Deborah Carington

Term Expires December 2024

Deborah Carington grew up on a small farm outside of Memphis, where her family relied on well water from the Memphis Sand Aquifer, “so I grew up with the awareness of where our water came from and knowing that it was high quality drinking water,” she said.

In college at the University of Southern Mississippi, Carington intended to major in environmental science, but a geology class changed the course of her studies and her life. After earning a Bachelor of Science, she continued her education at the University of Memphis. While there, Carington worked at the school’s Center for Earthquake Research and Information, monitoring the frequent microearthquakes along the New Madrid Fault.

With a Master of Science in geology, she landed a job with an oil company in Houston in 1982. She planned to stay in Texas a couple of years, but that changed when she met her husband Robert, an engineer. In 1998, they moved to San Antonio and Carington took time away from her professional life to raise two children.

Over the course of her career, one of Carington’s largest projects was developing a new Austin Chalk limestone reservoir in East Texas, “so I understand the subsurface geology, well-drilling process, permitting and sustainable withdrawal,” she said. When she learned there was an opening on the EAA board, she saw an opportunity to use her experience to help the community. Carington was appointed to fill the remainder of an unexpired term in August 2017.