Site Contributors:
Jerry Sehlke, President AWRA
Jerry Sehlke is an Advisory Scientist/Engineer at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). Jerry has a BS in Biology and a MS in Entomology from Washington State Univ. and a MS in Hydrology from the Univ. of Idaho. His professional focus is working with interdisciplinary teams developing integrated programs to address large-scale environmental issues. He is especially interested in the development of natural/water resources laws and policies, the integration of laws and policies with science, and the development and implementation of sound water resources management programs.
Jerry has 20 years experience as a program manager and individual contributor for regulatory compliance, environmental restoration, water resources policy and planning, ground water monitoring and protection, and watershed management programs. He is presently INL’s Principle Investigator (PI) for developing a NASA Solutions Network to better integrate and utilize NASA space platforms and tools in water resources decision-making processes. Jerry is a Co-PI for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Laboratories Energy~Water Nexus team that seeks to better understand the relationship between water resources availability and use and the generation and use of energy in the U.S., and to manage these interactions while minimizing environmental impacts. In addition, he is collaborating with the Pacific Northwest National Lab., Oregon State Univ., and several Pacific Northwest Water Resources Research Institutes to develop a Joint Northwest Water Institute.
Jerry has been an active member of AWRA since 1994. He has presented papers at numerous conferences and he participated on a number of AWRA Technical Committees. Recently he chaired the AWRA Conference on Adaptive Management and he is a member of the conference committee for the 2007 AWRA annual conference. He is active in numerous other water resources organizations; for example he is the Chair of the Environmental and Water Resources Institute’s “Laws and Institutions Committee” and chairs a task committee developing guidelines for Integrated Water Resources Management programs. He is editing the upcoming issue of UCOWR’s Journal of Contemporary Water Research & Education on energy and water resources. Also, he has been active in and provides technical assistance to a number of state, regional, and national water-related programs, agencies, and organizations. In addition, he recently completed a Congressional Fellowship where he provided technical and policy advice to Congress on energy, water, and natural resources issues.