H20h! Panel: Connecting Water Issues to Regional Policy 

You saw the film, Blue Gold.
You read the book, Blue Covenant.
You heard Maude Barlow…or can here if you missed it 
http://saphira.tns.utk.edu/~patw/bakercenter/

Now, bring it all together and learn what you can do! 

Feb. 9, 4:30 p.m.
Toyota Auditorium

Panelists Include: 
Paul Sloan, Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation 
Randall W. Gentry, Ph.D.,  Institute for a Secure and Sustainable Environment
Dean Hill Rivkin, UT College of Law 
Renee Hoyas, Tennessee Clean Water Network 

Panelists will engage the audience in a discussion about how water issues 
presented in other H2Oh! events are relevant to our region; what state, local 
and community organizations are doing about these issues; what the 
challenges are to resolving those issues; and where we go from here?

•	Randall W. Gentry, Ph.D.,  Institute for a Secure and Sustainable 
Environment

Dr. Gentry is the President & CEO, University of Tennessee Research 
Foundation, Director of the  Institute for a Secure and Sustainable 
Environment, and the Director of the Southeastern Water Resources 
Institute.   His research program is focused on the evaluation of groundwater 
hydrologic interfaces. The implementation of this research agenda has 
involved the evaluation of highly localized systems and more broad scale 
watershed processes. This research direction has allowed Randy to participate 
with and develop strong multi-disciplinary teams.

•	Dean Hill Rivkin, UT College of Law  

Dean Hill Rivkin is College of Law Distinguished Professor at UT Law School. He 
has practiced and taught environmental law for nearly 40 years. He has 
litigated a number of Clean Water Act cases throughout the region. His 
scholarship focuses on issues of environmental justice.  Since 2000, he has 
served as Director of the AALS Equal Justice Project. Prof. Rivkin has also 
served as a visiting professor at the UCLA Law School, the University of 
Maryland Law School, and, in 2002 and 2004, at Harvard Law School.


•	Paul Sloan, Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation 

Since April 2005, Paul Sloan has served as Deputy Commissioner of 
Environment at the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.  
He heads the department’s Bureau of Environment and leads the senior 
management team responsible for safeguarding human health and the 
environment by protecting and improving the quality of Tennessee’s land, air 
and water. While at TDEC, he has worked closely with the Governor’s Office 
and other local, state and federal agencies on critical issues involving water 
resources, energy conservation, alternative fuels and sustainability in 
Tennessee.  Paul has served as co-chairperson of Governor Phil Bredesen’s 
Alternative Fuels Working Group, member of the Governor’s Energy Task Force 
and member of the Tennessee Energy Efficient Schools Council. Paul was a 
founding board member of Cumberland Region Tomorrow, a former trustee of 
The Nature Conservancy and a board member of the Cumberland River 
Compact.  He holds a law degree from Vanderbilt University and undergraduate 
degree from Williams College. 


•	Renee Hoyas, Tennessee Clean Water Network 

Renée Victoria Hoyos became TCWN’s Executive Director in October 2003. 
Renée has most recently worked with the California Resources Agency and 
served as Special Assistant to Secretary Nichols for Watersheds and 
Outreach. While there, one of her major priorities was creating a watershed 
management policy and program to guide the State in its long-term 
development strategies. In addition to working in watershed management, she 
was also the environmental education and environmental justice coordinator, 
and the Agency’s point of contact for Wild and Scenic Rivers issues. Renée’s 
nonprofit experience includes a work with the Immigrant Legal Resource Center 
in San Francisco. Renée holds a Masters of Agriculture and Management 
degree (with concentration in nonprofit organization management) as well as a 
Masters of Avian Science degree, both from the University of California in 
Davis.


Amy K. Gibson, Ph.D.
Director of Communications and Public Programming
Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy
The University of Tennessee, Knoxville
865-974-3816 (o)
865-363-9605 (m)