Ralph Abele (Newton, MA) is a retired scientist who began his forty-plus-year Federal career at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and finished as Chief of the Water Quality Standards Section at EPA New England. During his career at both agencies, he worked on a variety of complex wetland and streamflow issues across the Northeast. He has been a member of CRWA’s Board of Directors since 1985 and was Board President from 1989 to 1998. Ralph’s interests in the Charles include kayaking year-round and commuting by bike along the river. He and his wife, Ellen, have two sons, Jeremy and Tyler, both of whom learned to row on the Charles. He has an M.S. in Geology from UMass-Amherst.