Donald W. Owens has a B.S. and M.S. in Soil Science from the University of Wisconsin. His Soil Survey experience began in Wisconsin and Florida. Following that, he was the Soil Survey Party Leader and mapped 1/3 of Erie County in New York State for the Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station in conjunction with the US Soil Conservation Service. He is the principal author of the Soil Survey of Erie County, New York. Mr. Owens has co-authored or authored numerous other soils publications.

Mr. Owens incorporated Earth Dimensions, Inc. (EDI) 30 years ago in 1977. At that time, the main focus of the business was conducting soil investigations with a drilling rig. Today EDI has 4 drilling rigs. Some of the numerous soil investigation projects EDI has been involved in are:

• Love Canal (the first drilling project after the government emergency evacuation declaration).
• Nearly every landfill project in Western New York.
• Manhattan Atomic Waste Project investigation.
• Numerous road and bridge projects.
• Erie County Courthouse and Modifications to Ralph Wilson Stadium, the home of the Buffalo Bills football team.
• Assisting the Town of Amherst and adjacent town officials in understanding soil differential settling potential.

In 1989 EDI expanded into delineating wetlands. EDI conducts approximately 100 delineations per year. In 2006 EDI completed 150 delineations. EDI is also active in preparing Wetland Mitigation Plans, negotiating with regulatory agencies, and assisting clients in selecting land parcels for development.

Mr. Owens joined NSCSS immediately after attending the Atlanta meeting in 1988. He has attended every annual meeting except the Dallas 1989 meeting. He is #8 in the Registry.