NAOMI MERMIN, PRINCIPAL
Naomi Mermin has established a reputation for helping to bring projects through with excellent environmental protection components, strong community and developer support, and positive economic impact. Naomi combines her experience in business and government with years of work in the environmental field. With an undergraduate science degree and a graduate business degree, Naomi is equally comfortable negotiating the science and the economics of environmental decisions and integrating this information into strategic policy and programmatic directions. Naomi offers technical expertise in climate change, land use, and transportation and oceans.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
Naomi Mermin Consulting named
2008 Children’s
Environmental Health Champion.
The Children’s Environmental Health Champions are selected for their outstanding efforts and commitment to advancing children’s environmental health issues across the nation. Read more...
Boston One Touch
Naomi created a system that delivers Green (environmental design and energy efficient) and healthy housing within Boston without sacrificing unit production or affordability. She facilitated the integration of healthy homes services of the Boston Public Health Commission, Department of Neighborhood Development, community-based health and environmental advocacy organizations, and affordable housing developers.
Maine Lead Poisoning Prevention Fund
Naomi Mermin served as the first Project Director to oversee this $800,000 a year fund. Naomi developed the framework for the Fund administration. Naomi focused on providing significant support directly to local communities directing over a quarter of the funds to communities through a community grant program. The Fund supported grantees with critical data on highest risk populations based on detailed geographic mapping of blood lead data, developed a well designed and tested mailer to help families identify lead risks, and refocused local outreach to increase lead dust testing to cost effectively identify highest risks units.
Asthma Regional Council
Naomi brought together federal, state and local stakeholders, government, nonprofit and private sector representatives to reduce asthma severity in New England. She oversaw the development and promotion of the first set of healthy building standards for affordable multi-family properties. She lobbied for and secured a major national policy initiative by the EPA to reduce asthma-causing pollution by diesel school buses. The program is now recognized as a national model for cross-sector collaboration in public health.
Toxic Pesticide Elimination
Naomi helped bring about the elimination of spraying toxic pesticides in 2,600 low income housing units of the Providence Housing Authority, and converted the Authority to a more effective, non-toxic Integrated Pest Management program.
Lead Poisoning Prevention
Naomi directed a regional coalition of states and non-governmental agencies which achieved reductions above the national average in childhood blood lead levels in the New England region, and increased production of lead-safe housing units. Naomi helped all member states adopt lead poisoning prevention legislation. Naomi developed the “Keep It Clean” campaign, a point-of-purchase program to educate homeowners, contractors and landlords on the hazards of lead exposure during renovations. “Keep It Clean” has been adopted by major paint manufacturers who are paying to replicate it nationwide.
EPA’s Urban Environmental Initiative
Naomi was the Principal Evaluator for the Initiative. She designed and launched the “Healthy Communities” grant program to target resources to community-based organizations. She created support and training systems to assist groups in developing strategic initiatives and documenting and measuring their success. Initially run out of Tufts, the program is now run by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Regional Summit on Asthma
Naomi convened the first Regional Summit on Asthma, jointly sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Participants included New England state agency directors of environment, health and housing. She facilitated summit proceedings which led to founding of the Asthma Regional Council of New England
Healthy Landscapes of Affordable Housing
Naomi convened a workshop on Healthy Landscapes of Affordable Housing, bringing together tenants of public housing, state housing officials, city housing, community gardening, slow food, green housing, walkability and transportation policy experts to look at ways to make urban affordable housing sites truly centers of community life and health, while fitting into the priorities of climate change action.
Precision Combustion Inc
Naomi developed business systems, created business plans for research products nearing commercialization stage, and negotiated commercial licensing and manufacturing deal with major aerospace corporation for this clean air company’s first product, a catalytic igniter.
City of Boston Conservation Commission
Naomi oversaw the permitting of the two largest public works projects in New England history, the Boston Harbor Clean-Up and the Central Artery Third Harbor Tunnel. These projects involved natural resource issues ranging from protection of coastal and inland fisheries to air and water pollution and wetlands loss and restoration.
EDUCATION
Cornell University
Bachelor of Science, Natural Resources
Boston University School of Management
Masters of Business Administration (with Certificate in Public and Non-Profit Administration).
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS/ACCOMPLISHMENTS
- Board Chair, USGBC Maine Chapter Board of Directors
- New England Sustainable Energy Association
- Certified Wetland Scientist
- Mediator for State of Maine Department of Environmental Protection
- Board of Directors, EarthWorks (Boston environmental organization)
- Maine Radon Stakeholders Group
- Founding Faculty Member, The Tufts Institute of the Environment