Ellen Gilinsky, PhD is president of Ellen Gilinsky, LLC, which she started in January 2017 to work with government, industry, and the private sector on finding environmental solutions to water challenges. Currently her clients include the National Great Rivers Research and Education Center and the Environmental Defense Fund. In addition, she is a member of the National Academy of Sciences Water Science and Technology Board, serves on the Board of the Soil and Water Conservation Society, and is a member of the Policy Committee of the Mississippi River Network. As part of the Obama Administration from 2011 through 2016, she was the Associate Deputy Assistant Administrator for Water at the Environmental Protection Agency, where she played a key role in water programs at the federal, state, and local levels, working closely with diverse stakeholders in the water quality, quantity, and agriculture sectors, and serving as co-chair of the Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia Task Force. Prior to this appointment, Dr. Gilinsky served as director of the Water Division at the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. Dr. Gilinsky received her BA in biology from the University of Pennsylvania and her PhD in zoology, with a concentration in aquatic ecology, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.