Designer, EcoRoofs Everywhere 2003-present. 
Committee Member, United States Green Building Council host conference committee for annual conference and international and education subcommittee member, 2003-2004. 

Artistic Work

Mercy Corps, photography for website and organizational publications.
40 Days and 40 Nights, museum exhibit design and installation of entry façade of a deconstructed New Orleans shotgun style home. Louisiana State Archives, Baton Rouge, LA. Aug 9-Oct 1, 2008.
Private commissions of charcoal life and landscape drawings 2006-present.
The Invisible Intellectuals: Perceptions of Students Labeled with Learning Disabilities (Learning Differences) in Higher Education, visual presentation design for
doctoral defense May, 2005

Education

Bachelor of Science in Business with a Minor in Engineering, Oregon State University.

Profile

Rick is a creative, detailed, focused, multi-tasking senior manager, comfortable with diverse groups of people and shifting environments. Rick enjoys the challenge of fast moving multi-faceted international projects and has a keen ability to bring unity to large diverse work teams in remote locations under chaotic conditions. He is known for his careful, persistent diplomacy facilitating change among old world thinkers by using their perspective to initiate innovative, equitable and sustainable processes. Rick’s work enables voice among those most disenfranchised as part and parcel of his work. Rick led the first use of sustainable practices in food security programs (Kyrgyzstan) bolstering the local economy while significantly reducing the carbon burden of traditional USAID projects. Rick is a nationally recognized expert in deconstruction with a strong background in green sustainable building, quality control, design, and construction. His work has appeared in national and local newspapers, television, and radio. Rick is an educator and trainer with special knowledge of turn-key processes in all phases of construction, including defect and restoration. He has several years of museum exhibit design that has given him a strong capacity to orchestrate projects dealing with sensitive cultural issues. His collaboration with Portland State University on disability issues provides him a solid background in ADA issues in the workplace and educational environments. Rick’s project budgets have ranged to several million dollars with estimating experience to hundreds of millions.

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