Sac State’s brand-new Institute for Water, Energy, Sustainability and Technology (iWEST) has an executive director with the appointment of groundwater hydrologist Debbie Whaley.
Whaley’s first day with the institute is Monday, Oct. 26, Sac State announced on Tuesday.
A native of Fremont, Whaley previously was the vice president of CH2M’s global water business. She has worked in the water industry for more than three decades.
“At iWEST, we want to support ongoing work and provide a forum to incubate new ideas and capture additional opportunities,” Whaley told Sac State News. “The University is located at the heart of California’s dynamic government and complex water system, and the state is in the middle of a historic drought. With this position, and a growing student population, there is exciting work to be done across campus and even more ideas for work to be started.”
The new research institute — announced earlier this year as a means to combine science and policymaking via interdisciplinary, applied research is launching with $750,000 from the university. Plans call for iWEST to eventually have a campus of its own on a parcel of land near Sac State.
Whaley will report to Sac State provost Frederika Harmsen. Her duties in the job description are “leading the Institute and coordinating its activities, including implementing its vision, advancing its funding base, supporting and nurturing a range of laboratory and research management projects, engaging in program development, and connecting with associated interdisciplinary campus initiatives.”
Research topics could include dam relicensing, wetlands preservation, urban agriculture, water scarcity and politics, Harmsen wrote in a brief about iWEST.
