The Northeast-Midwest Institute's Great Lakes Washington Program will hold a Congressional Briefing on Tuesday, June 6 at 2 PM in Rayburn HOB 2252 entitled  "The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI): Success Stories and the Challenges Ahead." The briefing will provide Congressional staff and Great Lakes organizations the opportunity to hear directly from Great Lakes Stakeholders about some of the achievements  that are being made through the GLRI. The briefing will include an overview of the GLRI, success stories through the cleanup of toxic areas of concern and habitat restoration in  the Great Lakes, challenges the GLRI faces in the current budget environment, and the economic impacts that the GLRI has had on the region over the last eight years.  The tentative list of speakers includes:

• Mr. Matt McKenna, Northeast-Midwest Institute
• Mr. Cameron Davis, GEI Consultants, Inc.
• Mr. Chad Lord, Healing Our Waters Coalition
• Mr. Kyle Rorah, Ducks Unlimited 
• Mr. Matt Doss, Great Lakes Commission

To RSVP, please email events@nemw.org.

For more information please contact   Matthew McKenna ,  Director of the Great Lakes Washington Program at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.

Joseph Vukovich has been hired as a new Senior Policy Analyst, focusing on the Mississippi River Basin, water and environmental policy, and general policy education. In announcing the appointment, NEMWI President Michael Goff stated, "Joe Vukovich brings exceptional credentials in law and public policy as well as valuable government relations experience to our policy program."

Joe holds a Bachelor of Science in Physics from Carnegie Mellon University, 2012, and Juris Doctor and Master of Public Policy degrees from Georgetown University, 2016.

At Georgetown he served on the Georgetown Environmental Law Review and was a Public Interest Fellow. He also brings government and Capitol Hill experience to the position, having served in internships at the Food and Drug Administration and the Consumer Product Safety Commission, as a Legislative Fellow in the Office of Congressman Jim McDermott, and most recently as an Energy and Environment Fellow in the Office of Congressman Matt Cartwright. He begins at the Institute May 15.