Thursday, March 28, 2024

Williamson to lead EPA Region 2 Division of Environmental Science and Assessment

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today that Anahita Williamson, who has led Rochester Institute of Technology’s New York State Pollution Prevention Institute for the past six years, will be the next director of its Division of Environmental Science and Assessment for Region 2.

“Dr. Williamson is a highly respected engineer who has a strong environmental track record on pollution prevention and other science issues,” EPA Regional Administrator Judith Enck said. "She has helped scores of businesses reduce the use of toxic chemicals, energy and water. EPA is thrilled that she will be joining the EPA staff in a leadership position.”

Based in Edison, New Jersey, Anahita will be responsible for a 65-person team and their work supporting the EPA’s monitoring programs. This will include overseeing the work at the division’s laboratory, which provides analysis services on items including samples of soil, drinking water and hazardous waste. The division’s work also includes field work like sampling investigations and surveys, and the Regional Science Program, which seeks to engage local communities.

Williamson is strongly established in the environmental engineering field, having previously worked at Xerox on increasing sustainability and having won the EPA’s 2013 Environmental Quality Award, in addition to earning other accolades and authoring multiple peer-reviewed publications.