SCS Engineers is 100% employee-owned electing its Board of Directors. Following our November Board Meeting, we are pleased to announce the promotion of several key professionals, including Robert Dick in Virginia and Michelle Leonard in California, as Senior Vice Presidents.
These professionals inform our business strategies and technical directives while providing the personal service clients expect from SCS. Every executive remains in the field listening to and serving clients – that’s the benefit of employee-ownership – no desk jockeys here.
Bob Dick supports landfills throughout the eastern seaboard and Mid-Atlantic, including over 150 landfill gas projects. He helps SCS clients to meet their Clean Air Act compliance goals and use methane gas for energy, reducing emissions. Bob is a civil and environmental engineer with expertise in solid and hazardous waste management. He manages SCS’s landfill and landfill gas engineering solutions for clients in more than 15 states and several foreign countries. “Bob plays a key role in our success,” said Jim Walsh. “His work and dedication to his clients help them implement environmental solutions that can be employed in other parts of the U.S. and globally.”
As a sustainable materials management leader, Michelle Leonard, well known throughout the waste industry, is also SCS’s National Expert in Solid Waste Planning, Recycling, and Sustainability. She has over 30 years of environmental consulting and project management experience, including solid waste management planning and facilities focusing on reducing, reusing, and recycling waste materials. Michelle is a long-time proponent of integrating the principles of a circular economy into the waste industry. “Michelle informs some of the largest cities and waste company programs in the country,” said Jim Walsh. “Her knowledge and dedication to her clients, industry, and within SCS earn her the position of Senior Vice President and our respect.
SCS announces the promotion of Garold (Tony) A. Cartee and Luke T. Montague, PG, to Vice President.
Tony is a Regional Manager for Filed Services OM&M in Charlotte, North Carolina. He has over two decades of experience in landfill gas system operations monitoring, maintenance, migration control, and recovery, plus New Source Performance Standards compliance and construction expertise.
Luke is a Project Director in San Diego, California. He is a Professional Geologist and licensed contractor with nearly two decades of experience providing environmental consulting and geotechnical support to general contractors, commercial and residential developers, and property and asset managers. His focus is site remediation activities that bring contaminated properties back to pristine condition.
Our National Experts play an important role as industry leaders who are deeply involved in professional associations related to their expertise. These professionals organize and participate in workshops and conferences, author and present technical papers, conduct research, and participate in national and state-level legislative and rule-making processes and regulatory policy.
The SCS Board announces new National Experts, Michael Schmidt – Environmental Insurance Claims and Underwriting, and Dana Blumberg, PE, who, in addition to her responsibilities as SCS’s International Expert, serves the Federal Services Experts.
SCS Engineers’ Gomathy Radhakrishna Iyer explains, “The structure of PFAs is a carbon and fluorine bond, and that bond is considered one of the strongest in nature. For industry, Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC), a volatile derivative of methane, ethane, and propane, creates problems globally after they’ve been released. Chlorofluorocarbons are strong greenhouse gases and are also responsible for the destruction of stratospheric ozone.
The most publicized of these compounds are those used as coolants in refrigeration and air conditioners, as propellants in spray cans and similar products, and as solvents for industrial purposes. Chlorofluorocarbons are far less abundant than carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Still, they are 10,000 times more potent as a greenhouse gas and can remain in the atmosphere for more than 45 to 100 years. Reference
Iyer continues, “PFAS has the same kind of carbon-fluorine bond as CFC but linked to several C-F bonds like a chain making them even more inert and hard to degrade. Breaking this bond is what makes finding effective leachate treatments challenging, but certainly possible.”
It takes a savvy engineer to design safe and effective systems. We’re very proud of our Young Professionals like Gomathy – they’re smart and continue learning with the guidance of our VEPs – very experienced professionals.
Open positions at SCS Engineers for YPs and VEPs
SCS Staff Professional, Spencer Nichols, supports clients as a Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) Specialist. He earned his BA in Political Science/International Relations & Environmental Studies with a Minor in Public Policy at Tulane University. Spencer is passionate about sustainability; in high school, he volunteered at a non-profit organization working closely with community members to create organic farms on school campuses. These farm projects provide healthy food to local food banks while at the same time educating students about the environmental and social benefits of organic agriculture. Spencer also led a service trip to Latin America to help agrarian communities restore their environment after regional industrial agriculture had caused widespread degradation. Spencer became Chapter President of the non-profit Global Student Embassy (GSE) and led a group of students in fundraising and environmental efforts. During his year-long tenure, he worked on environmental and community-based initiatives in California and Nicaragua, culminating in a fully-funded scholarship program for Nicaraguan students to visit GSE Chapters in the United States.
In 2017, Spencer met SCS Senior Project Manager, Tracie Bills, through his network, and learned about the SMM work she performs for SCS clients. They stayed in touch and would occasionally meet to discuss opportunities and the evolving environmental field. When the role for a SMM Specialist opened up at SCS, Spencer landed the job! SCS Engineers was a perfect fit for his interests, education, and entrepreneurial spirit. Five months in, Spencer still loves the work. In particular, he says he appreciates working in the environmental industry and enjoys learning something new every day.
Spencer works for numerous clients and finds the variety of his work rewarding because the focus is on recycling and organics management challenges. He is gaining experience in waste management sustainability and zero waste practices, as well as managing records, producing project updates, and conducting recycling characterization studies. For one of his clients, Spencer is working to identify recycling markets for wood so the materials can be repurposed instead of buried in landfills.
Spencer also conducts outreach, customer assistance, and technical assistance for another client in Contra Costa County, California. He supports their environmental and regulatory initiatives by “educating their clients on materials management best practices to ensure improved outcomes and an excellent customer service experience for everyone involved.” His mission is to help reduce business waste while improving diversion of materials away from landfills.
To be responsive in his role and for his customers, he works in a fast-paced environment. This challenge helps him grow professionally every day. Spencer’s passion for helping businesses reduce waste in a practical manner helps him work toward his ultimate goal to impact his community in a positive way.
Spencer is contemplating enrolling in graduate school to earn a Sustainability MBA; he also wants to continue his work as an environmental consultant in the Non-Profit Sector in his free time. He enjoys hiking, mountain biking, and photography – all in keeping with his passion for protecting our environment for future generations.
Well done, Spencer!
Find your career at SCS Engineers – We’re always looking for those with an entrepreneurial spirit, who find working for their clients, community, and the environment a rewarding journey!
SCS Young Professional, Hydrogeologist Nicole Kron, recently finished her second session of Skype a Scientist, a program in which she Skypes with classrooms and talks to kids about her work as a professional geologist and her journey to become a scientist. The Skype a Scientist program connects students and teachers with people in scientific jobs to help attract kids to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) pursuits.
Skype a Scientist matches scientists with classrooms around the world; teachers are able to choose the type of scientist that will match their classroom’s interests. Participating scientists, like Nicole, then skype with the students for 30 to 60 minute Q&A sessions that can cover any topic – from their particular expertise to what it’s like to work as a scientist to their favorite pastimes. The program helps students get to know a “real scientist” and about their career in a STEM arena.
Nicole has completed two sessions so far – one in May and one in June, and she has agreed to stay involved with the program going forward. “It’s so much fun!” she says.
Some of the questions Nicole has answered include:
During these sessions, Nicole talked about geology, work-life balance, self-confidence, and her hobbies. The ninth grade class was particularly interested in her new venture to make French macarons as well as her love of dancing.
Nicole says she really enjoys participating in Skype a Scientist because, “It gives
me the opportunity to show students that scientists and engineers are well-rounded
people with many interests.”
An SCS Marketing Manager, Sarah Hoke, added: “I love to see our folks making an impact in the community.”
It’s never too soon to start recruiting the scientists of the future!
Nicole and Sarah both work at SCS Engineers in the Madison, Wisconsin office. SCS Engineers provides career opportunities across the nation to talented individuals who bring value to their clients and in their communities.
