Jackie Dingfelder, PhD, brings 35 years of environmental planning and policy experience in the private, non-profit, and public sectors. She earned her PhD in Public Policy and Affairs at Portland State University in the Hatfield School of Government where she serves as an adjunct professor in public policy. In 2016, she served as a 2016 Ian Axford/Fulbright public policy fellow researching freshwater reforms and indigenous water rights in New Zealand.
From 2013-2016, Ms. Dingfelder served as the Environmental and Planning Policy Director for Portland Mayor Charlie Hales. Prior to joining Mayor Hales’ staff, Ms. Dingfelder worked as Executive Director for River Restoration Northwest, Watershed Program Manager at For the Sake of the Salmon, and as an environmental planning consultant in private sector for over a decade and half.
In addition to her professional career, Ms. Dingfelder served in elected public office from 2001-2013 in both the Oregon House and Senate where she chaired the House Energy and Environment Committee and the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee. During her tenure, she also served on Senate Judiciary, Ways and Means, Consumer Protection, Transportation, Agriculture and Natural Resources, Audits, and Water Committees.
Ms. Dingfelder has a master’s degree in Regional Planning with an emphasis on Water Resources Management from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and a bachelor’s degree in Geography-Ecosystems Management from the University of California, Los Angeles. She completed her PhD dissertation on Integrated Water Resources Management in spring 2017.