Melissa A. Harclerode, PhD, BCES is a technical specialist with over 15 years of experience designing and managing environmental projects for multidisciplinary teams across the federal, state, and private sectors. She provides technical support and modeling on environmental footprint analysis, life cycle assessment, community impact evaluations, risk communication, public outreach planning, and the development of sustainable best management practices. Dr. Harclerode’s responsibilities also include serving as project technical lead or conceptual site model lead for various site remediation projects, including emerging contaminants such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and 1,4-dioxane. At CDM Smith, she has helped propel the work of environmental remediation specialists into the future, with innovative stakeholder engagement techniques and an overall commitment to the social and economic impacts of environmental remediation. She serves as the Interstate Technology Regulatory Council (ITRC) Risk Communication Toolkit co-leader, with a focus on PFAS.
Tom Bruton, PhD is a Senior Scientist with the Green Science Policy Institute who works at the intersection of science, government, and business to reduce the use of harmful chemicals. Tom leads the Institute’s research and policy work on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). He received his Ph.D. in environmental engineering at UC Berkeley, where his research focused on the cleanup of chemical contaminants, including PFAS, in soil and groundwater.
Karla Black, PhD, MEP, PEM, REHS is the Emergency Preparedness Coordinator for the Kent County Health Department (KCHD) in Grand Rapids, Michigan which serves over half a million residents in urban and rural settings. While at KCHD, she has responded to a number of public health issues including PFAS water contamination, extreme weather events and COVID-19. Prior to her service in Kent County Dr. Black served as a Strategic National Stockpile contractor for the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Emergency Preparedness Coordinator for Allegan County in Michigan. Dr. Black received her B.S. in Chemistry and B.S. in Biology from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and her Ph.D. in Biology from Purdue University.
Sara Simmonds is the Environmental Health Division Director at the Kent County Health Department in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She served in the Peace Corps serving as a Natural Resources Management Volunteer in Bolivia, South America prior to entering the local public health workforce. She began her career in local public health at Kent County as a General Sanitarian and is a Registered Environmental Health Specialist. She is the Past President of the Michigan Environmental Health Association and incoming President of the Michigan Association of Local Environmental Health Administrators. She received a Bachelor of Science from Michigan State University in Environmental Studies and Applications and a Master of Public Administration from Grand Valley State University.
Resources
AAAS EPI Center: Addressing Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in Drinking Water: Guides for Local and State Leaders
AAAS EPI Center: Addressing Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in Drinking Water: Risk Communications Guide for Local and State Leaders
Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO): PFAS Risk Communications Hub
Environmental Research Institute of the States: PFAS Risk Communications Hub
Green Science Policy Institute: PFAS Central
Interstate Technology Regulatory Council (ITRC): PFAS Risk Communication
Kwiatkowski CF, Andrews DQ, Birnbaum LS, et. al. Scientific Basis for Managing PFAS as a Chemical Class. Environ. Sci. Technol. Lett. 2020, 7, 8, 532–543. Online: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.estlett.0c00255
