Our executive leadership team is committed to organizational excellence and fostering a clean environment that is healthy, vibrant and green.
Serena McIlwain
 Secretary Serena McIlwain was confirmed as the Maryland Department of the Environment’s 11th secretary in March 2023. Prior to this appointment, she was the Under Secretary of California's Environmental Protection Agency. A native of the Washington, D.C. area, McIlwain also served in the federal government as a senior executive for numerous executive branch agencies, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as Assistant Regional Administrator for Region 9 in San Francisco. Secretary McIlwain’s priorities are fighting climate change, fostering environmental justice, protecting our Chesapeake Bay and pursuing organizational excellence.
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Suzanne Dorsey
 Suzanne Dorsey was appointed Deputy Secretary of the Environment in June 2022 after serving three years as an assistant secretary. Prior to that, she was executive director of the Harry R. Hughes Center for Agro-Ecology at the University of Maryland and also executive director of the Bald Head Island Conservancy and Smith Island Land Trust. Dorsey is a former commissioner of the North Carolina Division of Coastal Management and a professor at University of North Carolina at Wilmington and Salem College.
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Aneca Atkinson Aneca Atkinson is Assistant Secretary of Environmental Justice at Maryland Department of the Environment. Atkinson joined the team from the National Audubon Society Mid-Atlantic, where she served as director of the organization’s Delaware River Watershed Program. Prior to that, she served in several roles with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, including Deputy Secretary for the Office of Water Programs and director of the Office of Program Integration.
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Scott Goldman
 Scott Goldman was appointed Chief of Staff for the Maryland Department of the Environment in 2023. He previously served five years on active duty with the U.S. Army, including a deployment in Afghanistan from 2013-14. Prior to joining the department, Goldman was executive director of The 6th Branch, a veteran-led environmental and neighborhood nonprofit. He has more than a decade of experience as an attorney in federal practice as a U.S. Army Judge Advocate and proudly continues his service as an officer in the U.S. Army Reserve today. |
Rachel Lamb
 Rachel Lamb serves as Senior Climate Advisor to the Secretary at the Maryland Department of the Environment. She has more than a decade of experience integrating science and policy to advance climate solutions, including work with the U.S. EPA, NASA, and Maryland Sea Grant. Lamb has bachelor's degrees in environmental science and international relations from Wheaton College and master’s degrees in public policy and conservation biology and sustainable development from the University of Maryland, College Park, as well as a doctorate in geographical sciences.
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