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Louise Conrad joined DWR as its Lead Scientist in July 2022. The Lead Scientist position provides science leadership for the agency by ensuring and advancing best practices and capacity for conducting science, by tracking and prioritizing scientific initiatives and direction, and by providing science-related policy guidance to the DWR Directorate.

Prior to serving as the Lead Scientist, Conrad was the Deputy Executive Officer for Science at the Delta Stewardship Council, where she focused on science funding processes, science communication, and coordination of scientific initiatives to inform decision-making for Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. She worked for DWR from 2010 to 2019 within the Division of Integrated Science and Engineering where she conducted research in floodplain ecology, impacts of drought on the Delta ecosystem, control of invasive aquatic weeds, and worked closely with the Interagency Ecological Program to advance synthesis of long-term environmental monitoring datasets. Prior to working in the Delta system, Conrad worked for the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission in the Russian River watershed of California, co-managing a captive broodstock and reintroduction program for endangered coho salmon.

Conrad is a fisheries biologist by training and earned her Ph.D. in Animal Behavior from the University of California, Davis in 2008.