Gov. Kelly Armstrong appointed Jennifer Turnbow to lead the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality, placing a longtime engineer and transportation administrator in charge of the state’s primary environmental regulator beginning Oct. 6. The governor announced the appointment Friday, saying Turnbow will become only the agency’s second director since it became a standalone department in 2019.
Turnbow will succeed Dave Glatt, who retired July 31 after 43 years in state government. Beth Jacobson, the department’s accounting manager, has served as interim director and will return to that role when Turnbow takes office, according to the governor’s announcement.
The appointment puts Turnbow at the head of an agency whose decisions touch industries, communities and landowners across North Dakota. The department oversees air and water quality, waste management and radiation control through five divisions and related programs. Its staff includes scientists, engineers, technicians and meteorologists, and its stated mission is to protect the state’s air, land and water while applying science and law.
Turnbow currently serves as senior director of business operations and field services at Ulteig Engineers. Her 23-year career includes environmental services, transportation planning and public-sector management. She joined KLJ Engineering in 2003, led its environmental services practice from 2008 to 2018 and later managed corridor services. After joining Ulteig in 2020, she served as associate director for transportation before spending about a year as the North Dakota Department of Transportation’s deputy director for planning. She returned to Ulteig in 2022.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in environmental science from the University of Idaho and a master’s degree in industrial-organizational psychology from Grand Canyon University. Those credentials are relevant because North Dakota law sets qualifications for the environmental quality director: the appointee must have a science bachelor’s degree or be a registered professional engineer, and the governor is directed to seek experience in environmental health or engineering as well as administration and management.
The statute also makes the department the state’s primary environmental agency and gives its director responsibility for administering environmental programs. It requires the department to consult an advisory council before adopting final rules or standards. That structure means Turnbow will operate within both executive authority and a formal public-policy process rather than setting major standards alone.
For businesses and local governments, the immediate practical issue is continuity. Environmental permits, inspections, monitoring and compliance programs continue through the department’s existing divisions; the governor’s announcement did not identify a policy change tied to the appointment. For residents, the leadership change matters because the department publishes regulatory notices, monitoring information and permitting decisions that can affect water systems, development projects, waste facilities and air emissions.
Armstrong said Turnbow’s engineering, operations and state-government experience position her to lead the department while supporting responsible economic growth. Turnbow said she plans to work with agency staff and partners to protect public health and natural resources while keeping North Dakota economically competitive. Her first test will be translating that broad mandate into priorities after she takes office Oct. 6, including how the agency communicates decisions and manages its regulatory workload.
