President’s Message – Summer 2023

It is an honor to serve as your newly elected president of USSD. What a wonderful conference we had in Charleston! As I reflect on the experience, two things rise to the top: connections and gratitude. Our connections help us grow personally and professionally by sharing and learning from each other while at our conference. My gratitude goes to all the professionals who give back to USSD by volunteering, mentoring, and sharing their expertise.

I hope all who attended our conference could connect with colleagues from different offices, clients, vendors, and, most importantly, competitors. I know the last may sound a bit unusual. Still, I genuinely believe that to excel in our fields, we must grow, and who is better than a competitor to drive you to innovate?

I am grateful to be part of USSD and thankful to my family for their support as I step into the role of president. It is an honor to serve you and the organization in this role. Thank you to the staff (Catrice, Laura, and Tonia), the board of directors, the committee leadership, and our members. Specifically, I would like to recognize Ben de Rubertis for his attendance in Charleston to celebrate the renaming of our scholarship program honoring his late father, Kim de Rubertis; and recognize Elena Sossenkina and Greg Paxton for their efforts in supporting the Scholarship program and 5K FundsRun; Ed Toms and Aimee Corn for their leadership of the technical conference program planning; and Del Shannon for his service over the last two years as president of USSD. Finally, I am thankful to my employer, Gannett Fleming, for supporting my efforts as a Thought Leader and my active membership in USSD.

It is exciting for you to be part of USSD as the dam and levee field is experiencing considerable growth and change. The growth is undoubtedly fueled by the government’s significant investment in water infrastructure, the shift to risk-informed decision making, and the planning for climate changes and its impacts on water supply and extreme weather events. By being part of the USSD community, we can all continue to share our expertise with the next generation and invest in our own professional development to ensure that our dams and levees can meet the challenges of the future by safely providing essential services for generations to come.

I hope that all our members feel they are part of the USSD community and continue to share their wealth of knowledge, be it at our next conference in Seattle or sooner, by contributing to our Bulletin, webinar, or workshop. I am proud to serve as your USSD president and look forward to seeing the incredible contributions you will make to the field.

Sincerely,

Dina Hunt, President
USSD Board of Directors