PWD Women’s History Month Spotlight: Anastasia Nicoloudakis

For Women’s History Month, we are introducing you to some phenomenal women working at the Philadelphia Water Department, making a difference every day and doing extraordinary things in their careers.

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Explain what you do at PWD. What is something that people would find interesting about the job?

I work in Scientific & Regulatory Affairs (SRA), which has grown since I’ve start from just one group into currently a total of five (5) teams across two groups: Drinking Water Compliance (DWC) & Lead Compliance – thanks mostly to the Lead & Copper Rule Revisions & Improvements for that growth and change.

In general, SRA oversees monitoring and ensuring PWD meets or exceeds safe drinking water quality from the entry point of water treatment plants to our consumer’s taps. We are the drinking water quality detectives for our distribution system. A lot of what we do is informed by EPA’s Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), but we also go outside of that scope as well. While located at the Central Laboratory Facility (CLF) building, SRA doesn’t do much bench work compared to the many laboratories found in this building; we are usually in the office monitoring and communicating data sets or out in the distribution system, inspecting and investigation. We get to work quite a few units across the department, as well as externally with customers and other city departments that reach out to us.

What advice would you give to a younger version of yourself looking to work at PWD in your career field?

Take advantage of as many learning opportunities and experiences, especially when you first start, as well as reenforcing deeper learning on key staples of the job: regulations, routine sample site, processes etc. – you might not have the time later.

Make a board and basic filing/archive system both for physical files and email when you first start (not too detailed) and then stay consistent as you can with being organized. Make connections, speak up about things that interest you, embrace what you have to offer to your team, and trust your gut.

Do you think there are any barriers for women wanting to do your job? If so, how did you overcome them?

Overall, I don’t see any major barriers for women to do the work I do. There may be general quiet underpins of the basic watch outs for women in a professional STEM field, but I try first to watch my own biases. Focusing on getting the work done sometimes feels like enough to keep me busy, and right now I feel pretty fortunate with who I get to work with on the daily.

I will say, if you’re looking to get work pants (slacks) from the storeroom, the sizes are listed in men sizes, which is about the waist measurement in inches. If you aren’t sure, I found I could ask to try on a pair before getting them.

Here’s your chance to give a special shout out to a woman in your own life, at work, or in your community who has served as a role model or mentor – who’s getting your praise?

There are many women I admire and am thankful to know of and also have in my life. Picking out one for today, I’d say is a friend of mine, whose husband died almost ten years ago. She works, takes care of her children, and still amazes me with her intentionality of also taking care of herself and supporting her local community in many ways. None of us are perfect, but I am so grateful for each person who tries everyday to do what we can with what’s in front of us to support and encourages ourselves and others, no matter the many ups and downs life throws at us.

Share your favorite inspirational quote by a woman…

Hard to pick one, but this is the one I have at my desk: “It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness”

– Eleanor Roosevelt