Biography

A native of northern New Jersey and one of the fourth generation of women entrepreneurs in her family, Renee learned about the cost of historical pollution of old industrial sites firsthand in the early 1990’s. She became engaged in solving the issue of contaminated dredged material in the New York / New Jersey port region, where site contamination and associated remediation obstacles converged to create abandoned sites and environmental justice issues set in the heart of one of the most valuable real estate markets in the world. Recognizing that innovative technology could provide a part of the solution to a crisis threatening a $20B port, she began working with inventors, developers, policy leadership and environmental advocates. During this time, she developed policy and project-based programs and supported a wide variety of pollution prevention and cleanup activities, many on a pro-bono basis.

Since incorporating her first environmental venture in 1996 as a consultancy to provide the bridge between clients and opportunities, Renee has worked with a wide variety of companies, from Fortune 100’s to sole proprietors, including inventors and innovators. Her work includes extensive engagement with the United State military in almost every aspect of their environmental and sustainability programs. By bringing innovative applied research to industry, she recognizes that new markets can begin with early adopters, assisted by positive policy and a solid understanding of available resources.

Renee has over 25 years of project management and program development experience in environmental and innovative technology development for specific applications. Her responsibilities have included product management, marketing materials development, technical writing assistance, proposal coordination, and technology life-cycle management and strategy development for innovative technology. Additional education module development and other training, for technology researchers as well as technology manufacturers is part of her engagement with communities that include India, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Costa Rica, Europe, Ghana, China among many others.

Renee’s experiences in the area of remediation provided the basis for her efforts moving forward in prevention. The simple statement “preventing pollution means not having to clean it up” has driven her work toward sustainability strategies in waste management. Renee’s experiences participating in beach cleanups in the 1990’s to visiting industrial areas with little waste management today drive her to form networks to connect with diverse stakeholders to develop a wide array of options to address the elimination of pollution. From contaminated dredged materials in the 1990’s to plastic pollution in the oceans to the PFAS in our water systems, future prevention and practical transition are key to the health of our planet and our people.

Renee’s work to support for the technologies developed by her team has brought over $50 million of direct investment to the US DOD to develop integrated tools under her research team to provide sustainability, resiliency and a workforce of the future through engagement with the most underserved higher education students in the US.