Mr. Michael P. Fedoroff
TNTCX Deputy Director
Tribal Liaison/Operations Chief

Michael P. Fedoroff serves as the Deputy to the Director of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Tribal Nations Technical Center of Expertise (TNTCX) in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In this position he manages the daily operations of the TNTCX’s support program for both military and civil works.

Prior to his current assignment, Mr. Fedoroff was Tribal Liaison, Mobile District, South Atlantic Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers—a position he held from October 2012 to August 2017. Mr. Fedoroff also served as the United States Army Corps of Engineers Mobile District Senior Inland Environmental Compliance manager with responsibilities for managing and conducting Tribal consultation involving cultural resource research designs, Section 106, historic properties management, mitigation work plans, avoidance plans, and other matters related to USACE Civil Works Planning and Environmental and Military Support. Mr. Fedoroff has developed extensive knowledge and experience in the field techniques required for working in rugged and remote locations, and his field experience includes work in the Southeastern United States, Central America, and Southeast Asia.

Fedoroff holds both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Anthropology from the University of Southern Mississippi where he graduated Cum Laude. He is currently enrolled in the PhD Program for Anthropology at the University of Alabama. Mr. Fedoroff’s decorations include the Army Commendation Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Army Achievement Medal (3 awards), Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Combat Infantry Badge, Navy Unit Commendation, and the Commander’s Award for Civilian Service (3 awards). Additional accolades include the South Atlantic Division’s 2016 Planning Achievement Award “Team of the Year” (Team lead), and the 2017-2018 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Southeast Region, Regional Director's Conservation Award.

He also a member of several professional anthropology societies, including the Society of American Archaeology, the Southeastern Archaeology Conference, and the National Archaeology Council of Councils. Mr. Fedoroff also serves on several National Advisory Teams for USACE policy including Tribal Affairs, and is a registered professional archaeologist in the United States of America. He has worked with Indigenous groups all across the globe and enjoys exploring opportunities for collaboration with Native American communities.

Mr. Matthew M. Grunewald
TNTCX Program Analyst
Tribal Liaison

Mr. Matthew M. Grunewald, is the Program Analyst and staff Tribal Liaison of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Tribal Nations Technical Center of Expertise (TNTCX) in Albuquerque, New Mexico. This position allows him to assist in managing the TNTCX’s robust tribal nations support program for both military and civil works. Mr. Grunewald brings a wealth of analytical experience to the Army, USACE and the TNTCX and will be working with Dr. Kneebone, TNTCX Director, to move the organization forward as we seek to provide quality water resources projects to Tribal Nations and work with our partners to provide our technical services across the enterprise.

Prior to his work for the TNTCX, Mr. Grunewald served as an Archaeologist and Tribal Liaison for the Mobile District
USACE and his duties included inland and coastal civil works associated with shallow and deep draft operations and maintenance/new work navigation projects, general land use investigations, Base Realignment and Closure support, various planning studies, Archaeological Resource Protection Act (ARPA) permitting and violation investigations, archaeological field investigations, and various military support projects for the Army, Navy, and Air Force. Mr. Grunewald has served as an expert witness for the Federal Government during an ARPA criminal trial with an emphasis on tribal ancestral homeland issues. Mr. Grunewald holds a Bachelor of Science in Sociology, with a minor in Biological Sciences from Clemson University (Cum Laude) and a Master of Arts in Anthropology, specializing in prehistoric archaeology, from the University of Alabama. He is also a 2016 USACE Leadership Development Program graduate (Mobile District).

Mr. Grunewald is a Registered Professional Archaeologist (RPA), served two years as an assistant editor of the Journal of Alabama Archaeology, and three years as the Chairman of the Alabama Maritime Advisory Commission. His awards include a Commander’s Award for Civilian Service, An Army Achievement Award, and a letter of commendation from the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works) for 2014 Tribal Consultation work.

Mr. Brian A. Zettle
Senior Biologist/Tribal Liaison
Special Programs Manager

Brian A. Zettle is a Senior Biologist and Tribal Liaison serving as the Special Programs Manager for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Tribal Nations Technical Center of Expertise (TNTCX) in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Mr. Zettle works closely with engineers and natural scientists across the USACE to integrate Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Biocultural Restoration into ecosystem restoration and climate change resiliency projects and studies. In this position he also provided Tribal communications support for the South Pacific Border District's border barrier construction projects.

Prior to his current assignment (June 2017 - May 2020), Mr. Zettle served as the Senior Biologist for the Coastal Resiliency Program in Mobile, Alabama. In this position he managed the Monitoring and Adaptive Management Plan for the Mississippi Coastal Improvements Program (MsCIP) barrier island restoration project, as well as, serving in a lead environmental role for the other numerous coastal resiliency and restoration activities occurring under the program. Previously, Mr. Zettle also served as the Section Chief for the Inland Environment Team, Environment and Resources Branch, Planning Division, Mobile District, South Atlantic Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from July 2012-May 2017. Mr. Zettle also served as the United States Army Corps of Engineers Mobile District Senior Inland Environmental Compliance manager for the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basins (ACF) water control manual update and other ecosystem restoration and water management matters related to USACE Civil Works Planning and Environmental and Military Support. Mr. Zettle has developed extensive knowledge and experience in Endangered Species consultation, aquatic ecosystem restoration, environmental compliance, and monitoring and adaptive management.

Mr. Zettle holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Biological Sciences from Clemson University.

Mrs. Ann W. Strange
TNTCX Geographer

Ann Strange is a Geographer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Tribal Nations Technical Center of Expertise (TNTCX) in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In this position she provides expertise in geospatial analysis, data management, digital mapping, and web services for the TNTCX. Prior to joining the TNTCX team, Mrs. Strange worked for the Army Corps of Engineers in the Mobile District. Her duties included floodplain mapping, modeling, and analysis for several districts, managing local and regional data, reconciling geodatabases, mapping channel data, and creating a real-time transportation map used by the US Department of Transportation to monitor transportation funding. She was essential in training USACE employees in ArcGIS online and introducing story maps to regional offices. Additionally, she helped create a geospatial tool and web-map for district archaeologists to monitor water levels at sensitive cultural sites, still used by the TNTCX.  As a Geographer, Mrs. Strange brings an understanding of how human cultures interact and influence the natural environment.

Ann received her Bachelor’s of Arts in Geography at the University of Mary Washington, in Fredericksburg, Virginia, where she was inducted into the International Geographic honor society, Gamma Theta Upsilon. She received a Master’s of Science in Geography from the University of Tennessee, in Knoxville Tennessee. Her focus was on water resources and water quality, specifically the relationship between suspended sediments and the transportation of e.coli in rural streams. During her time in Tennessee, she was a National Science Foundation GK-12 fellow, where she taught science and introduced her own research to students in rural middle schools in east, Tennessee. She was also awarded the Outstanding Field Work award for her hard work, dedication, and attention to detail while conducting research for her thesis. 

Mr. Mark Gilfillan
TNTCX Project Manager
Tribal Liaison

Mark Gilfillan is currently a Project Manager/Tribal Liaison for the Tribal Nations Technical Center of Expertise in Albuquerque District.  Formerly, Mark served as the Tribal Liaison (TL) for Sacramento District, Corps of Engineers since 2007. He is an enrolled member of the Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska (with Iowa tribal ancestry).  With the Sac and Fox, he served as the Tribal Gaming Chairman, including duties to research tribal reserved rights and treaty history, NAGPRA, cultural history, Museum, and language preservation efforts.  He has delivered an extensive Economic Development Plan to the Sac and Fox and has completed a Sovereignty Plan for the tribe. He served as a Regulatory Project Manager with USACE from 2001-2013.  As a TL he assists South Pacific Division, USACE-HQ, the Office of the Assistant of the Secretary of the Army, and with the Department of Defense with training programs and initiatives.  Additionally, he is the Tribal Liaison for the Army for the Carlisle Indian School disinterment actions and the return of students to families and tribes. 

He started his career in 1985 with the US Department of Energy as an environmental scientist covering a wide range of contaminant migration issues.  In 1996 he transitioned to a senior scientist positions in the private sector (various engineering firms) and with the state of Kansas (Brownfields and RCRA).  He has a B.S. in Environmental Restoration and Waste Management from Colorado Mesa University (1997), and on May 14, 2021, he will graduate from the University of Tulsa-College of Law, with a Master of Jurisprudence in Federal Indian Law.

Mark lives in Grand Junction, Colorado with his wife and their four children.  The family previously fostered two tribal children from the Sac and Fox, under provisions of the Indian Child Welfare Act.  His interests include his tribal culture, language preservation, rafting, skiing, biking, camping, hiking, hunting, and fishing.

Ms. Emily R. McKenzie
TNTCX Outreach Specialist

Emily is an Outreach Specialist for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Tribal Nations Technical Center of Expertise (TNTCX) in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Emily received her Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology with a concentration in Archaeology of the Americas from the University of Alabama, where she graduated summa cum laude. There, she was inducted into Lambda Alpha National Anthropology Honor Society and Phi Beta Kappa. Her areas of interest include paleoethnobotany, applications of materials science in archaeology, museum studies, and archaeological ethics. During her time at Alabama, she was an undergraduate researcher at the Ancient People and Plants Laboratory, led by Dr. Katherine Chiou, and had the opportunity to work on a number of projects, including research of the genus Capsicum and the UA Foodscapes Project. She is a recipient of the 2021 Alumni Outstanding Senior Award, the Hughes Prize, and the Randall Award in Outstanding Undergraduate Research.

Mr. Rocco de Gregory
TNTCX Project Manager

Rocco de Gregory serves as a Project Manager for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers National Tribal Nations Technical Center of Expertise (TNTCX). In this capacity, Mr. de Gregory manages projects for many of the TNTCX’s military and civilian clients. Additionally, Mr. de Gregory provides technical support for projects with an cultural resources component.

Prior to joining the TNTCX, Mr. de Gregory worked in the private sector where he spent over a decade as a project manager, field director, and principal investigator for cultural resource management firms. In these roles he managed and directed all phases of cultural resources projects for federal and state agencies, private clients, and Tribal Nations. Mr. de Gregory has experience conducting cultural resource projects across the eastern United States and along the Aegean cost.

Mr. de Gregory received his Bachelor of Arts in Archaeological Studies (Cum Laude), from the State University of New York at Potsdam where he was inducted into Lambda Alpha, the National Anthropology Honor Society. He holds a Master of Arts in Applied Anthropology, specializing in bioanthropology and precontact archaeology, from Mississippi State University. He is a member of several professional anthropological societies including the Society for American Archaeology, The Southeastern Archaeology Conference, and is a Registered Professional Archaeologist. Mr. de Gregory’s research interests include precontact and contact period diet, health, and integrating Tribal knowledge and beliefs into archaeological methods and interpretations.