FRWA Staff Bios
Eileen Fielding, Executive Director
Ms. Fielding comes to FRWA from her position as Executive Director of the Hoosic River Watershed Association in Williamstown, MA, and has many years’ experience in other environmental organizations as well. She holds a doctorate in ecology from the University of Connecticut and has taught at Trinity College, St. Joseph College, Wesleyan University, and the University of Chicago.
Aimee Petras, Membership and Education Coordinator
Ms. Petras has a B.S. in Geology from SUNY – Stonybrook and has also worked
as a hydrogeologist for an environmental consulting company. Aimee returned
in January from Morocco where she was working as a Peace Corps Volunteer in
the Environment/Agriculture Program. While overseas she helped 11 communities
plant 7,500 olive trees, taught environmental education lessons at local
youth centers, and helped a women’s cooperative with bottling and marketing
of their traditionally extracted oil. Please contact Aimee if you have any
questions on Membership and Education initiatives, or if you would like to
hear some stories of her time overseas in Morocco.
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Alisa Phillips-Griggs, Water Quality and
Projects Coordinator
Ms. Phillips-Griggs has a B.S. in Geology from Michigan State University and an M.S. in Geology from Southern Methodist University. Alisa grew up in Collinsville and has a “deep” connection to the watershed and and all things wet. She has worked at Westmoor Park in West Hartford as a naturalist and summer camp coordinator, and at the CT Department of Environmental Protection as part of the Ambient Surface Water Quality Monitoring program. She has been a long-time FRWA member and volunteer assisting FRWA, UConn, and the CT DEP with water quality and aquatic insect monitoring. Alisa is also a fanatic downhill and cross-country skier, a member of the Farmington River Rowing Association crew team, and in her spare time, a Celtic fiddler.
Jeff Bolton, GIS Manager
Jeffrey, a native of Windsor and current resident of Granby, was FRWA’s first GIS intern way back in 1998 and has honed his technical skills over the years through his work with the Santa Monica, California Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, with the UConn Cooperative Extension Center in Haddam, with Fitzgerald & Halliday, Inc., and with the CT Department of Public Works.
Jason Rupaka , Land Use Specialist
As a commissioner of the Plainville Conservation Commission, Jason Rupaka spear-headed the Freedom Lawn Initiative. This campaign has led to over three hundred acres being pesticide free, a town park being designated as pesticde free and two pesticide reduction resolutions being passed in Plainville. This initiative has allowed Jason to speak and give presentations regarding pesticide reduction efforts to other communities as well as garden and environmental groups. Jason also chaired the Clean Energy task Force in Plainville, advocating and witnessing the approval of Plainville's first solar PV system. This 200 kWh PV solar system will be installed in the summer of 2008 on the high school roof. Jason is also the president of the Watershed Partnership and is currently serving his first term on the Plainville Town Council. |
