Gary Kannenberg – Environmental Scientists Have More Fun
Environmental Scientists remedy the impact our built environment has on the natural environment and figure out ways to reduce future impacts by investigating and solving problems. It’s fun! Hear stories of projects done and people encountered from at 40-year veteran of cleaning up hundreds of sites across the country, teaching Green Building and EPA & OSHA certification courses, responding to hurricanes & storms, and walking in tunnels under prisons and on the roof of the Superdome and other cool places.
Gary’s lifelong passion for the environment began with hands-on exploration—building dams in Indian Creek and biking to school on the first Earth Day in 1970. His academic journey took him from undergraduate studies in Hawaii to graduate school in Montana, where he focused on environmental chemistry. This foundation positioned him perfectly to meet the surge of environmental legislation and opportunity in the 1980s—a wave he has been riding ever since.
In 1988, Gary founded The Tellus Group, a consulting firm dedicated to solving environmental, safety, and sustainability challenges for building owners. He has taught EPA and OSHA certification courses, authored the original EPA Asbestos Certification exam, and has served as an instructor in Construction Management at Johnson County Community College, where he taught Green Building and related courses. Beyond his professional work, Gary is a passionate advocate for environmental education and STEM outreach. He has played an active role in K–12 programming and has served for many years as a judge on the Blue-Ribbon Panel for the Greater Kansas City Science & Engineering Fair.