A valued member of the EnviroScience family since 2013, Melissa Vaccarino, M.S., fills several roles as aquatic biologist, data manager, and quality control assistant. She has experience in ecological, microbial, and molecular methods. She earned her B.S. in Biology (with a minor in Geology) from Baldwin Wallace College, and M.S. (with funded research assistantship) from John Carroll University.
With over a decade of freshwater experience, Melissa holds both Level 1 and Level 2 Diatom Taxonomic Certifications. At EnviroScience, she teams up with a highly skilled group of taxonomists to complete projects, including USEPA’s National Rivers and Streams Assessment (NRSA), in 2013, 2018, and 2023. Prior to EnviroScience, Melissa’s experience during her undergrad and master’s programs included soft algal identification, culture, and molecular taxonomic analysis. She coauthored several articles that were published in the Journal of Phycology, Phycological Research, and others.
As a data manager, Melissa performs project-specific tasks which may include sample tracking, data entry, data quality checks, mass import for consolidation of data between laboratories, and query exports for final reports and statistics. For USEPA’s National Wetland Condition Assessment (NWCA; 2016 and 2021), she maintained +5,000 herbarium vouchers (field data, lab data, and sample tracking), conducted weekly quality control of incoming data, and coordinated with field crews and botanists to resolve any data issues. For the Cleveland Hopkins Airport Biofilm project, she maintains current and historical chemical and biological data from over 100 test parameters and exports targeted combined datasets for statistical analysis. She also helps to maintain EnviroScience’s CRM and company-related data. Between these projects and others, she has handled well over one million points of data.
Melissa additionally assists other departments with technical writing and/or comprehensive review of reports. Her experience with both publishing and data management helps ensure that EnviroScience delivers a high-quality final product.
Contact Melissa at: MVaccarino @ EnviroScienceInc.com
Few environmental firms in the country retain EnviroScience’s degree of scientific know-how, talent, and capability under one roof. The diverse backgrounds of our biologists, environmental engineers, scientists, and divers enable us to provide comprehensive in-house services and an integrated approach to solving environmental challenges—saving clients time, reducing costs, and ensuring high-quality results.
Our client guarantee is to provide “Excellence in Any Environment,” meaning no matter what we do, we will deliver on our Core Values of respect, client advocacy, quality work, accountability, teamwork, and safety. EnviroScience was created with the concept that we could solve complex problems by empowering great people. This concept still holds true today as our scientists explore the latest environmental legislation and regulations and incorporate the most up-to-date technology to gather and report data.
EnviroScience expertise includes but is not limited to aquatic surveys (including macroinvertebrate surveys and biological assessments); ecological restoration; ecological services (including impact assessments, invasive species control, and water quality monitoring); emergency response; engineering and compliance services; endangered mussel surveys; laboratory and analysis; stormwater management; threatened and endangered species; and wetlands and streams (including delineation and mitigation). Further, EnviroScience is one of the few biological firms in the country that is a general member of the Association of Diving Contractors International (ADCI) and offers full-service commercial diving services.