2007 Walter Barnard Hill Award for Distinguished Achievement in University Public Service and Outreach

Laurie Fowler

Laurie Fowler, an environmental lawyer in the UGA Institute of Ecology and director for policy at UGA’s River Basin Center, has helped shape public policies that protect natural resources in Georgia and in the nation. She provided leadership in developing the Southeast’s first regional aquatic habitat conservation plan, helped the River Basin Center achieve international recognition, and developed a graduate-level service-learning course where students apply and design policy to manage water resources based on sound science.

The Etowah Habitat Conservation Plan aims to protect the Etowah River watershed, a multi-county region north of Atlanta that is undergoing rapid growth. Fowler and River Basin Center staff provided research both on policy and biology that guided plan development. Other states consider this plan as a model for balancing economic development and environmental protection.

Under Fowler’s leadership, the River Basin Center became the nation’s first Center of Excellence for Watershed Management. The Center’s research findings are being used throughout the Southeast and in other countries to help protect water quality and biodiversity and to develop science-based public policy that protects water resources.

In 1997, Fowler developed the Environmental Practicum, a graduate service-learning course that gives students an opportunity to apply what they learn in the classroom to real community issues. Most of the products and policies developed in the course have been implemented, including legislation to allow for state transferable development rights, land development ordinances, and creation of the Upper Etowah River Alliance to address the watershed’s environmental issues.

Fowler teaches courses in environmental law and has broad research interests that encompass environmental protection laws and policies related to land use, conservation easements, watershed protection, and more. She has helped two governors develop land protection programs and was involved in creating the Institute of Georgia Environmental Leadership, which provides environmental education to leaders from agriculture, industry, government, environmental groups and more.