The PLACE Blog

The PLACE Organization is pleased to announce that Loren Henning has joined our Board of Directors. Loren has been with the Environmental Protection Agency for many years, and has been a tireless defender of our natural resources. 

As with all of PLACE's board members, Loren is also too busy, and that's why we wanted him on our board. He is heading the office of Resource Conservation and Recovery in San Francisco.

Please join us in welcoming Loren to the PLACE organization.

Sincerely,

In some ways my love for the planet began with an introduction to geology course my first year of college at Carleton. Being able to read about faults and folds in the earth's crust, and then go out in the field and walk on them, inspired a fascination for geology and a love for earth sciences. I was hooked; I majored in geology in college then went on to get a Master's degree in geology at Northwestern University.

It was during my tenure at Northwestern that I began thinking about earth preservation. At that time, most geology majors were either teaching or working for an oil company. Neither of those two professions appealed to me so I started looking at programs in environmental studies. I sought the warmer climate of North Carolina and the environmental studies program at Duke University. I loved my time at Duke, especially the warmer weather. At the end of my first year I took a paid internship with an environmental consulting firm, Environmental Strategies Corporation, in the Washington DC area. That, too, was exciting. I worked mainly on mergers and acquisitions, traveling, sometimes overseas for projects. So of course, at the end of the summer, I agreed to stay permanently, lured by a real income and regular hours.

For the next two years I continued to conduct evaluations of facilities to determine environmental risk and liability. I learned a lot, but at the same time, I found myself frequently contacting folks at the Environmental Protection Agency to find out what regulations or requirements the companies needed to follow. Consequently, I decided that it might be a good career move to learn these regulations first hand. After two years at ESC, I took a job with the EPA in the Superfund program.

I've been with the EPA for the past eighteen years. During that time I have worn a few different hats. At the headquarters office in Washington, I provided technical and policy support to EPA regional offices and developed technical guidance. I transferred to the San Francisco regional office in 1996 to become a project manager. In this position I discovered the excitement and challenge of working with communities that were being impacted by Superfund sites, and the challenges of making those responsible for contamination and adverse impacts to human health and the environment, do the right thing. I then went on to become a manager in the Superfund program. In 2004 I left the Superfund program, my home of thirteen years, to manage the Enforcement Office in the Waste Management Division at EPA.

My career has been interesting, challenging and fulfilling. But I'd have to say that it pales in comparison to the latest chapter of my life - being a parent. My husband, Eric and I are the proud parents of two; our son Matteo who will be four this year, and our daughter Eden who will be one. They bring us so much joy, laughter, and a new perspective. I am much more conscious of the world they live in and I want to take greater responsibility for securing for them a more healthy and sustainable environment.

This desire has taken on a special focus while living in a revitalizing community in North Oakland, California, where I've been exposed to competing points of view related to just and sustainable development. I've witnessed an explosion of development often at ends with expressed local values, and participated in sometimes explosive debates about the roles of planning, architecture, and new technologies in establishing new communities more in harmony with our increasingly limited resources.

I'm inspired by the efforts of PLACE to address some of the most pressing problems of our shrinking planet, and proud to have an opportunity to participate in supporting this groundbreaking and cutting-edge work.

Loren Henning
PLACE Board of Directors