Wilma Subra, a scientist and owner of Subra Company, is widely viewed as a hero in many Louisiana communities. Wilma has shown countless citizens how to use technical data to navigate state and federal regulatory systems. She has served on many regional, state, and national advisory committees such as: A seven year term as Vice-Chair of the Environmental Protection Agency National Advisory Council for Environmental Policy and Technology (NACEPT), a five year term on the National Advisory Committee of the U.S. Representative to the Commission for Environmental Cooperation and a six year term on the EPA National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC) where she served as a member of the Cumulative Risk and Impacts Working Group of the NEJAC Council and chaired the NEJAC Gulf Coast Hurricanes Work Group. In 2011, she chaired the Environmental Protection Agency Technical Workshop for the Hydraulic Fracturing Study on Chemical and Analytical Methods. She participated in the EPA Technical Roundtables on Water Acquisition, Chemical Mixing, and Well Injection in November 2012. She co-chaired the EPA Analytical Chemical Methods Workshop in February 2013. Wilma has also received many award including a 1999 MacArthur Foundation Genius Award for her efforts on behalf of the environment.
Audio interview with Wilma Subra for Women Pioneers of the Louisiana Environmental Movement by Peggy Frankland, conducted by Jennifer A. Cramer, Director of the T. Harry Williams Center for Oral History. Copyright: Louisiana State University Special Collections.