Subject Matter Experts | J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc.

J. J. Keller's dynamic team of research and regulatory experts helps businesses, large and small, deal with the complex and constantly evolving regulations that affect operations every day.

To keep customers informed and in compliance, our compliance specialists monitor the Department of Transportation (DOT), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Department of Agriculture, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Department of Labor (DOL), and more than 300 other agencies at the federal and state level.

At a glance

A snapshot of the J. J. Keller Editorial Team:

24 subject matter experts
500 years of combined experience
Provide content for manuals, newsletters, online services, whitepapers, custom deliverables & more
Frequent contributors to industry publications
In-demand speakers at professional gatherings
Additional associates responsible for research, regulatory monitoring, reporting & content presentation

Michael Atkinson

Michael Atkinson joined J. J. Keller in 2016 with over 21 years of logistics experience in operations, management, hazmat preparation, hazmat inspection, logistics, and material handling. As a Hazardous Materials Editor, he is responsible for developing and updating content for existing manuals, online services, forms, handbooks, and software, as well as developing new products and supporting customer solutions. He is the editor of the Hazardous Materials Compliance Manual and the Hazmat Made Easier handbook.

Mishka Binns

Mishka Binns joined J.J. Keller & Associates, Inc. in 2022 as an Environmental Industry Business Advisor on the Environmental, Health & Safety (EHS) Publishing Team. With 8 years of experience in the environmental compliance field, Mishka specializes in The National Environmental Policy Act, Clean Water Act, National Pollutant Discharge Elimination Systems Program and Spill Prevention Plans. She has significant experience in the areas of project management, determining permitting mechanisms and coordination with regulatory agencies. Mishka holds a Bachelor of Science (BS) from Florida International University and is working toward her Master of Science degree in Environmental Resource Management.

Ray Chishti

Ray Chishti joined J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc. in 2017 as a Workplace Safety Editor. Before joining J. J. Keller, Ray worked as an EH&S professional in auditing, management, and executive leadership positions with new construction, operating facilities, and large EPC projects valued between $1 million and $2 billion. He has over 18 years of EH&S experience in a variety of industries, including fossil fuel power plants and utility distribution and transmission work. Ray’s experience also includes safety responsibilities in retail grocery stores, warehouse facilities, and construction of a college campus. He holds a Juris Doctor with a concentration in Occupational Safety and Health. Ray is also an OSHA-authorized trainer for general industry and construction and holds first aid, AED, and CPR certifications.

Darlene Clabault

Darlene Clabault, SHRM-CP, PHR, CLMS, is a Senior Editor on the Human Resources Publishing Team and has been with J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc. since 1996. She specializes in employment law topics such as the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Forms I-9, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA). With a creative writing background, she translates employment laws, regulations, case law, etc., into palatable information. She is the editor of a number of publications, such as the Essentials of FMLA, and the Employer’s Guide to ADA. She has shared her insight in publications such as Gender, Race, & Ethnicity in Today’s Workforce: Emerging Issues and Enduring Challenges (Praeger 2016), various business magazines and newspapers, and has presented at various conferences.

Kathy Close

Kathy Close joined J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc. in 1999. As an Editor in Transportation Publishing, she has a background in driver's qualification file auditing, reviewing client compliance with 49 CFR Part 391, and as third-party administrator of DOT drug and alcohol testing programs for motor carriers. Ms. Close provides regulatory support for a variety of products; her areas of expertise include transportation security, DOT drug and alcohol testing, driver qualification, and the Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) enforcement model. She writes content for several manuals (Transport Security, DOT Enforcement Essentials, and Drug & Alcohol Program Management), as well as the Transportation Security & Risk Management monthly newsletter and KellerOnline®, FleetMentor®, and RegSense® online services. Her work has also appeared in a variety of trade publications, regularly including Work Truck, and other media outlets.

Terri Dougherty

Terri L. Dougherty, PHR, SHRM-CP, is the editor on the Human Resources Publishing Team at J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc. She has been with J. J. Keller since 2011 and has a background in journalism and nonfiction writing. She oversees the content of the company’s labor law poster line and makes sure the products are up-to-date and compliant. Ms. Dougherty is also the co-editor of the Everyday Drug & Alcohol Program Management manual. She speaks about marijuana and drug testing in the workplace and has presented at the Wisconsin SHRM Conference and before industry groups. She has written whitepapers and contributed to forwardHR and Insight magazines. In addition, Ms. Dougherty edits the Employee Health and Wellness Training Advisor/LivingRight. She has discussed wellness as a guest on the Road Dog Trucking radio show and has contributed to trade publications read by safety and HR professionals.

Daren Hansen, CTP

Daren Hansen joined J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc. in 1996 with a background in journalism and regulatory compliance. As a Senior Editor on the Transportation Publishing team, Mr. Hansen is responsible for writing and editing content for safety-related products, publications, and services for the trucking industry based on his expertise in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. This includes handbooks, guides, newsletters, posters, online services, forms, and training programs. Among his best-selling products are the FMCSA Compliance Manual, HOS Handbook, DOT Medical Exams: The Complete Guide, CSA Handbook, Transportation Regulatory Alert, and Cargo Securement Handbook for Drivers. His work has appeared in several trade publications, and he is a member of the National Private Truck Council's Legislative and Regulatory Advisory Committee. Mr. Hansen earned his Certified Transportation Professional credential in 2022.

Michael Henckel

Michael Henckel joined J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc. in 2004. As an Editor on the Transportation Publishing team, he provides regulatory support for a variety of products, including manuals, newsletters, posters, and online services. His areas of expertise include state-specific regulations, including fuel taxes, fleet taxes, vehicle registration, and trip permitting. He is responsible for the Permit and Tax Manual, the Transportation Permit and Tax Regulatory Alert newsletter, and for related content in the J. J. Keller® Safety Management Suite, FleetMentor®, and RegSense® online services.

Michelle Higgins

Michelle is an Associate Editor on the Human Resources Publishing Team at J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc. She researches and creates content on a variety of employment-related topics including benefits, compensation, overtime, wage deductions, exempt/nonexempt employees, health and retirement plans, independent contractors, and child labor. Michelle also contributes content on compliance and best practices for use in J. J. Keller products including the Wage & Hour Compliance manual and the Benefits & Compensation Regulatory Alert newsletter.

Tricia Hodkiewicz

Tricia Hodkiewicz has been an Editor on the Environmental, Safety, & Health (EH&S) Publishing Team for over 25 years, specializing in OSHA and EPA regulations. Her areas of expertise include written safety plans, signs/labels, HAZWOPER, hazard communication, bloodborne pathogens, oil spill prevention, aboveground storage tanks, and EPCRA. In addition to her editorial work on the Compliance Focus newsletter, the OSHA Compliance for Warehousing manual, and the OSHA Construction Safety Handbook, Ms. Hodkiewicz writes content for webcasts, online tools and training, videos, instructor guides, employee handbooks, posters, safety signs/labels, and whitepapers. As technical advisor and contributing writer, she participated in the rollout of an employee training video kit, "Bloodborne Pathogens: Safety in the Workplace," which captured a Telly Award in the category of "training for corporate use." Her feature articles have appeared in trade journals, including Occupational Health & Safety, Industrial Safety & Hygiene News, Safety+Health, Occupational Hazards, BIC Magazine, Fleet Maintenance, Plant Services, Plant Safety & Maintenance, Workplace HR & Safety, and New North B2B, among others.

Judy Kneiszel

Judy Kneiszel is an Associate Editor on the Human Resources Publishing Team at J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc. She conducts research and creates content on a variety of HR-related topics and contributes to a number of Human Resource products including the Employee Relations Management Today newsletter and the Essentials of Employee Relations manual. Judy specializes in issues such as recruiting and hiring, onboarding and training, employee communication and discipline, managing problems, team building, inclusion, employee retention, and labor relations. She also specializes in information on employment law posters. Her articles have appeared in forwardHR (Wisconsin SHRM) and Insight on Technology (Insight Publications).

Rachel Krubsack

Rachel Krubsack is an Editor on the Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS) Publishing Team at J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc. She researches and creates content on a variety of workplace safety topics, including hazard communication, hearing conservation, training requirements, bloodborne pathogens, and emergency action plans. She is editor of the Employee Safety Training Advisor newsletter and the OSHA Rules for General Industry and Hazard Communication Compliance manuals.

Katie Loehrke

Katie Loehrke, PHR, SHRM-CP, joined J. J. Keller & Associates in 2007. She is the manager for a team of transportation editors and subject matter experts who create content to help motor carriers comply with the ever-evolving laws and regulations that affect their businesses. Katie specializes in the HR side of transportation and has been published in over 100 U.S. newspapers. She has also had her work featured on sites like Monster.com and has been a subject matter guest on National Public Radio.

Josh Lovan

Josh Lovan joined J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc. in 2021 as an Industry Business Advisor after spending 15 years in the transportation industry. He specializes in hours of service, hazmat, injury prevention, security, and motor carrier safety management. Prior to joining J. J. Keller, Josh was the Director of Safety & Security for a large carrier where he was responsible for accidents, injuries, OSHA, hazmat, and security. Josh has extensive experience working with Risk Management and Legal Departments in trial preparation and depositions. He was also a Detective in law enforcement where he specialized in undercover operations. Josh is a frequent speaker at numerous associations and councils.

Rick Malchow

Rick Malchow joined J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc. in 2013 as an Editor in the Transportation Publishing Department. He specializes in motor carrier safety and operations management, with an emphasis on hours of service, vehicle inspections, and fleet legalization. He is responsible for developing and updating content for the Vehicle Sizes and Weights Manual. Before joining J. J. Keller, Mr. Malchow worked in the transportation industry for 13 years. As an Operations Manager, he focused on training employees in areas impacted by regulations. In addition to his operations management experience, Mr. Malchow also has expertise in transportation rating, collection, and process improvement.

Robin Marth

Robin Marth, CSP, joined J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc. in 2021 as an Editor on the Environmental, Health & Safety Publishing Team. She is an experienced EHS Specialist with a demonstrated history of working in the management consulting and manufacturing industry. Robin’s professional skill set includes Workplace Safety Administration, Ergonomics, Environmental Management, and Motor Vehicle/Fleet Safety. Her editorial responsibilities include researching and creating content for several publications, including Employee Safety Management Today and the OSHA Compliance for California manual. Robin holds a CSP designation from the Board of Certified Safety Professionals and is also an OSHA Outreach General Industry Trainer.

Heather Ness

Heather Ness joined J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc. in 1999. As an Editor – Transport Operations, she provides regulatory support for a variety of products, including manuals, online services, forms, handbooks, and software. Her areas of expertise include Canada's federal and provincial transportation safety regulations and Canada's laws regarding vehicle licensing, vehicle size and weight limits, and fuel taxes. Ms. Ness is also knowledgeable about a variety of state-specific regulations, including fuel taxes, fleet taxes, vehicle registration, state operating authority, and trip permitting. She is responsible for the Transport Compliance for Canada manual, the Permit and Tax Manual, the Transportation Permit and Tax Regulatory Alert newsletter, and for related content in the J. J. Keller® Safety Management Suite, FleetMentor®, and RegSense® online services. Her work has also appeared in a variety of trade publications.

Cindy Pauley

Cindy Pauley joined J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc. in June of 2022 as an Editor on the Environmental, Health & Safety (EHS) Publishing Team. She utilizes her 13 years of safety program development and management experience in oil and gas, chemical, manufacturing, construction, and agricultural industries to develop a wide variety of easily-understandable content and to provide regulatory insight for J.J. Keller & Associates’ customers and partners. Cindy is both a Certified Occupational Safety Specialist (COSS) and a Certified Occupational Hearing Conservationist (COHC) with a Master of Arts (MA) and Bachelor of Applied Arts (BAA) from Central Michigan University.

Corrina Peterson

Corrina Peterson joined the J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc. Transportation Publishing team in 2021, with more than 10 years of experience in regulatory compliance and best practices at J. J. Keller. Her areas of expertise include fuel taxes, fleet taxes, vehicle registration, trip permitting, and the environmental impacts of transportation. She is responsible for the Permit and Tax Manual, the Transportation Permit and Tax Regulatory Alert newsletter, and for related content in the J. J. Keller® Safety Management Suite, FleetMentor®, and RegSense® online services.

Ann Potratz

Ann Potratz is an Associate Editor on the Human Resources Publishing Team at J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc. She researches and creates content on a number of employment law issues such as discrimination, sexual harassment, background checks, active shooters, and terminations. Her work has appeared in print and online publications across the country, including American City Business Journals, Madison InBusiness, ForwardHR, and Insight on Technology. Ann is responsible for developing and updating content for several J. J. Keller publications, including the Essentials of Employment Law manual, the Personnel Management for the Transportation Industry manual, and the Employment Law & Regulatory Alert newsletter.

Holly Pups

Holly Pups joined J. J. Keller in 2021 as an EHS Editor, specializing in workplace safety. She is a former OSHA compliance officer with over a decade of industrial safety experience including warehousing, pharmaceuticals, public sector, and plastics manufacturing. As a seasoned safety professional, she has worked extensively creating and updating programs, training, conducting accident investigations with root cause analysis, LEAN/6-Sigma, employee and management buy in, and a variety of management systems. Holly’s editorial responsibilities include writing content for the HazSafety Training Advisor newsletter. Holly was certified as an emergency medical technician (EMT), has a Bachelor of Science (BS) in occupational safety, and health and is a Certified Safety Professional (CSP).

Mark Schedler

Mark Schedler joined J. J. Keller in June 2016 after spending 25 years in the transportation industry, with experience primarily in the operations, customer service, and finance areas. As a Senior Editor on the Transportation Publishing team, he is responsible for developing and updating content for existing materials, including the Everyday Transportation Safety Management manual, the FMCSA Compliance Manual for Passenger Carriers, and the Hours of Service Handbook, as well as developing new products and supporting customer solutions. Mark's primary areas of expertise include transportation operations and safety, driver retention, hours of service, and ELD requirements. Mark also is a frequent event speaker and helps customers with their regulatory issues. His articles have appeared in trade publications such as Heavy Duty Trucking and Organizational Health & Safety.

Jill Schultz

Jill joined J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc. in 1993 and transferred to Editorial Resources in January 1995. She specializes in both the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations and state intrastate safety regulations which include driver qualification, hours of service, and alcohol and controlled substance regulations. She also specializes in driver training issues, including entry-level driver training. Jill is editor of the State & FMCSR Requirements Guide, Navigating Key Transportation Topics Manual, Transportation Safety Training Advisor Newsletter, Transportation Safety Training Advisor: Driver’s Report, Driver’s Guide to the FMCSRs, and Entry-Level Driver Training: Obtaining a CDL Student and Trainer Manuals. She also writes transportation-related articles for other Keller publications and articles for outside trade publications.

Jessica Stengel

Jessica joined J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc. in 2021. As an Associate Editor on the Environmental, Health & Safety (EHS) Publishing Team, Jessica’s editorial responsibilities include developing and updating content for various publications including the Environmental Regulatory Alert newsletter. Jessica has over five years’ experience as a writer and editor in environmental publishing.

Mark Stromme

Mark Stromme joined J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc. in 1994 and is a Sr. Editor—Workplace Safety. He is an OSHA Outreach Construction Trainer and a Walkway Auditor Certificate Holder, with expertise in walkway auditing, cranes, scissor/aerial lifts, powered industrial trucks, electrical safety, fall protection, confined spaces, scaffolding, and lockout/tagout. Mark is the editor for J. J. Keller's OSHA Compliance for Retail, Inspection Checklists for General Industry, and Safety Training Talks manuals, as well as online content and training products. He has written dozens of trade publication articles for ISHN, Construction Business Owner, Transportation Management + Engineering, BIC, EHS Today, Modern Contractor Solutions, Occupational Safety + Health, Tow Professional, Fuel Marketer News, Constructech, and Workplace Materials Handling & Safety.

Edwin Zalewski

Edwin Zalewski joined J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc. in 1999. As a Senior Editor on the EHS Publishing Team, he researches and creates content for a variety of safety-related topics and contributes to a number of products. Edwin specializes in issues such as walking working surfaces, powered industrial trucks, and injury/illness recordkeeping. He writes content for several publications, including the OSHA Compliance for General Industry manual and the Supervisor Safety Alert newsletter. He regularly speaks at events around the country, and his articles have appeared in a variety of trade publications and media outlets.