As a project manager with Auburn’s Water Resource Center, Cooley manages watershed restoration projects and educates communities on how to care for rivers, streams and creeks.

How does a community ensure it has clean water for decades to come? 
As an outreach project manager with Auburn University’s Water Resources Center (WRC), Laura Cooley knows community involvement in any planning process is paramount.
“Planning is critical for communities, not only for preserving drinking water, but also for recreation,” Cooley said. “As a community, it’s important to ask what you want your water resources to be like. How do you want to use them? How do you care for them?
“Taking the time to get the community together to start asking those bigger questions is really important to resiliency.”
Housed in the College of Agriculture’s Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station and supported by the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, the WRC’s activities include both research and outreach. The staff collaborates with Auburn faculty members from areas that include civil engineering, aquaculture, landscape architecture and environmental conservation and management and works with citizens and communities to monitor and improve the quality of water sources.
In her role, Cooley manages watershed restoration projects and educates communities on how to care for rivers, streams and creeks. She helps neighbors, local governments, engineers and utility providers work together by organizing community meetings and communicating between groups. She also creates educational materials, including brochures and graphics, that help explain complex problems surrounding water quality.