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DRBC Recognizes, Honors Dr. Tom Fikslin & Clarke Rupert at March 2018 Business Mtg

At the March 14, 2018 business meeting, Dr. Thomas Fikslin and Clarke Rupert were recognized and honored with special resolutions highlighting their noteworthy public service careers and decades of distinguished service to the Delaware River Basin Commission.

Both Tom and Clarke plan to retire from DRBC on April 1, 2018.

DRBC Commissioners and staff extend their deepest appreciation for their service to the DRBC and the basin, their dedication, fairness, good humor, and friendship. Best wishes for a well-deserved, happy, healthy, and enjoyable retirement with your families!

Thomas Fikslin, Ph.D.
 Dr. Tom Fikslin (L) and DRBC Exec. Director Steve Tambini share a laugh as Steve reads the esolution honoring Tom's accomplishments and service to DRBC. Photo by DRBC.

A RESOLUTION honoring Thomas J. Fikslin, Ph.D. for his distinguished career in the application of science to improve water quality and water management in the Delaware River Basin and beyond.

WHEREAS, Dr. Fikslin’ s career has spanned nearly 50 years and has been marked by his high professional standards, determination, persistence, good nature, and unfaltering enthusiasm for solving complex problems; and

...

WHEREAS, Tom came to DRBC in 1989 on a temporary assignment under the Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) to direct the development and implementation of an Estuary Toxics Management Strategy; and

WHEREAS, when Tom’s initial IPA term expired, then-Executive Director Gerald Hansler secured its extension by two years, whereupon Tom joined the Commission as its Water Resources Manager to guide the development and adoption of water quality standards and implementing regulations for toxics in the Delaware River Estuary; and

...

...


WHEREAS, under a reorganization of the Commission’s technical branches in 1998, Tom became chief of the Modeling and Monitoring Branch (later re-named Modeling, Monitoring and Assessment), and in 2016 was named the Commission’s director of Science and WaterQuality Management; and


WHEREAS, on the Commission’s behalf, Tom assembled and led an exceptional team of scientists and engineers in the development of a complex model of the sources and fate of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the Delaware River Estuary and Bay, which was used to develop total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) and to allocate those loads to multiple sources; and

WHEREAS, the work performed by Tom and his staff on PCBs has led to significant reductions in PCB discharges from point and nonpoint sources and to the easing of fish consumption advisories for fish caught in the Delaware River Estuary and Bay; and

WHEREAS, as the data continue to show substantial reductions in PCB loadings and improvements in the ambient Estuary water and fish tissue concentrations for PCBs, experts from diverse fields have recognized the DRBC’s work on PCBs as groundbreaking; and

...

From L to R: DRBC Exec. Director Steve Tambini, Jeff Hoffman (representing N.J.), DRBC's Dr. Tom Fikslin, Tim Schaeffer (rep. Pa.), Ken Kosinski (rep. N.Y.), Bryan Ashby (rep. Del.), and LTC Kristen Dahle (rep. the federal gov't). Photo by DRBC.


WHEREAS, most recently, Tom has set his team on course to develop an Estuary eutrophication model that will help define new water quality goals for the Delaware Estuary and Bay and the next generation of water quality improvements to these important shared waters; and

WHEREAS, Tom has served as a respected advisor to numerous DRBC Commissioners and three Executive Directors; and

...

WHEREAS, over the course of Tom’s 29-year tenure with the DRBC, his staff became a cohesive team whose skill, mutual respect, and shared commitment ensure that the Commission’s leadership in applying science to management of the Basin’s shared water resources will continue; and

WHEREAS, Tom will officially retire from the DRBC on April 1, 2018 after 25 years (or 29, depending on how you count!); now, therefore:

BE IT RESOLVED that the Commissioners and staff extend their deepest appreciation to Dr. Thomas J. Fikslin for his outstanding service to the DRBC and the Basin, his skill, commitment, good humor, and friendship. We wish Tom and his wife Carol good health and much happiness as they embark on a well-earned retirement.

Adopted: March 14, 2018

View complete resolution (pdf 139 KB)

Clarke Rupert
 DRBC Communications Manager Clarke Rupert (L) shakes hands with DRBC Exec. Dir. Steve Tambini after STeve read the special resolution honoring Clarke's dedicated service to DRBC. Photo by DRBC.  

A RESOLUTION honoring Clarke D. Rupert for his noteworthy career in public service and two decades of distinguished service to the Delaware River Basin Commission.


WHEREAS, Clarke’s nearly 40-year career has been marked by his dedication to public and government service at the national, regional, state and local levels, his personal integrity, love of history, and skill at his craft; and


WHEREAS, during the early 1980s and again in the 1990s Clarke served as a key aide to U.S. Representative Peter Kostmayer of Bucks County, PA, handling constituent matters, special projects and external and staff communications for the Congressman; and


WHEREAS, Clarke served the Allentown City Council as a legislative analyst in the late 1980s and handled community and media relations for the southeast regional office of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection from 1994 to 1999; and

WHEREAS, Clarke joined the Delaware River Basin Commission as Assistant Public Information Officer in 1999 and held positions of leadership in Communications at the DRBC since 2005; and

 


WHEREAS, as the Commission's primary spokesperson under twoexecutive directors, Clarke performed the difficult task of translating complex science, policy and fiscal information for diverse audiences, including the media, concerned stakeholders, elected officials and the general public; and


WHEREAS, Clarke also kept DRBC staff and Commissioners informed of important federal and state legislative processes, faithfully chronicled the Commission’s actions through DRBC’s annual reports, and oversaw the development and maintenance of a DRBC website packed with valuable data and information; and


WHEREAS, Clarke was extraordinarily careful and accurate in his work and was a valued writer and editor of DRBC communications of all kinds; and

WHEREAS, Clarke became the in-house expert on DRBC history, and if the answer to a question was not at his fingertips, in most instances he tracked it down quickly in his well-organized files; and


WHEREAS, Clarke performed valuable research on state and federal legislative actions and was the go-to staffer for latest developments of significance to the DRBC in state houses and Congress; and

 From L to R: DRBC Exec. Director Steve Tambini, Jeff Hoffman (representing N.J.), DRBC's Clarke Rupert, Tim Schaeffer (rep. Pa.), Ken Kosinski (rep. N.Y.), Bryan Ashby (rep. Del.), and LTC Kristen Dahle (rep. the federal gov't). Photo by DRBC.


WHEREAS, Clarke created and maintained on the DRBC website a trove of information on the Commission and the basin’s water resources for diverse audiences, including materials specially developed for teachers and students; and


WHEREAS, Clarke enjoyed telling the DRBC story to colleagues, Commissioners, reporters, elected officials, stakeholders and audiences of all ages, and particularly enjoyed audiences of school children, representing the next generation of water resource managers and stewards; and


WHEREAS, Clarke D. Rupert will officially retire from DRBC on April 1, 2018 after nineteen years of faithful and valued service; now, therefore


BE IT RESOLVED that the Commissioners and staff extend their deepest appreciation to Clarke D. Rupert for his professionalism, integrity, commitment, friendship, steadiness and outstanding service to the DRBC and the Delaware River Basin. We wish Clarke and his wife Alisa excellent health and much happiness as they embark on a well-deserved retirement. Keep on rooting for those Phillies and keep telling the story!

Adopted: March 14, 2018
View resolution (pdf 119 KB)