The LSPA’s “school” year is about to begin and our Education Committee is looking for speakers and topics for our 2025 courses! This is a great visibility opportunity for presenters; the LSPA typically registers 100+ LSPs and other waste site cleanup practitioners per course. Do you have new research, experience, or case studies to share in the field of contaminated site assessment and remediation? We want to hear from you. Please send your suggestions to [email protected]. 

Providing opportunities for professional continuing education is a vital part of the LSPA's mission. From September through June, the LSPA offers continuing education courses, ranging from 2 to 8 credit hours, on technical and regulatory topics. Presentations are offered both virtually and in person. The LSPA's courses, approved by the LSP Board of Registration, are an important source of continuing education credit for members and non-members alike. 

Northeast Sustainable Communities Workshop

Join us at the 2023 Northeast Sustainable Communities Workshop (NSCW) in Worcester, MA, on September 19-20. The theme, “Reimagining Brownfields: Strategies for Successful Redevelopment,” brings together environmental experts, consultants, developers, attorneys, academics, and real estate professionals for impactful sessions.

Discover innovative strategies for successful brownfield redevelopment, connect with industry leaders, and explore commercial real estate incentives throughout the Northeast. NSCW breaks away from traditional PowerPoint-heavy presentations to provide ample opportunities for sharing experiences and success stories and connecting with colleagues.

AND…..we’re back!  The LSPA was excited to hold several in-person events over the past month.

Along with MassDEP and AMWS – The Association of Massachusetts Wetland Scientists, we held two sessions of “Wetlands, Wetland Regulations, and the MCP.”  This full day course involved time exploring five wetlands field stations and got rave reviews from participants.

The LSPA's Emerging Professionals Committee (EPC) is dedicated to providing educational & social programs for professionals who are new to environmental consulting in Massachusetts. 

In November 2021, the EPC presented, “To LSP or Not to LSP" Career Path Considerations in Environmental Consulting. During the event, a panel of four speakers discuss various career track options in the Environmental Assessment and Remediation Industry, their backgrounds and how they ended up in their current role. This video will help to provide new professionals and college/grad students an idea of the different types of careers they could pursue within the industry.

The following LSPA compliance tip was presented at the February 2021 Membership Meeting, which was held virtually through the Zoom webinar platform, on February 9, 2021.  

Register Now!

Last night, LSPA’s Emerging Professionals Committee hosted Introduction to Drilling Techniques with Technical Drilling Services (TDS). At the sold-out event at their headquarters in Sterling, TDS demonstrated various drilling and monitoring well installation methods.  Environmental consultants along with students from Bridgewater State University (BSU) learned about basic drilling/sampling techniques (including continuous and discrete soil cores) and groundwater monitoring well installations on a 15-foot monitoring well.  

Here are a few photos from the event (photo credit to Michael Penzo).

Meeting Date & Location	Topic & Speaker
Wednesday, September 18, 2019  Boston Marriott Newton, Newton	Annual Kick-Off Meeting Liz Callahan and Paul Locke, MassDEP
Thursday, September 26, 2019 Hilton Garden Inn, Springfield	Environmental Law: Part 1 Jeanine Grachuk, Beveridge & Diamond 1.0 non-DEP Regulatory Credit Course #1626A
Thursday, October 17, 2019 Mechanics Hall, Worcester	Annual Dinner
October 2019 Hilton Garden Inn, Springfield	Environmental Law: Part 2 Michelle O'Brien, Pierce Atwood LLP  1.0 non-DEP Regulatory Credit Course #1626B
Thursday, November 21, 2019  Doubletree Hotel, Westborough	Topic for Credit
November 2019 Hilton Garden Inn, Springfield	Environmental Law: Part 3 Robert Cox, Bowditch & Dewey, LLP  1.0 non-DEP Regulatory Credit Course #1626C
December 2019 Downtown Boston Area	Co-Sponsor the EBC Winter Garden Party
Thursday, January 16, 2020 Doubletree Hotel, Andover	Topic for Credit Michael Marley, XDD Environmental
Wednesday, February 12, 2020 Doubletree Hotel, Westborough	Theory and Applications of ISCO Injectate Selection and In Situ Remediation Using Activated Carbon Based Injectates   Speakers from ISOTEC and AST Environmental 1.5 Technical Credits  Course #1677
Thursday, March 19, 2020 Holiday Inn, Mansfield	Topic for Credit
Tuesday, April 14, 2020  Crowne Plaza, Woburn	Topic for Credit
Tuesday, May 19, 2020 Doubletree Hotel, Westborough	Topic for Credit
Thursday, June 18, 2020 Holiday Inn, Taunton	Topic for Credit and LSPA Scholarship Presentation

For the past 16 years, the LSPA Scholarship Fund has been awarding educational scholarships to individuals pursuing degrees in the fields of science, environmental engineering, or other majors that are consistent with the goal of becoming a Licensed Site Professional. At LSPA’s June 11^th Membership Meeting in Taunton, MA, the LSPA Scholarship Fund awarded three individual scholarships. 

Veronica Gonsalez received the $5,000 Jeff Hardin Memorial Award, which is presented to an LSPA  member or member of their immediate family, who exemplifies the goal of environmental excellence. For those who remember Jeff, you know he strove for environmental excellence. Veronica is well-deserving of this scholarship.

Hardly the title for a stellar course, right?  WRONG!

On December 3, 2018, LSPA Board Member Jeanine Grachuk, Principal at Beveridge & Diamond, spoke about “How Geologists and Environmental Consultants Interact with Lawyers” to 20 students at a meeting of the Student Chapter of the LSP Association at Bridgewater State University. Always great to connect practitioners with students, and possible future LSPs (or attorneys!).

Mark your calendars! The LSPA Membership Meeting dates and locations for 2018-2019 have been announced. The LSP Association's membership meetings take place monthly from September through June in the Greater Boston area. Click here to view the schedule for the upcoming year.

Member meetings are also held in Springfield, MA about four times a year; the schedule is announced as meeting topics become available. The first meeting is September 13, 2018 "A Fresh Look at Brownfields Challenges and Opportunities"

Last month, the LSPA offered an 8-hr field course in the greater Falmouth, Massachusetts, area entitled, “Sediment, Surface Water, and Biota Sampling Methods to Support MCP Assessments.” This is a repeat course and each time it has been offered, we have received excellent rave reviews. Here are a few comments that we received after the June 2018 course:

MassDEP’s internship application period is open now through April 30. MassDEP is seeking a student (or team of 2 or more students) that would be interested in developing articles or mini-video documentaries about the history, decline and rebirth of some of the region’s brownfields (‘Brownfield Success Stories”). This internship will expose students to researching the history of disposal sites, learning about site cleanup assessment and technologies, and understanding Massachusetts cleanup process and regulations. (This position requires the type of due diligence research and report writing that would be required of a young environmental consultant). 

This internship may be a good fit for liberal arts students with a background in history or communication/journalism, as well as students in environmental science or the earth sciences. The internship is unpaid, but the hours can be part-time and flexible.