January 20, 2023 @ 3:30 p.m. MDT
About Charrette:
This year the LAEP Department is teaming up with USU Institute of Land, Water, and Air, The Nature Conservancy, Weber Basin Water Conservancy District, the Great Salt Lake Advisory Council, the National Science Foundation, and several other partners to explore and envision strategies to address the issues associated with a shrinking Great Salt Lake. We would like to thank these partners for their time, resources and support.
Speaker Bios:
Tim Hawkes, Panelist
Tim serves on the House Business and Labor Committee, the House Natural Resources Committee, and in appointed leadership as Chair of the House Rules Committee. From 2013 – 2017, he served as co-chair of Governor Herbert’s State Water Strategy Advisory Team, and currently serves as General Counsel for the Great Salt Lake Brine Shrimp Cooperative, Inc.
Among his many legislative successes, during the 2019 General Session, Tim was Chief sponsor of HCR-10—House Concurrent Resolution to Address Declining Water Levels of Great Salt Lake. This unique and promising declaration unanimously passed by the Utah Legislature and signed by former Gov. Gary Herbert has been a catalyst for ongoing discourse within the Great Salt Lake watershed community about water related practices and policies in this desert state, funding for studies to inform effective solutions for the Lake, and as an inspiration for urgent and continuing legislation to address Great Salt Lake’s declining elevation.
Laura Briefer, Panelist
Laura Briefer, Director, Salt Lake City Department of Public Utilities Laura Briefer is the Director of Salt Lake City Department of Public Utilities (SLCDPU). She has served as Director of SLCDPU for the last six years. Laura has worked at SLCDPU for 14 years in various areas of the organization and has devoted a 28-year career in natural resource, environmental, and public policy professions in the public, private, and non-profit sectors. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies from the University of California at Santa Barbara, and a Master of Public Administration from the University of Utah. Laura is a co-author of several peer-reviewed published papers alongside Utah’s academic institutions, focused on water resources, climate change, and watershed management. She serves on local and national boards, including the Provo River Water Users Association, Utah Lake Water Users Association, National Association of Clean Water Agencies (https://www.nacwa.org/), and the national Water Research Foundation (https://www.waterrf.org/). She also serves on the Utah Water Task Force and is very active in the Central Wasatch Commission.
Marcelle Shoop, Panelist
Marcelle Shoop is the Director of the Saline Lakes Program for the National Audubon Society. The Saline Lakes program is part of Audubon’s Western Water initiative focused on advancing balanced solutions to water use in the West to ensure birds, ecosystems, people, and economies thrive.
Marcelle is a Western native and long-time Utah resident, with a background in environmental and natural resources law, policy development, sustainability, and stakeholder relations. She has held various legal and managerial roles with Rio Tinto, where she focused on business approaches to sustainability and socially and environmentally responsible business practices. Marcelle has worked with conservation partners, including BirdLife International and The Nature Conservancy, in connection with corporate biodiversity efforts, which helped her understand the importance of community connections with birds and the environment.
Brian Steed, Moderator
Steed earned both his undergraduate and graduate degrees in political science at USU and has taught as an economics instructor in the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business. After spending seven years in Washington, D.C., serving as chief of staff to Utah Congressman Chris Stewart, then as the Deputy Director of Programs and Policy at the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Steed returned to the Beehive State in June 2019 to head the Utah Department of Natural Resources.
He left the cabinet of Governor Spencer Cox to lead the Janet Quinney Lawson Institute for Land, Water & Air established in 2021 to demonstrate USU’s expertise in land, water, and air issues with civic and legislative leaders.
Watch the Lecture Here:
