NAEP President's Letter

From Dennis Peters, NAEP President

June 2025

Welcome to the National Association of Environmental Professionals (NAEP) website. Whether you're exploring membership or already part of our community, we’re glad you’re here. NAEP offers a wide range of benefits designed to support environmental professionals and advance our shared mission. We invite you to join us in shaping the future of our field—your voice and ideas matter. And your membership and engagement make it possible for NAEP to offer valuable programs, events, and professional development opportunities.

I am very honored to serve as your NAEP President from now until May 2027! I look forward to working with our other Board Officers, Directors, chapter leaders, committee leaders, working group leaders, Office staff, and many of you to continue our growth in quantity and quality of programs and member benefits. We will continue to refresh and implement our strategic plan, bringing relevant programming, webinars, workshops, and other benefits to our members. As a volunteer-driven organization, we only accomplish what we can through the support of our members and leaders. We’d love for you to share your time, ideas, and experience—every contribution contributes to our Mission and Vision!  You can email us at office@naep.org to get involved or share your thoughts.

I hope that all of you are aware of and have considered membership and engagement in your own affiliated State or Regional Chapter, should one exist in your area. If there is no existing chapter in your area, consider pulling together other environmental professionals to assess the potential for one. We would love to assist you with a new chapter start-up!

One of the great benefits of NAEP membership is the opportunity to participate in our Working Groups. Modeled after our very successful and active NEPA Practice Working Group, the Working Groups are intended to provide more resource-topic-focused discussions and are open to all members. Our hope is that members actively participate in one or more Working Groups, contributing their expertise and benefiting from that of others.

As I write this letter, the stresses on our profession and professionals have been significant and growing over the past few months. Many of our members and colleagues are facing major uncertainties in their professional lives. In support of and in response to rapid changes in regulatory interpretations, Federal budget realignment, and government sector job losses and limitations, NAEP is actively implementing educational and new networking forums in support of our members. Additionally, we are adjusting our membership fee policy to provide specific support to our government members faced with sudden or unplanned job changes. We encourage all members to pay attention to our email and social media notices and take advantage of this new programmed support, either for yourself or a colleague.

Lastly, a huge thank you to all the planners and volunteers who supported our very successful 2025 Annual Conference & Training Symposium held April 28 - May 1, 2025, in Charleston, South Carolina! I am excited to share that we are currently working on planning the NAEP 2026 Annual Conference & Training Symposium to be hosted by the Alaska Chapter in Anchorage, May 11‑14, 2026. Anchorage is going to be a fantastic location with its rich cultural and natural history and resources, and I recommend planning to spend a little extra time in Alaska either before or after the conference. The call for abstracts and more information on the 2026 Symposium will be forthcoming in mid-2025. Looking further ahead, we’re planning for the 2027 Symposium to occur in San Antonio, Texas, another great destination to enhance your work travel experience. If you are interested in assisting with either of these events, please let us know!

Sincerely,

Dennis Peters
NAEP President

P.S. If you haven’t checked out the NAEP Environmental Professional's Radio podcast you absolutely should! It is informative and fun, and a great way to learn more about the work of other interesting and committed professionals.