Dr. Thomas J. Fikslin recently announced that he will be retiring from the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) on April 1, 2018.

Tom currently serves as the Director of Science and Water Quality Management. He has overall management responsibility for the development and application of hydrodynamic and water quality models, conducting and coordinating monitoring activities to support the DRBC's water resource programs within the basin, the development and updating of the commission's water quality standards, and the development and implementation of total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) for toxic and conventional pollutants.

Dr. Fikslin joined the commission in March 1989 on loan from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop water quality standards for toxic pollutants for the Delaware River Estuary, and became a full-time DRBC employee in April 1993. Tom directed the commission's Estuary Toxics Management Program during his early years of service at DRBC.

He was selected to head a newly created Modeling and Monitoring Branch in 1998. The branch is noted for the development of several TMDLs for the Delaware Estuary and Bay including those for PCBs which were subsequently used by EPA and state agencies to meet the requirements of the Clean Water Act.

While at the U.S. EPA Region II, Dr. Fikslin managed the Biology Section and served as the acting director of the regional laboratory before coming to DRBC.

A graduate of Upsala College, he holds a master's degree in biological sciences from the University of Delaware and a Ph.D. in ecology from Rutgers University. Tom is also an adjunct professor of science at Ocean County College.