CIWR - Key Persons


Brent M. Haddad - Founder

Job Titles:
  • Director
  • Founder
  • Associate Dean of Engineering
  • Professor
He has over 20 years of experience in the field of water and wastewater. In addition to leading the Center, he is Associate Dean of Engineering for Technology Management and Professor of Environmental Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz, teaching courses on environmental policy and economics and fresh water policy. Professor Haddad holds an M.B.A. in Business & Public Policy and a Ph.D. in Energy and Resources. Professor Haddad's research focuses on fresh water policy and management, including urban water management strategies, utility-stakeholder communications, and long-range planning. Currently, he is Principal Investigator of a $2.6 million two-year research project focusing on how municipalities can evaluate desalination as a new water supply option. Professor Haddad teaches courses each year at UC Santa Cruz. He developed UCSC's first on-line course, called Introduction to Fresh Water: Policy and Processes, which is intended for national and international audiences. This 2007 syllabus for his fresh water policy course shows the breadth of topics he lectures on and his emphasis on bringing guest lecturers to campus. High profile experts in the field of water and natural resources management and policy have come to campus for his courses. His course on environmental policy and economics grew to have the largest enrollment of any course at UCSC, attracting hundreds of students and others who wanted to attend the lectures. Brent M. Haddad is Associate Dean of Engineering for Technology Management and Professor of Environmental Studies at UC Santa Cruz. He has published extensively on water policy and management, water and climate change, and urban water strategies. A multiple-award-winning teacher, he has also served on numerous editorial boards and research guidance comittees, including those of the WateReuse Foundation and the University of California Water Research Center. He recently (2009-11) served on the Committee on the Assessment of Water Reuse as an Approach to Meeting Future Water Supply Needs of the National Research Council. He has lectured on water management and policy throughout the United States and in many foreign countries. He has apeared on regional, national, and international radio programs advocating integrated long-range planning of water infrastructure and supply, and served as Principal Investigator on numerous projects. Brent M. Haddad, MA, MBA, Ph.D., has studied, published, and lectured on numerous aspects of rural and urban water policy, management, and communications. He is Professor of Environmental Studies at UC Santa Cruz. He is a multiple-award-winning teacher and frequent guest on regional and national radio.

G. Wade Miller

In a career spanning approximately 40 years, Mr. Miller has achieved distinction in national and international water reuse research and policy. From 2000 to 2014, he served as the Executive Director of the WateReuse Association. He continues to play an international leadership role in water reuse and desalination policy. He twice served as an advisor to presidential commissions on water. He is also a member and Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors of the Global Water Research Coalition. Mr. Miller has authored and published numerous papers, reports, and chapters in books. He earned a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Maryland and completed his MBA coursework at American University and Virginia Tech.

James Crook

Dr. Crook is an internationally recognized expert in water reclamation and reuse. He is an independent consultant on water and environmental issues. He is an environmental engineer with more than 45 years of experience in state government and consulting engineering. Dr. Crook directed the California Department of Health Services' water reuse program for fifteen years and developed California's first comprehensive water reuse criteria. He is a prolific author and was a principal author of Guidelines for Water Reuse, published by the EPA and USAID. He has authored more than 100 publications. Among his many accomplishments, he was elected as a Water Environment Federation Fellow in 2014, selected as the AAEE 2002 Kappe Lecturer, and the WateReuse Association's 2005 Person of the Year. Dr. Crook received a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from the University of Cincinnati. He is a registered professional engineer in both California and Florida.

Jean-François Debroux

Job Titles:
  • Water Quality Research Scientist and Design Engineer
Dr. Debroux is a water quality research scientist and design engineer. He earned his Ph.D. in Engineering and currently works as a Senior Associate Scientist/Engineer for Kennedy/Jenks Consulting. His work provides a leading edge of understanding technology and practice of water treatment and reuse.

John Laird

John Laird currently serves as State Senator for California District 17, along the state's Central Coast region. He previously served as California Secretary for Natural Resources from 2011 until 2019. Mr. Laird also served as a member of the State Integrated Waste Management Board from 2008 to 2009 and taught state environmental policy at the University of California, Santa Cruz. His distinguished career in public service has focused on water, energy, environment, public health, and social equity concerns.

Mark Buckley

Job Titles:
  • Water Economist
Dr. Buckley is a water economist whose innovative approaches to microeconomics and natural resources policy have distinguished him in academic and applied circles. He earned his Ph.D. in Environmental Studies from UCSC and currently leads the natural resource practice at ECO Northwest. The majority of his work focuses on improving the efficiency of investments in watersheds and water resources. Dr. Buckley works as part of interdisciplinary teams, typically for federal as well as Oregon state and local agencies, including USFS, USEPA, BLM, DOI, NOAA, Puget Sound Partnership, Oregon Department of Forestry, and Washington Department of Ecology. He has published in peer-reviewed journals, edited books, and served as an adjunct professor of environmental economics at Portland State University.

Robin L. Newmark

Job Titles:
  • Executive Director Emeritus at the U.S. Department of Energy 's National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Dr. Newmark is Executive Director Emeritus at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory, a national laboratory advancing renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies. She has led programs addressing climate impacts on water resources, the development of groundwater management methodologies, and advanced water treatment technologies. Dr. Newmark also conducted research in energy, environment, climate, and national security, and held several leadership positions at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, a national laboratory specializing in nuclear weapons, national and homeland security, energy and environmental research, including Deputy Program Director, Energy and Environmental Security, Program Leader and Associate Program Leader, Water and Environment and External Relations Director, Global Security. Dr. Newmark has co-invented a suite of award-winning environmental remediation technologies and authored over 100 papers and reports in the open literature, and received five patents. Dr. Newmark holds advanced degrees in Geophysics and Marine Geophysics from UCSC and Columbia University.

Shane Snyder

Job Titles:
  • Executive Director of the Nanyang Environment & Water Research Institute
Dr. Snyder is the Executive Director of the Nanyang Environment & Water Research Institute (NEWRI) at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore. He served as a Professor of Chemical and Environmental Engineering at the University of Arizona. For over 20 years, Dr. Snyder's research has focused on the identification, fate, and health relevance of emerging water pollutants. He and his teams have published over 300 manuscripts and book chapters on emerging contaminant analysis, treatment, and toxicology. Dr. Snyder has been invited to brief the Congress of the United States on three occasions on emerging issues in water quality. He previously held the position of Director of Research and Development with the Southern Nevada Water Authority. Dr. Snyder has served on several national expert panels, including the EPA's Science Advisory Board drinking water committee and the US EPA's Board of Scientific Counselors Sustainable Water committee. He was also a member of the US National Academy of Science's National Research Council Committee on Water Reuse and served on the WHO's guiding committee on development of potable reuse guidelines. Today, Dr. Snyder dedicates much of his time advancing safe water and sanitation within underserved communities in South and Southeast Asia. The philanthropic team led by Dr. Snyder has benefited more than two million people by translating academic research into practical environmental solutions. He is passionate in advancing sustainable water technologies to protect both public and environmental health. He earned his Ph.D. in Environmental Toxicology and Zoology.