Our Experts

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…

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…

Minah Choi

Program Assistant, Nature Program

Minah Choi provides program and research assistance to the Northern Rockies team, helping to tackle a range of conservation issues affecting the region. In particular, she is passionate about finding inclusive solutions to some of our most challenging wildlife issues…

Dr. Sylvia Fallon

Senior Director, Science Integration, Science Office

Sylvia Fallon is an ecologist and evolutionary biologist who has been working at the interface of science and policy for nearly two decades. Much of her work at NRDC has focused on securing protections for endangered wildlife species such as…

Irene Gutierrez

Senior Attorney, Nature Program

Irene Gutierrez protects our oceans by promoting sustainable fisheries, fighting illegal fishing practices, preventing dirty energy development, and supporting policies to curb climate change. Prior to joining the Oceans division, she was an attorney on NRDC’s Climate and Clean Energy…

Ning (Lisa) Hua

Director, Conservation, China Program

Ning (Lisa) Hua works to advance wildlife conservation policies in China with a focus on wildlife trade. She collaborates with Chinese and international partners to advance the global leadership of China in wildlife conservation issues, particularly as they relate to…

Michael Jasny

Director, Marine Mammal Protection Project, Nature Program

Michael Jasny is a leading expert in the law and policy of ocean noise pollution. For more than a decade, he has directed high-profile litigation, lobbying efforts, science-based policy development, and public advocacy to improve the regulation of this emergent…

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…

Dr. Francine Kershaw

Senior Scientist, Marine Mammals, Oceans Division, Nature Program

Francine Kershaw uses the best available scientific information to advocate for improved protections for marine mammals related to a variety of issues, including ocean noise, ship strikes, and bycatch. She currently leads NRDC's work to end large whale entanglements and…

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…

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 McNamara

Director, Northern Rockies, Nature Program

Amy McNamara’s experience lies in advancing community-driven conservation outcomes, private land conservation, and durable solutions for wildlife and public lands management. Throughout her career, she has promoted large-landscape connectivity across the intermountain west, the northeast, and in western Canada. Prior…

Elly Pepper

Deputy Director, Global Biodiversity Conservation, Nature Program

Elly Pepper focuses on global biodiversity conservation, working to tackle the main drivers of the biodiversity crisis: ecosystem destruction and the direct exploitation of species (including wildlife trade). Specifically, Pepper does this by pushing countries to limit reliance on forest…

Kate Poole

Senior Director, Water Division, Nature Program

Since 2004, Kate Poole has served as lead counsel in important cases such as NRDC v. Kempthorne and PCFFA v. Gutierrez, both of which helped reduce the impact of public-works projects in California on threatened and endangered species. Currently, she…

Daniel Raichel

Acting Director, Pollinator Initiative, Wildlife Division, Nature Program

Daniel Raichel focuses on protecting our nation’s bee populations from the ever-growing threats to their health and existence—in particular, the use of bee-toxic pesticides. Before joining the Nature Program, Raichel was co-director of NRDC’s Community Fracking Defense Project and an…

Lucas Rhoads

Staff Attorney, Pollinator Initiative, Nature Program

As a staff attorney within NRDC’s Wildlife Division, Lucas Rhoads works to protect bees and other pollinators from a wide range of threats, including pesticide use, habitat destruction, and climate change. He advocates at both the federal and state levels…

Rebecca Riley

Managing Director, Nature Program

Rebecca Riley focuses on legal and policy issues related to wildlife and endangered species. Before joining NRDC, she was a trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice in the Environment and Natural Resources Division and clerked for a federal…

Addie Rolnick

Attorney

Addie Rolnick has worked on cases to ensure access to safe drinking water, safeguard marine mammals, and protect communities from pollution. Prior to joining NRDC, she clerked for Judge Cheryl A. Krause on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the…

Garett Rose

Staff Attorney, Alaska Project, Nature Program

Garett Rose works with a range of stakeholders, including scientists and local groups, to preserve Alaska's lands, waters, and wildlife through litigation, congressional advocacy, and participation in the administrative process. Prior to joining NRDC, Rose worked at a law firm…

Brad Sewell

Senior Director, Oceans Division, Nature Program

Brad Sewell has been an advocate for our nation’s oceans and coasts for more than two decades. He has worked to sustain and rebuild marine fisheries, conserve ocean habitat and its special places like the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine…