Principal and
CHIEF GEOLOGIST (Mining) / CHIEF HYDROGEOLOGIST (Environmental)
I2M Consulting, LLC
and
PRESIDENT and CEO
The I2M Corporation
Houston (Katy), Texas

  • For a Narrative Biography, (see here).
  • For a Summary Biography, (see here)
  • For the Details of Mr. Campbell’s Background, (see CV here)

Michael D. Campbell, P.G., P.H. was born and raised in Lancaster, Ohio, and has lived in Australia (Sydney), California, Colorado, Ohio and Wyoming in the 1960’s and early 1970’s, and in Texas since 1973. He is well-known nationally and overseas for his work as a technical leader, senior program manager, consultant and lecturer in hydrogeology, mining, and associated environmental and geotechnical fields. He has conducted numerous mining-related assessments and environmental evaluations, and has published widely on subjects ranging from uranium exploration in the south-central region of the U.S. to frontier uranium areas in the U.S and associated energy topics, to water well technology, rural water systems engineering and associated environmental subjects involving a range of contaminants such as BTEX, solvents, brine, and many others (see Mr. Campbell’s publication list).

Over the years, he has progressed through the professional ranks from staff positions to senior positions as Principal and Corporate Consultant status in geology and hydrogeology with environmental and engineering consulting companies, mining companies and the chemical industry. Mr. Campbell manages environmental, forensic, and mining investigations (including uranium and other mineral project assessments on base metals and gold and silver projects, reserves studies, and environmental compliance) for industry and for the legal community. For examples of mining projects managed, see (more).

Areas of Demonstrated Competence

  • Licensed Hydrogeologist – modeling and groundwater system assessments
  • Contaminant/organic and inorganic geochemistry applications
  • Licensed Geologist – metals & mining project assessments
  • Subcontracting to EPA, DOE, etc.
  • Fate & transport modeling reviews
  • Training—Environmental and HAZWOPR
  • Project Management, Senior oversight for environmental and mining assessments.
  • Management of Quality Assurance/Quality Control

Summary of Mining and Mineral Exploration / Hydrogeological / Environmental / International Activities

In the early 1960’s, Mr. Campbell was selected as Undergraduate Research Assistant in the Department of Geology, at the Ohio State University and subsequently worked on one of the first long-term, systematic groundwater contamination investigations involving oil-field pollution by open brine disposal pits in Ohio and on early modeling of the associated groundwater flow behavior under Dr. Jay H. Lehr and Dr. Wayne A. Pettyjohn.

In 1966, Mr. Campbell joined Continental Oil Company (CONOCO), Minerals & Mining Group in Sydney, Australia working on mineral exploration, mining and associated groundwater supply projects. While there, he was invited to serve as a Visiting Lecturer, at the University of Queensland, in Townsville (renamed later as James Cook University) lecturing on the principles of hydrogeology. After returning to the U.S., in the early 1970’s, Mr. Campbell co-organized the National Water Well Association’s Research Facility becoming its first Director of Research in Ohio and then at Rice University, Houston. Over the period of 1971 to 1976 while at Rice, Mr. Campbell provided technical seminars on hydrogeology for numerous universities and for the U.S. EPA He also served as Technical Consultant to the Water Well Journal and as Abstract Editor for the journal: Ground Water. During the period, Mr. Campbell managed numerous Association and EPA projects and programs dealing with hydrogeology and shallow drilling, shallow well design, construction, operation and maintenance, injection well, technical education and industrial contamination assessment, providing the early guidance to EPA personnel on groundwater sampling, monitoring well construction protocols and hazardous-waste spill response strategy for subsequent RCRA and CERCLA activities.

In 1975, he received The Ohioana Book Award in Science for the text: Water Well Technology (McGraw-Hill). Mr. Campbell was appointed as United Nations Technical Expert to review overseas groundwater programs for the period: 1976 to 1981. While at Rice University, he also conducted graduate fellowship research on a variety of subjects and taught special seminars in hydrogeology and economic geology, Mr. Campbell and his team produced a number of EPA documents, research products, and papers and reports, pp.#169 to #208, and provided substantial input for the EPA-sponsored National Ground Water Information Center Data Base operated by the NWWA. He served as a Special Editor or as a member of the Editorial Board of the journal: Ground Water from 1964 to 1978. During the period, he conducted numerous consulting geotechnical investigations and served as an invited technical expert and lecturer for the United Nations and UNESCO-sponsored projects on world-wide groundwater exploration and development in igneous and metamorphic rocks in: Sweden, Italy (Sardinia), India, and Tanzania.

Among the hydrogeological consulting projects conducted during the early 1980’s, Mr. Campbell completed a series of investigations for major geotechnical consulting firms on gasoline leaks in and around service stations in Texas. With Campbell, Foss and Buchanan, Inc. (CF&B), he initiated an evaluation of vadose flow of cyanide solutions of a heap-leach precious metals mining project (more). A long-term monitoring program was established for evaluating flow and hydrochemical behavior, and for providing data for optimizing process control, and for regulatory monitoring purposes (more). C,F&B conducted numerous projects in the U.S. (more) and overseas (more). During the period, Mr. Campbell also provided senior technical review and consultation for hydrogeological and hazardous waste projects associated with lignite mining (mine dewatering) and chemical plants performed by other geotechnical consulting groups in the south-central and northern United States. See his publications/reports/presentations for the period (more).

While with Law Engineering, Inc., he was promoted to the company’s highest technical position in the discipline as Corporate Hydrogeological Consultant (aka Chief Corporate Hydrogeologist), the first such designation in the company’s 42 year history (more). He provided oversight, direction and technical support to Law Engineering’s 52 offices through the U.S. and overseas. Mr. Campbell briefly served in a similar capacity with ENSR Consulting and Engineering before joining DuPont Environmental as the Regional Technical Manager with line responsibility for five departments (i.e.  Geology, Environmental Services, two Engineering Groups, and the Deep-Well (Injection) Department). Since the mid-1990s, he has provided consultation on mining and mineral exploration programs, waste management, characterization, remediation, water-supply projects, technical training, litigation support and expert-witness testimony on mining, hydrogeology, the National Contingency Plan, and related subjects (more).

Mr. Campbell has been licensed as a Professional Geologist in the States of Alaska, Mississippi (to 2018), Texas, Louisiana, Washington, and Wyoming, licensed as a Professional Hydrogeologist in the State of Washington, and holds national professional certifications in geology (AIPG) and hydrogeology (AIH). As a professional geologist and hydrogeologist, he has gained a wide range of interdisciplinary experience in business and technical management in the environmental (regulatory, geological and hydrogeological) and mining fields (mineral exploration, mine development and related de-watering and environmental permitting) spanning more than 50 years, many of which involving mineral exploration, mining and associated environmental issues surrounding oil and gas exploration, production and distribution.

He has also been designated as a Qualified Person (QP) according to NI 43-101 of the Canadian Securities Administrators, and as a QP in the Australian Stock Exchange (JORC) and London AIM Exchange.

Since leaving DuPont, over more than 20 years, he has served concurrently as:

  • Managing Partner of M. D. Campbell and Associates, L.P.,
  • Principal Hydrogeologist of Environmental Litigation Associates, and in
  • Pro bono activities:
    • Served as Principal Instructor and Managing Director for the Institute of Environmental Technology, all located in Houston, Texas (more).
    • Appointed as Chair, Committee on Uranium, Thorium, and Rare Earth, of Energy Minerals Division, AAPG (more).
    • Elected President, Energy Minerals Division (AAPG) (more)
    • Elected Vice President – Eastern Texas, American Institute of Professional Geologists (AIPG) (more).

Professional Honors:

  • Elected a Fellow of the Geological Society of America.
  • Made a Fellow of the Society of Economic Geologists.
  • Made a Fellow and Chartered Geologist of the Geological Society of London.
  • Made a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists.
  • Awarded Title of European Geologist (EurGeol) by the European Federation of Geologists.
  • Designated a Registered Member of the Society of Mining & Exploration.

Mr. Campbell joined the staff of I2M Associates, LLC in early 2010 as Vice President and Chief Geologist / Principal Hydrogeologist based in Houston, Texas. In 2018, the hydrogeological and mining part of I2M Associates, LLC segregated into  separate corporations with I2M Consulting, LLC, based in Seattle with offices in Houston, Texas offering environmental and mining services  throughout the U.S. and overseas in geology and hydrogeology and other fields. Mr. Campbell and the I2M team embarked on a project producing multiple publications over the period 2017 to 2018. See result (more).

Summary of Academic and Industrial Activity (by Decade)

1960s
In the early 1960s, Mr. Campbell was selected as Undergraduate Research Assistant in the Department of Geology, The Ohio State University and subsequently worked on one of the first long-term, systematic groundwater contamination investigations involving oil-field pollution by open brine disposal pits in Ohio and on early modeling of the associated groundwater flow behavior. He also served as Abstract Editor for the journal: Ground Water. In 1966, Mr. Campbell joined Continental Oil Company (CONOCO), Minerals & Mining Group in Sydney, Australia working on mineral exploration, mining and associated groundwater supply projects. He was also an invited Visiting Lecturer, University of Queensland in Townsville (now James Mason University), lecturing on the principles of hydrogeology. He was credited with a regional discovery of new phosphate deposits in the Northern Territory, Australia, and of a new uranium province in South Australia on the Nullarbar Plains. In the late 1960s, Mr. Campbell joined Teton Exploration, Div. United Nuclear Corporation, in Casper, Wyoming as District Geologist for the Eastern U.S. and Canada. He developed groundwater geochemistry as an aid to frontier uranium exploration and for developing models of mineralization in frontier exploration areas (for early history (more)).

1970s
After leaving Teton Exploration in the early 1970s, Mr. Campbell joined the National Water Well Association in Columbus, Ohio and organized the NWWA Research Facility, becoming its first Director of Research in Ohio and then at Rice University, Houston. Over the period of 1971 to 1976, Mr. Campbell provided technical seminars on hydrogeology for numerous universities and for the U.S. E.P.A. He also served as Technical Consultant to the Water Well Journal. Mr. Campbell managed numerous NWWA and EPA projects and programs dealing with hydrogeology and shallow drilling, shallow-well design; construction, operation and maintenance of wastewater injection wells, technical education and industrial contamination assessment, providing the early guidance to EPA personnel on groundwater sampling, monitoring well construction protocols and hazardous-waste spill response strategy for subsequent RCRA and CERCLA activities (for period history (more)).

While at Rice University, he also conducted graduate fellowship research (supported by the Mills and Katherine Bennett Fellowship) on a variety of subjects and taught seminars for the Department of Geology and Geophysics on hydrogeology and economic geology. Mr. Campbell provided substantial input for the EPA-sponsored National Ground Water Information Center Data Base operated by the NGWA. He returned to Australia briefly as an invited speaker at a water resources conference held in Sydney in 1973 (see publications). In 1975, he received the prestigious Ohioana Book Award in Science for the text: Water Well Technology (14 printings, McGraw-Hill). He also was a principal contributor to a number of EPA guidance documents on waste-water injection wells, water-supply wells, and on rapid response to spills endangering groundwater resources, (see publications list for the citations).

Mr. Campbell served as an Associate Editor and on the Editorial Board of the journal: Ground Water from 1966 to 1981. He also conducted numerous consulting geotechnical investigations and served as an invited technical expert and lecturer for the United Nations and UNESCO-sponsored projects on world-wide groundwater exploration and development in igneous and metamorphic rocks in: Sweden, Italy (Sardinia), India, and Tanzania. Mr. Campbell interrupted his graduate work at Rice University after the Master’s Degree to join a major engineering and environmental consulting company in 1976 as Director, Alternate Energy, Mining and Environmental Programs. He was later appointed as United Nations Technical Expert to review overseas groundwater programs for the period: 1976 to 1981, and consulted for a variety of Houston-based corporations on mineral exploration, specifically for uranium and precious metals within the U.S. and overseas.

1980s
Among the hydrogeological consulting projects managed during the early 1980s, Mr. Campbell conducted a series of investigations on geothermal energy resources in Northern California, Nevada and Utah. Later, he completed a series of investigations for a major geotechnical consulting firm on gasoline leaks at service stations in fractured rocks of north Texas. Remediation projects followed and consisted of pump-and-treat systems with carbon polishers and other methods of remediation available at the time.

Beginning in 1984, Mr. Campbell, as part of the senior management of Campbell, Foss and Buchanan, Inc., provided consulting services for a comprehensive mineral exploration program and precious metal mining project by reviewing and monitoring revenues/expenses of an $8 million/year joint venture of Swiss and Norwegian interests, and by providing input on the exploration, mining, processing/refining and environmental activities of the project until 1988 (see the Mining Section in Mr. Campbell’s Curriculum Vitae). He conducted evaluations on vadose flow of cyanide solutions of the heap-leach precious metals mining project. He and Mr. King were credited with a new gold discovery associated with a thrust fault near Eureka Tunnel, south of Eureka, Nevada. Homestake Mining subsequently discovered the extension in the adjacent Ruby Hill area. A long-term monitoring program was initiated for evaluating flow and hydrochemical behavior in the leach-pad complex, and for providing data for optimizing process control, as well as for regulatory monitoring purposes.

During the period, Mr. Campbell also provided senior technical review and consultation for hydrogeological and hazardous waste projects associated with lignite mining (mine dewatering) and chemical plants for other geotechnical consulting groups in the south-central and northern United States. During the 1980s, Mr. Campbell provided senior technical guidance, review, training, litigation support and consultation on numerous hydrogeological and hazardous waste projects involved in both RCRA and CERCLA programs for major law firms and consulting engineering and environmental companies as well as industry. In the mid-1980s, he joined Law Engineering as Senior Hydrogeologist. Subsequently, he was promoted from Senior Hydrogeologist to the company’s highest technical position in the discipline as the Corporate Hydrogeological Consultant (Chief Hydrogeologist), the first such designation in the company’s 42-year history. He provided direction and technical support to many of Law Engineering’s 52 offices throughout the U.S. and overseas. For period history, see (more).

1990s
Mr. Campbell served in a similar capacity with ENSR Consulting and Engineering, and in the chemical industry with DuPont Environmental as the Regional Technical Manger (see far right in photo) for the Gulf Region, which extended from North Carolina to Texas. He had line responsibility for the technical activities of five departments (i.e., Geology, Environmental Specialties, Design & Construction Engineering, and Deep-Well Services). With DuPont’s re-organization in mid-1990s, he formed M. D. Campbell and Associates, LP (C&A) and provided consultation to industry, and in a pro bono role, served as Principal Instructor for The Institute of Environmental Technology lecturing on waste management, characterization, remediation, hydrogeology and water-supply projects. He also provided technical litigation support and expert-witness testimony in cooperation with the Environmental Litigation Associates. For period history (more).

2000s
Mr. Campbell continued to operate C&A in cooperation with his son, M. David Campbell, also a professional geologist, and with other associates. He provided managerial and technical support to consulting companies in Houston and throughout the U.S., and provided litigation support and consulting expert services to industry and the legal community. In 2004, Mr. Campbell was elected a Fellow of the Geological Society of America. From time to time, Mr. Campbell provided technical and management support to Tier I consulting firms in the Southwest U.S. As pro bono work, in 2004, he was appointed as Chair of the AAPG’s Energy Minerals Division’s Uranium (Nuclear Minerals) Committee, a Member of the Astrogeology Committee, and as a Member of the Advisory Board – Gulf Coast Section of the AAPG’s Division of Environmental Geosciences in 2009. Toward the close of the decade, he began to take on an increasing number of overseas consulting projects involving potash, phosphate, iron (magnetite), uranium, rare earth, precious and base metals, while continuing to consult on numerous environmental projects in Texas and around the U.S.

2010s
In early 2010, Mr. Campbell joined I2M Consulting, LLC (formerly I2M Associates, LLC), as Vice President and Chief Geologist/Hydrogeologist. His involvement in overseas projects continued to increase, particularly in Australia where he and the I2M team consulted on a number mining and exploration projects involving base metals and precious metals as well as uranium. He also supported the I2M Seattle office on environmental and mining projects. In early 2011, he was elected a Registered Member of the Society of Mining and Exploration (SME of AIME) and later that year he was made a Fellow of the Society of Economic Geologists (SEG). In continuing with his pro bono work, he was elected President (2010-2011) of the Energy Minerals Division of AAPG. He was also appointed in 2012 to the Editorial Board of the Journal of Geosciences (More). In 2013, he was elected to the Board of the Texas Section of the American Institute of Professional Geologists (AIPG-TX) and is serving as Vice President – Eastern Texas. In 2013, Mr. Campbell was elected a Fellow and Chartered Geologist of the Geological Society of London (GSL), and was titled European Geologist by the European Federation of Geologists in Brussels, Belgium. In 2014, he was elected a Fellow in the Australian Institute of Geoscientists (AIG). For additional information, see below and Mr. Campbell’s CV.

2020s
Mr. Campbell continued to support the legal community and increased his contributions to the I2M Web Portal and continued his investigations on the world energy conditions, where nuclear power was on the verge of expanding once again. Then, the COVID Pandemic arrived which meant no travel or in-person meetings. Most society contribution were produced via Zoom videos, especially for the AAPG Energy Minerals Division virtual conferences for which he made a number of contributions, including:

2020a on Update on Current Uranium Exploration and Nuclear Power Industry,
2020b on Availability of Rare Earths, and
2020c on Expansion of Uranium Exploration and Nuclear Power.

Also, Mr. Campbell was enlisted to help kick-off the AAPG EMD webinar series, including:

2021a on Uranium Fuel and REE Supply Chains,
2021b on Hydrogeological Issues, and
2021c on the 2021 Annual Report of the Uranium Committee

There were mentions in the international press (2021d) on Uranium Exploration and Nuclear Power, and in the U.S. press (2021e) on the Quest to Reach Net-Zero Emissions), and 2021f on Architects of the Energy Future.

In mid-2021, Mr. Campbell stepped down as Chairman of the EMD Uranium (REE and Nuclear) Commitee after 17 years of service (2021g). For the 2021 AAPG EMD virtual conference he announced the results of his groups investigations and associated conclusions on the project that had been initiated in the 1970s on the Seward Penisula in Alaska (2021h). In late 2021, he announced the creation of the I2M Institute of Energy & Critical Resources (2021i).

In early 2022, Mr. Campbell began to prepare his Memoirs, to be entitled Anecdotes of a Lifetime: Memoirs of a Professional Geologist, which is to be published in early 2023. In late 2022, he was interviewed on a national talk radio program during an hour-long discussion on the rise of nuclear power and availability of REEs in the U.S. and Canada (2022a). As Vice-President of Eastern Texas (2022b), he continues to support the Texas Section of the AIPG programs in a variety of functions (2022c).

Litigation Support
Mr. Campbell provides litigation support and consulting expert services on a wide range of cases involving: hydrogeology, contaminant characterization and transport, hazardous waste, CERCLA and RCRA issues, including activities related to the NCP, and mining practices, mineral exploration, mine dewatering, and water-supply projects. He has served a term on the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Environmental Forensics for 2000 to 2003. From 1992 to the present, Mr. Campbell served as the Principal Hydrogeologist for the Environmental Litigation Associates and later as an Expert and Consulting Witness for the legal community.

For additional information, see contact I2M Associates.

Mergers and Acquisitions
Mr. Campbell and his team have been called upon to contribute to a number of independent investigations over the years during large corporate mergers and acquisitions. These included regulatory background assessments and mining operations evaluations (more).

Publications
Mr. Campbell has published widely over the years, most notably: Water Well Technology (McGraw-Hill). In the mid to late 1970s, he served on the Editorial Board of the journal: Ground Water for eight years and served as co-founder and first Director of Research of the NWWA Research Facility at Rice University. He also produced Geology [and Environmental Impact] of Alternate Energy Resources (Houston Geological Society) and Rural Water Systems Planning and Engineering Guide and many other publications and consulting reports over the years on a variety of applied hydrogeologic, geologic, off-world exploration and development, and injection well and hazardous waste subjects. For a complete list of publications, see Mr. Campbell’s Curriculum Vitae for historical topics of interest, and for recent publications, see I2M News (more).

I2M Associates maintains an extensive hard-copy and digital library on environmental, geologic, hydrogeologic, geophysical and mining topics covering the U.S. and overseas. This library provides major contributions to many I2M projects; also see I2M Web Portal with now more than 8,000 topical reports, articles, and media coverage on selected subjects (more).

Adjunct Activities

Over the past decade, Mr. Campbell has served in pro bono roles as Chair, Uranium (Nuclear Minerals) Committee of the Energy Minerals Division (EMD) of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG). He was elected as President (2010-2011) of the EMD and was appointed to the Advisory Board – Gulf Coast Section of the AAPG and Division of Environmental Geosciences (DEG) in 2009 as well as to the AAPG’s Astrogeology Committee. In 2013, Mr. Campbell was elected Vice President – Eastern Texas of the American Institute of Professional Geologists (AIPG) Texas Section (more). In 2015, he was selected to receive the National AIPG Section Leadership Award. The formal presentation was made at the AIPG Annual Business Luncheon held in Anchorage, Alaska on September 18, 2015.

Over past years, Mr. Campbell has also served in a number of pro bono roles on various other technical committees, such as Chairman, Technical Sessions on Environmental and Mining for the Annual Meeting in Houston of the American Institute of Professional Geologists in 1997 (AIPG-National Conference – see bottom of page) , and as Chairman, Internet Committee for the AIPG Texas Section (AIPG-Texas). As indicated above, he has served The Institute of Environmental Technology (IET) as Principal Instructor and Managing Director for a number of years, and was the Principal Hydrogeologist in the group: Environmental Litigation Associates. He also worked on a number of IET and other field research projects involving environmental, geological, hydrogeological, geophysical and mining issues (see Projects).

Feel free to contact us to discuss your project needs, or to arrange a speaking engagement by one of our Associates for a professional training session, a technical conference, society meeting, or for a graduation ceremony or other function where the knowledge and experience of our Associates may be of use to your group. For current activities, see What’s New at I2M.