Officer Election

Officer Voting Opens May 21, 2023

To provide an opportunity for all members to participate in governance, SWANA utilizes an electronic ballot system for the election of its officers. SWANA members must vote by electronic ballot that will be distributed on May 21, 2023. All ballots must be returned and confirmed (note this is a two-step process) by 12:00:59 p.m. EDT June 9, 2023 to be counted.

FY 2024 SWANA Officer Nominees

The nominees were reviewed and recommended by a Nominating Committee consisting of 13 Board and Advisory Board members after an open recruitment for the Secretary position. The Board of Directors affirmed the slate during its March 2023 winter meeting. The following individuals are nominated as SWANA officers for fiscal year 2024, beginning July 1, 2023 and running through June 30, 2024.

President

Art Mercer

Recently retired Supervisor of Landfill Operations, Region of Halton, Oakville, ON

Art Mercer has more than 35 years of experience in the waste management industry with a diverse range of involvement in almost every aspect of the business. As Supervisor of Landfill Operations for the Regional Municipality of Halton he was responsible for regulatory compliance and the safe and efficient operation of the Landfill Site serving a population of more than 600,000.

Mercer has been a member of SWANA and the Ontario Chapter since 2001, serving as the Chapter’s Vice President, Scholarship Committee Chair and as a member of the International Board (the predecessor to the current governing Board) several years. He joined SWANA’s Executive Committee in 2017 and was elected Secretary in 2019. Mercer has served on several SWANA committees at the international level most recently as Chair of the Policy Committee. He is also an original member and current chair of SWANA’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Steering Committee.

Mercer serves as a mentor for SWANA’s Young Professionals through the MentorMatch program. He is an honours graduate of the University of Waterloo with a Bachelor of Environmental Studies degree.

Vice President

Tammy Hayes

Principal, CDM Smith, Tampa, FL

Tammy Hayes is a public information specialist in the area of solid waste management with more than 30 years of experience. She joined CDM Smith in 1983 and became one of the original members of the firm’s solid waste practice in 1988. While at CDM Smith, she has been involved with numerous public education and outreach projects for cities, counties, agencies and corporations, as well as a wide variety of solid waste research and planning projects.

For more than 20 years, Hayes worked with Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful on planning the annual Hillsborough River and Waterways Clean-up and chaired the event from 2010 to 2015. She is also a member of the American Water Works Association, Meeting Professionals International, and the Water Environment Foundation.

Hayes has been a SWANA member since 1991 when the organization was still GRCDA. As a SWANA member, she served two terms as president of the Florida Chapter and currently chairs its conference committee. She was the Florida chapter local committee chair hosting three WASTECONs: 2008 in Tampa, and 2015 and 2021 in Orlando. She represented the Chapter on SWANA’s International Board and is currently SWANA’s Treasurer, participating in several committees including Finance and Planning & Membership. She also chairs the new Conference Committee tasked with site selection and oversight of future SWANA conference implementation.

Treasurer

Elizabeth Roe

President, Eco Partners, Inc., Glendale, AZ

Elizabeth Roe owns and manages Eco Partners, an environmental education firm that supports SWANA members throughout Indiana, California, and other US states with customized newsletters and other specialized local communications.

She has been a SWANA member and contributor for more than 20 years. Her involvement in and understanding of the association are extensive because of engagement as an event exhibitor; chapter sponsor; participant in the host committee for the Indianapolis WASTECON; leader in three technical divisions; speaker and moderator at a variety of national, regional, and local events; advisor on development of the Zero Waste Principles & Practices course; mentor in the Mentor Match Program; and topic leader in developing the 2023 strategic plan. After chairing the Advisory Board, Roe was elected to the Board of Directors. She currently serves as SWANA’s Secretary and sits on the Finance Committee. She is a current member of both the Arizona Chapter and the Indiana Hoosier Chapter.

Roe holds an M.A. in American Literature with a minor in U.S. History from Indiana University and a B.A. Summa Cum Laude in English Literature and Language Arts/Secondary Education from Bethel College. She is SWANA-certified on Zero Waste Principles & Practices.

Secretary

Lynsey K. Baer, P.E., BCEE, S.C.

Chief of Engineering, Delaware Solid Waste Authority (DSWA), Dover, DE

Baer has more than 20 years of experience in solid waste management as a civil engineer professional and since December 2020 has served as the DSWA Chief of Engineering, with responsibility for the $160 million capital improvement program, landfill gas system operations, landfill gas to energy contracts and regularly compliance. She began her professional career as an Engineering Intern with the DSWA and after being hired full-time as an Engineering Technician, worked her way steadily through various roles in the organization, gaining experience managing projects and facilities and overseeing work groups.

Baer joined SWANA and the Mid Atlantic Chapter in 2006. She was one of the original participants in SWANA’s Young Professionals Initiative serving as a founding member of the YP Steering Committee, representing YPs in then-Region 4 and to the International Board, and to the Landfill Management Technical Division. She continues to serve as the Landfill Management Technical Division Delegate to SWANA’s Advisory Board and also represents the Technical Division to ISWA’s Landfill Working Group.

Baer has a Bachelors in Civil Engineering and a Masters in Civil Engineering, Cum Laude with a concentration in Geotechnical Engineering, both from the University of Delaware. She is a Professional Engineer and in 2014 became a Board-Certified Environmental Engineer from the State of Delaware American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists. She is SWANA MOLO certified and a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists, International Solid Waste Association, a STEM advocate for the state of Delaware, and a Woman in Engineering Mentor and guest lecturer for the University of Delaware and Villanova University.

Elections will be open from May 21 – June 9, 2023. A link to electronic ballots will be sent via email to each active SWANA member on May 21. Members who don’t receive a ballot via email by the start of business on May 22 can email Deputy Executive Director Sara Bixby at sbixby@swana.org for an individual ballot no earlier than 12:00 p.m. EDT May 22, 2023.