Alissa Cox earned her PhD in URI’s Laboratory of Soil Ecology and Microbiology (LSEM), and is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Natural Resources Science department at URI, and the new Director of the New England Onsite Wastewater Training Program. Before pursuing her PhD, Alissa received a B.S. and M.S. degree in Environmental Science, and spent several years teaching science and special education in high schools in Providence and Coventry, RI. Her research focuses on understanding groundwater table dynamics along the southern Rhode Island coast, to assess how changes in the groundwater table may be affecting current and future onsite wastewater treatment systems in near shore coastal areas. Additionally, Alissa is interested in how the microbial communities in soils and various treatment components in different technologies affect nutrient and contaminant transformations, and how they affect greenhouse gas emissions. Effective outreach and education remain central to Alissa’s interests, and she shares her research findings with stakeholders to help improve the resiliency of coastal communities facing myriad future changes and threats. She currently serves as the coordinator of the USDA Hatch Multi-state Research Project NE2045 related to onsite wastewater treatment and climate change.

George Loomis is a Research and Extension Soil Scientist and the Senior Program Advisor to the New England Onsite Wastewater Training Center @ URI. He began working in the onsite wastewater field in 1985 and has experience in siting, design, installation, operation and maintenance, and research in conventional and advanced treatment nitrogen removal septic system performance. George directed the design and installation of nearly 60 innovative and alternative onsite systems under the auspices of state and federally-funded demonstration projects in Rhode Island. He has worked with several communities to develop wastewater management programs and ordinances to establish OWTS inventories and inspection programs. George served on committees involved with developing the Rhode Island Septic System Check Up inspection procedure, and is a member of the Rhode Island DEM Technical Review Committee. George co-authored the Rhode Island sand filter guide, the bottomless sand filter guide, and the pressurized drainfield guide for RIDEM, and was a coauthor on four Consortium of Institutes for Decentralized Wastewater Treatment curriculum writing projects. In 2018, with Jose Amador, George co-authored the book Soil-Based Wastewater Treatment. He served as the coordinator of the USDA Hatch Multi-state Research Projects NE1045 and NE1545 related to onsite wastewater treatment and climate change.

Lisa Hollister completed her M.S. degree in Natural Resources Science at URI and worked in habitat restoration for nearly a decade before joining URI’s Cooperative Extension in 2011.  She joined the NEOWTP in 2015 as Training Coordinator. Lisa manages the NEOWTP online registration system, provides administrative support to all aspects of the program, and assists with community outreach.