WEF Highlights

Working in the water sector, I am constantly learning and being challenged by the people around me. Ours is a profession that, at its core, requires working with others to find solutions that make sense for the future.  I love the spirit of cooperativeness that you can find so often behind the fence of a […]

The holiday season is upon us, and while working people around the world take time off to spend with family and friends, many water professionals will still work around-the-clock providing clean water and a safe environment for their communities to enjoy. The Water Environment Federation (WEF; Alexandria, Va.), too, is keeping busy by laying the […]

According to the Brookings Institution (Washington, D.C.), as much as 50% of the current water workforce in the U.S. will retire within the next 35 years. The water sector must take steps today to ensure the next generation of water professionals can seamlessly take the reins, keep critical water resource recovery facilities running, and confront […]

When I was in school, I read a short story called A Sound of Thunder by Ray Bradbury. In the story, a character named Eckels travels through time to the Jurassic Period to hunt dinosaurs. While there, Eckels steps on a butterfly. Upon returning to his own time period, he finds everything as he left […]

Since the end of World War II, the investment of federal money into basic research has led to many advances in engineering, materials science, computer science, medicine, and psychology. Yet, even with evidence of all these benefits, the relative contribution U.S. Congress has made into research as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) has […]

I have chocolate in my blood. It’s not from eating a lot of chocolate (which I do), but because I grew up in “Chocolatetown, U.S.A.,” also known as Hershey, Pa. My family house was a stone’s throw from The Hershey Co., the largest chocolate factory in the world. My grandparents worked in the chocolate factory. […]

Before my year as Water Environment Federation (WEF; Alexandria, Va.) president comes to a close, I want to discuss one segment of our membership that has special meaning to me: our operators. These professionals work on the front-lines of wastewater treatment. WEF has committed to supporting operator initiatives with the goal of attracting, preparing, and […]

As 2018 begins, the Water Environment Federation (WEF; Alexandria, Va.) is midway between the previous and the upcoming WEFTEC. WEF volunteers already are working on content for WEFTEC 2018, which will be held Sept. 30–Oct. 3 in New Orleans. Volunteers become the cornerstone of WEF Volunteers and staff will gather in Atlanta this month to […]