Employee Profile

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Noel Ludwig

Hydrologist
Renewable Energy Coordination Office
California Desert District

Noel is a hydrologist for the Renewable Energy Coordinating Office (RECO) in the California Desert District headquarters.

He has an interesting assignment with RECO, studying and working through hydrologic and stormwater erosion issues that may be created by solar, wind, and geothermal energy projects across southern California.  He is also busy with water issues associated with various other actions--including mining, canal lining, pumped water storage, and watershed adjudications.

Noel came to the CDD after serving on an interagency energy team at BLM's Glenwood Springs Field Office in Colorado for two years, dealing with natural gas projects.

Noel is a Colorado native, born and raised in Denver. He has an extensive background and education in science and math, receiving his bachelor's degree in geology and English from the University of Colorado in 1984.   He went to the University of Hawaii in the beautiful Manoa Valley neighborhood of Honolulu to receive his master's degree in marine geology and geophysics in 1993.

He stayed in Hawaii as a research intern for the Program on International Economics and Politics at the East-West Center in Honolulu from 1993-1995.  He then became a project manager at the University of Hawaii Environmental Center from 1995-2000.  During that time, he began working toward his PhD in physical geography from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and was a visiting fellow at the East-West Center from 1998-1999.  He was also an adjunct instructor at the University of Hawaii at Manoa from 1996-2001.

He left sunny Hawaii for sunny southern California, becoming an adjunct instructor in the Geography Department at California State University, Long Beach from 2001-2006. 

In 2007, he finished his dissertation on prescribed burn program alternatives for the Angeles National Forest and received his PhD from the University of Hawaii.  He became an adjunct instructor in the Earth and Atmospheric Sciences department at the Metropolitan State College in Denver from 2007-2008.  Not one to sit idle, Noel was an adjunct instructor at Colorado Mountain College from 2008-2010, in addition to working for the interagency energy team in Glenwood Springs.

In addition to his academic achievements, he helped design a plan for infrastructure development over the next 20 years for the country of Mongolia.  And, he published proposals for international parks covering the Kurile Islands north of Japan and the Spratly Islands between Indonesia and Vietnam.

With all the study and all the research, Noel made time to get married to his wife Hedy, who made it possible for him to do all that study and research.  They have two children.  He enjoys hiking, skiing, reading, and travel.