Rebecca Wallace Memorial Award Honors Excellence
In Environmental Work
MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announced today that Gail Good, DNR Air Management Program Director, will receive the 2020 Rebecca Wallace Memorial Award. Good received the award at the Wisconsin Natural Resources Board (NRB) meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021.
This prestigious award honors DNR employees who improve relationships with external partner agencies and organizations on environmental quality issues or staff mentoring. The NRB passed a memorial resolution honoring DNR employee Rebecca Wallace, who lost her life, along with her husband, in an automobile accident in 1997. Wallace, who served 18 years at the DNR, was known for her dedication to her work and her ability to bring people together to solve problems.
Good began her career with the DNR in January 2000 as a dispersion modeler intern in the air department. She has continued with the air program ever since, becoming the Air Monitoring Section Chief in 2012 and the Air Management Program Director in 2015. She is well-known for her strong skillsets in mentoring, building and strengthening relationships and supporting the agency’s mission.
“[When the] computer monitors at the air monitoring stations were no longer needed across the state [due to an IT update], Gail supported the transfer of the monitors to a Milwaukee volunteer group that recycled, [refurbished, and then donated] the equipment to underprivileged school-age children in the Milwaukee area who would otherwise not have access to e-learning in their homes,” said Bart Sponseller, DNR Deputy Division Administrator.
Good’s partnership and relationship building efforts have a global impact, supporting the mission of air quality monitoring in countries in Asia and Africa.
“Gail’s relationship-building on a local level has facilitated the engagement of worldwide partnerships improving the well-being of citizens in developing countries in the beginning stages of air quality policy development,” Sponseller said. “Through partners at the Wisconsin State Lab of Hygiene, Gail has encouraged DNR air monitoring staff in the establishment of partnerships with the U.S. Embassy, supporting the institution of air quality monitoring networks in New Delhi and consulates in Mumbai, India and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where particle pollution is a serious concern.”
For more information on the DNR’s air program, visit the DNR’s website. Learn more about the NRB here.
