NYSP2I Advisory Board
Anahita Williamson
Dr. Williamson is director of the New York State Pollution Prevention Institute. She has a strong background and extensive experience in the field of environmental engineering, including manufacturing process modification for improved material recovery and reuse, design for the environment and life-cycle assessment. Prior to joining NYSP2I, she served as a senior engineer at Xerox Corporation where she assisted in implementing companywide sustainability and pollution prevention processes. Dr. Williamson led numerous teams at Xerox Corporation in defining environmental opportunities within processes/products by optimizing complex systems. She performed detailed material and energy balances on manufacturing processes in order to develop a quantitative baseline and capture all environmental inputs and outputs for a system. Dr. Williamson also has extensive experience in utilizing life-cycle assessment (LCA) methodology for evaluating the environmental performance of a process/product over its entire life-cycle and has performed multiple LCAs throughout her career. She has multiple peer-reviewed publications including the Journal of Cleaner Production and has presented at numerous international conferences including the International Society of Industrial Ecology conference in Stockholm, Sweden. Dr. Williamson is a Lean Six Sigma certified Greenbelt. She understands the importance of applying lean thinking when defining the root causes of deficiencies in processes and utilizing lean tools when implementing solutions. She holds a B.S. in chemical engineering and M.S. and Ph.D. in civil and environmental engineering, all from Clarkson University.
Bob Bechtold
Bob Bechtold is the president and founder of Harbec Plastics, Inc., a progressive injection molding company located in upstate New York, which provides a full service of model making, precision mold making, and complex precision plastic injection molding. His company believes strongly in the value of Eco-Economics and during the past decade he has developed an energy management strategy that includes a cogeneration project which currently provides a portion of their electricity, heat, and air-conditioning requirements. Harbec is one of the first companies in the world to successfully implement a completely micro-turbine powered combined heat and power plant. During the same period, Harbec has attained ISO 9000 and QS 9000 certifications for quality control and assurance, and they have received ISO 14000 certification to demonstrate environmental responsibility.
Jennifer Congdon
Jennifer Congdon is the Deputy Director of the Technical Advisory Services Division at the New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation (EFC) where she manages a range of grant and technical assistance programs for municipalities, small businesses, and not-for-profits. These programs provide tangible water and air quality benefits and include: the Green Innovation Grant Program, Clean Vessel Assistance Program, New York City Watershed Program, and the Small Business Environmental Assistance Program. Before arriving at EFC, Jennifer served in the New York State Office of the Governor as the Assistant Secretary for the Environment. In this role she assisted with the management of twelve state agencies and authorities on policy development, regulatory programs, enforcement, legislative strategy, and budgeting. She also served as liaison to a range of stakeholders, including municipal governments, farmers, the business community, environmental organizations, and state and federal elected officials. Prior to her tenure in the New York State Governor's office, Jennifer worked at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).
Patricia Driscoll
Economic Development Programs Specialist III
Patricia Driscoll is an Economic Development Specialist III in Empire State Development's Environmental Services Unit. She holds an MBA from SUNY Albany and an MS from Cornell University. Patricia works with businesses that are applying for financial assistance from ESD's Environmental Investment Program (EIP) and serves as the organics projects contact person for the office, trying to encourage recycling/composting of food waste as well as development of value added products from recycled organics. Patricia also participates in the P2 Council (Article 28 of ECL). In her free time she volunteers for the Community Loan Fund of the Capital Region.
Jim Gilbert
Economic Development Programs Specialist II
Jim has been with Empire State Development's Environmental Services Unit since its inception in 1989. He is both a project originator and contract manager for the Environmental Investment Program. In that time Jim has developed and managed a broad range of projects including many pollution prevention projects. One very important project he developed included identifying the need for, and working with Dr. Nabil Nasr and the CIMS team to create the pilot project for what became the New York State Pollution Prevention Institute at RIT. Jim covers the Finger Lakes region for ESU and is also ESU's statewide tire recycling expert and plastic recycling expert. Jim earned his MBA from St. Bonaventure University.
Steven Hung
Principal Engineer
Steve obtained his B.Ch.E. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Delaware and Ph.D. from Yale University. While at Yale, Steve worked on novel low-emissions combustion systems sponsored by NASA and the Gas Research Institute. Steve joined General Electric (GE) in 1990 to develop low-NOx combustion systems for GE's heavy duty gas turbines and was the first to demonstrate a combustion system capable of emitting less than 1 ppm NOx and CO. In 1996, Steve joined the Pollution Prevention program with the objective of reducing the company's environmental releases from our manufacturing facilities. Since leading this program in 2005, Steve has expanded this program to also include Energy Efficiency and to provide technical leadership for 3 of GE's ecomagination commitments: to reduce GE's own greenhouse gas emissions, energy usage, and water usage. In 2008, Steve helped launch GE's EcoAssessment Center of Excellence to better understand the environmental impact of GE products.
Katrina Korfmacher
Katrina Korfmacher, PhD is Assistant Professor and Deputy Director of Community Outreach in University of Rochester Medical Center's Environmental Health Sciences Center. She holds a MS and PhD in Environmental Studies from Duke University's Nicholas School of the Environment. The primary focus of her outreach work is addressing environmental health and justice issues of the communities in and around Rochester through policy change. Dr. Korfmacher has developed several community partnerships related to childhood lead poisoning prevention and healthy homes. She coordinates the EHSC's Community Advisory Board and participates in many local, state, and national organizations related to community environmental health. Her research as a policy scientist explores the use of science by community groups trying to solve environmental problems. She is co-author of Collaborative Environmental Management: What roles for Government? as well as numerous journal articles on environmental policy.
Paul MacEnroe
Paul MacEnroe is the President of the Mohawk Valley Applied Technology Corporation (MVATC) MVATC is one of ten regional technology development centers in New York and one of 200 Regional Manufacturing Extension Centers in the country. The mission of MVATC is to help promote the growth of the economy by growing and developing for profit Manufacturing and High Technology Companies. This is achieved by providing hands on consulting services that are designed to improve the company's growth curve and lower its costs. Paul joined MVATC in 1989. For the past 10 years he has followed his passion and developed the first of its kind "Green" programming in his organization. This program is a hands approach to reducing both the quantity and toxicity of waste. To date the program has served more than 60 different companies. He is now working to expand this programming throughout the state. To achieve this goal he now coordinates the activities of the P2I with all of the 10 Regional Technology Development Centers. Serving as the Managing Director of the RTDC network he is responsible for staff and program development. In addition to his work with MVATC, Paul is active with the Boy Scouts and is an avid curler and gardener.
Elizabeth Meer
Beth is a Special Assistant in the Commissioner's Policy Office at the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Her areas of focus include pollution prevention, green economic development, green procurement, chemicals policy, and sustainable government operations. Special projects include leading implementation of Executive Order No. 4, which requires state agencies to green their operations and purchase green products; helping to coordinate DEC's participation in the innovative Economy, Energy and Environment (E3) initiative being undertaken in Tonawanda; supporting the work of the New York State Pollution Prevention Institute; participating in the Governor's Regional Economic Development Councils; and serving as Vice Chair of the Interstate Chemicals Clearinghouse. Beth previously served for two years as a Senior Policy Analyst with then Assemblyman Thomas DiNapoli (now New York State Comptroller), and for fifteen years with the New York State Assembly Commission on Toxics Substances and Hazardous Waste, where, among other projects, she organized a conference on economic development and the environment; coordinated a hearing on green purchasing; served as a principal negotiator of the 2003 Brownfields Cleanup Program Act; and drafted legislation and budget language in support of the creation of a statewide pollution prevention program. She has a long history of working collaboratively with diverse stakeholders to develop constructive solutions to environmental problems.
Karen J. Miller
Karen Joy Miller is the founder and president of Huntington Breast Cancer Action Coalition, Inc., a grassroots community organization established in 1992. She is also a founding member of the New York State Breast Cancer Network, the Long Island Breast Cancer Network, and Prevention Is The Cure, Inc. Karen has served as an advocate for public health since a breast cancer diagnosis in 1987. She serves as an advisor on the boards of Breast Cancer Detection and Cervical Education Council, the Governor's Sustainability & Green Procurement Council, the Children's Environmental Health Center, Mount Sinai, and NYSP2I.
Bruce Pearl
Bruce is an accomplished professional with over twenty years of experience in leading financial, technical, sales support, manufacturing, distribution, and administrative teams for both private and public corporations. Most recently with Commercial Envelope Mfg., he participated in the executive leadership of the private New York corporation's services to major financial institutions and Fortune 100 companies. There he led acquisition, capacity, efficiency, and modernization initiatives, including a paper segregation and recycling system co-sponsored with New York State. Prior to this, Bruce spent nearly 20 years with Standard Register and Burroughs Corporation in executive leadership roles including operations, corporate and financial planning, research and development, strategic sourcing, and acquisitions serving national and international clients and markets. In these roles, Bruce actively participated and endorsed proactive safety and environmental improvements and programs throughout the organization. Bruce earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering Technology from The College of New Jersey and is Six Sigma certified.
Miriam Pye
Miriam Pye is a Senior Project Manager at New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). Her focus is promoting energy efficiency through improved industrial productivity, and using biomimicry (looking to nature for inspiration to solve energy issues) to accelerate R&D. Prior to joining NYSERDA, Miriam was a Research Associate at a Washington DC research group, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), where her research focused on the relationship between industrial energy efficiency, pollution prevention, and profitability. Prior to her career in energy efficiency, Miriam was a financial analyst at Clorox and Columbia Pictures, and was VP/CFO for a $25 million printed-music company, CPP-Belwin. She also served in the Peace Corps in Poland in a small-business development group. Miriam has a BS from Cornell University, an MBA from UCLA, and a Masters in Environmental/Energy Studies from the University of Illinois.
Barbara J. Warren
Barbara Warren has served as Executive Director of Citizens' Environmental Coalition since January 2008. Prior to that she was Project Director at Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports for over 15 years. She also was a consultant for the Clean Air Task Force in Boston and Sustainable South Bronx, NY. Ms. Warren has co-authored several reports on toxic chemical accident risks, perchloroethylene exposures in apartments above dry cleaners, as well as reports on solid waste management. Her most recent reports on solid waste including Reaching for Zero: The Citizens Plan for Zero Waste in NYC can be accessed at http://www.consumersunion.org/i/Other_Issues/Environment/index.html. She regularly provides written and oral testimony on toxics and waste issues at the city, state, and federal level and provides environmental and health analyses to community groups. She holds a Master of Science Degree in Environmental Health Science from Hunter College.
Bobbi Chase Wilding
Bobbi Chase Wilding MS is the Deputy Director of Clean and Healthy New York. She has 15 years of experience in the environmental health movement. She is an Advisory Board member of the NYS Pollution Prevention Institute, and serves on the Governance, Outreach and Recruitment, and Data Collection workgroups of the Interstate Chemicals Clearinghouse. Bobbi is the Bisphenol A Coordinator for the National Workgroup for Safe Markets. Previously, she co-led national Emerging Technologies and the Fenceline Action Workgroups, and helped organize the 2006 Environmental Justice for All tour. She previously worked for NYPIRG and Citizens' Environmental Coalition, where she held the position of Associate Director for four years, developed the interactive-map-based www.ecoTHREATNY.org, and wrote Environmentally Safe Hospitals and Environmental Racism in New York State. Bobbi earned her BS in Environmental Science, and her MS in Ecological Economics, Values and Policy, from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Bobbi is the mother of two young daughters, ages six and one.
J. William Wolfram
J. William Wolfram, Ph.D. is director of Global Regulatory Affairs of the Schenectady chemical company SI Group. At SI Group, he has assumed a variety of management positions both domestically and abroad and assumed his current position in regulatory affairs in 2006. As such he has corporate responsible for regulatory compliance, hazard communication, new product registration, classification and labeling and product advocacy for SI Group's global businesses. He is active on of a variety of industry associations and panels responding to regulatory initiatives affecting the chemical industry. He has overall corporate responsibility for SI Group's REACH and GHS implementation efforts. Dr. Wolfram received a bachelor's degree in Chemistry from Virginia Polytechnic Institute in Blacksburg Virginia in 1974 and doctor of philosophy degree in Organic Chemistry from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina in 1980. Prior to joining SI Group, he worked for the former Ethyl Corporation's research and development department for 11 years where he was principal author on 8 US patents.