 Trudy D. Fisher was reappointed as the Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality by Governor Phil Bryant in January. Ms. Fisher was first appointed by former Governor Haley Barbour in January 2007, and is the first woman to serve as the agency’s director. Prior to returning to MDEQ, she was in private practice where she led an environmental law practice. She had previously served as MDEQ’s General Counsel.
As MDEQ Executive Director, she manages a staff of more than 400 and a budget of over $250 million. MDEQ is responsible for protecting the state’s environment and administers most of the U. S. EPA programs, including air, water and waste management activities; monitors, models, and regulates water use; and functions as the state geological survey. After Hurricane Katrina devastated south Mississippi, under Fisher’s leadership, the agency implemented a $640 million wastewater and water infrastructure program for the Mississippi Gulf Coast region.
In addition to her duties as Executive Director, Fisher serves as Mississippi’s Trustee for natural resources under the Oil Pollution Act and is tasked with leading Mississippi’s recovery from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. She is also the State Co-Chair of the Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force, Co-Chair of the Governor’s Commission on Gulf Coast Restoration, and the former Co-Chair of the Gulf of Mexico Alliance.
Fisher has been repeatedly recognized by her peers as one of the Best Lawyers in America, and the Mississippi Business Journal selected her as one of Mississippi’s 50 Leading Business Women for her environmental legal services accomplishments. She is Past President of the Mississippi Bar Section on Natural Resources, Energy and Environmental Law, Past President of the Board of Directors of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Mississippi, and is active in other civic and charitable endeavors.
Fisher earned a bachelor of science degree from the Mississippi University for Women and her juris doctor degree from the University of Mississippi School of Law, where she served as editor-in-chief of the Mississippi Law Journal. |