The Center for Water Policy enters an exciting phase as it welcomes its new staff. Emma Ehrlich and Peyton McCauley make up the Center’s fourth cohort of postdoctoral Water Policy Specialists through the Sea Grant UW Water Science-Policy Fellows Program. Cami Armendariz joins the Center as its second Water Policy and Science Communications Fellow. Alongside the three new staff, former Water Policy Specialist and Sea Grant UW Water Science-Policy Fellow Cora Sutherland has been appointed as the Center’s interim Assistant Director.
“We’re thrilled to boost our water policy research capabilities and broaden our impact with the addition of Peyton, Emma, and Cami to our team,” said Melissa Scanlan, Director of the Center and the Lynde B. Uihlein Endowed Chair and Professor in water policy at UW-Milwaukee’s School of Freshwater Sciences.
Over the next year, Emma and Peyton will produce original legal research and work with the Center’s external partners to analyze U.S. water issues, evaluate policy options, and inform decision makers. This fellowship is designed to provide recent law school graduates with critical experience in the field of academic research and water policy development.
Emma earned a Juris Doctorate at the University of Minnesota School of Law. Emma is excited to apply her background in environmental law to her work at the Center and contribute to the Center’s research on resource management of the Great Lakes. Emma will also be managing the Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin Water Policy Network to bring together water policy experts from across the Universities of Wisconsin.
Peyton earned a Juris Doctorate from Marquette University Law School. Peyton brings her background in environmental science and environmental policy, and one of her research focuses at the Center is the emerging regulatory landscape for Great Lakes offshore wind energy.
Cami received her Bachelor of Science from Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in Environment & Sustainability. She has collaborated with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the Cornell Center for Conservation Social Sciences to improve freshwater blue space management strategies for water quality. Cami is pursuing her Master of Science in the water policy thesis track at the School of Freshwater Sciences, and she’s utilizing those skills to develop science and policy communication and outreach strategies for the Center for Water Policy.
Together, their collective expertise and varied backgrounds promise to elevate the Center’s research capacity, grant competitiveness, and community engagement.