Next up on Tap Talk, Steve and Jennifer welcome Dr. Sidney Innerebner of Colorado-based Indigo Water Group to the show. Sidney is certified as an engineer and as both a wastewater operator and industrial operator in Colorado, and has been working in various aspects of the environmental services field since 1990. At Indigo, much of her work revolves around operator training, both in-person and online. Best practices in online training to enable meaningful learning is a particular passion, which she explores in depth on the show.
Topics Discussed
- Meet Dr. Sidney Innerebner
- Sidney’s Water Heroes: James Barnard, pioneer of biological nutrient removal; and Manuel Freyre, Chief Plant Operator for the wastewater treatment plant of Northglenn, Colorado
- The training and other services available at Indigo Water Group
- How training has evolved due to both advancing technology and the coronavirus pandemic
- Which is generally better: in-person training or online, on-demand courses?
- The drawbacks of live webinars
- How do we create a world of online training where the best practices are always used?
- Sidney’s experience with taking 30 different online courses from her competitors to prepare to speak at Water Professionals International 2024
- See Sidney’s slide deck for “Best Practices for Online Training Courses“
- Takeaways for trainers to improve their courses
- You can find Sidney on LinkedIn, or find her posting in Water/Wastewater Plant Operators of the World, Unite! on Facebook.
“Every single time you see somebody’s face light up because they understand something that was confusing before is an amazing thing.”
Dr. Sidney Innerebner
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About the Guest
Dr. Sidney Innerebner has over twenty-eight years of experience in environmental services including laboratory management, treatment plant operation, and water and wastewater design. Her career in training and education began when she taught chemistry and lab techniques to colleagues at the Rocky Flats nuclear manufacturing plant. Since transitioning to the water treatment sector, she has served as an instructor at numerous operator schools and as a guest lecturer at the Colorado School of Mines and Red Rocks Community College. She founded Indigo Water Group in 2007, where in addition to operator training, she has worked and consulted in utility planning, biological process and collection system modeling, regulatory assistance, plant optimization, and more.
Dr. Innerebner holds BS degrees in chemistry and microbiology from Regis University, and MS and PhD degrees in environmental science and engineering from the Colorado School of Mines. She is certified as a wastewater operator, industrial operator, and professional engineer in the state of Colorado.