Speakers

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  Brooke T. Paup Chairwoman | Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
  

  Brooke T. Paup

  Chairwoman | Texas Commission on Environmental Quality

  Prior to her appointment to TCEQ, Brooke Paup served on the Texas Water Development Board beginning in 2018. In 2021, Governor Abbott appointed Paup as the first woman chair in the history of the TWDB. She also served as the Director of Legislative Affairs for the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, in the Office of the Attorney General, and at the Office of State-Federal Relations in Washington, D.C. Brooke has 19 years of state government experience.

  In 2021, Brooke was awarded the Texas Water Foundation’s Rainmaker Award, which acknowledges exceptional leaders making lasting impacts in Texas water. She was also recently the recipient of the 2023-2024 Public Official of the Year Award from the Water Environment Association of Texas.

  Paup earned a Bachelor of Arts from Texas A&M University and a Juris Doctor from Texas Tech School of Law.

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  Jennelle Crane Assistant Deputy Director | Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
  

  Jennelle Crane

  Assistant Deputy Director | Texas Commission on Environmental Quality

  Jennelle has worked for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for the past 20 years. She received her Bachelor of Science in Biology with a Minor in Chemistry from Abilene Christian University and a Master of Science in Environmental Management from Hardin Simmons University. She started her state employment at the TCEQ Harlingen Region in 2006 as an Environmental Investigator in the Water Section. Since 2006 Jennelle has worked in the DFW Region as an air investigator and the Abilene Region as a public water supply investigator and Emergency Response Coordinator. During her tenure as an investigator, she handled the most complicated cases and developed deep expertise and understanding of public water system rules and operation. In October 2014 Jennelle transferred to the TCEQ Water Supply Division as a Special Assistant and then starting in December 2022 became the Assistant Deputy Director for the Water Supply Division. Her belief in the importance of the public health role of public water systems and their operators has never wavered.