HELIX CEO Michael Schwerin Receives Lifetime Achievement Award

On Monday, March 25, 2024, HELIX Environmental Planning Chief Executive Officer Michael Schwerin was presented with the A.L. Reynolds Lifetime Achievement Award at the California Association of Environmental Professionals (AEP) State Conference in Anaheim.

Established in 2005, the A.L. Reynolds Lifetime Achievement Award is the most prestigious of all awards presented by AEP acknowledging superior achievement throughout the recipient’s career. Michael has been an AEP member for more than 30 years of 34‐year career in environmental planning in California. Throughout his career, he has furthered the profession and contributed substantially to the goals of AEP to enhance, maintain, and protect the natural and human environment.

Having first joined HELIX in 2001, Mr. Schwerin became CEO in 2008. From the Great Recession‐era low of one office and roughly 75 employees, HELIX has since grown under Michael’s leadership to approximately 280 employees; seven offices throughout California; more than $40 million in annual revenues; and a full range of environmental disciplines including California Environmental Quality Act/National Environmental Policy Act (CEQA/NEPA) compliance, biology, habitat restoration, regulatory permitting, air quality, greenhouse gas/climate change, noise, cultural resources, architectural history, and landscape architecture.

In addition to his contributions as CEO, Michael has made important contributions to the industry through his work on projects which have spanned from Humboldt Bay in the north to San Diego and Imperial Counties in the south, and from the Colorado River in the east to the Channel Islands in the west. While his work has also spanned a wide variety of project types, his contributions related to the critical arena of water resources have been particularly notable. He has worked on more than 100 water projects, from very small to very large, to include managing one of the iterations of the Coachella Canal Lining Project Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report (EIS/EIR); managing the Palo Verde Irrigation District Land Management, Crop Rotation, and Water Supply Program EIR for Palo Verde Irrigation District and The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (Metropolitan); and overseeing HELIX’s current efforts for Metropolitan on the Pure Water Southern California EIR. He has managed, at various times, on‐call/as‐needed environmental services contracts for Metropolitan, Eastern Municipal Water District, Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District, City of Oceanside Water Utilities Department, and City of San Diego Public Utilities Department. Michael has also mentored numerous HELIX staff in serving water agency clients and has provided training to agency staff in complying with environmental requirements.

Please join us in congratulating Michael on this wonderful recognition and outstanding contributions to the California environmental planning industry!

For more information about AEP visit califaep.org.