Hazardous Waste

Solving today’s complex environmental challenges is a daunting task. It requires the delicate balancing of many competing factors, from cost and convenience to public health protection and resource allocation. At ERG, I am fortunate to be able to work on projects that get to the core of this balance, surrounded by clients and colleagues who are equally passionate about finding mindful, objective solutions for our complex world.

I find it motivating to be working at a time of both genuine need for better understanding human impacts on the environment and the emergence of tools and technologies that allow us to process data and understand the world like never before. I’m always excited to learn new skills and better ways to address complex problems.

I feel fortunate to work with so many dedicated researchers at EPA and other agencies on remediating contaminated water sources, increasing community resilience, and developing decision-support tools. While my particular expertise is groundwater, I’ve had the opportunity to lead projects in urban planning, coral reefs, emergency response, stormwater, modeling, and more. Multi-disciplinary approaches are helpful for tackling all these issues, and I’m always learning.

Environmental science—especially figuring out how and where chemicals move through the environment—is continually challenging and endlessly fascinating. It’s extremely rewarding to know that our work helps protect human health and make sites safer for future generations.

The amount and variety of waste generated across all industries is mindboggling, and its mismanagement has far-reaching consequences for both individuals and our society. I enjoy the challenge of working with EPA and regulated companies to help address environmental issues and ensure that industrial facilities are compliant with hazardous waste regulations. I am proud that this work helps improve the health and safety of our communities and the environment.

My work to provide scientific and policy expertise to water quality managers throughout the United States has deepened my appreciation of our shared environmental resources and the people who work to preserve them. I feel very fortunate every day to work with so many great and knowledgeable colleagues and clients.

Until recently, we have too often taken an “out-of-sight, out-of-mind” approach to waste disposal and overlooked the connection between surface and ground water, leading to contamination and depletion of both. We have to climb out of this history of environmental exploitation to a path of sustainability. I enjoy all my work to help get us there, including groundwater remediation, reducing sanitary sewer overflows, ensuring proper operation of injection wells, aquifer storage and recovery systems, and design of new water production wells.

Staring out of an airplane window not long after my first geology course, I was amazed at how the landscape features jumped out at me. I saw clearly how river flow, sediment, and time had interacted. That wonder is still with me as I apply what I know about geology and geochemistry to protect our nation’s groundwater, drinking water, and infrastructure. My work is diverse, and I like it that way because it allows me to bring a deep understanding of the earth and environmental sciences to a wide array of subsurface and surface environmental problems.

I find that field work is the best way to understand compliance issues. By seeing process operations firsthand, we can help EPA get to the root of issues and support the agency in determining the best ways to minimize waste generation and disposal across industrial sectors.