USU Welcomes Interim Director of the Center for Colorado River Studies

LOGAN, Utah — Gina Gilson was named Interim Director of the Center for Colorado River Studies at Utah State University on Aug. 1. As a new assistant professor in the Department of Environment and Society, Gilson brings a background of water-related research and expertise.

“The Colorado River is in an extremely difficult moment. I'm honored to help lead the center through this next chapter and look forward to working with actors across the basin to navigate today's challenges and find solutions,” Gilson said.

Gilson previously managed Utah Valley University’s Capitol Reef Field Station after graduating from Creighton University with her Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science and Biology. At the field station, she educated visiting teachers and researchers and began work in water rights, management, and policy. She earned her Master of Science in Biodiversity, Conservation & Management and her Ph.D. in Geography and the Environment from Oxford University.

In this leadership transition, the Center for Colorado River Studies will also be reorganized under the Janet Quinney Lawson Institute for Land, Water, and Air, positioning Utah State University as a nexus connecting research on the Colorado River basin directly to the policy makers and decision makers shaping its future.

“Dr. Gilson brings exactly the combination of rigorous scholarship and policy fluency this moment calls for,” said Anna McEntire, executive director of the institute. “Bringing the Center for Colorado River Studies under ILWA strengthens our ability to connect USU's research directly to the people making decisions about this basin's future, and we're confident in their ability to carry that work forward.”

The center’s former director, Jack Schmidt, will continue with the center in a senior research scientist capacity as Gilson steps into her new role.

“Dr. Schmidt is a highly respected expert on the Colorado River watershed and founder of the center,” McEntire said. “For nearly four decades, he has studied this critical river, its ecology, and the surrounding region and informed policy discussions and decision making.”

Schmidt also served as chief of the U.S. Geological Survey’s Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center and has written numerous articles and papers on the Colorado River and the Grand Canyon.

“Jack has given us an extraordinary foundation to build on, and I look forward to continuing his legacy of rigorous, policy-relevant research,” Gilson said.

Looking ahead, the Center for Colorado River Studies will continue its tradition of data-driven, applied research as the search for a permanent director continues.

About the Janet Quinney Lawson Institute for Land, Water, and Air

The Janet Quinney Lawson Institute for Land, Water, and Air at Utah State University connects decision-makers with high-quality research to support informed land, water, and air policy in Utah. Through applied research, public convening, and cross-sector collaboration, ILWA helps the state address complex natural resources challenges. Learn more at usu.edu/ilwa.