november-december 2021 - 34

Dana Nelson
Age: 34
Hometown: Superior,
Wisconsin
Alma Mater: Florida
Institute of Technology,
Class of 2009
Fun fact about yourself:
I'm a Wisconsin State
Champion in Girls High
School Hockey and in 2015
our team was inducted into
the high school hall of fame.
My favorite thing about
aviation is: Of course, the
airplanes!
Dana Nelson is the first director of stakeholder engagement
for the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC). She was
promoted to this role in 2019 to maintain the regulatory responsibilities
of the FAA-sanctioned noise program and develop
engagement programs for Minneapolis-St. Paul International
Airport (MSP) and MAC's six general aviation airports.
" We used to be called the noise program office, which was
under the environment department, " said Nelson, who
oversees a four-member community relations team and an
events coordinator. " By expanding to community relations and
working more closely with marketing and communications, we
get to do some really great proactive engagements with the
community outside of noise. " Examples include hosting the
AirExpo at Flying Cloud Airport, a Girls in Aviation Day event,
and creating a Meet the Fleet video series featuring common
aircraft using MSP. The team also leads external long-term
planning sessions and guides stakeholder advisory panels.
The noise program is where Nelson began in aviation. At the
Florida Institute of Technology, she took a course in aviation
advanced computer applications. " I realized I really like data,
computer modeling and GIS applications. I discovered airports
were also interested in those skills, and it gave me a foot in
the door with a summer internship in the San Diego County
Airport Authority noise office.
" The role of data in community engagement is to foster understanding.
It's not always going to change minds. In fact,
it rarely changes minds of people who are just purely upset
that there are airplanes flying over them and they want them
to go away. "
That's where soft skills come in, she said, noting she appreciates
her devoted and gifted team.
" Working with airport neighbors and tenants is a hard and
often thankless job, " she said, " and they do it with grace and
ingenuity that I find extremely admirable and enjoyable. "
She said she has found the people who work in the aviation
industry are passionate about airports and airplanes.
" Dedication, leadership and sound judgement organically
grow out of this passion, and people with these skills shine
in aviation because issues we face are complex and dynamic.
I'm incredibly fortunate and inspired to work alongside many
people with these skills on a daily basis. "
www.AviationPros.com/21238959
Zachary Staff, PP, AICP
Zachary Staff went to school for urban planning and geography,
happening into aviation by luck.
" It was a lot of luck, " said Staff. " I met the right people while I
was doing internships who told me that airport planning was
an interesting gig and I knew nothing about airports, so how
hard could it be? "
Age: 37
Hometown: Binghamton,
New York
Alma Mater: SUNY Geneseo
and Binghamton University
Fun fact about yourself: I
used to be terrified of flying
but now enjoy it and find it
fun to get on an airplane.
Someone I look up to
in the industry: David
Neeleman. The ability to
replicate new airlines with
different models, and to
have success each time, is
fascinating.
With no formal aviation training or education, Staff taught
himself all he knows of the industry and now serves as a regional
aviation planning manager with McFarland Johnson. His
education, focusing on the study of space and place, brings a
unique perspective to the planning of airports and the impacts
of an airport to the neighboring community, and vice-versa.
Staff oversees a group of five planners and technicians spread
throughout locations across the east coast.
Staff uses his in-depth knowledge of AIP, PFCs and the COVID19
relief bills to advocate for clients, and craftily navigates
meetings with the FAA, often reminding them of their own AIP
handbook on what is eligible. He excels at putting together
fundable programs and maximizing eligibility. While his work
includes the more typical master plans, business plans and
environmental assessments, Staff also completes specialized
tasks such as Part 150 noise analyses, airport financial assessments,
grant administration, project financial plans, airport
joint use agreements, land acquisition and PFC programs.
Staff said the variety of his work is what he enjoys most.
" I can be coming in and be working on a passenger facility
charge application or a grant application or a master plan or
a business plan, or I have experience in GIS and I am creating
maps. Every day is a little different and I can focus on a different
airport, in completely different parts of the country. It provides
It was a lot of luck. I met the right
people ... who told me that airport
planning an interesting gig.
me a lot of variety and it's fun to see projects that I started,
the planning phase, come into implementation down the road
years from when it was conceived. It's great to see how each
project actually evolved through the design and construction
process, " he added.
One of Staff's many roles included developing a statewide
general aviation business plan for the state of Vermont. This
plan enabled the GA system to transition to revenue positive
and to prevent potential closure of airports where revenue was
negative. Staff has had a lead role in advancing the use of GIS
in airport projects, including the use of GIS to enhance airport
business plans by more precisely defining service areas and
markets, allowing airports to more productively target their
marketing activities, ultimately enhancing the bottom line.
www.AviationPros.com/21245447
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november-december 2021

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