Coleen H. Sullins of Raleigh will succeed Alan Klimek, who’s retiring from the director’s position effective May 31. The agency is responsible for all aspects of water quality protection including rules development, standards setting, monitoring, planning, permitting and compliance activities. Sullins will move into her new position June 1.

Sullins has worked 17 years at the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources and has been deputy director of the Division of Water Quality since 2003.

She began her career in DENR as an environmental engineer in the Division of Water Resources. She previously worked for the Fairfax County (Va.) Department of Public Works, the Virginia State Water Control Board, and the Tennessee Division of Water Management.

Sullins, a native of New York, received a bachelor’s degree in environmental and water resources engineering from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn.