Our Experts

Ann Alexander

Senior Attorney, Dirty Energy, Lands Division, Nature Program

Ann Alexander works as a litigator and policy advocate with the Nature Program's Dirty Energy Team—fighting to curb polluting fossil fuel development that threatens the integrity of our public lands, and harms communities living in proximity. Before arriving at NRDC…

Josh Axelrod

Senior Advocate, Nature Program

Josh Axelrod focuses on issues including public land protection and conservation, renewable energy siting on public lands, limiting oil and gas development on public lands, energy transmission, and climate policy. Since joining NRDC in 2013, Axelrod has also developed expertise…

John Bailey

Senior Advocate, Federal and State Transportation, People & Communities Program

John Bailey has over two decades of experience as an advocate for sustainable and equitable communities at the national, state, and local levels. Bailey works to ensure that transportation investments and policies benefit people of all ages, abilities, and incomes…

Julee Boan

Manager, Boreal Partnership, International Program

Julee Boan works collaboratively with Indigenous peoples and organizations, local and national conservation groups, plus industry and governments to protect Canada's boreal forest. She has a PhD in forest sciences, where she researched approaches to mitigate the impacts of industrial…

Sharon Buccino

Senior Attorney, Lands Division, Nature Program

Sharon Buccino's current work focuses on energy policy and government transparency. She actively litigates in federal court and advocates before federal agencies and Congress. She has worked to implement effective environmental review and public participation for proposed pipelines, as well…

Giulia C.S. Good Stefani

Senior Attorney, Marine Mammals, Oceans Division, Nature Program

Giulia C.S. Good Stefani works to protect marine mammals, wild places, and communities from environmental injustices. Stefani has worked on a variety of cases and campaigns at NRDC, including the effort to secure greater protection for whales from the U.S…

Catherine Cox Blair

Director, SPARCC, Resilient Communities, People & Communities Program

Catherine Cox Blair provides communities with technical assistance and expertise regarding city-led innovation and the forging of private-public partnerships. Prior to joining NRDC, she worked at Reconnecting America, where she managed sustainable-development projects in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Denver, and Atlanta and…

Donna De Costanzo

Director, Eastern Region, Climate & Clean Energy Program

Donna De Costanzo advocates for the implementation of policies that increase energy efficiency and renewable energy deployment as well as promote sustainable communities and smart growth, with a primary focus on New York State and New York City. Prior to…

Hilary Firestone

Senior Policy Advisor, City Energy Project, Resilient Communities, People & Communities Program

As a senior city policy expert for the City Energy Project, a collaboration between NRDC and the Institute for Market Transformation, Hilary Firestone works to advance policies and programs that cut energy waste in large buildings and make American cities…

Ericka Flores

Advocate, Clean Energy & Equity, Climate & Clean Energy Program

Ericka Flores provides technical and advocacy expertise for local and state-level equitable building decarbonization, building energy efficiency, and energy equity policies, programs, and initiatives. She works to develop and strengthen partnerships with diverse groups to collectively build a strong, inclusive…

Stephanie Gidigbi Jenkins

Director, Policy & Partnerships, People & Communities Program

Stephanie Gidigbi Jenkins champions public policy solutions that promote economic, social, and environmental benefits for communities. She fosters strategic partnerships to advance federal campaigns, coalition efforts, social equity, and climate justice. She also coordinates NRDC's effort in advancing a federal…

Laura Goldberg

Midwest Director, Energy Equity and Affordability, People & Communities Program

Laura Goldberg oversees NRDC's Midwest strategy for energy equity and affordability. This includes increasing energy efficiency, clean energy, and equitable climate solutions in affordable housing and underserved communities across the region, especially in low-income communities and communities of color. She…

Eric A. Goldstein

Senior Attorney and Director, New York City Environment, People & Communities Program

More than three decades ago, Eric Goldstein helped create NRDC’s Urban program and spearheaded the nationwide public campaign to get lead out of gasoline. Since then, he has been one of New York’s leading environmental advocates on such issues as…

Kabir Green

Director, Federal Affairs, Government Affairs

Kabir Green, who joined NRDC in 2012, focuses on public lands issues, especially NRDC’s efforts to defend America's national monuments. He graduated from George Washington University's Trachtenberg School of Public Policy & Public Administration with a master's in public administration…

Ashok Gupta

Senior Energy Economist, Climate & Clean Energy Program

Ashok Gupta focuses on policies relating to global warming, energy efficiency, renewables, sustainable building design, smart growth, and transportation. During former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg’s administration, Gupta served as NRDC’s representative to the Mayor’s Sustainability Advisory Board and Energy…

Debbie Hammel

Deputy Director, Lands Division, Nature Program

As director of the Land Markets Initiative for NRDC’s Land & Wildlife program, Debbie Hammel concentrates on issues relating to bioenergy and sustainable forest management. With more than 30 years of experience in designing third-party environmental certification systems, she is…

Becky Hammer

Deputy Director, Federal Water Policy; Senior Attorney, Nature Program

Becky Hammer focuses on stormwater runoff, green infrastructure, low-impact development, water-pollution permitting issues, and climate change preparedness. Before joining NRDC in 2009, she interned at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Hammer is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law…

Darby Hoover

Senior Resource Specialist, Food Waste Initiatives, Health and Food, People & Communities Program

Darby Hoover specializes in issues related to food waste reduction, composting, anaerobic digestion, plastics, zero waste, recycling, paper industry reform, and sustainable packaging. Her primary focus at NRDC is helping to create strategies to improve the efficiency of the food…

Mark Izeman

New York Regional Senior Strategist and Senior Attorney, People & Communities Program

Mark Izeman has worked at NRDC for 25 years on a wide range of environmental and public health issues, primarily in the greater New York–Northeast region. He has focused on such issues as local food, recycling, natural gas drilling, drinking…

Ashley Jordan

Boreal Corporate Campaign Advocate, International Program

Ashley Jordan provides technical and advocacy expertise for NRDC's corporate campaign to establish stronger protections for the Canadian boreal forest. Jordan joined NRDC in 2018 and previously supported the Canada Project as a program assistant and campaign coordinator. She holds…