Hot Topics in the Environmental Industry

Laura Burnham helps BRS, Inc. clients tell their compelling story and gain the support they need to bring their projects to fruition. She brings more than 25 years of nonprofit management, creative placemaking, and economic development experience to her role as a planning professional and understands firsthand what it takes to put mission and vision into action. She has provided cultural facility and business planning, community engagement, fundraising, grant writing, and program evaluation services to nonprofit organizations, creative businesses, local government, and state agencies.

Laura began her career as an artist and art historian, but quickly discovered a passion for using arts and culture to build communities. She has organized hundreds of exhibitions, public art projects, and events to bring people together for discovery and dialogue. One highlight was her role as project manager for Knotted Grotto, a large public art installation by artist Meg Saligman at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Philadelphia. Project HOME specifically commissioned the art project for the visit of Pope Francis, and the installation engaged over 150,000 people in sharing their dreams, wishes, and sorrows, creating an outpouring of humanity that forever changed those who were fortunate enough to witness it. As executive director of Abington Art Center, Laura led the campaign for adaptive reuse of historic buildings and the development of a 27-acre, environmentally focused sculpture park on municipal land. The project leveraged partnerships and public and private funds to create a regional destination and cultural campus for the community. Laura was a founding member of Creative Montco, a civic initiative that developed a comprehensive cultural and creative economy plan for Montgomery County, PA, for 2012‒2022. She also served for many years on the board of the Philadelphia Cultural Alliance and serves as board treasurer for the historic Hiway Theater in Jenkintown, PA. Laura holds an M.S. in Community and Regional Planning from Temple University, and a B.A. in Art History from the University of Tennessee. She recently received a certificate in TOP (Technology of Participation) facilitation from the Institute of Cultural Affairs.

Maria Coler is the founder of HCI, a 100% women-owned environmental consulting firm specializing in the remediation of brownfield sites in urban centers. She is a Licensed Site Remediation Professional (LSRP) with the State of New Jersey and an alumna of the Goldman Sachs 10K Small Businesses program. Ms. Coler has overseen the remediation of hundreds of sites, including work on the largest redevelopment in U.S. history–Hudson Yards in Manhattan.

Ms. Coler seeks to nudge the industry into the 21^st century. She has developed a comprehensive suite of proprietary software to manage her firm’s operations and data, retain institutional knowledge, and generate cost-risk models. Her blue-sky goal is to facilitate the crowdsourcing of the remediation of the planet by harnessing the power of big data, streamlining work-flow processes, and designing standardized methodologies. Ms. Coler unveiled her proprietary tools in a standing-room-only learning lounge at Brownfields 2019, the industry’s premier biennial event hosted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Ms. Coler holds a B.S. in Environmental Science, a B.A. in Physics and a minor in English Literature from Rutgers University. Her current academic pursuits include coursework in systems biology and data analytics. She enjoys paying it forward by routinely hosting science and engineering student interns with the aim of advancing women in STEM.

Allison’s practice focuses on affirmative and defensive environmental litigation, environmental regulatory matters, and corporate and real estate transactions where potential environmental liabilities may inform contract provisions or insurance policies included in the transaction. She represents clients in Superfund and hazardous waste cases; natural resource damage (NRD) suits; and federal and state cleanup, cost-recovery, and contribution actions, as well as in the federally sponsored allocation processes that determine responsibility and cost accountability in large federal and state regulated environmental/hazardous waste sites. Allison advises companies on compliance with federal, state, and local environmental laws and regulations; management of environmental investigation and remediation at contaminated properties; obtaining and defending licenses, permits, and other approvals from state, regional, and federal regulatory bodies; and obtaining insurance coverage.

Mark counsels business clients on regulatory issues, dispute resolution, and federal and state court litigation. Well-versed in the enforcement and regulatory agendas driving the NJDEP from his previous experience as Deputy Attorney General for the State of New Jersey’s Department of Law & Public Safety, Division of Law, and Environmental Enforcement and Cost Recovery department, Mark represents clients in matters involving remediation of contaminated sites, including enforcement actions for alleged violations of such laws as the Spill Compensation and Control Act, Water Pollution Control Act, Underground Storage Tank Act, Industrial Site Recovery Act, Brownfield and Contaminated Site Remediation Act, and Site Remediation Reform Act. He has worked extensively on issues involving the New Jersey Spill Compensation Fund and Hazardous Discharge Site Remediation Fund claims programs, and frequently advises on the legal impact of new hazardous substance remediation standards.

Schenine Mitchell is Region 2’s Brownfields Coordinator and the federal liaison to the Regional Inter-Agency Working Group on Brownfields. Schenine has been helping regional communities achieve community revitalization goals and strengthen economies at EPA for 20 years! In the Region 2 Land, Chemicals and Redevelopment Division, Schenine functions as a Brownfields Project Officer for several Brownfields Assessment, Cleanup, Area Wide Planning, and Environmental Workforce and Job Development Training Grants and is the Lead Coordinator of the Environmental Workforce and Job Development Training Program. As part of the Regional Inter-Agency Working Group on Brownfields, Schenine assists local, state, and federal staff in addressing brownfields challenges, matching resources to plans, leveraging private investment and improving the environment. Schenine is currently pursuing a PhD in Environmental Management at Montclair State University with an interest in doctoral research on inter-agency collaborations and brownfields redevelopment.

Mr. Shoyer has spent the past 35+ years investigating and remediating organic and inorganic substances both in-situ and ex-situ. Mr. Shoyer’s current focus has been with per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS), 1,4-Dioxane, and 1,2,3-Trichlorpropane, and he provides environmental technical assistance to a city in New York whose drinking water supply has been impacted by PFAS. Specific experience has included characterization of surface water supplies; GAC, anion exchange resins and advanced oxidation PFAS removal performance effectiveness; and fate and transport assessments of source releases. Mr. Shoyer has also performed extensive research on alternative fluorine free foams (FFFs) and the various aqueous film forming foams (AFFFs), one major contributor of PFAS being released into the environment. He has presented at various forums on PFAS and other emerging contaminants and is a Licensed Site Remediation Professional (LSRP) and N-2 Industrial Operator in the State of New Jersey.

Mr. Snook’s professional experience spans 20 years of private sector environmental consulting in site remediation, with a focus in New Jersey and Pennsylvania on site remediation, sustainable Brownfield redevelopment, fate & transport modeling, green remediation, watershed restoration, event coordination, and public speaking. As a Licensed Site Remediation Professional (LSRP) since 2011, Mr. Snook has managed remediation projects, certified milestone documents, approved remedial strategies, and supervised the remediation of contaminated sites in accordance with NJDEP regulations and guidance. Mr. Snook is an inactive LSRP from 2021-2023 while a PhD candidate in Sustainability Education.

Mr. Snook has been an active volunteer since 2011 in the 501c3 non-profit Brownfield Coalition of the Northeast (BCONE). He was elected from 2016-2019 as an Officer (Secretary) and then from 2020-2023 as a BCONE Board member. In 2020, the Snook Solutions website was created to serve as a platform to introduce sustainability education and climate policy to the public.

Preethy Thangaraj serves as the policy advisor to the Governor on energy and environment and serves within the Office of Climate Action and the Green Economy.

Thangaraj initially joined the Governor’s Office in 2021 as a policy coordinator, supporting the energy, environment, and transportation portfolio. Prior to working in the Administration, Thangaraj served as an energy informatics and policy research specialist at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, focusing on climate action and key mitigation policies, wholesale electricity, the bioeconomy, and sustainable development. While at Bloustein, she also worked at the Rutgers Energy Institute, supporting academic leaders in energy planning, policy, and engineering.

Thangaraj is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh and Rutgers-Bloustein.