Liz Ellis, P.E. Principal-in-charge Liz Ellis founded Green Valley Consulting Engineers in 1997. After working for 12 years in public and private sectors Liz pursued her vision of creating an organization that reflected her passion for restoring and enhancing communities and the lives of their residents.
Over the years, Liz has continued to meet this commitment with Green Valley's involvement in the communities throughout the North Bay with projects such as Mendocino Avenue Sewer and Water reconstruction; Pierson Reach Bike Path for the City of Santa Rosa; Pomo Bluffs Coastal Park and S. Franklin Street Reconstruction for the City of Fort Bragg, and Riverfront Regional Park for the Sonoma County Regional Parks Department.
Liz has repeatedly been recognized for her engineering excellence with the 2007, 2005, and 2003 CELSOC Engineering Excellence Awards, the 2005 ASCE Environmental Engineering Project of the Year Award, and has been honored by her community with the 2007 Women in Business Award from the North Bay Business Journal. She is highly respected by her contemporaries and has presented her work to the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) annual conference and American Water Works Association conference, in addition to being published in numerous trade journals.
In addition to her award winning work, Liz is active in a number of professional and civic organizations. She received her Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from San Francisco State in 1990. In her spare time she can often be found working in her gardens and spending time with her family, including her dog Matilda.
Damon Morelli, Project Manager 
Damon has been with Green Valley for over nine years. During his tenure with Green Valley, he has been the Project Engineer for the award-winning projects Pierson Reach Pedestrian Pathway, Pomo Bluffs Coastal Park, and Riverfront Regional Park. He has also worked on and helped manage the Franklin Street Reconstruction Project, Cloverdale River Park, Sonoma Police Department, Napa Juvenile Detention Center, Field Iron Workers Training Facility in Benicia, Ascend Hangar Development at Hayward Airport, and numerous school projects including the new campus for Ridgeway High School in Santa Rosa. Damon prides himself for his work on river and creek restoration projects such as the Villa-Pompeii Russian River Bank Restoration Project and the Bear Creek Fish passage at the Copola Winery in Napa.
In addition, Damon specializes in managing and designing complex grading and drainage infrastructure projects, ADA grading compliance projects, hydrology and hydraulic studies, utility infrastructure design, fire flow calculations and modeling of both sanitary and storm water systems.
In his free time Damon enjoys spending time with his wife Melissa, his Labrador Retrievers, Cy and Shasta, working on his family ranch and enjoying all aspects of the outdoors.
Joe Gaffney, Project Manager
Joe Gaffney has over thirty years of municipal engineering experience. Prior to joining Green Valley he served as Associate Civil Engineer and City Engineer for the City of Rohnert Park for fifteen years. During that time Joe was responsible for the formulation, design, permitting, financing, and management of a wide variety of capital projects for the City.
Today, Joe works closely with Green Valley's municipal clients such as the City of Santa Rosa and the City of Sebastopol. He specializes in infill and capital improvement projects and is known for working effectively with elected and community representatives to address issues and resolve problems in a positive and rewarding manner.
Joe is currently the President of the ASCE Redwood Empire Chapter. He lives in Rohnert Park and in his free time he enjoys traveling with his wife Stephanie.
Michael Grimes, Project Manager
At Green Valley, Michael's primary focus is to work closely with private developers, land owners, architects, and other visionaries assisting them with their project and bring realization to their ambitions. Along with his support, he is responsible for the preparation and delivery of construction documents for single-and multi-family residential developments, master planned communities and commercial and municipality development projects. Michael incorporates current storm water mitigation procedures to conform to Federal, State, and Local water quality regulations and implements flood control structures when appropriate for client projects. In addition, Michael is highly skilled at conducting the analyses needed to complete individual or master design reports including storm water hydrology, hydraulics, and water quality (CEQA), potable water (both domestic and fire), wastewater, general utility reports and cost analysis for projects. He also has experience navigating FEMA, Army Corp. of Engineers (ACoE), Fish & Game, Regional Water Board and other authorizing agency's permitting and regulatory procedures.
Michael relocated from Arizona to California in May 2006 with his wife Karen and their two Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, Honey Bear and Charles. Soon, they will all be celebrating their daughter's first birthday. When Michael is not helping with family duties, he can be found teeing it up at the local golf course or relaxing and enjoying the sounds of a local band. He also enjoys SCUBA diving, basketball, working on the family homestead, or watching a college football or basketball game.
Scott Graefen, Project Manager
Scott Graefen leads the Landscape Architecture division at Green Valley. He has over seventeen (17) years experience in park master planning & design, landscape master planning, streetscapes, commercial, civic and construction documentation. He is a unique asset to the Green Valley team as he not only is a gifted Landscape Architect, but he is also an accomplished Project Manager who leads many of Green Valley's key municipal and private development projects.
Scott lives in Santa Rosa, California with his wife Robin and dog Cinder. He received his Bachelor of Science in Landscape Architecture from Cal Poly Pomona is also a licensed landscape contractor (inactive) as well as a certified playground safety inspector. Scott enjoys living in Sonoma County and working on local projects that benefit the community.