THE TEAM

Brian is a Senior Environmental Specialist/Public Health Sanitarian with the Barnstable County Department of Health and Environment, is Director of the Massachusetts Alternative Septic System Test Center, and is a member of the Mashpee Board of Health. He has a B.A. in Physics from Hartwick College, is a Registered Environmental Health Specialist/Registered Sanitarian (REHS/RS), is a licensed Massachusetts Title 5 Soil Evaluator and Grade 4 Wastewater Treatment Plant Operator.

George Heufelder is Project Specialist at The Massachusetts Alternative Septic System Test Center (MASSTC) and former director of the Barnstable County Department of Health and Environment . He has been instrumental in both beginning the MASSTC and initiating the first-of-its-kind electronic performance tracking service for alternative onsite septic systems. George conducts research on various aspects of onsite wastewater disposal including nitrogen, phosphorus and contaminant of emerging concern removal. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology from Kansas State
University and a Master’s Degree in Biology from Eastern Michigan University. He is a Class 4 Treatment Plant Operator, a Certified Title 5 Soil Evaluator and Septic System Inspector and he is a Registered Sanitarian in the Commonwealth.

Bryan joined the MASSTC in 2020 as the site Operator. A native Cape Codder and avid outdoorsman, he is passionate about protecting the local environment. Although he is relatively new to the wastewater field, he has a significant background in related environmental topics including coastal ecology, ecological restoration, stormwater management, eco-toilet research and development, and monitoring lakes for harmful algal blooms. He earned a B.A. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Colorado at Boulder and is currently studying for Massachusetts Grade 4 Wastewater Treatment Plant Operator certification.

Emily Michele Olmsted has had an interest in water quality ever since she started swimming at a young age and has found a new fascination in wastewater. She performed research on Oyster Pond in Woods Hole and wrote her senior thesis in her findings as part of her Bachelor's of Science at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. After spending some time teaching and completing service as an AmeriCorps volunteer, Emily Michele started at Barnstable County as a beach sampler testing bathing beaches for bacteria. She then volunteered at the Massachusetts Alternative Septic System Testing Center (MASSTC) until being offered a position with Barnstable County's Innovative/Alternative septic system tracking program, where she continues to work.

Kathy has wanted to work at MASSTC ever since her return from 7 years in Germany with a newly minted PhD in soil microbial ecology. Prior to that, years of basic ecosystems research at the MBL Ecosystems Center in Woods Hole had provided her with a solid background in laboratory analyses and management. Eager to apply her skills to the urgent environmental questions of our time, the opportunity to work as the microbiologist on the Virus Project here has been an opportunity to do exactly that.

Tracy joined MASSTC in 2020.