Matt Waldrip

Manager, Licensing & Permitting, Eversource: Age 36

Matt Waldrip

He calls it ‘Turtlepalooza.’

This is a program Matt Waldrip, manager of Licensing & Permitting for Eversource, now coordinates yearly. And, as the name suggests, it involves turtles — or turtle safety, to be more precise.

“We train our construction crews how to safely conduct their work when there are turtles present on site, so they can avoid direct harm to the species,” he explained. “And the way we do that is by training them and letting them know what to look for and methods they can use to move grass out of the way so they can see the turtles.”

That’s just one of many ways Waldrip works to bring construction and the environment together — in everything from his day job to his hobby, beekeeping.

A graduate of Westfield State University, where he earned bachelor’s degrees in environmental science and regional planning, and Fitchburg State, where he earned an MBA, Waldrip manages a team of 15 scientists responsible for licensing and permitting critical energy projects, everything from utility poles to lattice towers, to make the electric grid more reliable, resilient, and sustainable — work he finds rewarding on many levels.

“I find it interesting. I come from a family of scientists — my mom was a science teacher, and my dad is a farmer now, but he was a college professor,” he said. “I just came to realize how important the environment is, and I wanted to try to make a difference.”

He’s doing so on many levels, including in the community. He’s served, with others, as a captain for Eversource’s United Way campaign, as well as serving as an Eversource runner in a 5K race with Mass General Cancer Center and the Run for Boston Children’s Hospital.

He’s also a member of the Hadley Planning Board, chairs the energy resource committee for the Environmental Business Council of New England, co-chaired the 2025 annual conference of the Massachusetts Assoc. of Conservation Commissions, and coaches in the Amherst Youth Basketball Assoc., among other efforts.

As for the beekeeping … he had six hives, but unfortunately, a few died over the winter. He sells honey and wax to friends in what he described as an enjoyable side hustle inspired by his mother.

“She’s been a beekeeper for years,” he said. “I just got kind of hooked into it as I realized how beneficial bees are to the environment.”

—George O’Brien