Jessica Brown is UGA Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant’s new stormwater specialist in Brunswick, Ga. In her role, Brown would like to see the stormwater program grow, especially on the coast, and become a local and statewide resource for sound science and engineering solutions.
“The Georgia coast is so beautiful and is a hidden gem that a lot of people aren’t aware of,” she said. “There’s so much we can learn from other states that are facing water resource challenges today, that we will face one day in the future. We need to be proactive in preserving and protecting our ecosystems.”
“The Georgia coast is so beautiful and is a hidden gem that a lot of people aren’t aware of,” she said.
Brown has been working with cooperative extension programs throughout the country for the past decade and believes in the power of extending the knowledge and resources of a university and providing a connection for residents and communities.
Prior to coming to UGA, Brown worked with the Rutgers Cooperative Extension Water Resources Program as a senior engineer. Through education and outreach, Brown worked with municipalities to design, implement and monitor green infrastructure and stormwater best management practices, building capacity for better stormwater management and educating the next generation through her development and management of the program’s undergraduate intern team. Brown also served as the water resources agent for the New Jersey Sea Grant consortium, which meant she spent a large portion of her time serving communities on the Jersey shore.
Prior to this, she worked with the Auburn Cooperative Extension Water Resources Program in Auburn, Ala., where she focused on watershed restoration efforts, provided community outreach on stormwater best management practices, developed design workshops for professionals and wrote the technical design sections of the Alabama Low Impact Development Handbook. She has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biological and agricultural engineering from North Carolina State University.