9/19/26 – On September 1, 2026, Dr. Anna Weiss became the new executive director of the Bayou Land Conservancy (BLC), one of the leading conservation groups in the Houston region. Dr. Weiss replaces Jill Boullion who retired after leading BLC for ten years. I interviewed Dr. Weiss about her background and priorities.

BLC’s primary focus is on the Lake Houston watershed which covers approximately 2500 square miles to the west, north, and east of the lake, which provides drinking water for more than 2.2 million people. BLC is nationally accredited and preserves land along streams for flood control, clean water, and wildlife.

PhD in Environmental Science from UT

Rehak: You earned your PhD in environmental science from UT. What attracted you to that field?

Weiss: I’ve always really loved nature. I grew up on a barrier island in New York, right outside of New York City. So, I spent a lot of time outside as a kid. Eventually, when I went to university, I studied anthropology. I was really curious about how and why humans are the way we are. And how climate and evolution intersect. At that time, I was doing a lot of field work in Kenya. 

And then, in my senior year, Superstorm Sandy hit my hometown. That really made it clear that climate change is not just something happening far away. It’s affecting us. And it really made me want to do something about it. 

So, I thought about the best way to make a difference. And eventually I decided to get a PhD and learn the science.

I studied geosciences at UT Austin to understand how climate impacted ecosystems and environments in the past. Now I’m applying that learning to what’s happening today. How can we preserve and protect our ecosystems? 

Rehak: After UT, you went back to New York?

Weiss: Yes, but before that, I went to Belize. I did a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Belize Environmental Research Institute and applied my research to modern ecosystems. I became a professor there and continued my research. Then I went back to New York and started working with a conservation and restoration organization in New York City.

Work at Green Galveston Initiatives

Rehak: But most recently, you worked in Galveston.

Weiss: I was the director of Green Galveston Initiatives. Galveston reminded me a lot of the little barrier island I grew up on. And it had a lot of the same issues with hurricanes, flooding, and development.

You know, a lot of developers want to build skyscrapers on the beach. But that leads to all sorts of issues. So, I got to do some really exciting work there working on parks – city-owned parks that were just flooding constantly. One was Jones Park. We actually called it Jones Pond because it would just sprinkle and the thing would fill up with water. The other one was Shield Park and this was a park that was just covered in concrete and there was contamination beneath it. So, we couldn’t actually plant trees or anything to help with the heat and shade. 

I worked with the city, engineers, architects and the community to make sure that these parks were not only going to help with the flooding and heat mitigation, but that they would also provide social and economic benefits for neighborhoods.

Spearheading Partnerships to Achieve Results

Those were two exciting capital projects. Another evolved organically. We found many organizations on the island were aligned. But they were not necessarily talking to each other. We had little pockets of groups doing great work. But they could be so much stronger working together and with the City of Galveston. 

Galveston’s comprehensive plan was 15 years old; it was created after Ike. If we wanted to really change the way development was happening, we had to start with the local comprehensive plan, because land development regulations and ordinances evolve from that. The Planning Commission relies on it to say yes or no to a developer. 

So, we put together a group of more than 30 partner organizations to find consensus on a comprehensive plan. Fifteen years later, we were able to analyze the past plan, find where the issues were, and start thinking about how other cities managed those issues? 

Rehak: It sounds a lot like what we need up here.

Weiss: Montgomery County is one of the fastest developing counties in America. 

So, it’s really important that we think about our land use and our natural resources. People need places to live. But their quality of life, health, and safety are also important.

Rehak: You don’t want to see homes flood repeatedly and create conditions that lead to future slums.

Weiss: Exactly.

Making Land Conservation Easier, Raising Awareness

Rehak: What are your priorities as BLC’s new leader ?

Weiss: My first priority is just to learn and listen. This organization has been around for 30 years and has been doing amazing work in a huge footprint. I’ve been here two weeks. So, priority number one is listening and learning. 

I’m also very interested in how policies are affecting the kind of work that we can do as environmentalists. What are the levers of policy and the levers of change that we need at the local, state, and even federal levels? What do we need to do to make land preservation and conservation easier, more common? I’m digging into that side of things. 

It’s also important for people to understand who we are and why we’re doing what we do. Many people look at land conservation as something that rich people do … to get tax breaks. 

But that land also reduces flooding, cleans water, and preserves biodiversity. We need to make sure that everybody from all walks of life knows what we do, why, and how it can help them. So, there’s an educational priority.

We need to show people how nature-based solutions like bioswales can turn the ground into a sponge and absorb water so that we have less flooding and less pollution.

Rehak: Any other priorities?

Weiss: Those are the big ones. 

Importance of Preserving Scarborough Property

Rehak: Let’s discuss a specific example. What would you like to see done with the Scarborough property?

Weiss: Great question. I will preface this by saying I’ve only been here a couple of weeks. But from what I’ve learned, that property is really important in protecting everyone downstream from flooding. If we develop that irresponsibly, it could become a huge problem, not just for the environment, but for people, the economy, and social cohesion. Flooding devastates all of those things. 

I would love to see that land conserved, so that it can do what it’s supposed to do – absorb water.

Rehak: How do we preserve it?

Weiss: There are developers with deep pockets and political connections. That makes it difficult. But there are also a lot of concerned people. And our power is with people. I hope we can put enough pressure on the developers and policy makers to change their minds.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 9/19/2026

3308 Days since Hurricane Harvey