Each year, the Pacific Northwest Clean Water Association (PNCWA) offers scholarships to Student and Young Professional (S&YP) committee members to attend the national Water and Environment Federation Technical Exhibition and Conference (WEFTEC). As the lucky recipient of one of this year’s two scholarships, I had the opportunity to join over 20,000 water professionals gathering in Chicago for the 92nd WEFTEC, the largest annual water quality exhibition in the world.
The conference kicked off with an opening session featuring keynote speaker Dr. Lera Boroditsky, an Associate Professor of Cognitive Science at the University of California-San Diego. Dr. Boroditsky spoke about how language plays a critical role in influencing our perception of the world, including the development and reinforcement of personal biases. She connected this power of language to the importance of understanding how to use communication in developing a diverse and inclusive workforce in the water industry. Dr. Boroditsky’s message was echoed in the remarks of (past) WEF president Tom Kunetz who emphasized the power of building an inclusive and diverse workforce in the world of water and wastewater.
At PNCWA, our mission supports the professional development of our members. The AWWA/WEF joint YP Summit provides the young professionals in our organization the opportunity to join other YPs from across the country to learn, grow, and build community. Each year the Student and Young Professional committee sponsor two member YPs to attend the YP Summit. Due to an increase in interest this year, the S&YP committee made a call for applications. Erica Haide, a marketing professional from Brown and Caldwell, and Brittany Sorenson, an engineer with BergerABAM, were selected through the application process.