Congrats to New LSPs

 Ten New LSPs Join the Ranks

The LSP Board of Registration recently announced that the following ten new LSPs passed the exam in early November. The LSPA congratulates each of them on this impressive accomplishment and applauds this new milestone in their practice. 

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.

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).

LSPA's Emerging Professionals Committee hosted a Soils Classification event last week at GZA GeoEnvironmental. Zachary Baum, P.E., a Geotechnical Engineer at Tighe & Bond, gave a brief overview of the Modified Burmister System, focusing on different soil types and the corresponding grain sizes. Fun Fact:  The numbers given to various sieve sizes are equal to the number of holes in the sieve per inch.  Zach passed around small bags containing various soils, so everyone could get a “real-world” sense of the look and feel of each soil type. Participants then had the opportunity to get their hands dirty and team-up to classify four soil samples that had been lab analyzed for the “right” answer.  We had great turnout of 35 people, and participants were engaged both with the subject matter and one another. Here are some photographs of the event. Thanks to GZA for hosting and to Zach for his enlightening presentation.

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. 

Here are some photographs from last night’s event, Drilling 101, which was held at Technical Drilling Services (TDS) in Sterling, MA. TDS demonstrated various drilling and monitoring well installation methods used commonly throughout the industry. TDS also provided equipment and technique demonstrations. We had a great turn-out and would like to thank the LSPA Young Professionals Committee for organizing this fabulous event! 

Please click here to view the photo album.

The LSPA Young Professionals hosted a successful networking and trivia night at Lowell Beerworks on December 7, 2016. Six teams competed in general knowledge trivia for prizes. The first place team, comprised of Eric Andrews, Amanda Cantara, Ryan Farrell, Kate Hanrahan, and Michael Penzo, won by a large margin. A tense tie-breaker decided the second and third place teams.

A special thanks to LSPA Platinum sponsor, Alpha Analytical, for providing prizes to the top three teams and also offering extra prizes for bonus questions!

Join the EBC Young Environmental Professionals and the LSPA Young Professionals for a networking night at Harpoon Brewery in Boston’s Seaport. Mix and mingle with colleagues in the environmental and energy sectors and expand your network. These are the connections that will carry you through your career! 

All-you-can-eat pretzels, beer, and a tour of the Harpoon facility are included in the registration fee. Registration is capped at 50 – be sure to register today! Please note: there is a $15 registration fee which includes, pretzels, beer, and a facility tour. View Attendee List. 

LSPA’s Technical Practices Committee (TPC) and Young Professionals Committee (YPC) recently traveled to the Medfield State Hospital for a tour of the facility, led by John Thompson, LSP and member of the Technical Practices Committee.