Scott Firmin, President Scott Firmin is the Director of Operations of Wastewater Services for the Portland Water District which serves wastewater collection and treatment needs for six communities in the Greater Portland, Maine, area. Scott is a licensed Professional Engineer and a Grade V Wastewater Operator in the State of Maine. He has a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of New Hampshire, an M.S. in Environmental Engineering from the New Jersey Institute of Technology, and an MBA from the University of Southern Maine. He has served as a past Chair of the NEWEA Utility Management and Government Affairs Committees, is a 5S Member, a Past President of the MaineWEA, a Board of Director for NEBRA, and an active WEF member.
Amy Anderson George, President Elect Amy Anderson George is a Principal Engineer out of Arcadis’s East Greenwich, RI office. She has over 20 years of experience in the municipal wastewater field, serving clients throughout New England. She received a B.S. in Environmental Engineering from Roger Williams University. She has been an active member of NEWEA since 2005 and has served as the Chair of both the Exhibits Committee and the Program Committee, Meeting Management Council Director, Rhode Island State Director, and a member of the Select Society of Sanitary Sludge Shovelers. She is also an active member of the Rhode Island Clean Water Association.
Daryl Coppola, Vice President Daryl Coppola started his career in 2013 as a field service technician at FR Mahony. During that time Daryl traveled all over New England troubleshooting and repairing various wastewater equipment. In 2019 Daryl moved into the outside sales team at FR Mahony and became a member of NEWEA and MEWEA YP committees. Daryl served as NEWEA’s YP Chair from 2021-2024 and currently serves on MEWEA’s collections committee. Daryl is the proud winner of the 2023 YP Summit MEME contest.
Arthur Simonian, Treasurer Mr. Simonian is a Registered Professional Engineer and has a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and MBA from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He has been the Executive Director of The Mattabassett District since June 2015, where he directs and supervises the operation and maintenance the Mattabassett District trunk line sewer and right of way, outfall, the ash landfill and incidental facilities connected therewith; plans for short and long range needs of the District; recommends need for contractual services for Board approval; coordinates District projects and plans with outside consultants and public agencies; and prepares the annual budget and calculates user fees. From 2006-2015 he was Director of Public Works & Town Engineer for the Town of Berlin, CT and responsible for the Water Sewer Commission, Engineering, Highways, Facilities/Building Maintenance Departments with 39 personnel. From 2000-2006 he was Senior Project Manager for Diversified Technologies Consultants – overseeing the design and construction of two public school projects (26 million dollars and 60 million dollars) and two design/build dormitory projects (50 million dollars combined) overseeing Civil, Environmental, Structural, Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing design groups. Arthur’s awards and achievements include: Editing Board of a Public Works Journal; Implemented LEED and Clean Energy Resolutions for the Town; Member of ASCE, America Public Works Association; Lincoln Arc Welding Award for Parking Garage Design; ACEC Engineering Excellence Award on behalf of the Mattabassett District for the WPCF Upgrade; and AGC Build CT 2016 Award for Construction Manager/General Contractor Large Renovation for Facility Upgrade.
Deb Mahoney, Past President Deb Mahoney is Brown and Caldwell’s Boston Office Leader and Municipal Market Leader for New England. She has worked in municipal wastewater in New England for 23 years. She holds a BS in Civil Engineering and an MBA from UMass-Lowell. Deb has been a committed NEWEA member her entire career and has held positions as YP Chair, NEWEA Secretary and Assessment and Development Committee Chair. She is also a proud member of the 5S. In addition to NEWEA, Deb is on the Board of Directors for the North East Biosolids and Residuals Association, holding the position of Vice President.
Mary Barry, NEWEA Executive Director Mary Barry is the Executive Director of NEWEA, the premier Water Quality Member Association in New England. Throughout her tenure, she has placed a bold emphasis on volunteer support; member services, program expansion, broader technical reach, and public out-reach. Ms. Barry’s motivation and commitment is responsible for guiding the Association’s efforts to improve water quality and elevating the value of water and significance of our industry. Ms. Barry’s leadership is focused on advancing knowledge, innovation, and sound public policy for the protection of the water environment and our quality of life. Before serving as Executive Director, Ms. Barry worked in the environmental engineering industry for nearly 25 years as Strategic Market Programs Director at local, national and international engineering companies within the New England area. Ms. Barry has a B.S. in Business Management and Marketing from the University of Massachusetts and a M.A. in Communications Management and Public Relations from Emerson College.
Emily Cole-Prescott, WEF Delegate Emily is Saco’s Deputy City Administrator and works closely with Saco’s Water Resource Recovery Department (WRRD) on water industry initiatives. Emily brings over nineteen years of diversified municipal government experience to this work and is passionate about the intersection of long-range resiliency planning and water services. She has a master’s in public administration, holds a Grade 3 wastewater operator certification and an AICP planning certification. Emily is also a member of the WEF Government Affairs Community, Chair of the NEWEA Public Awareness Committee, and Past President of the Maine Water Environment Association. In her spare time, Emily likes to spend time with her family and dogs, read, and golf.
Vanessa McPherson, WEF Delegate Vanessa is an Associate Vice President with Arcadis, focused on wastewater infrastructure in Connecticut for nearly 20 years. Her experience extends from planning through construction phases on collection system and treatment projects. She received both a Bachelors and Master’s Degree in Environmental Engineering from Manhattan College, and is a registered Professional Engineer in Connecticut and New York. Her passion for all things water is one of the things that has defined Vanessa all of her life. Vanessa is a Board Member of CTWEA, and is honored to be a part of such a distinguished group of clean water professionals and advocates. She also serves on the Water Pollution Control Commission for the Town of Redding, CT.
Nicholas Ellis, WEF Delegate Nick is Hazen and Sawyer’s New Hampshire Operations Manager, and has spent his career working on design, construction, startup, testing and operations assistance for water and wastewater treatment and conveyance facilities. He has a BS in Civil Engineering from Northeastern University, and has been a member of NEWEA for nearly 20 years. In his role at Hazen and with NEWEA he hopes to mentor and inspire the next generation of clean water engineers, inspiring them to grow technically, and volunteer their time and expertise at NEWEA and other organizations to promote a better environment throughout New England.
Jeff LeMay, Connecticut State Director Bio Forthcoming
Andre Brousseau, Maine State Director André started his career in the wastewater field in 1993 after graduating from Southern Maine Community College. He was hired on as a laborer for the Ogunquit Sewer District and worked his way up to the chief operator’s position. In 2003, he took a position with the City of Saco as lab technician/lead operator. In 2005, André was hired as the chief operator with the Sanford Sewerage District. He was appointed the superintendent’s position in 2015. André currently holds a grade V operator certificate, grade I laboratory analyst certificate, grade I collections system certificate, grade II water distribution license, grade I water treatment license and a compost license. André was president of MEWEA in 2010, past chair of the ops challenge committee for NEWEA and MEWEA. He is a past recipient of the Maine operator award in 2002, and Alfred Peloquin award in 2018.
Peter Lyons, Massachusetts State Director Peter Lyons is a principal at Woodard & Curran. Technical focus on consent decree compliance, sewer system and MS4 management, planning, design, and construction. MAWEA board member since 2020 and treasurer since 2022.
Tracy Wood, New Hampshire State Director Tracy is the Administrator of the Wastewater Engineering Bureau at the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services. Tracy has worked for the Department since 2007, and in her current role for the past ten years. As Administrator Tracy is responsible for oversight of the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) and all of its programs as well as other state funding programs, oversight of the design and construction of all wastewater infrastructure projects in the state of New Hampshire, residuals management, wastewater operator certification and training, and permitting. Prior to NHDES Tracy worked in private consulting. Tracy has 30 years’ experience in the wastewater field. Tracy received her B.S. in Civil Engineering from Northeastern University, and her M.S in Environmental Engineering from UMass Lowell.
Laura Marcolini, Rhode Island State Director Bio Forthcoming
Jennie Auster, Vermont State Director Jennie is Wright-Pierce’s Vermont Wastewater Group Leader. With over 20 years of engineering consulting experience, Jennie’s career has focused on municipal wastewater treatment with projects in Louisiana, Texas, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, New York, New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont. She has worked with over 40 wastewater treatment facilities in the past 14 years working in New England. She holds a B.S.E from the University of Michigan in Civil and Environmental Engineering. She is a Director on the Green Mountain Water Environment Association Board and Chair of the Membership Committee. She is also on the Board of Advisors for the University of Vermont Civil and Environmental Engineering Department.
Matthew Dickson, Collection Systems/Water Resource Council Director Matt has over 35 years of experience in the water and wastewater industry with experience in all phases of projects from project management, equipment procurement, design, scheduling, construction coordination, and start-up and commissioning. He had managed projects in several countries including China, Australia, and Canada as well as throughout the US. He is a Senior Project Manager at Haley Ward, in Maynard, MA. He has a BS in Civil Engineering from Bucknell University and a MS in Environmental Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and has been a member of NEWEA for over 30 Years. He served as Chair of the Industrial Wastewater Committee for the past 3 years and regularly participates in the Mentoring Program.
Philip Tucker, Communications Council Director Philip Tucker has been in the wastewater industry since 1998. In that time Phil has done just about every job there is to do as an operator. He became a member of both MEWEA and NEWEA in 2013. He immediately joined MEWEA’s Collection System Committee and was awarded the Charles Perry Award in 2017. He joined the NEWEA Public Awareness Committee in 2016 and the Government Affairs Committee in 2021. He served as the chair and co-chair of MEWEA’s Convention Committee from 2017 – 2023 and in 2021 he had the honor of being MEWEA President. In 2022 he received MEWEA’s Past President Award and President’s Service Award and in 2023 had and his wife Theresa were awarded NEWEA’s Youth Educators Award. At the ’24 AC Phil received the Alfred E. Peloquin Award. In addition to his NEWEA roles Phil also serves in the newly created Outreach Counsel Director position for MEWEA and is Vice President for NEBRA.
John Digiacomo, Outreach Council Director John is the Assistant Town Engineer for the Town of Natick, Massachusetts and has almost 29 years of experience as both a consultant (8 years) and municipal engineer (21 years). John earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering with a concentration in Environmental Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in 1997, is a Registered Professional Engineer in Massachusetts and a Certified Soil Evaluator in Massachusetts. He has been an active member and supporter of NEWEA since 2004 and has been a member of multiple committees (Collection Systems, Stormwater, CSO/Wet Weather, Membership, Public Awareness, Awards) during that time. He has been a regular moderator at NEWEA conferences and seminars and helped to coordinate numerous conferences during his time on the Collection Systems Committee. He is a past Chair of both the Collection Systems Committee and Assessment and Development Committee as well as a past Council Director for the Collection Systems/Water Resource Council and a past Massachusetts State Director. John is also proud to be a member of the Massachusetts Water Environment Association (MAWEA) Board of Directors. He is a member of the Select Society of Sanitary Sludge Shovelers and the Golden Manhole Society. He is also a member of WEF’s Collection Systems Community.
Eric Spargimino, Treatment, Systems Operations and Management Council Director Eric Spargimino is an environmental engineer and regional team leader with 20 years’ experience. He works for CDM Smith in their Manchester, NH office. Eric earned his B.S. and M.E. in Environmental Engineering from Manhattan College in NY. He’s a registered Professional Engineer in NY, MA, NH and MO, and is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP). He’s been an active member of WEF, NEWEA and NYWEA since 2005. During that time he’s presented and moderated at numerous conferences, worked on several committees, and was the chair of the Residuals Management Committee. He is a member of the Select Society of Sanitary Sludge Shovelers. He is also a member of WEF’s Residuals and Biosolids Community (RBC) and chair of the Biosolids Products Use and Communication (BPUC) Focus Group.
Chi Ho Sham, Innovation Council Director Dr. Chi Ho Sham holds a B.A. (1978) from the University of Regina in Canada and a M.A. and Ph.D. (1980 and 1984) from the University at Buffalo. He was trained as a hydrologist and a data scientist. He started his professional career in academics as a faculty member at Boston University (1982-1992). He then joined the environmental consulting field for over 33 years working on drinking water, wastewater, watershed management, underground injection control, risk assessment, and decision support systems on behalf of governmental agencies and water utilities. He is currently working as an independent consulting to provide technical assistance to Tribal water systems in the southwest U.S. When not working, he serves as a volunteer for organizations such as the American Water Works Association (AWWA), Water Research Foundation, New England Water Environment Association, Ground Water Protection Council, University at Buffalo, American Planning Association, and Conservation Law Foundation as technical advisory and governance board members.
Scott Neesen, Meeting Management Council Director As a member of ADS Environmental staff, Mr. Neesen plays a key role in our operations team and has over 20 years of hands-on experience in distribution and flow measurement using multiple technologies. He brings knowledge to every project he undertakes and has considerable expertise in Water Distribution, Leak Detection, Testing Master Water Meters, and CSO monitoring. Scott has a BS in Environmental Services.
