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# North Dakota Names New Environmental Quality Director
- URL: https://www.theamericanquorum.com/state-news-north-dakota-2026-09-22-a/
- Published: 2026-09-22T19:24:57.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-22T19:24:57.000Z
- Description: North Dakota has appointed Jennifer Turnbow to lead its Department of Environmental Quality beginning Oct. 6, placing an infrastructure executive and former state planner over environmental permitting and enforcement.
- Author: News Desk
- Tags: Policy, North Dakota

Gov. Kelly Armstrong has appointed infrastructure executive Jennifer Turnbow to lead North Dakota’s Department of Environmental Quality, placing a former state transportation planner at the center of permitting, pollution control and emergency environmental response.

Turnbow will take office Oct. 6 and become only the agency’s second permanent director since it became a standalone department in 2019, according to the governor’s [announcement](https://www.governor.nd.gov/news/armstrong-appoints-jennifer-turnbow-lead-nd-department-environmental-quality?ref=theamericanquorum.com). She succeeds Dave Glatt, who retired July 31 after 43 years in state government. Beth Jacobson has served as interim director and will return to her accounting leadership role.

The leadership change matters because the department sits at the intersection of North Dakota’s energy economy, public health and natural-resource regulation. The [agency](https://deq.nd.gov/About.aspx?ref=theamericanquorum.com) oversees five divisions responsible for air and water protection, radiation control, waste disposal, technical assistance and environmental emergency response. Its scientists, engineers, technicians and meteorologists administer programs that affect utilities, oil and gas activity, agriculture, cities and industrial development.

Turnbow brings 23 years of private- and public-sector experience. She joined Bismarck-based KLJ in 2003, led its environmental services operation for a decade and later oversaw environmental, right-of-way, cultural-resource and survey departments. She then served as associate transportation director at Ulteig Engineers before becoming deputy planning director at the North Dakota Department of Transportation in 2021.

After returning to Ulteig in late 2022, Turnbow became senior director of business operations and field services. The company’s [portfolio](https://ulteig.com/about-us/?ref=theamericanquorum.com) spans power, renewable energy, transportation and water infrastructure for public agencies, utilities and private developers. That background gives her direct familiarity with organizations that seek environmental reviews and permits, making consistent ethics, disclosure and recusal practices important as she shifts from industry to regulation.

Armstrong said Turnbow was selected for her experience managing complex environmental and infrastructure work. Turnbow said the department’s decisions should be grounded in science and law while protecting natural resources and public health. Her education includes a bachelor’s degree in environmental science and a master’s degree in industrial and organizational psychology.

The appointment does not itself change any permit, standard or enforcement action. Its consequence will emerge through administrative priorities: how quickly the department reviews projects, how it applies state and federal requirements, and how it balances technical assistance with enforcement. North Dakota’s energy and infrastructure sectors make those operational choices economically significant even when governing statutes remain unchanged.

The timing also gives Turnbow a defined transition point rather than an immediate handoff. Between the appointment and Oct. 6, the department can transfer pending decisions, brief the incoming director on active enforcement matters and preserve continuity across programs whose permits and compliance schedules cannot pause for a leadership change.

Turnbow will inherit an established agency rather than build one from scratch, but only its second leadership transition. Her early personnel, permitting and compliance decisions will show whether her industry and transportation experience produces faster administration, stronger coordination or new scrutiny of the boundary between regulated businesses and their regulator.