Rebecca Swadek is the Director of Wetlands Management at NYC Parks where she provides strategic management and leadership for an interdisciplinary team focused on protecting and restoring over 60 miles of streams and 3,000 acres of tidal and freshwater wetlands on NYC’s parkland. She has taken a lead role in advising on the city’s first wetland mitigation bank, consulting on hundreds of projects impacting wetland resources, developing a public wetlands map for NYC, and has contributed to the restoration and protection of over 85 acres of wetlands. Rebecca has co-authored eight agency reports related to wetland, watershed, and stream management and served as the lead author for Wetlands Management Framework for New York City, released in 2021 with the Natural Areas Conservancy. The Framework serves as a 30-year roadmap for the protection, management, and restoration of New York City’s remaining wetlands. Rebecca serves as a co-chair for the Ecology Team for the Bronx River Alliance and as a Research Associate for the Botanical Research Institute of Texas. Trained as a plant ecologist, Rebecca has over 15 years of experience in plant conservation, ecological restoration, and stormwater management in Texas, California, and New York.
