Stories

What is your current role? How long have you worked for Loureiro?

I first started with Loureiro in a part-time/internship capacity while I was finishing my Environmental Engineering degree at University of Connecticut back in 2016. I was originally involved with wastewater work before moving entirely into environmental remediation over the last five years. I have experience in groundwater and soil vapor treatment, soil vapor mitigation, and investigation of all sorts of environmental media. Typically, the environmental assessment division finds contaminants during an investigation and my division comes in to either clean up the pollution to concentrations below the regulatory criteria, or mitigate the transport of the contaminants.

Over the last three and a half years, I’ve worked largely on a project at Pratt & Whitney East Hartford, where we are installing sub slab depressurization systems (SSDS) across the campus for Raytheon Technologies – which is mitigating about 2 million square feet of factory and office space. So I’ve become somewhat of a specialist in vapor intrusion, or the transport of soil gas into overlying structures.

I continue to learn so much throughout my time at Loureiro, and every year, I’ve progressed because my managers have trusted me with more responsibility. I just recently took on the mantle of Project Manager from Senior Project Engineer. Unlike many companies where you may have two roles that you essentially advance into, Loureiro has about five. I love that we’re structured this way because it provides stepping stones that help new employees feel like they’re constantly growing and that your hard work is being rewarded.

What is the most interesting / rewarding aspect of your job?

I love that I’m given a site with a clearly defined problem and get to work with others to solve the issue. It’s not only the thrill of problem solving, but also seeing progress being made — that’s why I’m in remediation. I’m on the site day-to-day, managing our teams, and I get to see the system being built over time. Then a year later, I will walk into that same building once the system is completed and see everything working the way it should (fingers crossed). Other careers are not often blessed with a beginning, middle, and end to their projects. In my experience our client’s also share in the excitement and they appreciate seeing progress as they watch contaminants being remediated..

And the work we do is only possible because of the great people we have here at Loureiro. The only way you get things done is by working with others — nothing gets done independently in our line of work. With two people you will learn twice as fast and gain twice the capabilities, so it's always worth our time to get others involved.  I need a village to get every project across the finish line; it’s why I worked hard to become a Project Manager. The next step in my career is to build a team and I am looking forward to creating a talented group to get the job done. 

What has been your favorite win or project to-date?

My favorite project thus far has to be the Stanley Clinton project that I’ve been involved with on and off over the last six years. It’s such a beautiful site off the coast of Connecticut where you see fish swimming and crabs crawling around. My work started as a pilot study using fish bones for remediation of metals and over time, our approach continues to change. We’re now implementing several remedial technologies at the same site and it has been an interesting site to see develop over time.

There’s also interesting contamination here — “interesting” to me meaning it offers a challenge to remediate. In certain projects, you may have a common contaminant with a particular regulatory compliance process to follow that offers a simple fix, but in this case, the site has interesting hydrogeology that can make the process more challenging. The groundwater plume, which contains metals, is impacted by the tides and the site is generally acidic and anaerobic, making it more difficult to use certain technologies to remove the contamination. Nature takes its course and tries to create its own conditions. So we have to create the right environment to remove the metals from groundwater — and often that means a lot of trial and error. But I enjoy the learning process through each failure, and it’s awesome to see the progress we’ve made over all this time.

What do you like to do outside of work?

I have a lot of different hobbies! My fiancée, Emily, and I love to go hiking and camping — anything that involves traveling or the outdoors really. For example we’ll take a weekend trip to New Hampshire and go for a long hike in the white mountains. Next week, we're traveling to France for a friend’s wedding.

We are also training for a road bike race at the moment. I enjoy anything that gets me active and puts me in that zen where you’re both focused and relaxed at the same time. Those moments seem to slow down and let me escape in what I am doing.

Speaking of my fiancée, Emily — we actually met here at Loureiro. She used to sit at the desk next to me when I first started, and we became good friends. We stayed in touch when she left the company, and I finally worked up the courage to ask her out. Now, we’re planning a wedding.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

I’m not sure if this is technically considered advice, but my mind keeps going to my very first Environmental Engineering class at UCONN. I was struggling with some of the initial concepts so I would often visit my professor during office hours. One day, she suggested that maybe I should consider another major, and it was honestly the best thing she could have said to me. After that, I was so motivated to ace every single exam and overcome her doubt. She thought I wouldn’t put in the effort, and I was determined to prove her wrong. And here we are.

What is the most surprising thing about you?

I’m typically agreeable and non-confrontational so it surprises most people when they find out I took Krav Maga — Israeli military self defense. It’s a unique combination of techniques used in aikido, boxing, judo, karate, and wrestling — focusing on real-world situations and known for its efficiency. While it started really as a great workout for me, this commitment became a means to improve myself through something that would challenge me far more than lifting weights or running. I also liked the idea of having an adversary to push me.

I also am very crafty, and I love painting and other arts, but this wouldn’t surprise anyone about me. I think it has something to do with being a bit of a perfectionist — it’s very calming and relaxing for me to reproduce an image on a blank canvas.