Elizabeth Riggs is a sustainability leader with 25 years of experience working at the nexus of science, policy, and management. Her passion for her work grew from a lifetime in the Great Lakes basin and its special places like Wisconsin’s Door Peninsula, Milwaukee’s lakefront and rivers, Ontario’s Lake Superior coastline, and places in Michigan too numerous to list. After earning her bachelor’s degree from Lawrence University, she completed her master of science degree at SEAS in 1999.

Riggs currently serves as deputy director for the Michigan-based Huron River Watershed Council. She also manages RiverUp!, a $50 million public-private revitalization of the river focused on projects that improve river ecology, recreation, and place-making that leverages freshwater assets. She facilitates the Huron River Water Trail and led the effort for its designation as the 18th National Water Trail by the National Park Service in 2015.

Riggs previously facilitated initiatives with municipal, business, and university partners in Ann Arbor to achieve Clean Water Act program compliance. In addition to her work showing that freshwater resources are drivers of a healthy economy and healthy environment, she takes pride in her efforts that led to Michigan’s phosphorus fertilizer ban in 2012, which reduces harmful algal blooms.

No matter the task, Riggs focuses on her core values – ignite innovation, uphold integrity, and share joy – and a personal mission that thrives on turning ideas into actions that make a real difference in mitigating the world's problems.