Community Involvement

SCS Engineers Community Involvement
SCS professionals work on a Habitat For Humanity project in New Orleans.

SCS Engineers is proud of the level of community involvement that many of our professional and technical staff provide to municipal governments, professional associations and organizations, charitable organizations, scholarship programs, mentoring programs and similar endeavors.

We can’t list everything we do, but the following summary provides insight into our staff’s level of commitment and dedication to the communities we serve.

Corporate Scholarships

Environmental Research and Education Foundation (EREF) Scholarship Program

Scholarships are awarded by EREF to recognize excellence in master’s, doctoral or post-doctoral waste management research and education. Awards to doctoral students are given in memory of Francois Fiessinger, PE, PhD, a graduate of Rutgers University and a founding director of the foundation, and by the Environmental Research and Education Foundation. Master’s scholarships are made possible by the late Robert P. Stearns, PE, DEE, of SCS Engineers, who was a former Chairman of EREF, and by Robert J. Riethmiller of PTR Baler and Compactor Company. Most recently, EREF has established the Waste Industries Scholarship honoring Lonnie C. Poole, Jr., an EREF founder and Director Emeritus.

Robert P. Stearns / SCS Engineers Master’s Scholarship

Robert P. Stearns, former chairman of the EREF board, co-founder of SCS Engineers, and Chairman of the Board at SCS, directed or served in a review capacity on many of the firm’s solid waste management-related projects. Under his leadership, SCS grew to more nearly 800 employees located in 71 regional offices throughout the United States. Following his retirement in 2006, Mr. Stearns continued as SCS’s Chairman of the Board focusing on strategic planning and acquisitions. He and SCS Engineers established the Master’s Scholarship fund to expand EREF’s successful doctoral-level scholarship program. SCS has donated $10,000 to the RPS/EREF Scholarship program each year since 2003.

SWANA Scholarship

The Robert P. Stearns / SCS Engineers Scholarship Award is for full-time students who are entering or are in graduate school pursing a degree in environmental science, engineering, or other suitable major related to the field of solid waste management. The scholarship amount is 1 award of $5,000.

Associations and Organizations

SCS Engineers is significantly involved in professional organizations, including the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA), the National Waste & Recycling Association (NWRA), the Society of American Military Engineers (SAME), the National Groundwater Association (NGA), the National Registry of Environmental Professionals (NREP), the Association of Environmental and Engineering Geologists (AEG), the Groundwater Resources Association of California (GRA), and the Air and Waste Management Association (AWMA). Involvement with these organizations includes serving on Boards of Directors, chairing committees, assisting with conferences and special events, or providing training and mentoring.

Additional organizations in which SCS staff participate include, but not limited to the state of California:

  • Academy of Industrial Hygiene (AIH)
  • Alliance of Hazardous Materials Professionals (AHMP)
  • American Association of Petroleum Geologists
  • American Biogas Council
  • American Geophysical Union (AGU)
  • American Public Works Association (APWA)
  • American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP)
  • American Society of Testing and Materials (Committee on Environmental Assessment)
  • American Water Works Association (AWWA)
  • Association for Women Geoscientists (AWG)
  • California Biomass Collaboration
  • California Resource Recycling Association (CRRA)
  • California Storm Water Quality Association (CASQA)
  • California Water Environment Association (CWEA)
  • Center for Creative Land Recycling (CCLR)
  • Engineering Contractors Association of Northern California (NCECA)
  • Geological Society of America (Hydrogeology and Engineering Geology Divisions)
  • International Institute of Ammonia Refrigeration (IIAR)
  • Landfill Gas Technical Advisory Group; California Department of Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle)
  • Produced Water Society
  • Professional Environmental Marketing Association (PEMA)
  • Refrigerating Engineers & Technicians Association (RETA)
  • Society for Risk Analysis
  • Solid Waste Industry for Climate Solutions (SWICS)
  • Sonoma County Business Alliance (SCBA)
  • Southern California Waste Management Forum (SCWMF)
  • US Composting Council (USCC)
  • Waste Industry Air Coalition (WIAC): Chairmanship
  • Women’s Environmental Council (WEC)