Brief Biography
Joe Moore is the founder of Erosion & Construction Solutions and Siltworm, Inc., where he has built a career around protecting water quality while helping contractors, developers, engineers, inspectors, and municipalities succeed. After beginning his career in residential construction and land development, Joe saw firsthand that erosion and sediment control was too often treated as a final checklist item rather than a core part of responsible construction. That experience led him to focus his work on practical stormwater compliance, field implementation, product innovation, and professional education.
Today, Joe works across construction, municipal stormwater, manufacturing, and environmental education. His companies support projects ranging from residential development and public infrastructure to utility-scale solar and hyperscale data centers. He is a CPESC and MS4CECI, serves as the International Erosion Control Association’s Vice President of Advocacy, participates in state and regional stormwater leadership, and regularly presents to contractors, regulators, inspectors, engineers, and other environmental professionals. His central message is straightforward: strong environmental outcomes are created when people understand both the purpose of the permit and the realities of the jobsite. He also leads and volunteers through Replanting the Region, a community environmental initiative that has planted more than 4,000 trees with schools, youth organizations, and local partners.
My Story
I did not enter the erosion and sediment control profession through a traditional environmental pathway. My early career was in homebuilding, construction, and land development. I learned how schedules, budgets, inspections, subcontractors, weather, and site conditions collide in the real world. I also learned that when stormwater planning is weak, the consequences extend far beyond a failed inspection. Sediment leaves the site, infrastructure is damaged, downstream water quality suffers, and trust between contractors and regulators begins to erode.
That realization changed the direction of my career. I wanted to help build a model where environmental compliance was not viewed as a burden imposed on construction, but as an essential part of building well. I founded Erosion & Construction Solutions to provide field services that make Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plans work in practice. Later, Siltworm was developed to manufacture a high-performing, sustainable filter sock using recycled wood fiber. Together, those efforts have allowed me to work at the intersection of construction, manufacturing, regulation, training, and clean-water advocacy.
Projects and Accomplishments I Am Proud Of
I am especially proud of the work our teams perform when the conditions are difficult and the stakes are high. Large construction sites can disturb hundreds or thousands of acres, cross jurisdictional boundaries, and progress through multiple phases and seasons. The controls that work on a small subdivision do not automatically scale to a solar project, a data center campus, or a major infrastructure project. Helping project teams create practical, maintainable systems for those sites is some of the most meaningful work I do.
I am also proud that Siltworm has grown from an idea into a nationally recognized and utilized product used to protect water resources across a wide range of projects. The product is manufactured with recycled, kiln dried ,bark-free softwood fiber and supported by independent performance testing. The larger accomplishment, however, is not the number of feet produced. It is seeing contractors use a better tool, inspectors observe improved performance, and communities receive greater protection from sediment and construction-related pollutants.
Beyond individual projects, I value the opportunity to educate and connect people. I have delivered countless presentations on stormwater compliance, construction collaboration, BMP performance, large-site challenges, and the future of environmental protection, and sustainable stormwater solutions. I also write and publish practical industry content designed to translate regulations and technical standards into information people can use in the field. That commitment extends beyond the jobsite through Replanting the Region, where I help organize hands-on tree planting and environmental education projects that connect young people and volunteers with practical conservation work.
Leading and Volunteering Through Replanting the Region
One of the community efforts closest to me is Replanting the Region, a program I lead and support as a volunteer to create visible, lasting environmental improvements throughout Northwest Indiana. The program brings businesses, schools, youth organizations, families, and community volunteers together to plant trees while helping participants understand how those trees support cleaner water, healthier soils, stronger habitat, and more resilient communities.
Over the past four years, Replanting the Region has helped plant more than 4,000 trees through partnerships involving four school districts, the YMCA, and other community organizations. A recent two-day project with campers at the Triangle Hills YMCA added approximately 400 trees while giving young participants the opportunity to learn through direct, hands-on environmental service.
My role includes building partnerships, coordinating volunteers and materials, organizing planting days, leading activities in the field, and connecting each project to the larger story of watershed protection. Trees slow and absorb rainfall, reduce runoff, stabilize soil, improve infiltration, provide habitat, and create long-term community benefits. Replanting the Region allows me to take the principles I advocate professionally and put them into action alongside the people who will inherit these communities.
This work is especially meaningful because it demonstrates that environmental leadership does not have to begin with a massive project or a complicated policy. It can begin locally, with volunteers, students, and families placing one tree in the ground and understanding why that action matters. Replanting the Region reflects the values that guide my professional career: collaboration, education, stewardship, and practical action that leaves a measurable legacy.
Challenges, Lessons, and Growth
One of the greatest challenges in this profession is the gap between a plan that appears compliant on paper and a system that actually functions during construction. A SWPPP is a living document, but it only works when it reflects the current phase of construction, the site’s changing drainage patterns, the people responsible for implementation, and the weather conditions that test every control.
The most important lesson I have learned is that collaboration is not optional. Contractors, inspectors, engineers, developers, manufacturers, and regulators may approach a project from different perspectives, but they are working toward the same outcome. The strongest programs are built when expectations are clear before construction begins, field observations are shared honestly, and corrections are treated as opportunities to improve the system rather than simply assign blame.
I have also learned that credibility comes from being willing to stand in both worlds. Environmental professionals need to understand construction pressures, and construction professionals need to understand why water-quality requirements matter. My career has been shaped by helping those groups communicate more effectively.
How ECI Certification Has Impacted My Career
Earning the CPESC credential strengthened my technical foundation and gave greater structure to the experience I had developed in the field. It demonstrated a commitment to professional standards, continuing education, and responsible practice. Just as importantly, the certification connected me to a broader community of professionals who take erosion and sediment control seriously.
The credential has supported my work as a contractor, manufacturer, trainer, writer, and advocate. It provides credibility when I am speaking with project owners, engineers, municipalities, regulators, and industry groups, but its greatest value is the responsibility that comes with it. Certification should not simply be a designation after a name. It should influence how we prepare, how we communicate, how we mentor others, and how we represent the profession.
Advice for Professionals Entering the Field
Learn the regulations and standards, but spend as much time as possible in the field. Watch how water actually moves across an active site. Observe what happens after a hard rain. Ask equipment operators, laborers, superintendents, inspectors, and maintenance crews what works and what does not. The most valuable professionals are able to connect technical knowledge with practical execution.
Do not be afraid to ask questions, and do not assume that conflict is inevitable. Build relationships before problems occur. Explain the reason behind a requirement. Document conditions clearly. Recommend solutions that can realistically be installed and maintained. Most people want to do good work; they often need clarity, better tools, and a partner who understands the job.
Finally, never underestimate the impact of this profession. The work may happen behind temporary fencing and far from public view, but it protects drinking-water sources, rivers, lakes, wetlands, infrastructure, wildlife, and the communities where all of us live.
What Excites Me About the Future
The scale and complexity of construction are changing rapidly. Utility-scale energy projects, data centers, new manufacturing facilities, infrastructure investment, and continued community growth are testing many of the assumptions that shaped older stormwater programs. That challenge also creates an extraordinary opportunity.
I am excited about better testing, smarter monitoring, stronger preconstruction coordination, more sustainable materials, and the growing ability to use data and artificial intelligence to improve planning and decision-making. Technology will not replace field experience, but it can help professionals identify risk earlier, communicate faster, and direct resources where they will make the greatest difference.
Most of all, I am encouraged by the next generation of professionals entering this field. They are asking better questions, expecting greater transparency, and recognizing that economic growth and environmental responsibility must move forward together. Our profession has the opportunity to shape how communities grow while protecting the water resources those communities depend on.
Outside of work, I’m a proud “Girl Dad” of three, a very happy husband, and a lifelong Midwestern guy. I’m an avid archery hunter and salmon fisherman, enjoy golfing, and am generally happiest doing just about anything outdoors — at least until the Indiana weather gets too cold. At that point, outdoor season officially gives way to Purdue Basketball season.
My faith is also an important part of who I am. I’m Catholic, value family and community, and have always had a strong appreciation for conservation and the outdoors — which probably explains why my professional work around water quality and environmental stewardship has always felt personal to me.
So, in short: faith, family, conservation, hunting, fishing, golf, Purdue Basketball, and probably more time outside than is reasonable for a guy approaching 50.