Jacobs: If/When

According to Check Point Research and Reuters, cyberattacks on U.S. utilities in 2024 increased nearly 70% compared to the year before, leading to an average of 69 attacks every week. In 2025, the trend continued, in the U.S and globally. What can water utilities do to protect themselves from these digital threats?   The answer is a nuanced one, as the challenges extend beyond outdated software an...

Driving more social value for people, communities and investors is not a corporate tick box exercise.  It’s a vital element for organizations that must increasingly demonstrate their purpose beyond profit, generating greater value for stakeholders and shareholders. Creating meaningful social value requires integrating a tailored social value strategy and an iterative mindset. To do this, you need...

For companies with workers and job sites all over the world, how do you take care of every employee? Emerging technologies and digital tools are a critical part of the solution, but it all must be integrated into a sound, resilient strategy that relies on track record and local experience. This strategy needs to span time zones - and clients/partners - to ensure the health, safety and security of...

Leaders of global, multi-sector companies are tackling bigger, more complex challenges in our fast-evolving, highly connected world. During times of greater change and shifts, employees are looking to the C-Suite for even more direction and inspiration. Research by Harvard Business Review reveals that for leaders to be successful now, they need to be versatile, resilient and empathetic to thrive i...

Transportation is still the highest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. and one of the greatest carbon contributors globally. Governments and local authorities are continually researching ways to drive positive change through legislation and policy, and a large part of this will come down to urban mobility and transportation planning.  To make the right decisions in these fields, we nee...

How can we modernize airports to be better for passengers, communities, balance sheets and our environment?   It’s a complex challenge that can’t be solved by talent or policy alone — it also requires the right application of digital tools and technologies. These transport hubs play a vital role in our communities and economies, and to empower a better, more sustainable future for all, we need an...

How are PFAS affecting your work and our world? Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances are a large class of long-lasting, synthetic chemicals used extensively in industrial and household products. Many PFAS don’t degrade readily on their own, and some are highly mobile in the environment. They can be found worldwide in water, soil, air, plants, animals and even our bloodstreams. We’re still uncoverin...

Transformation has become an over-used buzzword for companies and consultants in the last five years, but the market-proven truth is that companies, and by extension, employees, are now required to be more agile and resilient — and willing to upskill. So, how do large companies manage significant, lasting changes across their operating model during times of transition with organizational performan...

Like most markets and industries globally, the water sector is facing greater and more complex challenges due to climate change, population growth, rising costs and a shortage of incoming talent.  The question is: how can water companies deliver the best value for customers by turning these challenges into opportunities for people and places?  In this episode, we unpack innovation, core values and...

Conventional healthcare design is no longer fit for purpose. The pandemic exposed critical cracks in its foundations, exposing the need for deeper research, connected care and community integration. The question is: How do you build resilient healthcare that benefits patients, health carers and communities?   The future hospital blueprint must go beyond concrete, steel and material decisions, as s...

In this insightful conversation, several Jacobs teammates, including Vice President, Global Head Corporate Sustainability  Tawny Chritton Keene , Director, Global Corporate Sustainability – Talent and Culture,  Bo Storozuk , and Graduate Environmental Consultant  Reem Habib , discuss how every role within an organization can contribute to a more sustainable future. Whether you’re an engineer, data...

Hollie Janson Schmidt is a Principal and the Global Solutions Director of Sustainability, Resilience & Climate Response for the Americas Region at Jacobs. She provides consulting and advisory services to a wide range of public, private, and federal clientele. She is also the Director of the Sustainability, Resilience & Climate Response Business Advisory as a trusted business partner for the compan...

Jilma Jiménez is a visionary, engaging, and inspirational leader with more than 30 years of experience in the management of engineering companies and projects. Her diverse and extensive background encompasses various roles within the engineering consulting field. Now as Vice President and Market Strategist of Jacobs’s Global Program Management, she applies her wealth of expertise to assess organiz...

Marc DeSchamp is a Program Manager and leader in the Jacobs Transportation Decarbonization Practice. His particular focus is on delivering solutions to clients grappling with the challenges of fleet electrification. Through 15 years in the transit industry, Marc has managed transit bus procurements, led strategic planning efforts, and served as Program Manager for transit bus and facility programs...

Peggy Whitson , Ph. D., America’s most experienced astronaut, flew on three NASA long-duration space flights and Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2), accumulating 675 days in space, more than any other American astronaut or woman astronaut in the world. Whitson has over 37 years of space and science experience with NASA and is currently serving as director of human spaceflight for Axiom Space. Throughout her c...

Tom Skerritt , Emmy winner (Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series) for his series PICKET FENCES, is one of the most versatile and acclaimed American actors in movies and TV. At UCLA Film School, he acted in theatre and began writing for screen as a means to understand the full embrace of his primary interest, directing film. While acting on stage, he was seen and hired to be in a small film whe...

In her role as Digital OneWater Strategic Growth Lead for Jacobs, Dr. Jennifer Baldwin is responsible for unifying Jacobs’ portfolio of digital tools that support an integrated and collaborative OneWater approach to water management. Dr. Baldwin also serves as the U.S. South Conveyance and Storage Regional Solutions Lead for Jacobs and is a principal technologist specializing in assembling and lea...

Todd Marks , a two-time EY Entrepreneur of the Year nominee, a member of Baltimore Magazine’s 40 under 40, and a three-time member of The Daily Record’s Most Admired CEOs, is the founder and CEO of Mindgrub Technologies. Mindgrub, a member of the Inc. 5000 for ten years, is a technical agency and creative consultancy specializing in award-winning mobile, web, and marketing strategy solutions. Todd...

Todd Busch  graduated from the University of California, Irvine in 1990 and was hired by Lucasfilm’s EditDroid division the same year, where he was first exposed to digital post-production. An outlier, Todd has navigated his career over the past three decades by staying at the technical forefront of the movie industry, while also working on some of the biggest film franchises in recent memory, inc...

Michael Brown  is the Data & Technology Director at Jacobs where he provides strategy and oversite to how Jacobs leverages data and analytics on its projects, solutions and services. Michael has built a large community of practice within Jacobs focused on advancing Machine Learning, Data Science, and Data Engineering in Jacobs work and embedding it into all Jacobs offerings. Michael works with inn...

Graceson Scariah , CNS&A Asset Lifecycle Management Lead at Airservices Australia, has over 15 years of experience working in the aviation sector delivering critical services to the industry. Graceson is currently leading the asset planning practice at Airservices with a focus on transformation of the Communication, Navigation, Surveillance and Aviation Firefighting capability. Abhishek Singh brin...

David Brin is a scientist, speaker, technical consultant and world-known author. His novels have been New York Times Bestsellers, winning multiple Hugo, Nebula and other awards. At least a dozen have been translated into more than twenty languages. His 1989 ecological thriller, Earth , foreshadowed global warming, cyberwarfare and near-future trends such as the World Wide Web. His 2012 novel Exist...

Leighton Cardwell is Jacobs' Sector Growth Director for Cites and Places in Europe. He is responsible for the strategic evolution and growth of the Cities and Places offer at Jacobs, with a focus on evidence-led, place-based approaches to the built environment, integrated city and regional development, and future trends in the industry. With a passion for outcome-focused delivery and for bringing...

Simon Gaskell , Jacobs Senior Associate Director - Strategic Consulting,  is a passionate change manager and has spent much of his career enabling operational transformation across multiple industries. He has a passion for implementing new ways of working that are enabled through client adoption of new technologies and digital solutions. Simon is currently Delivery Lead for Jacobs' Aqua DNA platfo...

Roger Falconer is Emeritus Professor of Water and Environmental Engineering in the School of Engineering, at Cardiff University, UK, and an Independent Water Consultant. His research and consultancy interests are in hydro-environmental modelling and his models have been used in over 100 Environmental Impact Assessment studies world-wide and provide one of the engines to the model Flood Modeller (m...