William Ross
Duke University
Biographical Sketch: William G. Ross, Jr., is the former secretary of the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources. He led the agency from 2001 to 2009. While he was secretary, the department played a principal role as the state expanded the state park system, including the addition of Chimney Rock and Grandfather Mountain State Parks; enacted and implemented the NC Clean Smokestacks Act, significantly reducing emissions from the state’s coal-fired power plants; built the Nature Research Center and Green Square, an innovative, integrated, LEED-platinum new wing for the NC Museum of Natural Sciences and headquarters for NC DENR; and developed the Coastal Habitat Protection Plan. Since leaving the secretary's office in 2009, Ross has focused on matters of environment and health as a visiting professor at the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University, in Durham. In addition, he is an attorney and a consultant at Brooks Pierce, in Raleigh, working on initiatives relating to natural resource conservation and sustainability, including America’s Longleaf and living shorelines. A North Carolina native now residing in Chapel Hill, Ross is a graduate of Davidson College, in Davidson, NC, and of the University of Virginia School of Law, in Charlottesville, VA.
Papers:
114
Multi-Stakeholder Conservation and the Sentinel Landscapes Pilot Project