Florida Climate Change: the Laws and Science

Speaker: Lynette Cardoch, PhD

Lynette Cardoch, PhD is a supervising scientist and Director of the Climate Change Commitment with MWH Americas, Inc. In this role, she coordinates the company’s global activities and projects as they related to carbon footprinting and reduction, as well as educational outreach for middle school students. In the arena of sustainable development, Dr. Cardoch is the senior technical lead for impacts of climate change on local communities and water supply/water treatment infrastructure. This includes dialogue with the agency leaders from key utilities and water management agencies, such as Miami-Dade Water and Sewer and the South Florida Water Management District. She is also a lead ecologist for use of wetlands for wastewater treatment.

Lynette is also active in her community. She was recently appointed by Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners to the Land Acquisition and Selection Committee (LASC). LASC recommends environmentally sensitive lands for County acquisition. She is also a Board Member of the Council for Sustainable Florida/Collins Center; this is Florida’s leading statewide organization for sustainable development.

Previously, Dr. Cardoch was a research scientist with the Environmental Protection Agency in North Carolina. She was part of the Global Climate Change Program. Lynette received her PhD. from Louisiana State University (Oceanography and Coastal Sciences). She was a Fulbright Scholar in Barcelona, Spain focusing on ecological economics. Lynette received her M.A. from the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami (Marine Affairs and Policy) and her B.A. from Harvard-Radcliffe Colleges (Biological Anthropology).