Robert & Patricia Switzer Foundation

Fellowship Year: 1993

Academic Background: UCLA - D.Env

Current Position: Executive Director , LA & SG River Watershed Council

Dr. Nancy Steele is the Executive Director of the Los Angeles & San Gabriel Rivers Watershed Council, a center for practical watershed research, analysis, and collaboration in Los Angeles County. The Watershed Council has recently completed the Elmer Avenue Neighborhood Retrofit in Sun Valley, CA, to demonstrate of the principles of green infrastructure redevelopment and monitor the effectiveness of stormwater best management practices. The Council also manages two large watershed monitoring programs on the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Rivers in Los Angeles County, promotes water conservation through educating professionals about sustainable landscapes, operates a program of symposia and conferences and publishes a quarterly magazine for decision makers and other stakeholders in the watershed. Prior to joining the Watershed Council in 2005, Nancy worked for California’s Environmental Protection and Health and Human Services Agencies in a variety of positions. She has managed a team tasked with improving our air quality through reducing emissions from heavy duty diesel trucks and buses; served as deputy Ombudsman for the Air Resources Board; developed regulations to reduce childhood lead poisoning; conducted a study of environmental lead contamination in Los Angeles County, and enforced compliance with hazardous waste control laws. Her dissertation compared the environmental and health consequences of the recycling and waste management life stages of batteries for electric vehicles. Nancy is currently a board member of the Marine Conservation Research Institute; vice-chair of the Upper Los Angeles IRWMP steering committee; member of the Leadership Committee of the Greater Los Angeles County IRWMP; member of the Women’s Environmental Council; and founding President of the Arroyos & Foothills Conservancy. She is a co-owner of the Chaparral Mountain Honey Company.

Expertise: Water Resources, Architecture & Urban Planning, Land / Open Space / Smart Growth