BSK Leadership

Renea Rangell

As the CEO for BSK, Renea Rangell is responsible for guiding the company’s vision, values, strategic planning, and growth while overseeing operations and corporate business. With over 20 years of experience in the Laboratory and Engineering industries, Renea has a proven track record for executive management. She previously held positions as Vice President of Laboratory of Services, Director of Laboratory Services at the Vancouver, WA laboratory, and Client Services Manager in the Fresno, CA laboratory.  In these roles, she successfully restructured departments to enhance the experiences of both clients and employees.

Additionally, Renea has served as an ESOP Trustee and a member of the Board of Directors at BSK.  She is currently serving on ACIL’s Board of Directors.

Renea tells us that in her spare time, she enjoys reading the classics, hiking, and gardening. Oh, and don’t be fooled by these tranquil hobbies; if there’s a competitive activity, she’s in it to win it and is fierce!

Tim Rodriguez

Tim Rodriguez serves as Chief Operating Officer of Geoprofessional Services for BSK Associates, including oversight of BSK’s Bakersfield, Fresno, Livermore, Sacramento, San Jose, and Tracy offices. He has over 30 years of experience in materials testing and inspection, encompassing a wide range of work including soils, asphalt, concrete, and steel laboratory testing, as well as field inspections of soils, paving, concrete, reinforcing steel, and source inspections. Tim’s project management and technical supervision experience has been applied on numerous projects throughout Northern California, the most recent of which are focused on the Transportation, Energy, Water/Wastewater, and Education market segments.

Tim serves as Chair for BSK’s Board of Directors and is BSK’s technical lead for special inspection and materials testing services. He is also a Past-President for the statewide California Council of Testing and Inspection Agencies (CCTIA) and actively participates in the Geoprofessional Business Association (GBA), the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) and other industry organizations. In addition to standard inspection and testing disciplines he has extensive experience in many specialized testing applications including ground penetrating radar surveys, floor flatness testing, reinforcing steel surveys, pulse-velocity testing of concrete, specialty load testing, fire damage assessments, and condition surveys. He serves as project manager for many of BSK’s municipal on-call agreements and is experienced in supporting our clients’ technical needs while focusing on customer service.

Tim is a bit of a foodie and enjoys cooking, staying in touch with technology and computers, playing baseball, exercising, and playing the guitar.

Belinda Vega

Belinda Vega, Chief Operations Officer of the Analytical Division, provides leadership and oversight for BSK’s Laboratory operations, client services, project management, and sales staff. Belinda has a degree in Environmental Resources Engineering and held the certificate as a Registered Environmental Professional for many years. She has been in the environmental testing business for over 40 years, starting as a bench analyst, working as a project manager, managing client services, and managing labs of every size, including start-ups. Belinda’s previous positions include Regional General Manager for a national laboratory network, President of an indoor air quality laboratory network, and most recently, Director of Laboratory Services at BSK’s Fresno, CA location. She is skilled at implementation of lean practices focused on improving quality, reducing waste, and increasing efficiency.

In her free time, Belinda enjoys fishing, golfing, and horseback riding. She also has a passion for energy efficiency and sharing concepts on reduction of our carbon footprint. 

Rebecca Thompson

Rebecca Thompson serves as the Organizational Development and Human Resources Director at BSK Associates. Graduating magna cum laude from Granite State College in Concord, New Hampshire, she brings over eight years of experience in human resources management. Rebecca’s passion lies in cultivating a positive workplace culture, nurturing employee development, and ensuring the overall well-being of both the organization and its team. These qualities make her ideal for the role of Organizational Development and Human Resources Director at BSK Associates.

Rebecca finds joy in sharing and experimenting with new recipes, engaging in the art of cooking, and, of course, savoring the results! While she has a liking for savory dishes, she doesn’t shy away from indulging in a sweet treat every now and then. Rebecca cherishes moments spent gathering with family and friends, enjoying delicious meals and drinks, playing games, or simply unwinding with delightful conversations.

Aaron Badavinac

Aaron Badavinac, BSK’s Chief Financial Officer, is entrusted with the overall financial leadership of the company, contributing to our pursuit of operational excellence.  As a key member of the executive team, Aaron reports to our CEO Renea Rangell.

Bringing a wealth of expertise to the position, Aaron holds a bachelor’s degree in economics/business and an MBA. His journey with financial management tools has evolved over the years, starting with Deltek Advantage in 2000, transitioning to Deltek Vision, and most recently utilizing Deltek Vantagepoint. With a remarkable 23 years of continuous training in the AEC industry using Deltek, Aaron has established himself as a results-driven business and financial executive. His background encompasses extensive experience in both operations management and finance, further strengthening our leadership team.

Aaron has 5 children and 2 grandchildren, 2 dogs, 2 cats, and 1 rabbit. He has been married for 26 years. He was born in Corona, CA, grew up in Paso Robles, CA, and spent his adult life in Roseville, CA and Martinez, CA. His favorite color is red. He loves spicy food:  Thai, Chinese, Indian, beef jerky, and habanero-stuffed green olives. He enjoys cooking, reading, and playing games (Texas Hold ‘Em poker, Hearts, Spades, and Bridge).  Aaron’s favorite sport to play is tennis.  His favorite job was delivering pizza for 3 years while in college. 

Mark Pomaville

Mark Pomaville, BSK’s Health and Safety Director, graduated from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, with a degree in Natural Resources Management, and started his career at BSK in 1990, initially hired as a Fresno Materials Laboratory technician.  Within a few mons he moved to the Fresno Environmental group as a staff scientist providing field support services for groundwater monitoring, soil and soil vapor assessments, and conducting Phase I Environmental Site Assessments.  In time, he transitioned to project manager to manage soil and groundwater remediation projects and preliminary environmental assessments for new school sites.  Mark then transitioned to corporate safety to maintain regulatory compliance, health and safety training coordination, injury and accident prevention and workers compensation claim coordination.  He is also the Radiation Safety Officer for the Geoprofessional services.

Mark enjoys all things related to aviation. He is a member of several local aviation organizations that include search and locate activities for lost and missing persons. He also enjoys attending air shows and aviation photography. 

Elizabeth Bunger

Elizabeth Bunger is the Reginal Laboratory Manager overseeing all 4 satellite locations operations to ensure high quality standards are being held. Elizabeth graduated college from Eastern Washington University receiving a degree in both Chemistry and Biology. She has 15 years of experience in the laboratory industry, is a board member in the Oregon Environmental Laboratory Association, is active with the Academic Advisory Board for the Portland Community College Bioscience program and was a BSK Trustees for six years.

Elizabeth loves spending time with her family during her free time, her 2 small children keep her on her toes while she is not at work. Her hobbies include running, crafting, and golfing. She also has a passion for efficacy and team building, putting a lot into developing her team’s talent.

Joshua Ladd

Joshua Ladd serves as BSK’s IT Manager, overseeing information technology needs and strategy for BSK’s operational divisions and corporate services. Joshua holds a bachelor’s degree in IT. Prior to joining the BSK team in 2016, he successfully ran an IT consulting business for 10 years in California’s Central Valley, where he administered the networks of numerous small businesses and non-profits. As an advocate for data privacy and security practices, Joshua started with BSK as the Network Security Administrator. Joshua’s passion lies in quality service and operational efficiency.

Joshua lives in SE Idaho with his family and several pets. His hobbies are reading and home organizing, and he loves theater and scenic drives.

Cristiano Melo, PE, GE

Cristiano Melo joined BSK in 2013, as a Senior Geotechnical Engineer at the Livermore Branch. He served on BSK’s Board of Trustees from 2014 to 2019. He currently serves as the Branch Manager for BSK’s Livermore, San Jose, and Tracy offices. Cristiano has overseen geotechnical investigations and provided construction materials testing services in the San Francisco Bay Area and California’s Central Valley since 2000. Cristiano is a native of Salvador, Brazil. Cristiano earned his Bachelor of Science degree (1997) and Master of Science degree (2000) in Civil Engineering at the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho where he also met his wife, Maria. His Master of Science degree thesis focused on seismic slope stability analysis.

Cristiano is a California licensed Civil and Geotechnical Engineer and is also a licensed Civil Engineer in the state of Nevada. He currently serves on the annual conference planning committee for the Northern California Chapter of the American Public Works Associate (APWA). He is also a past chairman and board member of the San Francisco Geo-Institute (SFGI). Cristiano has a diverse geotechnical engineering background supporting public and private projects from conceptual design through construction, including projects involving water and wastewater, tanks, pipeline, refinery, multi-story buildings, public schools and colleges, hospitals, emergency facilities, parks, pedestrian trails, retaining walls, pavement rehabilitation, roadways, pedestrian and vehicular bridges, and residential subdivisions. His expertise includes shallow and deep foundations, retaining walls, pavement rehabilitation, earthwork, hillside grading, site drainage, subgrade stabilization, slope stability analysis, geologic and seismic hazards evaluations, and peer reviews.

Cristiano’s passions are watching his kids play competitive soccer, watching professional soccer, and reading about world events and history. Cristiano enjoyed coaching his kids’ recreational soccer teams between Fall of 2022 and 2023. He also enjoyed being an indoor and outdoor soccer referee between 2019 and 2023. 

Robert “Tony” Martin

Tony joined BSK in 2013 and is a Principal Geologist and our Environmental Discipline Lead company wide.  Although he is based out of our Sacramento Office, he works on projects throughout California and in Oregon and Washington.  Tony also served on BSK’s Board of Directors for several years. Tony grew up in the Fresno area and later received his bachelor’s degree and continued post-baccalaureate studies at California State University at Fresno.

Tony is a licensed Geologist in California, Oregon and Washington with over 35 years of professional experience. He was a past president of the Sacramento Chapter of the American Public Works Associate (APWA) where he also served in many other capacities. He is also a past president of the San Joaquin Engineers Council and has been active with the Geoprofessional Business Association (GBA) and the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC). He is highly experienced on a variety of environmental, geologic and water resource projects.  He is very knowledgeable on a variety of common and emerging contaminants including but not limited to 1,4-Dioxane and PFAS compounds.  He also provides expert witness services on a variety of environmental projects.

Tony has a history of auto racing and target shooting.  He is active in a variety of community organizations and likes to spend time with friends and family.

Neva Popenoe, PE, GE

Neva Popenoe currently serves as BSK’s Fresno Branch Manager. Graduating with honors from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, she has about 20 years of geotechnical engineering and materials testing experience. She has managed and conducted geotechnical investigations on a variety of projects for both municipal and private clients including over 100 bridges; numerous schools and hospitals; commercial, government and industrial developments; water treatment and conveyance systems; power facilities; impoundments; landfills; and performed forensic studies. She has served as an adjunct professor at Fresno State University, teaching soils engineering and foundation design, and continues to mentor senior project students.

Neva currently serves on the Board for Central Valley APWA and San Joaquin Valley SWE. She served as past president of the Fresno Branch of ASCE, earning Branch Officer of the Year for the State of California (Region 9).

Neva enjoys connecting with her neighbors and community in downtown Fresno where she lives with her husband and two kids. She also loves visits to the nearby Sierra Nevada’s or Central Coast.