Wendy L. Tinsley Becker, RPH, AICP, Founding Principal
Ms. Tinsley Becker is an urban planner and architectural historian with a specific focus on historic environments. Wendy brings an expert background in American history, architectural history and urban planning, with a particular emphasis on issues relating to historic preservation. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in History with an emphasis in Urban, Architectural, and Social History, and a Master of City Planning degree with an emphasis in historic preservation and urban design. Wendy meets The Secretary of the Interior's Historic Preservation Professional Qualifications Standards in the disciplines of History and Architectural History and the draft standards established for Historic Preservation and Land Use/Community Planning. She is included on the California Council for the Promotion of History’s Register of Professional Historians (No. 612) and also maintains professional certification in the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP #022838). She is Faculty within San Diego State University’s (SDSU) City Planning Graduate Program. She is the Founder of the Built Environment Education Program (BEEP) San Diego and is a Past Chair of the American Planning Association’s National Urban Design and Preservation Division. Wendy regularly consults for private and agency applicants on historic property analysis for undertakings and discretionary projects pursuant to Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), as well as Federal Rehabilitation Tax Credit (RTC) projects at NRHP listed or eligible properties. She regularly leads and supports municipal preservation program start-up and update efforts including for the Cities of Chula Vista, La Mesa, Laguna Beach, San Leandro, and San Diego, and provides survey, architectural history, context development, programmatic agreement, and historic preservation planning consulting services for Southern California Edison (SCE), the second largest utility provider in the United States. For SCE, she has authored hundreds of property evaluations, supported the technical preservation process for nearly every major capital project executed in the past decade, and authored long-range programmatic documents including the company's Historic-Era Electrical Infrastructure Management Program and the Santa Catalina Island Historic-Era Water Systems Management Program. She additionally consulted as the lead Architectural Historian for the City and County of Honolulu High Capacity Transit Corridor Project’s Kako’o (Section 106 Programmatic Agreement Program Manager) team, and has provided expert witness consulting for applicants and municipalities on historic preservation regulatory decisions and preservation planning projects. Wendy’s professional analysis and determinations are regularly reviewed for compliance and concurrence by municipalities, and state and federal agencies. She is a duly elected public official, and serves as a member of the County of San Diego Valle de Oro Community Planning Group. Please contact Wendy anytime.
DOUGLAS E. KUPEL, PH.D, RPA, SENIOR HISTORIAN + ARCHAEOLOGIST
Senior Historian and Archaeologist, Douglas Kupel, holds a Ph.D. in History from Arizona State University, a graduate certificate in Archaeology from the University of South Carolina, and a Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of Oregon. He meets The Secretary of the Interior's Historic Preservation Professional Qualifications Standards in the disciplines of History, Architectural History, and Historical Archaeology. Doug is a Registered Professional Archaeologist and qualifies as a Principal Investigator. Doug began his career working as an archaeological and historic sites consultant in California and Arizona, and later served as a Historian for the Arizona SHPO. He worked on the Illinois and Michigan (I&M) Canal HAER project for the NPS that led to the creation of the I&M Canal National Heritage Corridor. Dr. Kupel has served as the Deputy Water Services Director and Environmental Program Manager for the City of Glendale, Arizona where he supervised several divisions and managed nine divisional budgets. He additionally worked for the City of Phoenix as a Water Advisor and Natural Resources Historian. Doug serves on the Arizona OHP Historic Sites Review Committee (HSRC) where he reviews historic nominations to ensure that they meet the standards for being accepted by the Keeper of the Register. As the former NRHP Coordinator for the Arizona SHPO, Doug processed many large and complex historic district nominations for the SHPO early in his career. He is adjunct faculty at several colleges and universities in Arizona, having taught from 1996 forward and serves as the Vice President of the Phoenix Trolley Museum.
Scott Solliday, MA, Senior ASSOCIATE / HISTORIAN
Scott holds a Master of Arts in United States History / Public History and a Bachelor of Arts in History, both from from Arizona State University. He meets The Secretary of the Interior's Historic Preservation Professional Qualifications Standards in the disciplines of History and Architectural History, and has worked as a professional historian for more than 30 years, completing an array of projects in historic preservation and cultural resource management. He is expert in all aspects of historic preservation: research, field documentation, assessment, treatment / mitigation, and the appropriate application of the criteria of the NRHP. His professional experience includes historic property surveys and inventories, NRHP nominations and eligibility assessments, HABS / HAER / HALS documentation, historic context studies and preservation planning documents, assessing project effects on historic properties and ensuring compliance with historic preservation regulations and stipulations, and Section 106 consultation with state and federal agencies, municipalities, and tribes. His portfolio of work spans a broad range of studies supporting environmental planning, city planning, and private development, with a proven track record of working effectively to meet the requirements of clients, State Historic Preservation Offices, and the National Park Service. Areas of specialization include history of Arizona and Maricopa County, Mexican Americans, Native Americans, agriculture and irrigation engineering, and the post-World War II period in America. In addition to parcel level and larger scale surveys and contexts, Scott’s recent work includes as-needed services to clients in Arizona and the southwest, including projects for the Arizona DOT, Section 4(f) assessments, and historic property surveys for the US Army Corps of Engineers.
John Hyche, MA, Associate / Historian + PRESERVATION PLANNER
John Hyche holds a Bachelor of Arts in History, with a minor in Anthropology, from the University of California at Santa Cruz, and a Master of Applied Anthropology and a Certification in Historic Preservation from the University of Maryland, College Park. He meets The Secretary of the Interior's Historic Preservation Professional Qualifications Standards in the discipline of History, Historic Preservation, and Historical Archaeology. John brings practical and applied knowledge of historical and archeological research principles, methods, and processes to conduct systematic inquiries into cultural resources. He is a former NPS Certified Local Government (CLG) Assistant in the State, Tribal, Local, Plans & Grants Division, an NPS Cultural Resource Technician, and a Project Reviewer with the Washington D.C. Historic Preservation Office (DCHPO). John’s experience includes participation and supervision of Section 106 survey projects, completion of technical reports, evaluation and review of CLG nominations, and processing competitive grant applications from towns, municipalities, universities, and individual applicants nationwide. His Cultural Resource Technician work involved evaluation the results of preservation maintenance and repair work at historic properties, and coordinated with researchers, subject matter experts, and resource managers from other areas of the NPS to encourage and facilitate cooperative regional resources management strategies. John has authored National Register Determination of Eligibility forms and National Register nominations, as well as proposed mitigation at rehabilitation measures for projects in compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). He has completed research in support of Class III Cultural Resource Inventory reports and aided in the development of treatment plans. His technical competence and regulatory compliance expertise is matched by his practical skills in data management, including proficiencies in Microsoft Office applications, Adobe Creative Suite, ArcGIS, AutoCAD, HTML, and the Esri GIS Trimble.
ALEXIA LANDA, BA, HISTORIAN + ARCHAEOLOGIST
Ms. Landa is a Veteran of the United States Navy having served from 2007-2012, including deployments in the Middle East. For the USN, she served as an Aircrew Survival Equipmentman. In this capacity she inspected aircraft and aircrew life-support equipment for evidence of abuse, damage, or malfunction. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (double major) in History and Anthropology from San Diego State University. Prior to joining Urbana, Alexia served as an Archaeological Specialist for the California Department of Parks and Recreation Southern Service Center where she performed archaeological monitoring and site assessment activities for a variety of project types including State Park facility improvements, historic building maintenance, and municipal water and sewer system repair and replacement. She meets The Secretary of the Interior's Historic Preservation Professional Qualifications Standards in the discipline of History. At Urbana Alexia leads field survey and monitoring activities, conducts contextual and site specific research, prepares historic context statements, and authors technical reports and site records. Ms. Landa’s passion for history is demonstrated through her volunteer work with the Museum of Man, the San Diego Museum of Natural History, and as a member of the Board of Directors for the San Diego County Archaeological Society.
ALEXANDREA BAKER, MCP, URBAN + PRESERVATION PLANNER
Alexandrea holds a Bachelor of Arts in Geography, with a minor in Community and Regional Planning, from the University of Nebraska and a Master of City Planning degree from SDSU. The capstone project for her graduate program was a partnership with Metropolitan Transit System evaluating the shared bus / bike lane on El Cajon Boulevard, a historic auto corridor envisioned for revitalization and increased density. Alex brings previous municipal experience having worked for the City of Richmond, CA, where she completed research for a safe parking program, processed project approvals and environmental review documents, and supported public outreach. Alex additionally worked for Alta Planning + Design where she coordinated public outreach, scheduled site visits, and completed mapping for proposed planning projects. At Urbana she surveys historic-era built environment sites, conducts property specific and contextual research, authors technical reviews, manages records search requests and site form submissions, and serves as the GIS Lead for all projects.
Affiliates
Urbana maintains working relationships with independent architectural historians, preservation planners, archival researchers, and archaeologists who provide additional project support on an as-needed basis.