Episode 50: Women in Water

In this month’s episode of Talking Under Water, hosts Lauren Del Ciello, Katie Johns and Bob Crossen — in conjunction with Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day — share two interviews with stellar women in water on their career journeys and advice to the next generation. Johns spoke with Jennifer Kelly Lachmayr, who recently concluded her service as past president of NEWEA and is an active vice president at Arcadis. Del Ciello spoke with Melissa Jones, group president for commercial water solutions for Pentair. Plus, the hosts share a little about what this episode means to them as co-hosts and where you can find even more women in water Q&As in celebration throughout the month. This marks our 50th numbered episode of Talking Under Water. Finally, the hosts bid farewell to co-host Lauren Del Ciello as she leaves the podcast and starts a new adventure. Show Notes: Overview of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law State Revolving Fund Implementation Women in Water | WQP Women in Water | WWD  Women in Water | SWS Timestamps: Cold Open | 0:00 Host Introductions | 0:42 Episode Summary | 0:59 50th Episode Anniversary! | 1:44 Lauren says goodbye | 2:15 Women in Water coverage on all brands | 4:05 EPA State Revolving Fund Implementation Memo | 5:12 Comparing Women in Water Q&A responses | 6:16 Interview with Jennifer Kelly Lachmayr begins | 8:40 How did you get your start in water? | 9:05 Day-to-day duties with NWEA as president | 11:17 Mentorship’s value and importance | 13:33 Rewarding parts of being a mentor | 15:19 What does it mean to be a woman in the industry? | 16:57 Getting comfortable being uncomfortable | 19:42 Career goals | 21:58 Biggest topics or challenges facing the industry today | 24:19 General advice for young professionals entering the industry | 26:49 Interview with Melissa Jones begins | 29:02 Career path and journey to the water industry | 29:23 What drives you about your work? | 32:38 The role and criticality of mentorship | 34:15 No barriers, rather obstacles for women in water | 35:55 Who are you when you aren’t working | 37:10 Nature lovers in the water industry | 38:11 Advice for the next generation of the water workforce | 39:03 Housekeeping | 40:31 End | 43:49 Announcements: WQP 2022 Industry Icon: Bridging the Divide 2022 Azbee Award of Excellence Finalist—WQP Editor's Letters Next SWS webinar is on March 24 at 1 p.m. CT. Discussing drainage and flood control, and you can join the webinar for free at: https://bit.ly/SWSMarchWebinar About the Podcast Talking Under Water is the premier podcast for the water industry, including municipal and industrial water and wastewater, residential water treatment, storm water management and erosion control. It is produced in coordination between Water & Wastes Digest (WWD), Water Quality Products (WQP) and Storm Water Solutions (SWS). The podcast covers topics under the One Water movement including the municipal and industrial water and wastewater, point of use, point of entry, residential, storm water and erosion control markets. Talking Under Water highlights news, trends, new technologies, industry discussions and on-site interviews with experts for WWD, WQP and SWS. New episodes of the podcast are released on the third Friday of every month. Logo Images: Anatoly Tiplyashin / Romolo Tavani / stock.adobe.com. Contact the Talking Under Water podcast editors by emailing [email protected] or engaging with them on Twitter @TUWpodcast. Join the conversation by commenting or using the hashtag #talkingunderwaterpod on social media.