Paul Berg is a registered professional engineer who has worked at Jacobs Engineering Group (formerly, CH2M Hill), a major international engineering consulting firm, for more than 30 years on drinking water supply and treatment projects. His work has taken him to Sri Lanka, Ghana, Liberia, Columbia, Paraguay, and many other locations around the world to assist with urban, village, and point-of-use water treatment issues. As a volunteer, he has evaluated drinking water needs and designed solutions for hospitals, villages, and schools in Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Burundi, Nicaragua, and other developing countries. Paul obtained his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering from Oregon State University. He was awarded the President’s Volunteer Service Award, President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation, by President Barak Obama, August 2010.

Steve serves as the Executive Director of SAGE (Senior Advocates for Generational Equity) in Portland, Oregon. SAGE is the fiscal sponsor of Day Zero International, which is co-led by a SAGE’s Legacy Fellow Dave Conklin. At SAGE, Steve works with a team of staff and volunteers and manages SAGE’s programs and operations. He is also the lead co-coach for SAGE’s Legacy Fellowship to train and support people to launch their own community benefit projects. Prior to leading SAGE, Steve practiced environmental law at Perkins Coie LLP, where he represented public private sector clients on project development and complex litigation and served as pro bono counsel to nonprofit organizations and small businesses. Earlier in his career, Steve studied collaborative environmental problem solving as a U.S. Fulbright Fellow in New Zealand and at the Ecosystem Management Initiative of the University of Michigan. He also worked to restore rivers at American Rivers in Washington DC. Steve holds a bachelor’s degree from Colby College, a M.S. from the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS), and a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School. In Portland, he volunteers as an Alumni Club Leader for SEAS, and as a Legacy Fellow, where he is leading an initiative to engage pro bono lawyers in projects that advance climate solutions. Steve enjoys time with family and friends, especially while biking, hiking and skiing.

Karen has a BA in Language Arts/Social Studies Education and an MA in English as a Second Language. She was an ESL instructor at Oregon State University and Linn Benton Community College. Before that she did such varied jobs as merchandising at the OSU Beaverstore, bankruptcy counseling with Cricket Debt Counseling, and substitute teaching in the Corvallis public schools. She is married to Paul Berg, and they have four adult children. In 2010-2011 they lived in Uganda and used an early version of the water box to purify their drinking water.

Carol is a licensed physical therapist who practiced in many locations over her career, including Germany; Greenwich, Connecticut; and New York City. She established and operated a private practice for 25 years in Corvallis, Oregon. In 1965 she graduated from the University of Kansas with a BS in Physical Therapy. She is an ASPO Certified Childbirth Educator who taught for 12 years, and is also a Certified Canine Rehabilitation Therapist. She has been involved in SAGE (Senior Advocates for Generational Equity). She is an Experience Corps mentor and is part of the SAGE Mentoring Group at Parkrose Middle School. She is married to David Conklin and enjoys spending time with her three children and five grandchildren.

As Christopher M. Smith retires, he reflects on the many years of helping others. Gifted with an ability to figure out how most things work and being able to know when to fix or toss, the “Mr.Fix-it” engineer draws on his life-long curiosity and compassion to be part of this Water Box project.

Chris started in 1992 working on concepts and designs with Paul Berg on a UVc water disinfecting systems suitable for use in developing countries. This current Water Box is heavily based on much of that work and the iterative efforts thereafter. 

He finds the greatest satisfaction in his work when a challenging project matches his creative design abilities, especially when that need serves a humanitarian purpose.

After working at Battelle as a senior mechanical engineer for 11 years, Christopher worked with Dr. Lewis Zirkle at SIGN Fracture Care International, developing a surgical targeting system for bone-fracture repair in the developing world. He moved into engineering consulting and opened Intellegration, a company for developing innovative solutions to real-world problems.

As the owner of Intellegration in Richland, Washington, he has supported work at the Hanford site and at other local companies like Lamb Weston, Iso-Ray, Inc., and Cadwell Labs. He was part of a team at IsoRay that received an R&D 100 award for an innovative laser-welding system to hold and weld rice-grain-sized, titanium-encapsulated radioactive seeds for prostate cancer treatment. He also holds patents for a robotic hand design and for food processing equipment.

In addition to his professional work, Christopher is deeply involved in humanitarian work. For 27 years, he has been active in Tri-County Partners, the local Habitat for Humanity affiliate, serving as chair of the Building Committee, treasurer, board member and board president. He has also traveled to Africa and Central American, volunteering with building water and sanitation systems. He is active in the Richland Rotary Club.