Board Chair: Ben Kele
Ben has more than 20 years’ experience in the water industry and has researched, built and operated a wide range of water treatment facilities. He has extensive experience in decentralized installations and addressing the concerns of salinity in recycled water.
He is recognized as a leader in the management, treatment and beneficial use of wastewater streams that have ‘difficult’ chemistry, organic loads and/or environmental license conditions.
Ben has extensive educational experience having written, developed, and presented a number of University & Professional short courses focused on water & wastewater treatment & recycling. As Ben works and installs system commercially he is able to bring these real world examples into the classroom which is beneficial for the participants.
Board Vice Chair: Oliver Grievson
Oliver is a highly experienced internationally recognised water industry professional with particular skills in both process engineering and instrumentation. A Chartered Engineer, Environmentalist, Scientist and Chartered Water & Environmental Manager, he also holds Fellowships with CIWEM, the IET, InstMC, IES and the International Water Association. Associate Director at the engineering consultancy, Atkins, Oliver helps a number of the water companies with wastewater monitoring and flow compliance as well as the adoption of digital transformation and the use of digital tools. Oliver is the Chair of the IWA Digital Water Programme and Chair of the Foundation for Water Research Sustainable Wastewater Management Panel producing books, white papers and presenting at conferences around the world. University of Exeter, Visiting Professor in Civil, Construction & Environmental Engineering Visiting Professorship, his aim is to help develop the next generation of technical leaders within the water industry. Oliver empowers others with a mixture of traditional wastewater engineering skills as well as more modern digital skills whilst helping them to think out of the box to help solve some of the water industries trickiest problems.
Board Secretary: Leslie Desjardins
Manager of General Operations and Training for Western Canada Onsite Wastewater Management Association and its affiliates, the Alberta Onsite Wastewater Management Association (AOWMA), the WCOWMA Onsite Wastewater Management Association of BC, The Manitoba Onsite Wastewater Management Association and the Saskatchewan Onsite Wastewater Management Association.
The Western Canada Onsite Wastewater Management Association (WCOWMA) is the not-for profit organization established to educate, train and certify industry professionals in western Canada. The association engages its member installers, septage haulers, suppliers, municipalities and provincial government departments to arrive at sound practices that strengthen the industry, and ensure safe and effective septage management for all Western Canada.
Board Treasurer Sandra Whitehead
Assistant Professor and Program Director The George Washington University.
Member of the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council–Volunteer * US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Dec 2017 – Sep 2024
Director of Program and Partnership DevelopmentDirector of Program and Partnership Development * National Environmental Health Association
Board of Directors
Ron Naumann, P.E., Director of Technical Support
National Precast Concrete Association.
University of Applied Sciences, Darmstadt
Engineering Manager with a demonstrated history of working in the construction industry. Strong engineering skilled in Precast, Product Development, Product Problem Forensic Investigation, Product Management and Sales.
linkedin.com/in/ron-naumann-pe-dipl-ing-fh-44411614
Director of Technical Services and support for NPCA members if any engineering related questions should arise. Committee staff liaison for the Onsite Wastewater Committee as well as for the Gravity Grease Interceptor Subcommittee. Represents the interests of our members in ASTM committees as well as ACI committees and try to work closely with State site onsite wastewater related associations. In my spare time at work I also responsible for performing the 1st review of the plant audits for our NPCA Plant Certification program. I am also the chair of ASTM’s 27.30 subcommittee.
Board of Directors Casey Fiedler
Casey is the owner of Michigan Well and Septic. His family ran Shunk/Fiedler R&L Septic in Mason, MI for 30 years. Casey is now a time of sale inspector and Alternative Wastewater Maintenance Provider in Ingham County in Michigan. He also runs and coordinates Michigan Septic, a full service install, pumping, repair, and operating company based in the Lansing, MI area. Casey serves on the Board of Directors for the Michigan Septic Tank Association as well as representing Michigan on the National Association of Wastewater Technicians board.
Board of Directors Valerie Jenkinson
Founder and Chair at Operators Without Borders Valerie Jenkinson is an educator and taught for 25 years at the University of British Columbia and the BC Institute of Technology. At one point she owned what was probably the largest water and wastewater operator training company in Canada. In 2017 Valerie founded Operators Without Borders in response to Hurricanes Irma and Maria in the Caribbean Region. In addition to being Chair of the Board, Valerie is Chair of OWB’s Deployment Committee and Co-Chair of its Partnership Development Committee.
Board of Directors Sandra Whitehead
Assistant Professor and Program Director The George Washington University.
Member of the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council–Volunteer * US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Dec 2017 – Sep 2024
Director of Program and Partnership DevelopmentDirector of Program and Partnership Development * National Environmental Health Association
Board of Directors Lynn Schneider R.S.
Health & Environmental Investigator IV. OSS Program Supervisor.
Department of Environmental Health King County, WA.
Executive Director Steven Morton
Steve comes to WasteWater Education with over 28 years of experience in public policy, economics, research and development, program evaluation and community engagement across a range of portfolios in both the private and public sectors. In the water space, Steve has led a range of critical policy reforms in Australia, including in demand and supply planning, water sensitive urban design, stormwater harvesting and re-use, water industry regulation, the interface between water and the mining sector and the alignment of water policy and regulation and stormwater management planning.
He has also facilitated a large number of water policy and knowledge exchange programs between Australia and India, Malaysia, Nepal, Thailand, Timore-Leste, Indonesia and China, among others.
Steven comes to WasteWater Education with an eminent resume which can be found here.
You can reach Steve at info[at]wastewatereducation[dot]org or at 
Chief Financial Officer
Director of Education
Dendra Best
Dendra Best, a founding Board Member and the Executive Director of WasteWater Education for the last 20 years, will continue as Chief Financial Officer and as the new Director of Education.
WasteWater Education Board Chair, Ben Kele, said on the appointment that ‘Steve brings a wealth of experience and a unique skill set to WasteWater Education and we look forward to him further growing the organization and its impact over the coming years. The Board also recognizes the leadership of Dendra over the previous decades and we are delighted to have her continue her association with the organization. The Board greatly appreciate all that Dendra has done to develop WasteWater Education into the internationally respected organization it is today. Without her drive and leadership, we would not have had the positive impact on the water sector that we have. Indeed in 2024 alone we have seen a 20% increase in education clients!
With special responsibility for expanding our excellence in online education services you can reach her at djbest[at]wastewatereducation[dot]org
Past Board Members
Mary Reiley
Mary Reiley – Reiley Ridge Consulting is a biologist by training and retired from EPA’s Office of Water after 36 years working to protect water quality for the benefit of both aquatic and human health. Besides her academic training, Mary is also trained in program management; facilitation for meetings, working groups, and decision makers needing assistance with interest-based negotiation, difficult conversations, and divergent perspectives; as well as coaching, mentoring, and technical and inspirational public speaking.
Mary spent her career using this skill set to bring together diverse science, engineering, legal, economic, and policy expertise from across EPA and other federal agencies, academia, businesses, and stakeholders to lead them through science and policy discussions that established state-of-the-science and informed water quality protection decisions. She has been called on to speak and teach to students, stakeholders, scientists, and policy makers in many parts of the world. Mary has a passion for working with scientists to make their work more comprehensible and useable by the public. She continues to grow a network of like-minded scientists to bring science out from behind the curtain for everyone to see and use.