NAEP President's Letter

Greetings NAEP Members,

Welcome to the National Association of Environmental Professionals (NAEP) new publication- Environmental Practice Bulletin. Congratulations go to the co-editors, Courtney Arena and Robbie Hayes, for getting the first edition to “print”. Following a year of thoughtful consideration, the NAEP has decided to suspend the publication of the Environmental Practice.

The NAEP’s vision is:
• Be the primary source of unbiased information on environmental practices;
• Support the advancement of the environmental professions as a whole and our individual members in their careers; 
• Encourage better decision-making that thoughtfully considers the full implications of those decisions.

As a peer-reviewed journal, the Environmental Practice underwent a complex process that is associated with publishing a print journal. However, the speed in which modern communication transpires has changed tremendously since NAEP's founding in 1975. Reliance on print journalism has been reduced by the advent of electronic media. As an example, we can look the number of changes that have occurred or are happening in the regulatory space in the past two years. This has created a need for environmental practitioners to quickly collect information and ascertain how to adapt to the changes as they are implemented. NAEP must also adapt to this paradigm or we will not be meeting our vision of being the primary source of information on environmental practices when our members need the information to be available to them.

The environmental umbrella includes a myriad of different regulations where environmental scientists, engineers, and planners need to have the latest information to efficiently navigate through the decision-making process. Environmental practitioners also need to interpret the nexus between the laws and science, with changes happening on a daily basis (or so it seems). Thus, NAEP established two initiatives to better inform environmental professionals in a timelier manner and diversify the technical subject matter included under the umbrella.

  1. The Environmental Practice Bulletin will emphasize technical articles focusing on conveying information regarding practical solutions to the challenges that our professionals are facing. The “Bulletin” will include a mix of peer-reviewed articles, case studies and reviews that will be a source of timely information for the environmental professional.
  2. Four new working groups have been created to join the NEPA working group to quickly mobilize, review, interpret and communicate information to our members. The new working groups include-Water and Coastal Resources, Cultural Resources, Brownfield and Remediation and Biological Resources. The groups are mobilizing with webinars, conference calls, and reviewing new regulatory policies. The new working groups will be open through 2020 and then will be transitioned to an NAEP member benefit.

Numerous opportunities are available to increase your involvement and actively participate in the NAEP including the Virtual Conference and Training Symposium (Monday, August 24 - Friday, August 28), participation in or creation of a new working group, publication of an article or perspective in the Environmental Practice Bulletin, among several other options. For more information on how you can get involved in our new initiatives as well as the already established committees, go to www.NAEP.org. Please email any questions, requests for information or your comments (positive or negative) to [email protected].

 

Betty Dehoney, CEP, PMP, ENV SP
President, NAEP