During a ceremony on Tuesday, October 2, the WEF “gavel of leadership” was passed from President Matt Bond (Kansas City, Mo.) to incoming President Cordell Samuels, plant superintendent for the Duffin Creek Water Pollution Control Plant in the Regional Municipality of Durham in Ontario, Canada. President Samuels will work over the coming months to implement the organization’s new strategic initiatives, emphasizing leadership and innovative water management.

“I challenge us all to focus on smarter approaches to managing water and look to drive innovation in our priority areas, including nutrient removal and recovery, energy recovery, and stormwater management,” said Samuels. “This will require us not just to communicate more and to think bigger but to show how we are ready to adopt new approaches that can provide even better and more sustainable services.”

In addition to President Samuels, the 2012-2013 Board of Trustees includes: President-Elect Sandra Ralston (Charleston, S.C.), Vice President Ed McCormick (Oakland, Ga.), Treasurer Rick Warner (Reno, Nev.), Immediate Past President Bond, Secretary and Executive Director Jeff Eger (Alexandria, Va.), Trustees Charles Bott (Hampton Roads, Va.), Fran Burlingham (Walnut Creek, Calif.), Kartik Chandran (New York, N.Y.), Scott Cummings (Auburn, Ala.), Ralph Exton (Trevose, Pa.), John Hart (Saco, Maine), Garry Macdonald (Auckland, New Zealand), George Martin (Greenwood, S.C.), Karen Pallansch (Alexandria, Va.), and Scott Trotter (Saint Charles, Ill.).

WEFTEC is recognized as the world’s largest annual water quality event and provides the latest technologies and services for water environment preservation, restoration, and sustainability. WEFTEC 2012 was held at the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center from September 29 to October 3, 2012.

Founded in 1928, the Water Environment Federation (WEF) is a not-for-profit technical and educational organization of 36,000 individual members and 75 affiliated Member Associations representing water quality professionals around the world. WEF members, Member Associations and staff proudly work to achieve our mission to provide bold leadership, champion innovation, connect water professionals, and leverage knowledge to support clean and safe water worldwide. To learn more, visit www.wef.org.