Alabama Department of Environmental Management

Edward Poolos is the Director of the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM), appointed by environmental Management Commission in August 2025. He has been with the State of Alabama since 1993.

Prior to being named Director of ADEM, Edward served as Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources from 2017 through 2025. As Deputy Commissioner, Edward advised the Commissioner, the Governor and Legislature on management of freshwater fish, wildlife, marine resources, state lands, state parks, and other natural resources. Edward oversaw/directed management of ADCNR’s five divisions: Marine Resources, State Lands, State Parks, Wildlife & Freshwater Fisheries, and the Administrative Division (8 sections); 1200 employees; and an annual budget of just over $455 million.

During his tenure, ADCNR acquired 61,000 acres of land, including more than 1,600 acres added to Oak Mountain State Park, and worked with the Legislature on 18 pieces of legislation supporting Alabama’s beautiful outdoors and helping to connect our citizens with those rich resources. Of special legislative note would be passage of an $85 million bond to bring needed improvements funding to Alabama’s State Parks; establishing the Alabama State Reservoir Management Program to provide local entities funding for the Reservoir Management Initiatives; and creating a lifetime hunting and fishing license at greatly reduced rates for disabled U.S. military veterans. Also, during Edward’s tenure, ADCNR managed outdoors recreational opportunities that brought an additional 1.2 million visitors to Alabama sites during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prior to his stint at ADCNR, Edward worked 24 years with ADEM. The last 12 of those years, he served as the Manager of the North Alabama Field Office in Decatur. He managed staff responsible for field activities, inspections, and enforcement dealing with Air, Solid Waste, Water Quality, Industrial and Municipal Wastewater, UST, and Environmental Emergency Response.

Edward was named State On-Scene Coordinator and State Coordinating Official by Governor Bob Riley during the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. In these roles, Edward directed the State of Alabama’s response and coordinated with federal and local response teams to ensure proper response to the incident.

Edward serves as the Chairman of the Attorney General’s Restitution Fund Oversight Committee. This committee is tasked with distributing settlement funds for the benefit of the communities impacted by the 2019 wastewater spill in the Mulberry Fork of the Black Warrior River.

Edward is a 1993 graduate from the University of Alabama. He has been happily married to Brooke Manasco Poolos for 25 years and has three daughters. He is a native of Haleyville, Alabama, and currently resides in Jasper, Alabama.