Meet the Team
- Lexi Woods
- May 1
- 4 min read
Our staff is small . YET MIGHTY!
The UCRA has always created and maintained projects that enhance environmental water quality in San Angelo and its contiguous counties. Our current staff diligently continues this legacy by bringing their individual skills to the agency through education, experience, and personality.
Currently, our roles include General Manager, Administrative & Financial Manager, and Environmental Specialist. We also employ a new Environmental Intern every summer to help with our routine water quality monitoring and outreach tasks. Though for most of the year, you can count on the office to house our three professionals: Scott, Ellen, and Lexi. Yes, you read that right—there’s only three of us!
Okay, so who are you?
Allow me (Lexi) to introduce us:
Scott McWilliams, P.G. – General Manager
A little background
Growing up on his family’s ranch taught Scott the importance of fostering a good relationship with the natural world. From the wildlife to the land itself, he saw how imperative every piece of the puzzle was. He began his environmental career in petroleum geology but unfortunately, the “late 80’s oil bust got him.” He switched gears for a while, working as a state employee of Texas dispersing food stamps, then as a federal employee in the USPS. He got back to his roots at S.K. Engineering as an environmental geologist, eventually consulting for UCRA in 2001, monitoring groundwater and developing projects. Soon after, he became a full-fledged employee at UCRA, and time after time proved exceptionally capable of managing projects, developing agency plans, and performing contractual obligations. The bosses had no choice but to promote him!
Current job duties
Scott is our General Manager – the head of the agency. He oversees all goings on03 among our staff and our projects. Yeah, he’s kind of a big deal (my words, not his).
He is on several boards and committees as our agency representative: Texas Rural River Authority Coalition, TWDB Interregional Planning Council, Region 9 Upper Colorado River Authority flood planning group, and Water Master Advisory Group. He’s also the staff liaison for our own board of directors. He’s always in a meeting or working on one of the many projects managed by the UCRA.
Though it seems like he doesn’t get a chance to sleep, he does dream of an even more successful UCRA in the future. His goals for our agency focus on enhancing water supplies - whether that’s creating new supply or identifying sustainable existing sources- and encouraging a stewardship mentality through work and vigilance.
Ellen Groth – Administrative & Financial Manager
A little background
As a child, Ellen always felt a pull towards protecting the environment. Adult Ellen, however, wanted to dabble in different fields to feel out what suited her best. She completed a psychology degree at Angelo State University and performed a myriad of jobs: office administration, finance, retirement community manager and day care director. But she really hit her stride when she began working part-time for UCRA in 1994! She built up our education and outreach department, set new standards for the administration of our agency, and became an overall irreplaceable component of the UCRA – all while raising a family (talk about impressive).
Current job duties
Ellen spearheads the Education & Outreach initiatives across all our projects. Part of this responsibility includes managing the UCRA website. She says designing aesthetic pages with engaging and informational content is a fun creative outlet. She also frequently expresses the importance of multigenerational outreach, focusing our efforts on messaging that can be easily digested by adults and youth alike.
Her day-to-day routine includes bookkeeping, managing our personnel and agency policies, and ensuring we represent transparency in government. Being an agency that lays a good foundation for future generations is at the forefront of Ellen’s goals for the UCRA. She says further integration within our community and forward thinking will propel us to a successful future as an agency that protects, preserves, and enhances our water.
Lexi Woods, M.S. – Environmental Specialist
A little background
As a kid, I remember telling my grandparents that I wanted to be a marine biologist when I grew up. Then of course my dream career pivoted a few more times before college. I tried out psychology in my first year and found it was not for me. I wanted to be outside, trudging through the water, and learning how the natural world works. Turns out second-grade-Lexi was wise beyond her years: biology it was! In 2021, I moved to San Angelo from South Louisiana to work for the UCRA after graduating with a master’s degree in environmental science.
Current job duties
As an Environmental Specialist, I manage our Clean Rivers Program (which you can read about here) and investigate any concerns landowners have regarding water quality, fish kills, invasive aquatic plants, etc.
In addition, I developed and currently supervise our Environmental Internship Program. We’ve had incredible interns thus far and are so thankful for the insight they’ve given to the program. Our latest intern wrote a blog post about her experience that you can read here!
Our social media management is another component of my daily duties. While out in the field during our Clean Rivers Program routine monitoring or another project, I will snap photos or take videos for our Instagram and Facebook accounts. As we’re an open book agency, we intend to share as much about our day-to-day activities and our revolving collection of state and federally funded projects as possible. Check out our socials!
