Howard Carter is the president-elect and a member of the 2023-24 Board of Trustees for the Water Environment Federation (WEF), an international organization of water quality professionals headquartered in Alexandria, Va.

Howard is the director of the Water Resource Recovery Department for the cty of Saco, Maine. He is responsible for the daily operations and maintenance, funding, staffing, billing, licensing and construction of the city’s Resource Recovery Facility and 32 pumping stations. He also oversees the implementation of Combined Sewer Overflow Master Plan and any separation or construction projects associated with that.

A WEF member since 1998, Howard spent five years in the WEF House of Delegates as a representative of the New England Water Environment Association (NEWEA) and his last year as the speaker of the House. During that time, he has chaired the House Nominating Committee, served on the House Steering Committee, the CLC Steering Committee, along with the WEFMAX, Outreach and Budget committees, and has been a member of most work groups. Additionally, he was a founding member of the New England Operations Challenge team "Pump Fiction" that went on to compete nationally in both Division 1 and 2 for a number of years.

Howard is also an active member of NEWEA, where he served as president in 2010. He is also a past president of the Maine Water Environment Association in 2002.

In addition to receiving numerous WEF Operations Challenge team awards over the years Howard is also a recipient of the William D. Hatfield Award, the Arthur Sidney Bedell Award, A WEF Fellow, a WEF Service Pin Recipient, and a member of the Select Society of Sanitary Shovelers.

Howard is a graduate of both the U.S. Naval Nuclear Piping/Mechanical Apprenticeship program and the Southern Maine Technical College Wastewater Treatment/ Environmental program.

Updated Oct. 4, 2023

Keith L. Hobson is vice president and a member of the WEF Board of Trustees and a member of the 2023-24 Board of Trustees for the Water Environment Federation (WEF), an international organization of water quality professionals headquartered in Alexandria, Va.

Keith is the former president and CEO of Fox Engineering Associates, and currently a Project Manager with FOX Strand in Ames, Iowa, with more than 40 years of experience in environmental engineering as a consultant in the field of environmental engineering for both municipal and industrial clients. He also served with Black & Veatch for more than 13 years and has been involved in design of water and wastewater treatment facilities ranging in capacity from 2 mgd to over 400 mgd.

A WEF member since college, he served as WEF Treasurer from 2019 through 2023 and as speaker of the WEF House of Delegates (HOD) in 2018-2019. He served for two terms on the HOD as a representative of the Iowa Water Environment Association (IAWEA) and as a delegate at large. He has served as chair or vice chair of several workgroups and committees of the HOD, as well as chair of the WEF Audit and Finance committees. He also serves on the WEF Government Affairs Committee.

Keith has been an active member of IAWEA, serving on many committees, chairing the newsletter/publications and financial review committees, and consulting with IDNR on regulatory issues. He also served as chair of the newsletter committee for the Kansas WEA prior to moving to Iowa. He has authored many reports and presented technical papers on various topics in environmental engineering.

Keith holds degrees in civil engineering from Iowa State University (B.S.) and University of Missouri-Columbia (M.S.). He is a Board Certified Environmental Engineer (BCEE) through the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and a member of the Select Society of Sanitary Sludge Shovelers. Keith is a registered professional engineer in Iowa and multiple other states. He is a recipient of the Arthur Sidney Bedell Award and the Kenneth J. Miller Founders Award.

Updated Oct. 4, 2023

Christine Volkay-Hilditch is the 2023-2026 Treasurer for the Water Environment Federation (WEF), an international organization of water quality professionals headquartered in Alexandria, VA.

Christine is employed as the deputy director of public works/utilities for the city of Lancaster, Pa.  She leads the management and operations of the Water and Wastewater Treatment Plants, and supervises engineering, laboratory, pretreatment, operations, and maintenance staff.

Christine earned her bachelor's degree in civil engineering from Villanova University and her master's in civil engineering from Northeastern University.  She also has a master's of public administration from Villanova. Christine is a registered Professional Engineer and a Diplomat of the Environmental Engineering Academy.  She holds both a Pennsylvania Sewage Treatment Plant Operator License and a Pennsylvania Waterworks Operator License.

Christine has served in the WEF House of Delegates and has been a member of several workgroups; she chaired the Budget and Operator Outreach committees. She is currently vice chair of the Utility Management Committee.  She is a member of the Pennsylvania Society of Sanitary Sludge Shovelers, and is a recipient of the Arthur Sidney Bedell Award and the Volunteer Service Award.

Christine is a member of the Pennsylvania Water Environment Association (PWEA) and the Eastern Pennsylvania Water Pollution Control Operators Association (EPWPCOA), and has served as president of both organizations.  She has also chaired the EPWPCOA and PWEA pretreatment committees, and the PWEA Finance Committees.  Christine is also a member of the board of directors of the Pennsylvania Water and Wastewater Agency Response Network and currently serves as its treasurer.  She is also a member of the Delaware County Professional Engineers Society and assisted with the annual MathCounts competition for several years. 

Christine is an avid supporter of operator certification and is an instructor in the Wastewater Operator Training Program at the Delaware County Community College. 

Updated Oct. 4, 2023

Ifetayo Venner, P.E., is the immediate past president of, and a member of the 2023-24 Board of Trustees for, the Water Environment Federation (WEF), an international organization of water quality professionals headquartered in Alexandria, Va.

Ifetayo is a Professional Engineer and Envision Sustainability professional with Arcadis, a global design and consultancy firm for natural and built assets. She is the North America Wastewater and Water Sustainability Leader.

Ifetayo has been an active member of WEF since joining after college, participating in committees and task forces related to water resource recovery facility design, sustainability and WEF governance. She is a member of the Florida Water Environment Association and the Water Environment Association of Texas.

Ifetayo is a licensed professional engineer in Florida and Texas. She has a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from McGill University, a master’s degree in environmental engineering and science from Stanford University, and an MBA (with a concentration in management and sustainability) from the University of South Florida.

Updated October 4, 2023

Pat Nichols is the interim executive director of the Water Environment Federation, an international organization of water quality professionals headquartered in Alexandria, Va. In this capacity, he oversees a staff of 100 and an annual budget of $27 million and serves as Secretary of the Federation’s Board of Trustees.

Mr. Nichols was appointed as WEF Interim Executive Director in June 2023. He brings nearly 30 years of experience as an interim CEO for nonprofits.

He led a behavioral health agency through a major turnaround in the midst of COVID and devised the financial rescue of a sick children’s camp. He led a national refugee agency in reuniting separated immigrant families while restoring financial health. He managed the start-up of a $500 million health funder and the turnaround of an 18-nation, 600-chapter subsidiary of a $1 billion hospital system.

Nichols is a specialist in guiding not-for-profit organizations through major transitions. He has served as interim director for more than 30 organizations, positioning them for success by focusing on mission and core values, strategic clarity, integrity, accountability, and customer service.

Updated May 31, 2023

Janet Hurley Cann, P.E.,  is a member of the 2023-24 Board of Trustees for the Water Environment Federation (WEF), an international organization of water quality professionals headquartered in Alexandria, Va.

Janet brings extensive experience to her role as the Asset Engineering Manager for the Collection and Distribution Department of Spartanburg Water, a combined commission of public works and special purpose district providing water and wastewater services in Upstate South Carolina. She began her career in the environmental field more than 35 years ago as a regulator at the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC), before beginning her employment with the Spartanburg Sanitary Sewer District in the late 1980’s.

After retiring from Spartanburg Water in 2015, Janet continued to work as a consultant for an Upstate engineering firm, until lured back to public service, returning to Spartanburg Water as Asset Engineering Manager for the collection and distribution systems rehabilitation program. Through the course of her career, she has managed a variety of projects, including collection system expansion, pump station and treatment plant construction and upgrades, the development of the District’s first collection hydraulic model, and now the rehabilitation of both the distribution and collection systems.

Janet is in fact a second generation WEF member – her father, Noel Hurley, represented the Water Environment Association of South Carolina (WEASC) as Director, a forerunner to the Delegate, in the late 1980s. She has been a member of the WEASC since 1985 and WEF since 1987.

Janet has held many leadership roles, including service on numerous WEASC committees such as the Association Secretary from 1987 to 2003, as President from 2009-2010, and WEF Delegate from 2010-2013. She has participated on several WEF Committees and served WEF as Speaker of the House of Delegates from 2013-2014, Treatment Community of Practice Director from 2015-2017, and Vice Chair and Chair of the Committee Leadership Council from 2017-2021.

Janet is a native of South Carolina, currently residing in Spartanburg, SC, with her husband and two children. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering from Clemson University and Master’s Degree in Civil Engineering from the University of South Carolina. She is a licensed engineer and biological wastewater operator trainee in the state of South Carolina.

Updated Oct. 4, 2023

Tracy Ekola, PE is a member of the 2023-24 Board of Trustees for the Water Environment Federation (WEF), an international organization of water quality professionals headquartered in Alexandria, Va. 

Tracy serves as vice president and Midwest senior director for Brown and Caldwell. As an executive with more than 30 years of experience in environmental engineering and business leadership, Tracy provides clear, effective communication and collaboration to maintain a positive forward-thinking environment. Her leadership experience has focused on organizational strategy, innovation and utility performance, regional and national market analyses, risk management, project management improvement processes, succession planning and leadership training and development.

With an extensive background in planning, design, and construction of wastewater treatment facilities, she has worked in various roles from on-site engineer to key leadership roles in both public-sector and private/employee-owned organizations.  She has worked with industrial clients and public utilities addressing regulatory challenges, technology evaluation, developing innovative utility management approaches, program delivery/implementation, and capital improvement program development.

Tracy has been an active member of WEF and the Central States Water Environment Association (CSWEA), participating in various committees and leadership roles spanning almost three decades. Tracy has served on the WEF House of Delegates as a delegate at large and a second term as a delegate for CSWEA.  She served on the WEF House of Delegates (HOD) Budget Committee and multiple HOD workgroups.  She has served as the conveyance and watershed community director and recently as Director for multiple task forces for the Community Leadership Council.  She has also served on multiple WEF committees, including Government Affairs, Utility Management, and Program communities.

Tracy also has been an active participant in guiding local, state, and national level regulations. In collaboration with utilities and supporting organizations, she has provided input on various topics related to water quality, wastewater treatment, biosolids management, and land application to strive for cost-effective, innovative solutions that are protective of the environment.  Collaboration is key to her success in working alongside utilities and their industry partners to evaluate scenarios that benefit the community, stakeholders, and industry partners.

Tracy graduated with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the University of Minnesota and Executive Education Vistage International at Stanford Graduate School of Business. She resides in Minnesota with her husband, who works for the state of Minnesota in natural resources and forestry planning. They enjoy working and playing in the great outdoors along with their two sons, who are employed as electrical and mechanical engineers. 

Updated Oct. 4, 2023

Diego Rosso is a member of the 2023-24 Board of Trustees for the Water Environment Federation (WEF), an international organization of water quality professionals headquartered in Alexandria, Va.

Diego is Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and of Chemical Engineering and Material Science at the University of California, Irvine, where he is also Director of the Water-Energy Nexus (WEX) Center. He is Principal Investigator of the Environmental Process Laboratory, which is a process engineering research unit focusing on water reclamation and reuse. Diego is also responsible for coordinating the research activities of the WEX Center, which is the converging point of multiple faculty and industrial partners, working together on fundamental and applied research that involved student research and training. He teaches courses on process design, physical-chemical treatment, carbon and energy footprint analysis of water, and a seminar on bubbles. He has published more than 200 between journal and conference, and has published the book on aeration, mixing, and energy (Bubbles & Sparks).

Since 2000, Diego has been investigating aeration systems and the water-energy-carbon nexus of water reclamation and reuse processes. His research work is centered on wastewater aeration and on the energy requirements for aerating efficiently. Both in research and professional practice, he is engaged in field work and has been testing treatment facilities in four continents. He is a Chemical Engineering Laureate (2002) from the University of Padua in Italy and holds Civil Engineering M.S. (2003) and Ph.D. (2005) from UCLA.

Diego has been an active member of WEF and of the California WEA and has been a member since he was a student. He has participated in various MA conferences and in WEFTEC as student, postdoctoral scholar, and professor. In addition, he has presented at international events supported by WEF, as WEF Ambassador, including several ACODAL conferences in Colombia and IWA WRRmod in France. After joining the WEFTEC Program Committee, he led the Municipal Symposium before taking the Chair of the WEFTEC Program Committee in 2018. During his tenure in the Program Committee, he helped transform the program of WEFTEC and WEFTEC Connect, and has been a champion for new modes of content delivery, such as the mobile sessions, knowledge development forums, or foreign language programming.

When WEF assembled the Academic Engagement Task Force, Diego joined and helped the Federation and its research journal (Water Environment Research) promote the engagement of students, faculty, and researchers from academia and industry. In addition, he participated in other WEF activities, including the Fracking Task Group and the Knowledge Development Forum on Intelligent Water Technology Solutions for Disinfection and Public Health Protection and Water Security.

Updated Oct. 4, 2023

Stephen Sanders is a 2023-24 member of the WEF Board of Trustees and the director and head trainer of the Environmental Training Center at SUNY-Morrisville College in New York.  The center provides pre-certification training for wastewater and drinking water operators, as well as for New York State Department of Conservation regulators. He has been training operators for more than 10 years and has grown the program to the largest of its kind in New York state.  He is a dedicated water professional, certified as a licensed wastewater and drinking water operator and certified instructor for New York state. He has more than 20 years of experience in the field from the private, public and not-for-profit sectors.

Stephen has served on the initial WEF diversity, equity and inclusion task force and subsequent committee, as well as the WEFTEC Advisory Board. He helped establish his member association’s (the New York Water Environment Association) DE&I committee and served as its first chairperson. He also serves on New York state’s Operator Certification Governance Council, New York Section AWWA Board of Governors, and as the chair for NYSAWWA Operators committee.

Updated Oct. 4, 2023

Kalpna Solanki is a 2023-24 member of the WEF Board of Trustees and president and CEO of the Environmental Operators Certification Program in British Columbia.

Kalpna brings extensive experience with Board Governance, strong connections to the operator community, and strategic partnerships with agriculture, food & Beverage, and other industries. Kalpna is also a founding director of Operators Without Borders in Vancouver.

Updated Oct. 4, 2023

Corey Williams is a member of the 2023-24 Board of Trustees for the Water Environment Federation (WEF), an international organization of water quality professionals headquartered in Alexandria, Va. 

Corey currently serves as president and CEO of SmartCover Systems, the innovation leader for intelligent, real-time sewer monitoring systems. Prior to his role at SmartCover, Corey served as the CEO of a Suez subsidiary, Optimatics; as vice president and general manager of Inflection Point Solutions, a software development and management consulting firm also serving the water industry; and at Black and Veatch as the director of environmental information systems.  

A WEF member for his over 30-year career, Corey has guided multiple companies, engaged in advisory board positions for startups, and served as project manager or executive in charge of more than 125 projects for water and wastewater utilities throughout the United States, Australia and Europe.  Corey has authored more than 75 papers in IT, OT, IoT, and the smart water and innovation space for the water industry.   

Corey is active in many professional associations and has been the co-principal investigator in research initiatives related to the application of technology to drive business value in utilities.  He is the co-founder and moderator of both the Water and Wastewater CIO and CFO Forums. He founded these forums with the mission of bringing together innovative water and wastewater utility leaders from all over the country and creating a valuable space for knowledge transfer and networking.

Corey earned a B.S in civil engineering from Kansas State University.

Updated Oct. 12, 2022

A history of the leadership of the Water Environment Federation, from its inception in 1928 as the Federation of Sewage Works Association to the present day.

list of WEF Past Officers (pdf)