Our Experts

NRDC experts ground their work in research and science to advocate for laws and policies that create lasting environmental change. Search for an expert below, or read their latest blog posts.

Experts

Viewing 1 - 20 of 47

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…

Zanagee Artis

Fossil Fuels Policy Advocate, Nature Program
Zanagee Artis is a founding member and executive director of Zero Hour and has worked in the youth climate movement advocating for the need to transition away from fossil fuels. He is outspoken about the climate crisis and was a…

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…

Sujatha Bergen

Director, Health Campaigns, Health and Food, People & Communities Program
Sujatha Bergen campaigns for changes in corporate and regulatory policies that protect public health—from eliminating toxic chemicals in everyday products to cutting subsidies to the fossil fuel industry to promoting climate healthy menus. Prior to working at NRDC, she was…

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…

Dr. Marilee Shelton Davenport

Senior Director, Capacity and Collaboration, Science Office
Marilee Shelton Davenport focuses on growing NRDC’s scientific capacity by strengthening the organization’s connections with the external science community, while also supporting NRDC’s work at the intersection of climate and health. She brings two decades of experience working with scientists…

Kate Donovan

Senior Attorney, People & Communities Program
Kate Donovan works on a range of environmental and health issues, including working to get toxic chemicals out of consumer products, federal pesticides policy, and solving our solid waste and plastics crisis. Previously, Donovan served as the deputy director of…

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…

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…

Tom Hucker

Manager, Eastern Campaigns, Center for Policy Advocacy
Tom Hucker brings decades of organizing and policy experience to his job as an advocate for safer chemicals, having worked as a community organizer, nonprofit entrepreneur, and a state and local policymaker. As a state legislator, Hucker sponsored successful legislation…

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…

Avinash Kar

Senior Attorney and Senior Director, Health and Food, People & Communities Program
Prior to his current role, Avi Kar served as director of state health policy, working with NRDC teams and external coalitions to pass key legislation and advance policies to reduce exposures to toxics, with a focus on California, New York…

Taryn Kiekow Heimer

Deputy Director, Marine Mammal Protection Project, Nature Program
Taryn Kiekow Heimer directs two of the organization’s major campaigns: stopping the development of the environmentally disastrous Pebble Mine project proposed in Alaska’s Bristol Bay and putting an end to commercial whaling. She also leads our work to protect beluga…

Niel Lawrence

Alaska Director and Senior Attorney, Nature Program
Niel Lawrence oversees NRDC’s efforts to preserve and protect Alaska’s iconic land and seascapes—including the Arctic and vast Tongass rainforest—and helps guide efforts to end climate-wrecking oil exploration on federal lands. Prior to his current role, Lawrence directed NRDC’s national…

David Lennett

Senior Attorney, Western Toxics, Health and Food, People & Communities Program
Much of David Lennett’s legal advocacy focuses on global and domestic mercury pollution. He helped develop a global treaty for reducing mercury pollution, co-authored the authoritative guide to the treaty’s text, and is currently assisting governments in their treaty ratification…

Courtenay Lewis

Manager of Ecosystems Policy, Canada Project, International Program
Courtenay Lewis advocates for policy solutions in Canada that benefit communities, species, and the larger ecosystems that support them. Prior to working at NRDC, Lewis promoted sustainable international policies at the Sierra Club, focusing on trade policy and curbing fossil…

Amy Mall

Senior Advocate, Dirty Energy, Lands Division, Nature Program
Amy Mall focuses on policies that protect clean air, clean water, wildlands, communities, and the climate from harmful energy industries, including fracking, oil and gas production, oil and gas pipelines, and forest biomass. Prior to joining NRDC in 2001, Mall…

Bobby McEnaney

Director, Dirty Energy Project, Nature Program
In his work for NRDC, Bobby McEnaney has spearheaded several initiatives focused on promoting the sustainable development of energy resources on public lands while working to protect the nation’s lands and communities from the dirtier energy processes that threaten them…