“Get to Know Us” Seminar Series

 Is it Possible to Overcome the Communications Barrier Between Scientists and Policy Makers?

Presented by Rob McDowell, PhD, of the Carl Vinson Institute

Speaker Bio:

Rob McDowell is Director of the Environmental Policy Program at UGA’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government.  Prior to joining the UGA faculty in 2009, Rob was an Assistant Branch Chief in the Georgia EPD Watershed Protection Branch, where he spent 16 years working on groundwater studies, regional water planning and management, and state wide water policy.  At the Vinson Institute, Rob organizes and conducts environmental training courses for local government officials; developed an environmental policy retreat for members of the General Assembly; assisted the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority in development of the Governor’s Water Supply Plan; and continues to work with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Georgia Sea Grant, and the Department of Community Affairs on a variety of environmental training and outreach projects.  He also teaches a graduate course on environmental policy in the Odum School of Ecology.  Rob has a doctorate in geology from the University of Kentucky and is a registered Professional Geologist in Georgia.  He is active in the Geology and Society Division of the Geological Society of America, and is collaborating with researchers at UGA on a field study of regional bedrock joint patterns in southwest Georgia.