Jason Batchelder headshot

Jason Batchelder
NEIWPCC Executive Committee Member

Jason Batchelder was appointed as commissioner of the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) in September 2023. Batchelder previously served as the colonel of the Vermont Fish and Game Warden Service from 2014 until he retired in 2022. Batchelder leads DEC’s 300 employees working to promote clean air, clean water, and healthy communities in Vermont. He served in the U.S. Coast Guard and is a graduate of the University of Southern Maine.

Pete LaFlamme, Chair

Pete LaFlamme
Representative of the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner at NEIWPCC Meetings of the Executive Committee and Commissioners

Since 2007, Pete LaFlamme has been director of the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC) Watershed Management Division. Previously, he established DEC’s Stormwater Program and went on to develop and manage a number of stormwater regulatory and policy initiatives including a comprehensive program for managing stormwater-impaired state waters. Throughout his career, LaFlamme has specialized in mathematical modeling of water resources and water resources engineering. He did graduate coursework at the University of Vermont’s Water Resources Research Center, specializing in water resources analysis and modeling, and has a bachelor’s in environmental analysis from the University of New England.

Dr. Mark Levine

Dr. Mark Levine

Dr. Mark Levine was appointed commissioner of the Vermont Department of Health in March 2017. Prior to his appointment, Dr. Levine served as professor of medicine and associate dean for graduate medical education at the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont (UVM). He has also served as the Designated Institutional Official at the UVM Medical Center and vice chair for education in the Department of Medicine. Levine was elected a member of the Board of Regents of the American College of Physicians (ACP) in 2015, has been a fellow of ACP since 1992, and served as Governor of the Vermont chapter of ACP from 2007 to 2011. In 2016, Levine was also elected president-elect of the Vermont Medical Society. Levine earned his medical degree from the University of Rochester School of Medicine.

Dr. Lori Cragin
Representative of the Vermont Department of Heath Commissioner at NEIWPCC Meetings of the Commissioners

Dr. Lori Cragin is the division director and state epidemiologist for the environmental health division at the Vermont Department of Health. She has served in this role since 2011. Cragin previously oversaw the radon, school health, climate change and Environmental Public Health Tracking programs at the Health Department. Cragin received her doctorate from Colorado State University and her masters from Antioch New England Graduate School.

Dennis Lutz

Dennis Lutz

Since 1984, Dennis Lutz has been the public works director/town engineer for the town of Essex, Vermont. Previously, he worked for seven years in Vermont state government as an environmental engineering supervisor and seven years as project manager for Donald L. Hamlin Consulting Engineers. Lutz spent 37 years in military service, beginning on active duty as an engineer in Vietnam and Oregon and later as a member of the Vermont National Guard and assistant adjutant general for the Army. He is a certified professional engineer in civil and sanitary engineering in Vermont. He is also an elected water commissioner to the Champlain Water District, and an appointed member of the technical advisory committee of the Chittenden County Metropolitan Planning Commission. Lutz has a master’s and bachelor’s in civil engineering from Cornell University.