Arlington's Madeline Brambilla Awarded Scholarship for Environmental Studies

The following is from the LSPA.

Madeline C. Brambilla, a 23-year-old Arlington resident, won a Scholarship from the LSP Association (LSPA) to pursue her master’s studies. The LSPA is an organization representing nearly 1,000 Licensed Site Professionals and other environmental professionals involved with hazardous waste site cleanup in Massachusetts. The purpose of the LSPA Scholarship Program is to support continued education in environmental fields in Massachusetts and New England.

Brambilla is a student at Northeastern University (NEU) where she is studying for her Master’s degree in Sociology. Her areas of concentration are environmental health, environmental justice, and social movements. She graduated with a B.A. degree, Suma Cum Laude, from NEU in May 2012.

In addition to her studies, Brambilla is currently a Research Associate with the NEU Environmental Research Collaborative, an intern with Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition, a part-time instructor at Gymboree, and is raising her 22-month-old son, Ryan.

Brambilla is the daughter of Susan D. Chapnick, President and Principal Scientist of New Environmental Horizons (NEH), Inc., Arlington, MA, and Donald J. Brambilla, Statistician, RTI International, Rockville, MD. Her sister is Emily C. Brambilla, a first grade teacher at the Hardy Elementary School in Arlington.  

Founded in 1993, the LSPA is the non-profit, professional society for Licensed Site Professionals (LSPs, who are licensed by the Commonwealth), and other hazardous waste site cleanup professionals (attorneys, laboratory personnel, contractors, etc.) involved in the management of hazardous waste sites in Massachusetts. Through education and information, the LSPA works to support its nearly 1,000 members to achieve and maintain high standards of practice in overseeing the assessment and remediation of hazardous waste disposal sites.

Massachusetts was the first state in the nation to privatize the process for investigating and cleaning up hazardous waste sites, and in so doing greatly increased the number of properties, called Brownfields, made available for reuse and redevelopment.  On average, only 22 sites a year reached regulatory closure between 1983 and 1993; since 1993, when the privatized system was implemented, LSPs have achieved that status for over 25,000 sites.