DEC Acting Commissioner Gerstman Appoints Carrie Meek Gallagher as New Region 1 Director

LongIsland.com

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has appointed Carrie Meek Gallagher to lead the agency's Region 1 office in Stony Brook, DEC Acting Commissioner Marc Gerstman announced today.

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Stony Brook, NY - August 24, 2015 - The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has appointed Carrie Meek Gallagher to lead the agency's Region 1 office in Stony Brook, DEC Acting Commissioner Marc Gerstman announced today.

Gallagher will oversee DEC activities in Nassau and Suffolk counties, and manage a staff of more than 150 employees. Her duties are to protect, preserve and monitor the environment and public health in the two counties and work cooperatively with local elected officials, stakeholders and the public on regional environmental issues, including flood recovery and resiliency.

"We are very fortunate to have Ms. Gallagher join DEC. Her wealth of environmental knowledge and experience in Suffolk and Nassau counties will be a tremendous asset to the agency, the state and the local communities," Acting Commissioner Gerstman said.

For the past four years, Ms. Gallagher served as the Chief Sustainability Officer at Suffolk County's Water Authority, where she implemented a sustainability program that included source water protection, water quality improvement, water conservation, energy efficiency, renewable energy expansion, recycling, green buildings and procurement, waste reduction, and environmental education.

Prior to becoming Chief Sustainability Officer, Ms. Gallagher served as the Commissioner of the Suffolk County Department of Environment and Energy for five years, working to safeguard the county's natural resources and providing a centralized office to address the myriad issues that impact the local environment.

Ms. Gallagher also served as the Deputy Director of Planning for Suffolk County where she was the inaugural director of the Long Island Index, an indicators project that measured the region's progress toward improving the quality of life for all Long Islanders. She also headed the Nassau County Economic Development Resource Center and developed Sustainable Long Island's Brownfields Redevelopment program.

Gallagher, who resides in Stony Brook, holds a B.A. in Sustainable Development and Latin American Studies from Amherst College, an M.S. in Conservation Biology and Sustainable Development from the University of Maryland at College Park, and an MBA from the Frank G. Zarb School of Business at Hofstra University.