Champaign, Ill., 9/11/19: Professional engineer Sally McConkey has joined the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment’s (iSEE) new Resilience Working Advisory Team (RWAT) to foster resilience to the local effects of climate change. McConkey has been asked to join the team specifically for her expertise in natural hazard mitigation and flooding issues.
McConkey is head of the Coordinated Hazard Assessment and Mapping Program at the Illinois State Water Survey, with research interests in floodplain and stormwater management, natural hazard mitigation, and community resilience.
The advisory team, one of six Sustainability Working Advisory Teams (SWATeams), will include three to four members from each group: faculty, staff, and students. The Resilience SWATeam will work to join campus and the community to address preparations for extreme weather and other results of climate change and update the FY2015 Illinois Climate Action Plan (ICAP).
The team will report their recommendations annually to the iSEE and to other groups on campus and in the community that share a concern for climate change. Other SWATeams include energy, land and water, zero waste, transportation, and education.
More information about iSEE and the SWATeams, visit https://sustainability.illinois.edu/ and https://sustainability.illinois.edu/campus-sustainability/icap/swateams/.
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Media contacts: Sally McConkey, 217-333-5482, sally@illinois.edu
Tricia Barker, Associate Director for Strategic Communications, 217-300-2327, tlbarker@illinois.edu