ALTERECHO

Patricia Derocher is President of AlterEcho and parent company TechLaw Inc., which has recorded consistent annual growth under her leadership. She serves as Program Director for all EPA contracts, managing a wide range of technical activities nationwide, including efforts such as the large-scale environmental response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 and the Space Shuttle Columbia explosion in 2003.

Tricia previously spent several years managing EPA Superfund contracts in all 10 EPA regions supporting remediation at industrial sites and federal facilities across the country. She also has been a frequent instructor for federal and state environmental regulators focusing on issues such as identification of hazardous waste, waste analysis plans, and development of quality assurance/control.

When she's not working on preserving the planet and focusing on the needs of her clients and colleagues, she enjoys spending time at home in her native Upstate New York with her husband and four children, and working her way through a New York Times crossword.

• What do you do for AlterEcho? I oversee day-to-day operations, business development and strategy.
• What's your background? I've spent the last 20 years working in environmental management and field operations, specializing in environmental chemistry, quality assurance/control and data analysis.
• What do you think the most urgent environmental issue is today? Air quality, particularly in our inner cities.
• What has been your most challenging project to date? Hurricane Katrina response; the breadth and depth of the services needed, combined with the complexity of the logistics and the human emotion of the project, made it particularly challenging but extremely rewarding.
• What's in your briefcase/workbag/handbag? Everything- computer, iPod, cell phones, blue tooth, charger cables for all of the above, date book, travel folder, book (currently "Starbucked").
• If you could do any job other than your own, what would it be? I'd run an international charity focused on improving children's health.