Event Details

NCSS is partnering with the Coastal Chapter to present this seminar.

Registration begins at 7:30 am and concludes at 5:00 pm. Light breakfast and lunch will be provided.

Topics:

8:00am - 10:00am  Ethics and Standards of Practice by Mike Benton, PLS
10:00am - 12:00pm  811 Underground Utility Location by Tom Mure
1:00pm - 3:00pm  FEMA Elevation Certificates by Eryn Futral
3:00pm - 4:00pm  CAMA Permitting by Kara Guthrie
4:00pm - 5:00pm  Remote Sensing, Drones, and Scanning by Chris Breedlove

Instructors:

Richard M. (Mike) Benton, PLS - Mike Benton was born and raised in Goldsboro, NC. He graduated from Eastern Wayne High School in 1976 and attended the college transfer program at Wayne Community College from 1976-1978. He graduated from Coastal Carolina Community College with an AAS degree in Surveying Technology in 1982. In 1991, after living and working several years in Greenville, NC, Mike moved back home to Goldsboro and established Benton & Associates Land Surveying and Mapping, PA. Mike has been an active member of the North Carolina Society of Surveyors (NCSS) since 1991, serving as the chairman of the Formal Education Committee from 1993-2000, President of NCSS in 2003, and the North Carolina Delegate to the Board of Governors for the National Society of Professional Surveyors from 2008-2013 and has also served on the Board of Examiners for Engineers and Surveyors.

Tom Murel, NV5 Utility Services Group Manager 

Eryn Futral, AICP, CFM: Eastern Branch NFIP Planner (NCEM) Futral began her floodplain administration career with the Town of Wrightsville Beach, NC, shortly before graduating with a master’s in Environmental Studies, Coastal Management from the University of North Carolina, Wilmington. She gained 10 years of local experience with Wrightsville Beach and the City of Wilmington, responsible for planning, zoning, CAMA, and floodplain development review and permitting. In April of 2019, she joined NC Emergency Management, Risk Management as the NFIP Eastern Branch Planner.

Kara Guthrie, Environmental Specialist at the NC Division of Coastal Management 

Chris Breedlove, GISP, ISA Certified Arborist, joined the remote sensing team at WithersRavenel in April 2025, where he supports mobile scanning and other remote sensing projects. With a background in mobile mapping business development as well as geospatial production, GPS/GIS asset management, and urban planning, he was excited to join the geomatics experts at WR, and is working toward his PLS himself. Additionally, Chris teaches online GIS classes at the Beaufort County Community College UAS Operations Institute, and hosts the weekly Your Drone Questions Answered. Podcast for Drone Launch Academy. Chris is certified as a GISP, an ISA Certified Arborist, and FAA Part 107 Certified Remote Pilot, and he holds a B.A. in Geography and a B.A. in American Studies from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and an A.A.S. in Horticulture Technology from Central Piedmont Community College.