2023 TENNESSEE WATER RESOURCES SYMPOSIUM

MICHAEL SKIPPER, AICP | Executive Director 

JESSICA HILL, AICP, PMP  | 

Director of Community and Regional Planning

“Growth and Development Trends and the Implications of Regional Forecasts on Infrastructure and Environmental Quality"

The mission of the GNRC is to assist local communities and state agencies in the development of plans and programs that guide growth and development in the most desirable, efficient, and cost-effective manner, while ensuring the continued long-term livability of the region. 

In carrying out this mission, GNRC convenes elected leadership and local practitioners to brainstorm strategies for improving quality of life; facilitates cooperative policymaking in order to prioritize state and federal investments into area social services and public infrastructure; and provides a public forum for Middle Tennesseans to shape regional decisions.

 BRAD COLLETT | Professor and Director, Tennessee RiverLine 

" Tennessee RiverLine: Inspiring Resource Stewardship on North America’s Next Great Regional Trail System "

Brad Collett has served as Director of the Tennessee RiverLine initiative since its inception 2016. Under his leadership, a diverse regional consortium of community and organizational partners collaborate with the UT Institute of Agriculture, UT Knoxville and TVA to realize the vision for North America’s next great regional trail system and the economic development, public health, resource stewardship and equitable access benefits it promises future generations.

Brad is also a professor in the UT School of Landscape Architecture and UT Department of Plant Sciences. Prior to becoming director, his teaching, research, and creative interests include regional water resource stewardship through landscape planning and performance. His commitment to experiential learning and community engagement has led to the development of award-winning publications, HydroLIT: southeast Tennessee water quality playbook and Low Impact Development: Opportunities for the PlanET Region, as well as the genesis of the Tennessee RiverLine. A native of Cincinnati, OH, Brad is a licensed landscape architect in Tennessee, and was a Fulbright U.S. Scholar to Slovenia in 2016. He and his wife, Nicki, and two children, Ben and Lucie, live in Knoxville, TN. They love traveling, playing soccer and volleyball, spending time with family in Ohio and North Carolina, and, of course, paddling the Tennessee RiverLine!