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Ricky Lallish has been named director of the Environmental Resources Training Center (ERTC) at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, assuming leadership of Illinois’ primary training facility for drinking water and wastewater treatment technology. He succeeds longtime director Matthew Maas.

Located at the north end of the SIUE campus, the ERTC partners with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) to administer certification exams and offers a one-year Water Quality Control Operations Certificate Program combining classroom instruction, hands-on training at an award-winning scale treatment plant and a 10-week internship. The ERTC provides necessary training for drinking water and wastewater treatment system operators, who are responsible for safeguarding community health and natural resources. The IEPA projects that Illinois needs 400 additional operators annually, emphasizing the importance of ERTC’s workforce development mission.

“Being the Director of ERTC has been a career-long goal,” said Lallish. “It is the crowning point of my career in the environmental field. The ERTC has the reputation of being the finest water and wastewater training resource in the nation, and to lead this institution is an amazing opportunity.”

Lallish has dedicated more than thirty years to water and wastewater operations, operator education and professional service across Illinois. Since joining SIUE in 2008, he has served as program director of Water Pollution Control within the ERTC, leading training programs that prepare students and working professionals.

Beyond SIUE, Lallish has contributed extensively to Illinois operator development, including leadership roles within the City of Greenville Wastewater Treatment Facility in Greenville. Throughout his career at ERTC, he has helped strengthen training standards and support the professional development of operators throughout the region. In 2017, he was named Illinois Operator of the Year. In 2021, the ERTC recognition as the Class 3 Plant of the Year. In 2024, the facility received the Arthur Sidney Bedell award and Clarence Klassen award in 2024 for extraordinary personal service.

“I am quite humbled to occupy this office, knowing the caliber of past directors,” said Lallish. “I look forward to new goals and finding ways to make ERTC greater.”

Photo: Ricky Lallish, photo by Howard Ash.