Photo by Christina VanHorn,
UNH Human Resources

Wesley East started his employment at the University of New Hampshire six and a half years ago as a Chief Operator in the UNH/Durham water plant. His responsibilities include keeping the drinking water safe for the UNH campus as well as the Town of Durham and meeting all the regulations according to the EPA and the State of New Hampshire for the lab buildings pure water systems, the indoor and outdoor pools, the Ocean Engineering tanks, and the farm wells. The responsibilities pertaining to his position never stop. Wes must keep planning for the future, to use new treatments, meet new regulations, understand and reach expansion potential, as well as make major repairs and renovations. In addition to the main water plant, UNH facilities is also in charge of the running and maintenance for three other separate water systems belonging to UNH and three dams (the Oyster River Dam, Durham Reservoir Dam, and the dam at the Outdoor Pool.)

In order to run operations smoothly, Wes highlighted the importance of skills in the fields of chemistry, math, hydraulics, mechanics, budgeting, supervising, but above all patience. Wes learned a great deal of his operational skills while he attended Vermont Technical College, majoring in mechanical engineering. "It came easy to me," Wes explained, because he grew up on a dairy farm on Lake Champlain, fixing farm equipment. Wes's position involves dealing with every aspect of water possible on the UNH campus, because water is a utility used by everyone. "A normal municipal water plant usually only works with a mayor and public works," Wes explained. "That is what makes the UNH Chief Water Utilities Operator different here at UNH." This aspect can be frustrating, but Wes believes that it is also the most enjoyable. "The people I interact with are a wide array of people who all have something I can learn," Wes explained. "For the most part, people care and take pride in the University. This is something which is becoming more and more difficult to find in the work place," making UNH unique and a positive impact on Wes.

Prior to working at UNH, Wes traveled the world with his wife (Jill) while she was in the army. They spent six and a half years in Landstuhl, Germany while Jill was on active duty as a Medical Lab Supervisor for the regional hospital for European theater. While in Landstuhl, Wes worked for the Center for Health Promotion Preventative Medicine. At CHPPM, Wes worked with the environmental aspect of health, taking soil samples as well as doing water and air testing. Also, his position at CHPPM included consultations for the air force and emergency trips to Sigonella, Italy. Wes heard about his current UNH position from a friend after he had returned to the States, and was living in Lebanon, NH. The position had some similar aspects to some of his work done in Landstuhl.

Today, Wes and Jill live in Sanford, Maine on a horse farm. They breed, board, and sell American Saddlebreds, a show breed originated during the Civil War era. In addition to their work with horses, they also do custom field work. "Growing up on a farm made me love farming," Wes stated. "If someone has a field not in use, I will rip it up, reseed it and harvest crops." Farming has a great deal to do with Wes's love of the outdoors which also includes hunting and fishing in the Sanford area.