ELP Mid-Atlantic Regional Network Fellows Class of 2009.

Michael Barrette, Team Leader, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Corey Buffo, Special Assistant, DC Government

Mohamad Chakaki, Environmental Consultant, The Baraka Group

Lee Cain, Environmental Educator, Anacostia Watershed Society

Sara Espinoza, Program Manager, Weather & Environment, National Environmental Education Foundation

Summer Ellen Frederick, Albemarle County

Todd Gartner, Manager, Conservation Incentives, American Forest Foundation

Erica Hall, Assistant Corporate Secretary/Sr. Paralegal, NeighborWorks America/ Southern New Hampshire University

Kelley Hart, Program Manager, The Trust for Public Land

Karen Hyun, Knauss Sea Grant Fellow, U.S. House of Representatives

EB James, Executive Director, Nanticoke Watershed Alliance

Ruth Kelty, Ecologist, NOAA/National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science

Rebecca Wadler Lase, Learning and Communications Manager, Earthwatch Institute at the North America Regional Climate Center

Emily Mitchell, Program Director, Green Communities, Enterprise Community Partners

Daniel Morris, Research Assistant, Resources For the Future

Lauren Necochea, Epidemiologist, Baltimore City Health Department

Emily Selia, Research Assistant, George Washington University

Treda Smith, Environmental Protection Specialist, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Pavitra Srinivasan, Public Health Scientist, Eastern Research Group, Inc

Nicole Steele, Land Use Planner, Loudoun County VA Government - Planning Department

Hiram Lee Tanner, Environmental Protection Specialist, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Katrina Tavanlar, Associate, Booz Allen Hamilton

Michael Barrette is currently the team leader for enforcement targeting and public access in the EPA Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. Since the mid-1990s, Mike has been a strong advocate for putting government data about corporate violations online. He was instrumental in the development and release of one of EPA's most popular websites -- Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO). Mike played a key role in establishing a new EPA program that provides regular, nationally-consistent performance reviews of state agency enforcement programs. He also manages a portfolio of projects aimed to make EPA's enforcement program more efficient through the development and use of automated, web-based tools and analysis. Prior to joining EPA, Mike spent three years working for the New York State Assembly while completing a Masters Degree in Public Administration. Outside work, Mike keeps busy raising three children and coaching several youth soccer teams.

Corey Buffo is a native of Portland, Oregon, and has a BS in Conservation and Resource Studies from UC Berkeley and a JD from Hastings College of the Law. Mr. Buffo spent five years fighting forest fires and traveling in Asia before coming to DC in 1998 to cover zoning and other land use issues as an Assistant Attorney General. Mr. Buffo later helped establish the new DC Department of the Environment, becoming its first General Counsel, Interim Director, and Policy Director. He is currently at the US EPA developing green building and smart growth strategies.

Lee Cain spent his childhood crabbing and fishing on the Chesapeake Bay. After graduating from Juniata College in PA he went on to teach 8th grade Physical Science in Washington DC. For the past three years Lee has been an Environmental Educator at the Anacostia Watershed Society working to promote the health of one of the Chesapeake Bay's most endangered waterways. He teaches people in the DC metropolitan area about watershed education, creating new outdoor education programs and inspiring methods of conservation in the minds of thousands of students a year.

Mohamad Chakaki holds a Masters Degree in Urban Ecology and Environmental Design from Yale University, and undergraduate degrees in Religion and Biology from The George Washington University. His passion for nature and for people led him to work in parks and gardens across the US, with the Peace Corps in Central Africa, and the United Nations in Syria. He now consults on environment and community development projects in both the US and the Middle East. Mohamad is an active member of two exciting networks in the Washington area, the Greater Washington Interfaith Power & Light (GWIPL) and DC Green Muslims.

Sara Espinoza manages NEEF's Earth Gauge® program, a partnership with the American Meteorological Society to position broadcast meteorologists in the U.S. as "station scientists" by providing free, weekly environmental information tied to the local 3-day forecast, and online continuing education courses to broaden their expertise in the environmental sciences. In three years, she has expanded the program from seven to over 160 participating meteorologists, while building partnerships with national, regional, and local agencies and organizations. Before NEEF, Sara worked at World Wildlife Fund and the Jane Goodall Institute. She holds a B.A. from Bucknell University and an M.E.M. from Duke University.

Summer Ellen Frederick is a Senior Planner of Current Development with the Community Development Department of Albemarle County, VA, where she reviews a variety of proposed land use and development transactions for compliance with local ordinances and policies. Her work requires interaction with developers, land owners, elected and appointed officials, design professionals, other agency employees, as well as neighboring landowners, community members and a wide range of special interest groups. Previously she has worked for a number of environmental conservation organizations located in Central Virginia, as well as a land use and development consulting firm assisting localities in writing comprehensive plans. She holds a B.A in English Literature with a minor in Environmental Sciences and a Master's of Urban and Environmental Planning, both from the University of Virginia. Outside of work, Summer volunteers at the local Habitat for Humanity Store and tries to enjoy all Central Virginia has to offer.

Todd Gartner is the Conservation Incentives Manager for the American Forest Foundation's Center for Conservation Solutions. Gartner is a Master of Forestry graduate from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. He is also a Doris Duke Conservation Fellow, Switzer Environmental Fellow, and Property and Environmental Resources Center "Enviropreneur" with a strong background in economics, wildlife, and forestry. He focuses on place-based conservation incentives and market-based strategies, such as biodiversity offsets, payments for watershed services, and carbon markets, to achieve conservation objectives on family forestlands. Gartner's previous work included researching the effects of fire on small mammal communities in Botswana, studying the impact of eco-tourism in Botswana and India, business consulting for the USDA Forest Service and several years as a corporate financial consultant. Gartner received his B.S. in finance from the University of Maryland's Smith School of Business.

Erica Hall is the Assistant Corporate Secretary & Senior Paralegal in the Office of the General Counsel & Corporate Secretary at NeighborWorks® America with an extensive background as a community organizer, advocate, lobbyist, volunteer coordinator, activist, and paralegal. Erica also possesses in depth experience in the areas of municipal bond financing, litigation, low income housing tax credit work, board development, non-profit 501 (c) 3 setup, technical assistance, and mediation. She is currently enrolled in a graduate program at Southern New Hampshire University studying Community Economic Development. Her thesis/graduate work involves obesity prevention among African Americans while increasing access to fresh foods, green spaces and safe places for low income communities in Washington, D.C while working on other environmental and social issues.

Kelly Hart is a Program Manager for The Trust for Public Land's Conservation Services, Kelley designs and manages strategic park and conservation planning processes and research projects for local governments, TPL staff and other partners. This includes conducting targeted interviews; researching related initiatives and opportunities; facilitating community consensus-building that generates tangible results; and developing outreach materials. Kelley worked previously as a staff attorney at UCLA Law School's Environmental Law Center. She has a B.A. in Government from Dartmouth College, and she earned a JD (2002) and a Masters in Urban Planning (2004) from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Karen Hyun is a Knauss Sea Grant Fellow working on the Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife and Oceans in the Committee on Natural Resources in the House of Representatives. She has a Ph.D. in Marine Affairs from the University of Rhode Island focusing on ecosystem-based management of the Colorado River Delta. She also volunteered with the Sonoran Institute, a non-governmental organization promoting community-based environmental stewardship, restoring habitat by growing and planting native trees, and engaging with local community members in the Delta. She hopes to apply lessons learned from these grassroots efforts to affect change in her new home in DC.

EB James is the Executive Director of the Nanticoke Watershed Alliance. Prior to working for the alliance, he was the Assistant Director of Pickering Creek Audubon Center, an environmental center of the National Audubon Society, and manager of Port Isobel, an environmental center of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. He holds a BA from St. Olaf College in Minnesota and an MS in Forestry with a minor in Conflict Management from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. He has taught fishing and guided canoe and kayak trips in Northern Minnesota and on the Potomac River.

Ruth Kelty is an ecologist for NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science where she integrates research across scientific disciplines, linking the science conducted in Federal, university, and industry labs to the information needs of coastal decision-makers. Working with Federal partners and regional managers, she assesses and addresses management needs - usually by integrating technical information to predict the social, economic, and ecological implications of potential management decisions. Ongoing projects address shoreline stabilization and dock management, cumulative impact assessment, research needs for coral reef ecosystem management, and better measures of land-based pollution. She also conducts applied research on coral reefs and bioindicators of ecosystem health, and manages grant programs and research projects.

Rebecca Wadler Lase is the Learning and Communications Manager for the Earthwatch Institute at the North America Regional Climate Center in Edgewater, MD. Rebecca has much international and local experience in both conservation biology and environmental education. She was the Project Manager for two orangutan conservation and research projects on Borneo in Indonesia and an environmental education program based in Bali, Indonesia. She assisted the Center for Environmental Research and Conservation (CERC) with the development and implementation of an ecology-based integrated curriculum in New York. Rebecca has a B.A. in Primate Ethology from Hamilton College and a M.A. in Conservation Biology from Columbia University.

Emily Mitchell is a program director for Green Communities, an Enterprise initiative that strives to transform the way communities design, build and maintain affordable homes. Enterprise's vision through this initiative is to make sustainable building practices the mainstream in the affordable housing industry. In her role, Emily provides technical assistance and training to developers and project team members incorporating the Green Communities criteria into affordable projects. Emily previously worked as a program manager for the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED for Homes program, supporting the development of the technical criteria and delivery system as well as overseeing the affordable housing initiative. She holds a master's degree in global environmental policy from American University and is currently working on a master's in urban and regional planning at the Alexandria campus of Virginia Tech.

Daniel Morris is currently a Research Assistant working at Resources For the Future. He works on many parts of RFF's Climate Program, primarily researching potential climate change adaptation policies. As a Master's student at the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at UC Santa Barbara, Daniel specialized in climate change policy and economics, and studied the challenges of adapting to climate change and associated environmental justice issues. Additionally, he managed a year-long group research project investigating the environmental and economic benefits of vegetated rooftops to stormwater runoff in the Los Angeles River watershed, and was awarded a Switzer Environmental Fellowship for emerging environmental leaders. Daniel has experience in both government agencies and non-profit organizations, previously working for the USDA Forest Service and the National Park Foundation.

Lauren Necochea serves as Epidemiologist for the Baltimore City Health Department. She conducts data analysis to evaluate and improve programs addressing environmental health hazards in the home. Previously, Lauren was a policy fellow with joint appointments at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Princeton University's Center for Health and Wellbeing. Lauren earned her masters in public affairs and a certificate in health and health policy at Princeton University. She has also worked as a program officer at Innovations for Poverty Action and was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to assist with research on microfinance in Peru.

Emily Selia is currently a graduate student at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C., completing a Master of Public Health program, in Community-Oriented Primary Care. For the past year, she has worked for the Environmental and Occupational Health Department of the George Washington University on the first large-scale community survey of Washington, D.C. residents looking at pest control problems, pest control methods, attitudes towards pesticides and related health issues. Previously, she interned with the Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs, contributing to research and newsletters, and spearheading research into a potential food safety initiatives. In addition to her volunteer work with local healthcare organizations, she is currently completing her graduate special project with a national healthcare organization, looking at workplace wellness and occupational health issues for clinicians, such as burnout and stress.

Treda Smith is one of the technical leads for the National Rivers and Streams Assessment, which is one in a series of national water resource surveys designed to assess the condition of the Nation's waters. Prior to joining the Monitoring Branch, she provided technical support to states, tribes, and other entities to develop and adopt biological, nutrient and aquatic life criteria for water quality standards and tiered aquatic life use development. She is the past and current Headquarters Chair of the Agency's Biological Advisory Committee. Treda holds a B.S. degree from Coastal Carolina University, a M.S. from Johns Hopkins University, and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. at The College of William and Mary.

Pavitra Srinivasan has worked in the consulting industry for over 8 years with private and public sector clients including local small businesses and large nationwide organizations. Currently, she is a public health scientist with Eastern Research Group, Inc., a multidisciplinary consulting firm, in Arlington, VA where she focuses on public policy and supports U.S. regulatory agencies as they address environmental, occupational, and public health risks in numerous industry sector. Ms. Srinivasan has a Bachelors of Science in Microbiology and Immunology from McGill University, and a Masters in Public Health (Environmental-Occupational Health) from The George Washington University. French, and maintains strong cultural ties to India.

Nicole Steele is a land use planner for Loudoun County, Virginia where she manages legislative land development applications. In one of the fastest growing counties in the country, Nicole provides professional recommendations to the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors. As a member of the County's Energy Conservation Cabinet, she presents recommendations to the County leadership for sustainable development and energy efficient strategies. In addition, she represents Loudoun on MWCOG's Intergovernmental Green Building Group which developed recommendations to promote green building initiatives. Nicole is a LEED accredited professional and is active in the American Planning Association and the Coalition for Smarter Growth.

Hiram Lee Tanner is an environmental protection specialist with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the Biopesticides and Pollution Prevention Division Environmental Stewardship Branch. Hiram also worked for the Prince George's County Public School System, and District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority; his jobs included high school biology teacher and water conservation specialist. In his current role Hiram coordinates EPA's national community pest management program. His other duties include serving as a liaison for Washington D.C. in EPA's Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Program and assisting in planning the environmental justice action plan for Office of Pesticides Programs.

Katrina Tavanlar is an Associate with Booz Allen Hamilton, a leading strategy and technology consulting firm headquartered in Mclean, Virginia. Katrina has been integral in establishing communication strategies, change management programs, and management initiatives for Federal and foreign governments and not-for-profits. She has worked on a range of issues including sustainability, environmental restoration, environmental justice, and Native American programs. A recent project includes developing an over-arching strategy and communications plan to assist the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts’ to “go green.” Katrina is actively working to enhance traditional environmental communications by leveraging organizational change management and social marketing techniques. She received a B.A. in Environmental Science from UC Berkeley and a M.C.P in Environmental Policy and Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. When found outside her office, Katrina is swimming, biking, and/or running.