Mark O. Smith has over 26 years of experience in environmental affairs in and out of government service.

He served for six and a half years as Chief of Staff and Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection charged with the development of policy and regulatory initiatives and a strategic planning and reporting system that focused on results based management, the first of its kind for the Department. In addition, Smith was responsible for developing and managing the environmental performance partnership process, an innovative attempt to redefine the policy development and federal funding relationship with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Prior to his work for the Department, Smith served as Assistant Executive Director of the New Jersey Senate where he was charged with the coordination of the standing reference committee process, and served as a principal policy advisor to Senate President and the Senate Environment Committee. Smith started working with the Legislature in the non-partisan Office of Legislative Services serving as a principal research associate and committee aid to a number of environmental committees. His last government assignment was an interim Executive Director for the Senate Republican Office when, for the first time in its history, there was a 20 - 20 tie in the political makeup of the Senate and power was shared equally between Republicans and Democrats.

Throughout Mr. Smith’s tenure in state government, he has participated in the shaping and drafting of significant environmental legislation, including the Freshwater Wetlands Protection Act, the Environmental Cleanup Responsibility Act, the Industrial Site Recovery Act and the various iterations of Brownfields legislation designed to bring economic vitality to prior contaminated sites around the state.

Mark is a graduate of Marietta College and Rutgers University, where he received a Master's Degree in Political Science.