Katie Dykes
NEIWPCC Executive Committee Member
Katie Scharf Dykes has served as the Commissioner of Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (CT DEEP) since February 2019. Scharf Dykes previously served as chair of the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority from 2015-2018, and as Deputy Commissioner for Energy at CT DEEP from 2012-2015. She also served as the chair of the board of directors of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, Inc. (RGGI) from 2014 to 2017. RGGI is a multi-state effort focused on reducing carbon emissions from electric generating facilities. Scharf Dykes joined CT DEEP in March 2012 after prior service as Deputy General Counsel for the White House Council on Environmental Quality and as a Legal Advisor to the General Counsel for the U.S. Department of Energy. She is a graduate of Yale College and the Yale Law School.
Jennifer Perry
Representative of the Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection Commissioner at NEIWPCC Meetings of the Executive Committee and Commissioners
Jennifer Perry is the Bureau Chief of the Materials Management and Compliance Assurance for the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. Perry brings extensive experience in permitting and enforcement, personnel management, capital budget planning and project management, emergency flood response, as well as experience working on many cross-cutting projects and issues. She has represented the department on numerous boards and organizations both regionally and nationally, including being chair of the Thames River Valley Flood Control Commission. Perry earned a bachelor’s of science in civil engineering from UCONN and is a professional engineer.
Nisha Patel
Acting Representative of the Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection Commissioner at NEIWPCC Meetings of the Executive Committee and Commissioners
Nisha Patel has been with the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (CT DEEP) for almost 30 years. Her experience includes 20+ years in the Water Permitting & Enforcement Division in roles which included conducting and overseeing various permitting, inspection, and enforcement activities in the wastewater and stormwater programs; and six years in the Waste Engineering and Enforcement Division. In 2020, she joined DEEP’s Municipal Wastewater Program as the assistant director and is currently the director of the Water Planning and Management Division which includes Municipal Wastewater, Dam Safety, and Water Monitoring & Planning programs. Patel received her bachelor’s of science in engineering and MBA from the University of Connecticut and is a Connecticut licensed professional engineer.
Manisha Juthani
photo credit: Anthony DeCarlo
Manisha Juthani, MD, became the commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Public Health in 2021. Previously, she served as an associate professor of medicine (infectious disease) and epidemiology and director of the Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program at the Yale School of Medicine. Commissioner Juthani received her bachelor’s from the University of Pennsylvania and her medical degree from Cornell University Medical College. Dr. Juthani has been published widely in more than 50 peer-reviewed publications in the field of infectious disease.
Lori Mathieu
Representative of the Connecticut Department of Public Health Commissioner at NEIWPCC Meetings of the Executive Committee and Commissioners
Lori Mathieu is a public health branch chief with the Connecticut Department of Public Health’s Environmental Health and Drinking Water (EHDW) Branch, which is responsible for state and federal regulatory oversight and technical assistance for the state’s 2,500 public drinking water systems. Mathieu serves as the department appointed representative to both the Water Planning Council and the State Drought Interagency Team. In 2021, she became president elect to the Association of State Drinking Water Administrators and is chair of the town of Coventry’s Inland Wetland Agency. Mathieu is a graduate of the University of Connecticut with a degree in environmental planning, engineering, and geography.
Michael Bisi
Michael Bisi completed a five-decade career with the town of Glastonbury, Connecticut serving as superintendent of the Sanitation Department, managing the towns Water Pollution Control and Solid Waste Disposal/Recycling programs since 1993. He has served as chairman of the Capitol Region East Operating Committee and Central Connecticut Solid Waste Authority managing regional hazardous and waste disposal programs. He also served as past president of the Connecticut Water Pollution Abatement Association and state director with the New England Water Environment Association (NEWEA). He is the recipient of the Water Environment Federation William D. Hatfield and the NEWEA Clair N. Sawyer and Operations awards.
Denis Cuevas
Denis Cuevas has worked in the public sector for more than 20 years and serves as general manager of the City of Waterbury, Water Pollution Control Department since 2009. He is the current President of the Connecticut Association of Water Pollution Control Authorities (CAWPCA). His experience has focused on managing the Water Pollution Treatment Facility with a design flow of 27 million gallons a day, and a collection system that includes 20 pump stations and 330 miles of collection system infrastructure. Cuevas is responsible in managing the design and construction of wastewater infrastructure projects including the phosphorous reduction project currently under construction. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Connecticut and is a licensed professional engineer in Connecticut.
Jane K. Stahl
Jane Stahl has over thirty years of experience as an environmental policymaker, regulator and consultant. As Deputy Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, Stahl was responsible for the state’s Air, Waste, Water and Long Island Sound Programs. She now brings the breadth and depth of knowledge acquired through her leadership of those programs to private and public entities engaged in project development, permitting, enforcement, rulemaking and policy development issues in the realms of energy, environmental protection and natural resource management and land use. Stahl received a bachelor’s in environmental studies from the State University of New York (SUNY) Stony Brook, an a Master of Science in natural resource policy and management from the University of Michigan, and her J.D. from the UConn School of Law.