The Boards of Directors of the WateReuse Association and the WateReuse Research Foundation are pleased to announce that Melissa L. Meeker has been named executive director effective March 25, 2014.
Meeker will lead the strategic growth of the two organizations, as well as operational programs, staff, and execution of their missions. Meeker is a seasoned water executive with more than 20 years of experience in both the public and private sectors, with a broad range of expertise that includes regulatory issues, policy development and executive management.
?After a nationwide search, we are pleased to welcome someone of Melissa?s caliber to maintain and enhance WateReuse as a recognized voice and as the ?go-to? organization sought out by federal and state policy makers in addressing water reuse matters,? said WateReuse Association President Robert Johnson.
WateReuse Research Foundation Board Chair Richard Nagel added, ?Melissa?s executive management experience, knowledge of research, and nonprofit fundraising successes are just what we need to build on the successes of the Foundation.?
Meeker will replace G. Wade Miller, who announced his resignation from WateReuse in August 2013.
Immediately prior to joining WateReuse, Meeker served as Vice President of Business Line Management for CSA Ocean Services, Inc., a marine environmental consulting firm founded in 1970. She was responsible for financial and office management, as well as business development.
In 2010, Florida Governor Rick Scott appointed Meeker Deputy Secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), with responsibility for overseeing statewide water and environmental restoration policy. While serving at the Florida DEP, Meeker was appointed executive director of the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD). During her tenure, the agency rebounded from financial instability, improved efficiency and focused its efforts on providing flood protection and water supply for 7.7 million south Florida residents, and made landmark progress on restoration of the Everglades.
Meeker was able to easily step into the leadership role at SFWMD in part because she had served as an appointed member of the Governing Board from 2007 to 2009. She also served as a Governor-appointed member of Florida?s Environmental Regulatory Commission, which sets standards and rules to protect citizens and the environment.
Meeker will also bring entrepreneurial experience to WateReuse. In 2007, she founded her own strategic consulting firm, Hesperides Group, which specialized in assisting clients with negotiating challenging regulatory processes. She also founded Women in the Environment (WE), a networking organization created to mentor female environmental professionals. Meeker?s private sector experience includes senior level positions at Tetra Tech from 2005 to 2010, where she headed the company?s Florida operation and later ran their national Water and Natural Resources Program.
Meeker has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology from Palm Beach Atlantic College (now PBAU) and a Master of Science Degree in Environmental Resource Management from the Florida Institute of Technology.
The WateReuse Association works to advance the beneficial and efficient uses of high-quality, locally produced, sustainable water sources. It was formed in December 1990 as a state association in California. In 2000, the Board of Directors broadened the Association?s focus to make it a national organization, hired the first full-time executive director, and established an office in the Washington, DC area. The Association established a formal international presence in 2008 with the formation of WateReuse Australia. Today, the WateReuse Association has grown to include more than 400 organizational members in the United States and around the world. The Association convenes conferences and events, produces publications, sponsors legislation in Washington, D.C., and in California, and has been successful in obtaining substantial federal funding for the WateReuse Research Foundation.
The WateReuse Research Foundation was formed as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization in 1993 to conduct applied research on water reuse and desalination and to build a sound scientific body of knowledge to support the Association?s complimentary mission. The Foundation began its meteoric rise in 2000 when it secured $1 million in funding from the Bureau of Reclamation and a matching $1 million from the California State Water Resources Control Board. To date, the Research Foundation has sponsored more than $51 million of leading edge/cutting edge research on water reuse and desalination, funding more than 170 projects. This applied research has directly impacted water scarcity through the knowledge, information, and tools it has produced for the water community.
