W. Michael McDavit (Federal Government)
Call me Mike. I am currently the Chief of the Wetlands Strategies and State Programs Branch, Wetlands Division, Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds, Office of Water, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, DC. I lead a small unit that administers technical and financial assistance agreements for improving State and Tribal wetland protection programs. I also oversee the recurring National Wetland Condition Assessment, a national assessment of the ecological health of the Nation’s wetlands. The very first national survey in the series of nearly 1,200 wetland sites across the lower 48 is scheduled to be released in May, which also happens to be American Wetlands Month. In my current position, I collaborate with other federal agencies on special projects concerning the protection and restoration of wetland resources, such as the Interagency Coastal Wetland Working Group. I hold a BS in Environmental Science from the University of Wisconsin at Green Bay and a MPA from the George Washington University. Born and raised in the Washington, DC area, I am a third generation federal bureaucrat.
I am also Senior Fellow with the Partnership for Public Services’ “Excellence in Government” leadership program, an officer in ASPA’s Section on Environmental and Natural Resources Administration and a member of the Ecological Society of America. My 34 year federal career has spanned a variety of environmental disciplines, including regulation of pesticides, management of hazardous waste, and air and water pollution source control. During nine years abroad with the Department of Defense, I managed the U.S. military’s hazardous waste in Europe and helped close U.S. bases after the fall of the Berlin Wall. I also set up the first hazmat service program for U.S. troops in Southwest Asia after Operation Desert Storm. On the academic side, I currently teach environmental biology at Montgomery College, Germantown, MD and serve on the faculty of the annual “Washington Youth Summit for the Environment” at George Mason University. My wife, Kim, is a singer and piano teacher, and his son Grady is studying Irish dance/music at the University of Limerick, Ireland.
Contact information: mcdavit.michael@epa.gov; mcdavit.kimc@verizon.net.