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Jacobson, Debra F

Associate Director, Center for Economic Impacts & Societal Benefits
PRI Fellow, Prairie Research Institute

Address and Contact Information

1 E Hazelwood Dr
M/C 676
Champaign, IL  61820

Biography

Deb Jacobson, Associate Director, joined the Prairie Research Institute's Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) in 1995.  She leads ISTC's Center for Economic Impacts & Societal Benefits and a team of professionals working with the Coastal Management Program at the Illinois Department of Natural Resource.

In addition to leading and developing teams, Ms. Jacobson's primary focus is as an environmental engineer providing technical, environmental, and safety compliance assistance to industrial facilities within Illinois. Ms. Jacobson works closely with federal, state, and local government agencies and industry trade groups on environmental matters affecting industry.

Other responsibilities include managing national and regional projects focused on pollution prevention and compliance assistance; developing and presenting technical training to state technical assistance providers and helping write compliance assistance manuals for industry and regulatory official's use.

Ms. Jacobson is certified auditor for the Sustainable Green Printing Partnership (SGP).  SGP is the industry standard for the certification and continuous improvement of sustainability and best practices within print manufacturing operations.  Ms. Jacobson is also a ISO 14000-2015 Lead Auditor and a Certified Sustainability Practitioner – Institute of Environmental Management & Assessment.



Education

  • Bachelor - Environmental Science
  • MBA Certificate
  • Certified Sustainability Professional
  • ISO 14001:2015 Lead Auditor
  • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in the Workplace Certificate
  • Human Resources for Supervisors and Managers Certificate – University of Illinois
  • Leadership Mastery Certificate - Parkland College Business Training & Community Education

Research Interests

Industrial technologies

Professional Affiliations

Present

  • Air & Waste Management Association (AWMA)
  • Board of directors of the Lake Michigan State Section of the AWMA
  • National Pollution Prevention Roundtable
  • Great Lakes Regional Pollution Prevention Roundtable
  • Illinois Counties Solid Waste Management Association
  • Industrial Waste Water Sewage Group
  • Illinois Association of Environmental Professionals
  • City Club of Chicago

Past

  • Served on U.S. EPA Environmental Justice Advisory Panel to EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman

Grants

  • U.S. EPA - Compliance Assistance Center - Printers National Environmental Assistance Center
  • U.S. EPA Region V - Pollution Prevention Grant - Illinois Conservation of Resources (ICORE)
  • U of I Facilities & Services - Waste Characterization Study of Four U of I Buildings
  • Coster USA - Technical Assistance Agreement to conduct an environmental compliance assessment.
  • On-Going: Sustainable Green Printer Certification Audits (contract)

Honors and Awards

Perry Fisher Award for Distinguished Service to the Air & Waste Management Association – Lake Michigan Section (2009)

Distinguished Environmental Professional – Industrial Water, Waste & Sewage Group (2022)

Outstanding Collaboration Award – Prairie Research Institute (2023)

Selected Publications

DuPage County Waste to Profit & E3 Outreach Initiative - Program Results

LDAP Details for Jacobson, Debra F