DURHAM, N.C. – The U.S. Department of the Interior has appointed Martin Doyle, professor of river science and policy at Duke University, as Senior Conservation Finance Fellow at the Department’s new Natural Resources Investment Center (NRIC).
Doyle is one of the nation’s top experts on water markets and water infrastructure finance. He is a faculty member at Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment and director of the Water Policy Program at Duke’s Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions.
His appointment as NRIC’s inaugural Senior Conservation Finance Fellow will begin in January.
Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell announced the creation of the NRIC today during a White House Roundtable on Water Innovation in Washington, D.C. The new center will use market-based tools and innovative public-private collaborations to increase investment in water and habitat conservation and critical water infrastructure, she said.
“Given increased development pressures, climate impacts and constrained budgets, Interior is pursuing innovative approaches with private sector organizations to help accomplish our balanced land management and conservation mission,” Secretary Jewell said.
As Senior Conservation Finance Fellow, Doyle will help guide the center’s efforts to identify new financing options for projects that conserve water resources and protect species habitat, particularly in water-scarce Western states. He’ll employ his expertise in conservation finance and river science to help DOI find new ways to boost investment in water infrastructure and foster private-sector participation in regional markets that promote efficient water-use permitting and effective landscape-level conservation.
“Drought grabs our attention, but water scarcity, aging infrastructure, and species loss are ongoing, chronic problems across much of our nation. Solving them requires new approaches that blend public and private investments. This new center is a great chance to make a concerted effort in this direction,” Doyle said. “I look forward to assisting Secretary Jewell and her staff in this vital initiative, and to sharing the new insights and knowledge I gain with my students when I return to Duke.”
The NRIC is part of President Obama’s Build America Investment Initiative, which calls on federal agencies to increase investments in ports, roads, water and sewer systems, broadband networks, and other vital infrastructure projects; and Pay for Success, an initiative that employs market-based management tools to ensure government services produce intended outcomes.
From the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University