Bennett named GreenGov Presidential Awards Climate Champion

Dr. Richard Bennett, regional scientist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Northeast Region based in Hadley, Mass., has been named 2016 GreenGov Presidential Awards Climate Champion for his leadership in Hurricane Sandy recovery. Following the devastation left by the storm in 2012, Bennett led the Department of the Interior response team, overseeing $167 million in FWS project funding to help revitalize the Northeast and to protect it from future storms and sea-level rise. Bennett worked to launch more than 100 sustainability-focused projects, and led a team that developed performance metrics for climate resilience that are changing the way the federal government prepares for severe weather events.