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…

Corinne Bell

Senior Attorney, People & Communities Program

Corinne Bell focuses on drinking water and surface water pollution in several states, as well as the water-related impacts of climate change. Bell's work includes PFAS and lead contamination, environmental rights, urban runoff, and green infrastructure. Before joining NRDC, Bell…

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…

Jon Devine

Director, Federal Water Policy, Water Division, Nature Program

Jon Devine leads NRDC’s federal water policy team. His work focuses on implementing, defending, and strengthening the core programs under the Clean Water Act. Prior to working on water policy, he worked with NRDC’s Health & Environment program for four…

Steve Fleischli

Senior Director, Water Initiatives, People & Communities Program

Steve Fleischli’s area of focus encompasses not only water quality but also the role of water security in climate-preparedness programs and the relationship of water to energy production. Prior to joining NRDC in 2010, he served as the executive director…

Dr. Mark Gold

Director of Water Scarcity Solutions, People & Communities Program

Dr. Mark Gold focuses on building climate resilience through integrated water management solutions for the increasingly arid urban California and the West. From 2019–2022, Gold served as Governor Gavin Newsom's deputy secretary for Oceans and Coastal Policy and executive director…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

Damon Nagami

Senior Attorney, Lands Division, Nature Program

Damon Nagami is a senior attorney and director of NRDC’s Southern California Ecosystems Project, which focuses on oil and gas policy and advocacy, increasing equitable access to nature for low-income communities of color, and protecting open space and wildlife habitat…