Environmental Engineer

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Lisa Ortiz: Lisa Ortiz is an environmental engineer working for the past eighteen years at D&B Engineers and Architects, D.P.C. (D&B) in Woodbury, NY. After obtaining her Bachelors she started at Fenley and Nicol Environmental in Deer Park, NY then went to Long Island Water Corporation (now Liberty Utilities), a private water supplier in Lynbrook, NY, and then later onto D&B. She has her Bachelor or Engineering, Environmental Engineering major with a Mathematics minor and Master of Science in Environmental Technology. Mrs. Ortiz attended Manhattan University, Hofstra University and New York Institute of Technology. As a Senior Engineer at an environmental engineering consulting firm she works in water supply engineering for clients ranging from local villages that have water departments to water districts that provide water to multiple communities. Lisa started her career designing water supply facilities such as wells, contaminant treatment systems, water mains, water storage tanks, and chemical storage tanks. In this profession, Lisa is responsible for field work such as construction inspection and contractor oversight of the projects she designed. Now as a Senior Engineer, she oversees junior engineers as they design and inspect water supply projects. The daily work includes: grant writing for clients to receive federal and state grant funding for their projects; engineering reports needed for permit approvals for new wells and contaminant treatment systems; coordination with other engineering divisions in our firm such as environmental remediation, hazardous waste and stormwater on daily projects; tracking of client water quality sampling to determine best type of contaminant treatment; managing projects that bring our clients into compliance with federal and state water quality regulations, etc. “First, do what you love!  I always had a lean towards science and math as a high school student but I also loved English and literature classes as I enjoyed reading and writing.  My daily work now is a perfect combination of my love of STEM and writing.  I do a lot of technical writing in reports and narratives and can easily express my intent - whether it is informational or instructional.  Second, find a mentor! Midway through college, I was an intern at Jamaica Water Supply Company, a water supplier in Queens, NY (now part of the NYC water system). My manager at the time became my mentor as he provided great guidance and insight for me to learn about the world of engineering, especially one with few women at the time. He knew the importance of giving me a voice and someone to lean on while I was a junior engineer.  He moved to another water supplier (Long Island Water) by the time I graduated college and offered me a position there after my work at Fenley and Nicol.  He moved again to my current firm (D&B) and offered me a position in his division where I still work today.  I credit my success today to his wonderful guidance in those early years and the networking connections he provided that moved me into the right positions throughout my career.” Feel free to contact Lisa Ortiz lortiz@db-eng.com