Terrance Gray
NEIWPCC Executive Committee Member
Terrance Gray is the director of the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (RIDEM). Gray brings 34 years of experience at RIDEM, and since 2019 has been the primary point person on the Rhode Island interagency team for the Transportation and Climate Initiative. He has also led several permitting and enforcement program initiatives and reforms at RIDEM and has been directly involved in Rhode Island’s brownfields program since its inception. He received his bachelor’s in chemical engineering from Lehigh University, a master’s in civil engineering from Northeastern University, and a master’s in business administration from the University of Rhode Island.
Sue Kiernan
Representative of the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management Director at NEIWPCC Meetings of the Executive Committee and Commissioners
Susan Kiernan is a deputy administrator in the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (RIDEM) Office of Water Resources. She has worked at RIDEM since 1987 with a focus on water resources including groundwater, surface water and wetlands. She has lengthy experience developing water resource programs including non-point source pollution and water quality monitoring. Kiernan currently serves as a vice-chair of the Rhode Island Environmental Monitoring Collaborative and represents RIDEM in the regional Narragansett Bay Estuary Program and EPA Southeast New England Program. She oversees RIDEM programs involving water monitoring and assessment, TMDL development, nonpoint source pollution and financial assistance for water quality improvement and habitat restoration projects. Kiernan earned a bachelor’s in biology from the University of New Hampshire and a master of public affairs degree from the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University.
Jerome Larkin, MD
(Courtesy: Lifespan)
Jerome Larkin, MD is the director of the Rhode Island Department of Health (RI DOH). Dr. Larkin previously served as the medical director of Inpatient Infectious Diseases Consultation Services at Rhode Island Hospital. He has also served as the co-director of the Pediatric HIV Clinic at Hasbro Children’s Hospital and the medical director of the Infectious Disease Clinic at Rhode Island Hospital. He received his medical degree from the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and completed his undergraduate degree at Boston College.
Amy Parmenter
Representative of the Rhode Island Department of Health at NEIWPCC Meetings of the Commissioners
As the chief administrator for the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) Center for Drinking Water Quality, Amy Parmenter protects and promotes health and safety by ensuring the quality of the state’s public drinking water supplies. She has been with the center since 2013. Previously, she worked for the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and Oregon Health Authority’s drinking water program for almost a decade. Parmenter has a bachelor’s in geology from James Madison University, a master’s in biological and environmental sciences (hydrogeology) from the University of Rhode Island and is working towards a master’s in public administration at Roger Williams University.
Janine Burke-Wells
Janine Burke-Wells is the executive director for the North East Biosolids & Residuals Association (NEBRA), a position she has held since May 2019. Prior to joining NEBRA, Burke-Wells worked in various public sector positions for more than three decades, including 10 years with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and 20 years in local government where she oversaw the operations of the wastewater treatment systems in West Warwick and Warwick. Burke-Wells’ served as president of the New England Water Environment Association in 2018, and currently is a member of its Select Society of Sanitary Sludge Shovelers. She has a bachelor’s in chemical engineering from the University of Rhode Island and a master’s of public administration from Northeastern University.
James Kelly
James Kelly is the manager of Technical Analysis and Compliance for the Narragansett Bay Commission (NBC), Rhode Island’s largest public wastewater system. With a background in engineering, he has served the NBC in various roles since 1998. Kelly’s experience ranges from overseeing the monitoring of both NBC wastewater systems and ambient conditions in their receiving waters, to providing information important to the understanding of progress toward Clean Water Act goals following significant investments in improved wastewater treatment. In his current role, he also works on energy efficiency and sustainability, pollution prevention activities and workforce safety training.
Angelo Liberti
Angelo Liberti retired in 2021 after a 33-year career with the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, Office of Water Resources. He served as the administrator of Surface Water Protection for 21 years and was instrumental in leading initiatives that have resulted in significant water quality improvements in Narragansett Bay and Rhode Island’s rivers, streams and lakes. Liberti supervised the Rhode Island Pollution Discharge Elimination System permitting program, as well as programs overseeing the design and operation of wastewater systems. He has expertise in the implementation of the federal Clean Water Act including water quality standards, monitoring and modeling, and in the field of water pollution control. Liberti holds degrees in both civil and environmental engineering and marine biology and has been recognized by the U.S. EPA with a Lifetime Achievement Merit Award and by Save The Bay with an Environmental Achievement Award.