Replies

Washington, D.C. Staff of PEER.ORG

Jeff Ruch has been the Executive Director of PEER since 1997. With Jeff DeBonis, he helped to start PEER and for its first four years served as General Counsel & Program Director. Prior to that Jeff was the Policy Director and a staff attorney at the Government Accountability Project representing whistleblowers from both the public and private sector. Before coming to DC, Jeff worked in California state government for 17 years, mostly in the State Legislature as counsel to various committees where he drafted literally hundreds of laws on topics ranging from energy conservation to the rights of employed inventors. Jeff served stints as a deputy district attorney, an appellate court clerk and is a graduate of the California Correctional Officers Academy. jruch@peer.org

Kate Hornyan joins PEER as the Membership and Outreach Coordinator. She is a recent graduate of the George Washington University where she studied International Affairs and Human Services. She is currently continuing her studies as a GW Colonial and is pursuing a Master’s in Public Administration. Through these academic pursuits, Kate has been able to apply her interest in international relations to her passion for nonprofit work. Although academically focused in international affairs, Kate looks forward to applying her skills and learning more about environmental issues with PEER. khornyan@peer.org

Paula Dinerstein is PEER’s Senior Counsel and an attorney with 18 years of experience. She received her law degree from the George Washington University National Law Center. Prior to joining PEER, she clerked for a federal district court judge in Washington DC and then practiced with small public-interest oriented law firms. Her work included representation of States and advocacy groups in energy and environmental matters, including recovery for overcharges by oil companies for use in state energy conservation programs, challenges to EPA pesticide registrations, challenges to hydroelectric licenses, and litigation concerning regulations which weakened the federal organic food standards. pdinerstein@peer.org

Chiquita Edwards, Finance and Administration Manager, brings numerous years of non-profit management experience to PEER. She has provided financial, human resources, administrative, and technological expertise to Prince George’s Community College Foundation, The Institute for Conservation Leadership, Public Justice, and the Children’s Defense Fund. For the past four years she also owned and operated a part-time bookkeeping business. Chiquita is pursuing a M.Ed. in Adult Education and holds a B.S. in Social Science from the University of Maryland University College and an A.S. in Business from Prince George’s Community College. Chiquita also holds the titles of wife, mother, and grandmother and enjoys the outdoors, spoiling her grandson and is in happy anticipation of her second grandchild (and hoping it’s a girl). cedwards@peer.org

Christine Erickson is PEER Staff Counsel. She graduated from American University, Washington College of Law in 2008, where she was editor of the Sustainable Development Law and Policy Journal, as well as Vice President of the Environmental Law Society. During law school, she worked for the Environmental Protection Agency, in the Air Enforcement Division. After leaving the EPA, she went on to clerk at the Natural Resources Defense Council, working on various federal and international environmental cases. She has a B.S. in English and Political Science from UCLA. cerickson@peer.org

Kirsten Stade is PEER’s Advocacy Director. For more than a decade she has worked on campaigns targeting extractive industries on public lands, and has published research with WildEarth Guardians on the impacts of livestock grazing on fire ecology and ecosystem health in the American west. She has a Master’s degree in Conservation Biology from Columbia University and a Bachelor’s in Earth Systems from Stanford University. Kirsten enjoys training and grooming dogs, and volunteers with animal rescue groups in the Washington, DC area. She lives with her partner and a growing number of rescued dogs in Takoma Park, MD. kstade@peer.org

Field Staff

Kyla Bennett is PEER’s New England Field Director. Kyla previously worked at EPA Region 1 for 10 years as a wetland permit reviewer and as the Region’s Wetlands Enforcement Coordinator. Kyla first became involved with PEER in the mid 1990s, when she became a whistleblower herself. Kyla has a Ph.D. in ecology from the University of Connecticut and a law degree from Lewis and Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon. nepeer@peer.org

Jerry Phillips is PEER’s Florida Field Director. Jerry is a former enforcement attorney with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. In that position he was responsible for initiating enforcement actions against wastewater facilities that were in violation of environmental regulations. Jerry was also involved in developing the enforcement aspect of Florida’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Program. flpeer@peer.org

Karen Schambach is PEER’s California Field Director. Karen has a strong track record as an activist in off-road vehicle and forestry issues. Karen has a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies, and worked as a paralegal specializing in employment law prior to becoming PEER’s California representative. capeer@peer.org

Bill Wolfe, another former client, heads NJ PEER. Bill spent13 years as a Policy Analyst and Planner with the NJ Department of Environmental Protection (1985-1995; 2002-2004). Bill came to know PEER in 1994 when his career at DEP was punctuated by his public disclosure of the state?s efforts to suppress and avoid responding to scientific research documenting high levels of mercury in NJ freshwater fish. Shortly thereafter, Bill left NJDEP to become the Policy Director for Sierra Club’s NJ Chapter from 1995-2002. Then in 2002, Commissioner Bradley Campbell invited Bill to rejoin DEP and serve as the “conscience of the Agency.” Bill left the Agency in July 2004 to rejoin the NJ environmental community, and has been with PEER (with one break) since 2005. njpeer@peer.org

Chandra Rosenthal is PEER’s Rocky Mountain Field Director. Chandra is a former staff attorney with Defenders of Wildlife specializing in endangered species and public lands issues. Chandra has also worked for the U.S. Department of Justice and, under a legal fellowship, worked on a Superfund site with the Department of Energy. rmpeer@peer.org

Barry Sulkin is PEER’s Tennessee Field Director. Barry is a Volunteer State native and former Chief of Enforcement and Compliance for the Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation (TDEC). Barry worked for TDEC from 1976 - 1990, leaving shortly after testifying that the agency had issued an illegal permit. Since then, he has created an extensive private practice as an investigator and scientist serving citizen groups and others on a wide range of water quality issues. tnpeer@peer.org

Daniel Patterson is an ecologist and PEER’s Southwest Director. He has been active with PEER since the mid-90’s. He previously worked with BLM in the Mojave Desert on off-road vehicles and endangered species, and as Deserts Program Director with the Center for Biological Diversity. Daniel is a graduate of Michigan State University’s College of Natural Resources. He serves on the City of Tucson Planning Commission, Pima County Board of Adjustment, and as President of the Santa Rita Park Neighborhood Association. swpeer@peer.org