Senior judgment on every deliverable. That is the firm.
TerraPoint Environmental Consulting is an Austin-based geologic and environmental practice serving land development, energy, and infrastructure clients across Central Texas and nationwide.
Brian Cowan, M.S., P.G.
Brian is a Texas-licensed Professional Geoscientist holding a Master of Science in geology, with nearly two decades of consulting practice across environmental due diligence, karst geology, and regulatory permitting. He founded TerraPoint to deliver the caliber of work large firms promise, at the speed and directness only a firm without layers can offer.
Before founding TerraPoint, Brian served as the National Subject Matter Expert for Phase I Environmental Site Assessments at Stantec, one of North America's largest engineering and environmental consulting firms, where he and the teams he oversaw completed more than 300 Phase I ESAs.
His technical foundation is Edwards Aquifer karst geology: TCEQ Geologic Assessments, cave and void evaluations, groundwater tracing, and encountered feature mitigation, alongside endangered karst invertebrate surveys performed under his own USFWS permit covering 19 federally listed endangered species.
He has also worked inside the utility-scale solar industry, which is why TerraPoint's due diligence practice is built around the realities of interconnection queues, option deadlines, and financing milestones rather than around a consultant's convenience.
Beyond client work, Brian participates in developing the standards his own practice is held to. He is a member of ASTM Subcommittee E50.02, which maintains the E1527 Phase I and E1903 Phase II environmental site assessment standards, and ASTM Subcommittee D18.27 on Karst, which develops the national standards for karst terrain assessment.
Across a career of more than 500 environmental projects, Brian has supported over 150 organizations: developers, lenders, engineering firms, and public agencies. The constant throughout is simple: the person who signs the report is the person who knows your site.
Connect with me on LinkedInThe qualifications behind the work
Texas Licensed Professional Geoscientist
Every Geologic Assessment, evaluation, and professional opinion is prepared and certified under a Texas P.G. license.
USFWS permit, 19 listed species
Endangered karst invertebrate habitat evaluations and presence/absence surveys conducted in-house under TerraPoint's own USFWS Section 10(a)(1)(A) permit.
500+ projects, 150+ organizations
Due diligence and permitting experience across land development, energy, infrastructure, and public-sector work, in Texas and nationwide, including 300+ Phase I ESAs performed and overseen.
National SME for Phase I ESAs
Served as the firm-wide authority on Phase I ESA practice at one of North America's largest consulting firms before founding TerraPoint.
ASTM Subcommittee E50.02
Member of the ASTM subcommittee responsible for the environmental site assessment standards, including E1527 for Phase I ESAs and E1903 for Phase II ESAs.
ASTM Subcommittee D18.27 on Karst
Member of the ASTM subcommittee developing the national standards for karst terrain assessment, including D8512 for preliminary karst assessment at development sites.
TxDOT Pre-Certified
Pre-certified by the Texas Department of Transportation, so TerraPoint can be added to a project team for qualifying work without a separate qualification process. Firm registration with the Texas Board of Professional Geoscientists is current.
Certified Small Business Enterprise
SBE certified, including NCTRCA SBE-Plus. Relevant to primes and public agencies carrying small business participation goals on a contract.
Senior judgment, on your schedule
The structure of the practice is the service: senior expertise on every question, modern automation on everything that isn't judgment.
Senior eyes on everything
There is no leverage pyramid here. Every step of your project is overseen directly by a senior geoscientist, from scoping and field work through the professional opinion and the signed deliverable.
Automation where it belongs
A structured field-capture and report-production system handles the repeatable work, which is why senior-led work does not have to be slow work. The professional opinion is never automated. The paperwork around it is.
Straight answers
We tell you what the site needs, what it doesn't, and what that means for your schedule. When more investigation is the right tool, we say so without hesitation. When it isn't, we say that too.
Put a senior geoscientist on your project.
Tell us about the site and where things stand. You will get a direct answer from the person who would do the work.