Dr. Judy Auer Shaw and R. Bruce Shaw lived on the banks of the Cuyahoga River in Kent, Ohio. She worked on water quality and environmental protection with a University of Akron Research Foundation team. Previously she served on the research staff at E.J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers Univ. and its Sustainable Raritan River Initiative. She also worked with NJ Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) and NJ Department of Community Affairs. Her career includes being Deputy Dir. of Office of Neighborhood Empowerment for the Department of Community Affairs; the first Administrator of the NJDEP Office of Brownfield Reuse; and Chair of Public Participation in Site Remediation Task Force. Judy received her doctorate in Urban and Environmental Planning from Rutgers Univ. in 2002. Her latest book, The Raritan River: Our Landscape, Our Legacy, was published by Rutgers University Press in the fall of 2014. Her next book upcoming, The Cuyahoga: Our Beloved Crooked River, is due out in December 2025.
Judy’s husband R. Bruce Shaw helped set up the Tanzania Peace Corps, worked with the National Science Foundation, Harvard Institute for International Development, World Bank, USAID, and USDA. He traveled in over 100 countries while researching planned change, information diffusion and utilization; as well as training personnel to manage the use of scarce natural resources.