President Barack Obama has appointed Kansas University history and environmental studies associate professor Karl Boyd Brooks to be the regional administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Brooks, a former Idaho state senator, will lead the region that includes Kansas, Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska. The regional office is in Kansas City, Kan.

Brooks has taught at KU for the last decade.

Regional administrators promote state and local environmental protection efforts and serve as a liaison to state and local government officials.