Tribute to Steven Lambert
By: JADE Learning | Feb 16, 2022
At JADE Learning, we are fortunate to work with individuals who are experts in their field with decades of knowledge and passion for their industry. One of those experts passed away in early February. We are deeply saddened by the loss of retired water operator, Steven Lambert.
Steven Lambert worked in the water industry for over 40 years. He started at the Statesville Water Filtration Plant as a plant operator and worked his way up to Chief Water Plant Operator. He also worked as a plant operator in Lowell, North Carolina, and Gastonia, North Carolina. This was followed by a position at River Valley Animal Foods, monitoring a facility, setting up new lab analyses and treatment procedures, and advising on courses of action. He held many certifications and licenses including Operator IV in North Carolina. He was also part of the North Carolina Waterworks Operators Association (NCWOA).
Steven was extremely passionate about the water industry and wanted to share his knowledge to make the world a better place. He got rightly worked up about an aging workforce, aging infrastructure, and the water crises happening in the United States. He wrote many blogs for JADE Learning, on topics such as Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA), the Aftermath of Natural Disasters, and Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in Water. He once said: “One of the greatest joys of my career is in teaching and writing. Seeing others achieve their goals through contact with caring professionals is awesome.”
We began working with Steven in February 2020, right before the COVID-19 pandemic. It is strange to look back at our correspondence from that time, our naiveté during the before, when the entire world was different. We had emailed on March 12, 2020, about an upcoming article– the day before our office, and the entire country, shut down. The pandemic did not stop or slow Steven’s passion, though, and he continued to write materials for us, every month, right up until this month.
Steven will be greatly missed by his wife, friends, family, and the water industry. We are grateful for having had the opportunity to work with him.
