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The Bureau for Global Health (GH) is pleased to welcome Dennis Durbin as Acting Bureau Environmental Officer (BEO) for GH. Mr. Durbin is overseeing the GH environmental program after the retirement of former GH BEO, Rachel Dagovitz. He has served as the BEO for the Management Bureau since 2010 and brings years of international development expertise to his new role as GH BEO. Prior to joining USAID, Mr. Durbin worked as an ecologist and National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) practitioner with the Federal Highway Administration. He also has extensive experience working in Puerto Rico and Guatemala with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACE) and the Peace Corps.

Mr. Durbin’s appointment as Acting GH BEO comes after the recent retirement of former GH BEO, Rachel Dagovitz, from USAID in January. During her tenure as GH BEO, Ms. Dagovitz spearheaded many environmental management and compliance initiatives, including formalizing processes and procedures for implementing the Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) process within GH. GH has centralized environmental management support through two USAID Google Sites: the GH Environmental Management Portal and the GH Environmental Compliance Document Submission Portal. These websites allow for the streamlining of IEE process implementation within GH.

The GH environmental program continues to facilitate outreach opportunities to increase awareness and use of the tools and resources available to GH stakeholders. With regard to available resources, the Global Environmental Management Support (GEMS) team also continues to provide ongoing environmental compliance support in collaboration with the Acting GH BEO. Types of support available for GH mechanisms via GEMS include environmental compliance document development and review, in-person and webinar trainings, environmental compliance verification, among others. For any immediate environmental compliance and management support needs, please contact ghcompliancesupport@usaid.gov.