Berger Adviser On Environmental Issues Going To UNC

 The top environmental policy adviser for Republican Senate leader Phil Berger is moving into a new research position at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Jeffrey Warren is now research director for The North Carolina Policy Collaboratory, a new entity created by the General Assembly last year. The office is designed to provide a method by which environmental research is sent directly to state and local governments for practical matters.

The News and Observer of Raleigh reports Warren had been Senate Leader Phil Berger's science adviser on issues such as fracking, water quality and the environment. He had a hand in rewriting legislation that loosened regulations and limited local authority on some controls.

The Collaboratory says Warren was hired after a national search. He joined Berger's office in 2011 after previous work within the state Division of Coastal Management and as a private-sector geologist.

Warren's hire at UNC was announced on Monday.