Who is Lisa Jackson?

Lisa Jackson has been around for quite some time now, but her presence hasn’t been rather low key. Unless you are big on the environment, then you probably haven’t heard of her. Jackson most recently came into public light when President Barack Obama nominated her for the position of the Administrator of the EPA on December 15, 2008. The U.S. Senate has already upheld Obama’s nomination, and as of January 23, 2009 she became the 1^st African-American and 4^th woman to hold the position.

Lisa Perez Jackson was born February 8, 1962 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Within weeks of her birth she was adopted and was relocated with her new family in New Orleans, Louisiana where she spent her childhood and adolescent years. She graduated summa cum laude from the Tulane University School of Chemical Engineering and went on to get her master’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Princeton University. After finishing school she spent 16 years with the Environmental Protection Program (EPA) as the Assistant Commissioner of Compliance and Enforcement. During her time with the EPA she worked with the federal Superfund to reinforce hazardous waste cleanup in the US, most specifically in New Jersey. This led to her next position in 2005, where she worked for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection as Assistant Commissioner for Land use Management. She developed programs in New Jersey to help with land use regulation, water supply and regulation, and conducted geological surveys.

Prior to being nominated by President Obama she had just been named Chief of Staff to the Governor of New Jersey, which is the second highest position in the state government. Now that she is the Administrator of the EPA, she says the top threat is climate change, but there is still much more that the nation needs to do, including hazardous waste cleanup. Everyone who meets her says she is an extremely intelligent person, but she also likes to have fun. She was known for her annual Mardi Gras party, but hasn’t had one since Hurricane Katrina destroyed the house she grew up in. I think the nation as a whole hopes she can do her job efficiently and help to get the U.S. on the right track with strongly enforced environmental programs.