Celebrating the Past and Planning for the Future of Water

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Participation Details

Register

Presenter/Moderators

Technical Trips

Sponsor & Exhibit

Call for Abstracts: Closed

Topical Sessions: Closed

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Monday, September 30

Gary Gold (Invited)
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Water and Science

Gary Gold is an attorney and engineer from Arizona. Since the start of his career, Gary has played an active role on water policy initiatives focused on drought response and resiliency planning. He holds a law degree from Arizona State University, a bachelor's degree in civil engineering and hydrology from the University of Arizona, and a master's degree in environmental and water resources engineering from the University of Texas at Austin.

Congresswoman Melanie Stansberry – Recorded Video

Born and raised in New Mexico, Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury leads with determination and compassion. She has dedicated her career to finding solutions to water issues, poverty, and climate change — representing New Mexico in the Legislature and now in Congress. She is a champion of efforts to address hunger, food, and water insecurity, conservation and climate change, and economic development and recovery. Rep. Stansbury worked in communities across the state as a STEM educator, researcher on land and water issues, and served as a staffer in the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and the White House Office of Management and Budget. As the Congresswoman from New Mexico’s First Congressional District, she is working hard to lift up the voices of our communities and tackle our biggest challenges— from economic development, to food and water security, to climate change.

Congresswoman Stansbury serves New Mexicans on the House Committee on Natural Resources and the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability.

Tuesday, October 1

Radhika Fox
Former Assistant Administrator for Water
Environmental Protection Agency

Radhika Fox is an American government official who served as the assistant administrator for water at the Environmental Protection Agency from 2021 to 2024.

Fox received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia University in 1995, where she majored in philosophy and religion, and a master's in city and urban planning from the University of California, Berkeley.

She directed policy and government affairs for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission and served as the federal policy director at PolicyLink before joining the US Water Alliance, where she was CEO from 2015 to 2021.[5][6] and concurrently worked as the director of the Value of Water Coalition.

On January 20, 2021, Fox was appointed by President Biden to the position of assistant administrator for water at the Environmental Protection Agency. She was confirmed by the United States Senate on June 16, 2021, by a vote of 55-43.

Fox resigned her position in February 2024.

Michael Connor
Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works

The Honorable Michael L. Connor was sworn in as the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works) on November 29th, 2021, and serves as the principal advisor to the Secretary of the Army on all matters related to the Army’s Civil Works Program. In this role, he establishes policy direction and provides supervision of Department of the Army functions relating to all aspects of the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers' Civil Works program. These responsibilities include programs for conservation and development of the nation's water and wetland resources, flood control, navigation, and shore protection, all important aspects of the President’s climate resilience priorities.

Mr. Connor has served in a variety of positions in the federal government as well as in the private sector. Prior to his confirmation, he was a partner at the WilmerHale law firm, focusing on natural resources, renewable energy development, environmental compliance and Native American law.

During the Obama administration, Mr. Connor served as the Deputy Secretary of the Interior, where he was the Chief Operating Officer, leading the Secretary’s strategy to carry out the department’s mission to protect and manage the Nation’s natural resources and cultural heritage; provide scientific and other information about those resources; and honor its trust responsibilities to American Indians, Alaska Natives, and affiliated Island Communities. Mr. Connor was the first person of Native American descent to serve in that position.

Prior to that role, Mr. Connor served as Commissioner of the U.S Bureau of Reclamation, where he led the agency’s mission to manage, develop, and protect water and related resources in an environmentally and economically sound manner in the interest of the American public.

Mr. Connor has also served as Counsel to the United States Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. He started his career with the Department of the Interior in 1993, serving in the Solicitor’s Office, and as the Director of the Indian Water Rights Office.

Mr. Connor has a law degree from the University of Colorado Law School, and a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from New Mexico State University.

Wednesday, October 2

Armando Quintero
Director
California Department of Parks and Recreation

Armando Quintero, Director of the California Department of Parks and Recreation since September 1, 2020. An experienced National Parks professional with expertise in park operations, outdoor education, equity and access, and diversity and inclusion in hiring and retention. He was the executive director of the Sierra Nevada Research Institute from 2014 to 2020 at the University of California, Merced, where he was also director of development from 2008 to 2014. He was elected a Marin Municipal Water District Board of Directors member from 2008 to 2020. He was an appointed member of the California Water Commission in 2014 and served as Chair from 2015 to 2020.

Branko Kerkez
Arthur F. Thurnau Associate Professor And Associate Department Chair For Research
University of Michigan

Branko Kerkez's research focuses on the development of intelligent water grids, which have the potential to revolutionize the interaction between hydrologic systems and man-made infrastructure. One main area of interest is the control and optimization of large-scale water systems, spanning everything from water supply (lakes, snowpack, reservoirs) to demand (agricultural and urban uses, hydropower production, decentralized operations of municipal water grids). Using a system-level approach, Kerkez is working to conceptualize the man-made and natural components of water networks while tying them together through advances in sensing, communication, machine learning and control theory. He hopes to ultimately to build the "Internet of Water," an intelligent cyber-physical system that connects water bodies with physical infrastructure and data-driven models atop a novel communications backbone.

REGISTRATION NOTE & CANCELATION POLICY

All conference participants (presenters, moderators, panelists, attendees, etc.) must adhere to the AWRA Code of Conduct and must register at the appropriate registration rate. AWRA Gateway members are not eligible for discounted conference rates. The registration fees are the major source of funding for the Conference, and the sharing of registrations is prohibited - every person attending the conference must register. For presenters, if two or more individuals will be presenting, each individual must register for the conference. This includes: all technical session presenters; all panel session presenters; and all poster session presenters.

Cancelations must be made in writing. Those cancelations received by August 9, 2024, will be subject to a processing fee of 30% of the total fees. No refunds will be given after August 9, 2024, but we can transfer your registration to someone else. The transfer must be completed by September 16, 2024. Abstract submission fees are nonrefundable. Refunds will be processed after the conclusion of the conference. Conference location decisions are guided by AWRA's policy.