SANTA FE — Today, the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) announced the selection of Rebecca Roose and Stephanie Stringer as the agency’s new deputy cabinet secretaries. 

“Rebecca and Stephanie have long been invaluable members of our Department team,” said NMED Cabinet Secretary James Kenney. “Now, working together as deputy cabinet secretaries, they are going to propel our mission to protect public health and the environment while improving the way our Department functions for the benefit of New Mexicans and our employees.”

Rebecca Roose will guide key policy and regulatory priorities, including state and federal public health and environmental initiatives.  She is a federal environmental policy expert who worked for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, D.C. after graduating from law school at the University of New Mexico. She has served as the Department’s Water Protection Division Director since 2019.

Stephanie Stringer will focus on Department operations, including organizational efficiencies related to areas like fiscal solvency, human capital and other administrative processes. She has worked for NMED for nearly 20 years, including most recently as the Resource Protection Division Director and, before that, as the Drinking Water Bureau Chief. Her institutional knowledge of the Department and its processes are invaluable as she works to improve NMED operations. 

Roose and Stringer step into their new roles on May 17.

“I want to offer a sincere and heartfelt thank you to Deputy Pruett for her decades of service with the Department and her dedication to our mission of protecting the environment and public health,” Secretary Kenney said. “We wish her the very best.”

Deputy Cabinet Secretary Jennifer Pruett retires today.

The Governor’s Office and the Department are working to fill the positions of Water Protection Division Director and Resource Protection Division Director as soon as possible. Details on how to apply for the two Division Director positions are posted on the Governor’s website here.