2022 Toxics Release Inventory Conference Speaker Inf Leigh Mante Leigh Mante is a first-year Master of International Affairs student concentrating in Urban Policy and specializing in Leadership, Innovation, and Design at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs. Prior to graduate school, she interned at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention and studied Global Public Health, Statistics, and Global Sustainability at the University of Virginia. Charles Ruffing Charles Ruffing is the Director of the New York State Pollution Prevention Institute. He leads the NYSP2I team of engineers, technical staff, outreach specialists and students in delivering pollution prevention information, research and direct assistance to NYS businesses and citizens. Chuck has 30 years of experience in sustainability, environment technical science and management. Prior to joining NYSP2I, Chuck held various positions at Eastman Kodak Company spanning 20 years, culminating in the position of Vice President of Health, Safety, Environment and Sustainability. Chuck has a B.S. in Chemistry from St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia, and a Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry from the University of Illinois. Teague Powell Teague Powell is an analyst with the Washington State Department of Ecology's Hazardous Waste and Toxics Reduction Program. His work is centered around using data to strategically inform and improve program efforts. In his spare time, he enjoys exploring the outdoors with his wife and two children. Cameron George Cameron George has a B.S. in Sustainable Biomaterials from Virginia Tech. He currently works for General Dynamics on the Great Lakes National Program Office contract on water quality, site characterization, and aquatic toxicity data of the Great Lakes Areas of Concern. Trip Johnson Trip Johnson has a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Mississippi and an M.S. in Environmental and Green Chemistry from George Washington University. He is currently studying law at Vanderbilt University, where he intends to focus on environmental injustice litigation, specifically in the southeastern United States. Cynthia Gould Cynthia Gould is the RSEI project manager at Abt Associates. Ms. Gould has a background in economic analysis and data management and has worked with the RSEI model since 1998. ------- Michael Ash Michael Ash is professor of economics and public policy in the Economics Department and School of Public Policy at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Ash is the coauthor, with Francisco Louga /LO-san/, of Shadow Networks: Financial Disorder and the System that Caused Crisis (Oxford University Press, 2018). Ash served as Staff Labor Economist for the Council of Economic Advisers (Washington, DC) in 1995-1996 and as Princeton Project 55 Fellow for the Trenton Office of Policy Studies (Trenton, NJ) in 1991-1992. In 2013 he was recognized as one of Foreign Policy's Top 100 Global Thinkers for research on public debt. Other research includes health care, labor unions, and environmental policy, including right-to-know regulations, decarbonization policy, and environmental justice. At UMass Amherst, Ash co-directs the Corporate Toxics Information Project of the Political Economy Research Institute, which publishes the Toxic 100, an index that identifies top U.S. toxic polluters among large corporations, and is a participant in the Energy Transition Institute, which seeks to center equity and justice in the decarbonization of the energy system. Troy Abel Dr. Troy D. Abel is an award-winning author, teacher, and Professor of Environmental Policy in the Department of Urban and Environmental Planning at Western Washington University, and an affiliate faculty member of Seattle University's Center for Environmental Justice and Sustainability. Fie has a bachelor's degree in Public Flealth from Indiana University, and from George Mason University he earned a Master's degree in Public Administration and Ph.D. in Public Policy. Flis expertise includes environmental justice, public policy, political science, sociology, and geography. Dan Helfgott Dan Flelfgott is the Chief of the Sustainability and Pollution Prevention Branch in the EPA Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT), which is responsible for coordination and implementation of the many of the provisions of the Pollution Prevention Act of 1990. Dan has been with EPA for 37 years in various programs and offices, including the Existing Chemicals Program in OPPT, the Office of Pesticide Programs, and the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Monitoring. Dan has a master's degree in Public Policy Analysis from the University of Rochester, and a bachelor's degree in Political Science from the State University of New York at Binghamton. Dan grew up in New York and used to work for New York City government (a big Yankees fan). Cheryl Keenan Cheryl Keenan is a Senior Engineer with Eastern Research Group (ERG), an EPA contractor. Fler work for EPA focuses on pollution prevention (P2), assessing industrial operations, and environmental data analyses. She has supported the TRI program for more than 20 years. TJ Pepping T.J. Pepping is an environmental engineering associate with Abt Associates, and has provided data analysis and visualization expertise to EPA for over 7 years. Fie is the primary developer of the TRI Toxics Tracker online web tool, which offers users the ability to conduct custom searches of TRI data to learn more about toxic chemical releases and pollution prevention in their communities. ------- Orlando Cabrera-Rivera Orlando Cabrera-Rivera is the Head of the Environmental Quality Unit at the Secretariat of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC). He oversees the development and implementation of North America-wide environmental quality projects and capacity building efforts under the CEC's cooperative work program relating to, air quality, climate, chemical management, pollutant release and transfer registers (PRTR) systems, and environmental health. Orlando has over thirty years of experience in the environmental management field and in the development and implementation of international, national, regional, and local environmental pollution management and policy initiatives. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in meteorology from the Department of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a Master of Science degree in land resources management from the Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at UW-Madison. Danielle Vallee Danielle Vallee works in the CEC's Environmental Quality Unit and is the Project Lead for the North American PRTR Initiative. She is responsible for ensuring the development and implementation of key deliverables including the Taking Stock report and Taking Stock Online website and integrated North American database, as well as stakeholder engagement activities. Danielle has more than 20 years of experience in the management of international projects that bring together diverse stakeholders around topics of public interest including the sound management of chemicals and waste. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree with a specialization in urban-economic geography, and a Master of Arts degree in public policy and administration (geography) from Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec. Aerin Kirk Aerin Kirk is an Environmental Protection Specialist working on outreach for the Safer Choice program. Her work focuses on supporting the Safer Choice Partner of the Year Awards and the development of a new grant under EPA's Pollution Prevention grant program. Aerin graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University with a BS in Environmental Studies. Muna Nahar Muna Nahar is a Board-Certified Toxicologist in EPA's Safer Choice program. She supports the review of chemicals, formulations, and products submitted for the Safer Choice label and the Safer Chemical Ingredient List. Muna holds a PhD in toxicology from the University of Michigan School of Public Health and a BA in Molecular Biology & Chemistry from Wesleyan University. Frank DiCristina Frank DiCristina is the site manager of the Wallingford, Connecticut, plant for Allnex, a leading supplier of resins and additives for architectural, industrial, protective, automotive, and special purpose coatings and inks. He has been at the site for 10 years, the past 8 as Site Manager. Originally from New Orleans, Frank holds a BSE in Chemical Engineering from Tulane University, and an MBA from the University of New Orleans. Frank resides in North Haven, CT where he enjoys cooking, watching football, and spending time with his wife and three sons. ------- Lisa Cox Lisa is a nationally recognized environmental professional who works at the Oregon DEQ as the Senior Toxics Reduction Analyst. She implements projects that protect human health and the environment by reducing the use of toxic chemicals through many partnerships with businesses, non-profits, and educators. She focuses on administering a statewide intern program, funding toxic reduction research, supporting EPA's Safer Choice program, conducting training, and building community partnerships. Lisa has worked in Washington State, Kansas, and Missouri in various environmental roles in water quality, air toxics and solid waste management. She aims to engage a variety of experts from fields such as green chemistry, manufacturing, public policy, engineering, toxicology, behavior change, higher education and more to solve complex problems with innovative solutions. Matt Domski Matt Domski has served as a pollution prevention (P2) specialist for 10 years, working with businesses across a variety of industries to develop cost-effective strategies that prevent waste, pollution and increase energy and water efficiency. Matt began his career through MnTAP's Intern Program, before taking on a full-time position as a Waste Prevention Specialist. Today, Matt serves as MnTAP's Intern Program Manager, where he coordinates the execution of 15-20 student-led internships per summer, which target P2 and resource conservation in Minnesota. Tiffany Skogstrom Tiffany is the Director of the Massachusetts Office of Technical Assistance (OTA) and has worked at OTA since 2013. Prior to her appointment as Director, she served as OTA's Outreach and Policy Analyst. She is also the Executive Director of the Massachusetts Toxics Use Reduction Administrative Council, a policy-making body that reviews proposed regulations and chemical policies to protect the health and safety of workers and the public at large and promotes increased coordination in the enforcement of toxics laws and regulations statewide. Her toxics use reduction and occupational health experience includes creating a program to improve the work environment for auto shop and nail salon workers through the Boston Public Health Commission's Safe Shops and Safe Nail Salon Projects. Throughout her career, Tiffany has worked with various environmental and nonprofit organizations on waste reduction, recycling, and pollution prevention campaigns. Tiffany graduated from the Boston University School of Public Health where she concentrated in Environmental Health and was awarded the William B. Patterson Memorial Award for Excellence in Environmental and Occupational Health. She is also a 2006 Environmental Leadership Program Fellow and 2011 Fellow of the University of California San Francisco Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment's Reach the Decision Makers Program. ------- |