Jonathan H. McDonald has joined design firm Atkins as vice president and senior practice manager for transit and rail. Based in San Francisco, he had been West division rail systems director at HNTB. McDonald is chair of the American Public Transportation Association's research and technology committee, and he has been a U.S. delegate to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), a forum for 21 Pacific Rim countries that promotes regional free trade.
Parsons Corp. has named Ane Deister vice president of the firm's environmental division, which focuses on its western-region commercial environmental business. Based in Sacramento, she was vice president of Cardno Entrix. Deister also is a board member of the Urban Water Institute and the American Water Works Association's water-resources sustainability division.