FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Civil engineers in Northwest Arkansas will have greater access to professional development and networking opportunities now that a new branch of the American Society of Civil Engineers has been formed in the area. The group holds meetings on the first Wednesday of each month at the Fire Mountain Grill in Fayetteville.

For the coming year, the elected officers are: President Findlay Edwards, Vice President Natalie Becknell, and Secretary/Treasurer Stephanie Reynolds.

Edwards, an associate professor of civil engineering, earned his bachelor and graduate degrees in environmental engineering at New Mexico State University before moving to Fayetteville in 1998.  He is currently the president of the Arkansas Section of ASCE and the faculty advisor for the ASCE student chapter.

Natalie Becknell is a transportation design engineer with Garver Engineers Inc. of Fayetteville. Becknell will graduate with a master’s degree in civil engineering from the College of Engineering in December. Becknell, a UA alumna, has actively supported the student chapters of ASCE, Chi Epsilon Civil Engineering Honor Society and Tau Beta Pi National Engineering Honor Society. 

Stephanie Reynolds is a project engineer with Engineering Services Inc. in Springdale. She graduated from the UA in May 2005 with a master’s degree in civil engineering, with an emphasis in environmental engineering, after earning a bachelor’s degree from the same program in 2003. In 2004, Reynolds was the president of the student chapter of Chi Epsilon, the National Civil Engineering Honor Society, and she has been an active member in the student chapter of ASCE since 2001.