The Institute for Georgia Environmental Leadership (IGEL) has selected Katie Hill, Legal Services Associate at the University of Georgia River Basin Center, as one of 33 outstanding participants for its 2018 class. These individuals will join a diverse network of statewide leaders consistently collaborating to solve Georgia’s environmental challenges. IGEL is a nonprofit dedicated to yearly collaboration among a diverse network of statewide leaders working to solve Georgia’s environmental challenges.

“We are extremely pleased with the members of this year’s class which follows IGEL’s long tradition of identifying and selecting a diverse and unique mix of Georgia’s future leaders in the environmental industry,” says Jamie Henderson, with truGround Environmental, LLC, the outgoing Chair of the IGEL Board of Directors.

The IGEL experience is a personal and professional development program that takes classes through multiple sessions around the state, exposing them to the pressing environmental concerns as well as the vast potential, that exist in each region of Georgia.

Stacey Isaac Berahzer, with I B Environmental, LLC (previously with the Environmental Finance Center), is the new Chair of the IGEL Board.

“This month, we are very excited to welcome the seventeenth IGEL class,” Berahzer says. “Our first session will be in the Atlanta metro area, but over the next twelve months, our 2018 class will contend with the gnats in the peak of summer in Southwest Georgia, explore the habitat of native fish in the rivers of the North Georgia mountains, and learn about the environmental challenges facing the unique communities on Georgia’s coast.”

The program emphasizes hands-on learning opportunities to master new skills through practice.

“Katie is such a natural fit for the IGEL program,” said Laurie Fowler, executive director for public service and external affairs at the Odum School of Ecology and director for policy at the River Basin Center. “Already she is a true leader in the environmental law/policy arena, having served in leadership positions with the environmental bar for the state and developing policy guidance used by regulatory agencies, planners and managers on a variety of issues.”

Hill, an attorney who has been on the River Basin Center staff since receiving her J.D. cum laude from the University of Georgia, has worked on numerous projects to help Georgia communities plan and manage environmental issues. Her publications include Local Wetland Programs: A Guide for Georgia Communities, Decentralized Wastewater Management: A Guidebook for Georgia Communities, Valuing Conservation Easements: A Guide for Georgia Tax Assessors and Wastewater Management in Coastal Georgia.

“I am thrilled to be part of the IGEL class of 2018,” says Hill. “I’ve heard about this program for years, and am looking forward to developing leadership skills with a peer group of other Georgia environmental professionals.”

About the UGA River Basin Center: The River Basin Center works to connect freshwater science to management and policy. Although affiliated with the Odum School of Ecology, its members are drawn from units across the University of Georgia and it is known for an interdisciplinary approach to teaching, research and public service and outreach. River Basin Center faculty, staff and students work on aquatic management issues around the globe, but the center maintains a particular emphasis on the southeastern U.S.

About IGEL: IGEL is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization facilitating leadership in collaborative problem-solving to preserve and enhance the environment in the state of Georgia. Learn more at http://www.igeleaders.org/.