Dr. White’s trusted perspective on complicated karst due-diligence issues has resulted in a long list of repeat clients and high-profile projects. He specializes in the endangered Species Act and water quality regulations as they pertain to caves, springs and the Edwards Aquifer. Before he founded Cambrian Environmental, Dr. White served for 15 years as senior geoscientist, and project manager for one of the largest ecological consulting firms in the country. As a consultant, he helps clients find the middle ground between the needs of natural resource protection and human population growth.
Over the course of his career Dr. White has made a major contribution to the state of Texas cave science and to the conservation of karst resources. As a licensed geoscientist, his field survey work has contributed to the establishment of thousands of acres of preserve land within the Edwards Aquifer recharge and contributing zones through the identification of sensitive karst resources and through various land conservation programs.
As a biospeleologist, his research on cave spider genetics and the evolution of their habitat was published in Geology, the world’s flagship peer-reviewed earth sciences journal. He has discovered many new locations for rare and endangered species and two new species have been named in his honor.
Dr. White’s specialties include regulatory issues surrounding endangered karst invertebrates and Eurycea salamanders, expert witness testimony, land use planning in environmentally sensitive areas, public outreach, preserve design, habitat conservation planning, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) Geological Assessments and associated reports, City of Austin Environmental Assessments, and consulting on caves encountered during construction. He has a particular depth of experience with transportation projects. Kemble is a licensed professional geoscientist and holds the applicable U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service permits for working with threatened and endangered karst species in the Austin – San Antonio growth corridor.
At the invitation of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, he served on the recovery team for the Bexar County endangered karst invertebrates from 2002 to 2013. Since 2012, he has served on the technical working group for the Georgetown and Jollyville Plateau salamanders. His technical work and consulting experience were instrumental in developing the special 4(d) rule for the Georgetown salamander published by the USFWS in 2015.