Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control

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Steve Smailer, the director of the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control’s Division of Water, was recently interviewed for Outdoor Delaware's newest piece, "Navigating Delaware’s Drought History: Insights into Water Management Challenges and Solutions". “There’s drought, which is lack of rain, and then there are the ramifications of that, and that’s really dependent on the land uses and the need for the water supplies in those areas”. In other words, what sort of usage pressures are placed on water systems as a result of low precipitation levels? Wilmington receiving substantially less rain than is typical is different than Marydel seeing a decrease in rainfall. Up north, most of the water supplies utilized by Delawareans go to homes and businesses, while a substantial portion below the canal is used instead for farming. Read more of his insights on drought along with other subject matter experts on Outdoor Delaware: https://lnkd.in/eZBbzNpd

Delawareans of all ages across the state shared their love of the ocean in our Haiku Poetry Contest during Ocean Month in June. Our Division of Climate, Coastal and Energy partnered with libraries in each of the counties and challenged Delawareans to create a haiku highlighting “What I Love About the Ocean.” Scott Walls, from Greenwood, developed a passion for haikus during a high school poetry class when he was assigned to write 10 haikus. Currently serving as the youth services coordinator at the Georgetown Public Library, Walls organizes various programs for children, including summer reading, story times and special events. He recently received a grant from the Space Science Institute to educate about blue whales, highlighting their ecological role in ocean ecosystems. Scott's haiku reflects his research on whales, emphasizing their impact on ocean nutrients. Walls believes strongly in environmental conservation and the connection between what we do on land and ocean health. Whale carcass plunges Boon to the abyssal plain Blooming reef of bones Spencer Rapson won first place in the youth division of a haiku contest. The homeschooled student was motivated by a writing assignment and inspired by the Netflix documentary "My Octopus Teacher". Spencer's family, including his parents Kate and Andrew and his younger brother Theodore, who placed third in the contest, shares a deep love for the ocean. They frequently visit Delaware's beaches and enjoy activities like snorkeling and sea turtle watching. Kate emphasizes the importance of environmental protection to her children. Spencer's favorite aspect of the ocean is the waves and swimming in them. Dark forest of kelp Life is hidden all around A shadow swims by Read more on our Outdoor Delaware article: https://lnkd.in/e42g9Vax

We're hiring! Join our Division of Air Quality as an engineer or an environmental program manager. Engineer I - Transportation Planning: *Sign-on Bonus* Two positions will be filled under this posting. Both positions will be responsible for promoting air quality and environmental considerations in all transportation planning, decision making and initiatives to bridge the technical gap between the transportation sector, land development and community planning. https://lnkd.in/ehtk5sMW Engineer Program Manager I - Permitting and Compliance: We're looking for 2 Engineer Program Managers. One in Kent County and the other in New Castle County. These positions supervise permitting and compliance work for minor and major air emission sources in the State of Delaware. https://lnkd.in/gyjJWEbB Environmental Program Manager II - Air Toxics: This Program Manger position will supervise and manager air quality planning activities. https://lnkd.in/eQw82GNy

We're hiring! Join our Division of Fish and Wildlife as a conservation technician, environmental scientist, or a fish and wildlife manager. Conservation Technician III - Wildlife: This position within the Wildlife/Fisheries Construction Team will perform major construction and maintenance projects on state wildlife areas, state fisheries ponds and public boat ramps located throughout the state. https://lnkd.in/e5mrV6nV Environmental Scientist III - Wildlife Damage Biologist: This position will work to resolve human conflicts with wildlife. Specifically, the position will work with landowners and farmers to better manage deer and reduce crop damage on their properties. https://lnkd.in/eK5mRFWT Fish and Wildlife Regional Manager: These positions oversee wildlife management activities on State Wildlife Areas, maintains boating/fishing areas and supervises two field crews throughout an assigned county (Kent or Sussex County). https://lnkd.in/eJ88qpVB

More than 300 youth anglers cast their lines in our 38th annual Youth Fishing Tournament earlier this month, hosted by our Delaware Natural Resources Police. Tournament weighmasters onsite at each pond weighed catches for participants ages 4 through 15 as they competed for each county’s top catch and age group titles. Last year’s winner, Brody Spencer of Dagsboro, now age 12, repeated as tournament champion by catching 5.71 pounds of fish this year in Ingrams Pond in Sussex County. This year’s overall statewide winner and county winners will be invited to a special trophy ceremony on Governor’s Day, Thursday, July 25, at the 2024 Delaware State Fair in Harrington. The Delaware Youth Fishing Tournament was established to introduce youth to the sport of fishing and to teach the catch-and-release approach to conservation. https://lnkd.in/gyHY6BhJ

We're hiring an Engineer I. This position will assist in the sampling, analysis, evaluation, and presentation of PFAS and other toxic compound data from sediment, surface water and/or fish/biota tissue. For more information or to apply, visit https://lnkd.in/eMCVf_sP

We're hiring for multiple opportunities! Join our Division of Waste and Hazardous Substances as an engineer, environmental program manager, hydrologist or management analyst! Engineer I - Tanks Compliance: This position’s primary function will be to review and approve new underground and aboveground storage tank installation, retrofit, and repair submittals for compliance with appropriate environmental regulations. https://lnkd.in/e2ycexja Environmental Program Manager II - Remediation: This position manages various state and federal environmental investigation and cleanup programs administered by the Remediation Section. Planning, coordination, and implementation of the environmental programs including regulations, policies and procedure developments and reviews. https://lnkd.in/edT84jxc Hydrologist I - Remediation: This position is responsible for confirming and evaluating the nature and extent of contamination related to hazardous substances releases. https://lnkd.in/erEvkC6d Management Analyst II - Waste Management: This position is primarily responsible for reviewing and loading Electronic Data Deliverables (EDDs) in the EQuIS database. https://lnkd.in/ejPBkARy Management Analyst III - Brownfields: This position is primarily responsible for managing the Brownfield Grant Program, issuing associated grant reimbursements, and making necessary policy changes. https://lnkd.in/e5bgHR5R

Young people are often leading the charge in environmental action. They are getting involved in all sorts of activities, like participating in the annual school Envirothon competition and tackling individual projects aimed at benefiting nature. Other students are committed to long-term action, pursuing environmental-based careers. A 2021 survey from the Pew Research Center found members of Generation Z — those born from the late 1990s to the early 2010s — are more likely than those from older generations to say climate change should be the top priority for policymakers and to have personally taken steps to deal with it. This makes a degree of intuitive sense — after all, the young adults, teenagers and children of today are the ones who will have to live with our planet the longest. These future leaders will be grappling with present-day decisions for decades, after most of the rest of us are gone. To many young people, ensuring the Earth remains habitable is the most important thing governments around the world can do. After all, we only get one home. Perhaps no generation has ever been more environmentally conscious than the Zoomers of Generation Z. They are also concerned about social justice and equity, which overlap with the natural world to form the field of environmental justice. Exactly what these environmentally conscious students will go on to accomplish in the coming years is of course a mystery, but it’s clear that Delaware’s natural resources are in good hands. Today’s youth are indeed the environmental stewards of tomorrow, but for many of these young Delawareans, the future is now. Read more on our new Outdoor Delaware article by Matt Bittle, "Generation Green: Delaware’s Youth Lead the Charge in Environmental Action" https://lnkd.in/gfFSHUyx

Our Division of Fish and Wildlife hosted the Cedar Swamp Habitat Management and Restoration Workshop earlier this month. The workshop focused on long-term habitat management and restoration work that has taken place at Cedar Swamp in Townsend, highlighting successes including maintaining and growing Delaware’s remaining Northern Bobwhite quail population. Our staff shared the backstory of the area, now totaling more than 6,000 acres, emphasizing how funding from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, state hunting license revenues, National Wild Turkey Federation, Delaware Bayshore Initiative and other private donations have supported one of Delaware’s premier wildlife habitat restoration success stories. With more than 1,600 acres of habitat restored for quail, 11 impounded wetlands, and more than 200 acres managed by prescribed fire annually, Cedar Swamp’s diverse habitats are supporting hundreds of wildlife species while still providing access to hunters, anglers and other area users who enjoy wildlife-related outdoor recreation.