Movers & Shakers
The National Wildlife Federation announces Andrew Black, a former New Mexico Wildlife Federation official, is its new public lands field director.
Texas governor Greg Abbott has selected Shelly Botkin as a commissioner of the Public Utility Commission of Texas. Botkin was formerly director of corporate communications and government relations at the Electric Reliability Council of Texas.
Francis Brooke has been picked as President Trump’s new energy advisor at the White House’s National Economic Council. Brooke was tapped from his role as a policy adviser to Vice President Pence.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission announces it has added new directors to four offices: Frederick Brown will lead the Office of New Reactors; Catherine Scott will direct the Office of Commission Appellate Adjudication; Raymond Furstenau will join the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research; and Ho Nieh will begin his role at the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
Top EPA lawyer Erik Baptist transfers offices from the agency’s Office of General Counsel to its Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention.
The Fort Worth office of K&L Gates has added Jamie Bryan to its energy team. Now concentrating on the oil and gas industry, Bryan has focused on a broad range of energy issues for 18 years.
John Conger will take the lead at the Center for Climate and Security. He replaces the group’s co-Presidents Caitlin Werrell and Francesco Femla. Conger had previously served on the group’s advisory board.
Steven Cook leaves private industry to lead the Environmental Protection Agency’s Superfund Task Force. Cook’s former role was as senior corporate counsel at LyondellBasell Industries NV.
Rick Dearborn leaves his role as White House deputy chief of staff to become a partner at the Cypress Group, a consulting firm, advising on energy, technology, health care, finance, and defense.
David Deen, a longtime advocate for the environment, has retired from the Vermont Legislature. He was chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources, Fish, and Wildlife, and has sponsored landmark legislation, including a suite of environmental laws known as the state’s Clean Water Act in 2015.
BP has tapped Susan Dio as president and chairwoman. Now the first woman leader of BP’s U.S. business, Dio previously oversaw BP PLC’s shipping division.
Jeff Dodd has left Dickenson Peatman & Fogarty to join the Napa office of Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass, where he is a land use and environmental law associate.
Charles Di Leva has returned to the World Bank as its new chief officer for environmental and social standards. He was a chief counsel at the bank from 1992-2016 and has served as an ELI visiting scholar.
Newport Beach environmental law firm Bick Law LLP has added Ryan DuBose to its growing roster as a senior associate attorney. He was formerly an associate at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.
Public interest firm Earthjustice has selected its vice president of litigation for climate and energy Abigail Duncan to serve as the group’s new president.
Timothy Epp has been promoted to acting assistant general counsel of EPA’s Pesticides and Toxic Substances Office.
Frank Fannon is the new assistant secretary for energy resources at the State Department. He is a former aide to Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature’s World Commision on Environmental Law has a new member, Monica Feria-Tinta, a public international law attorney.
The American Wind Energy Association has hired two new leaders, both from the oil and gas industry. Bree Raum is AWEA’s new vice president of federal affairs and Sari Fink is senior director of electricity and transmission policy.
Quentin Foster has been appointed to the Independent Emissions Market Advisory Committee at Cal EPA after serving as director for California climate at the Environmental Defense Fund.
Ross Fulton has changed roles from trial attorney at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to serve as legal counsel for San Diego Gas & Electric Co.
Jacqueline Sincore Guild, executive director of the Chesapeake Legal Alliance, is the new director of Maryland’s Office of Environmental Policy.
Wynn Resorts has announced its first chief sustainability officer. Former director of energy procurement Erik Hansen is now tasked with the company’s global sustainability strategy and energy procurement goals.
Andrew C. Hanson and Bradley H. Oliphant have joined Perkins Coie LLP’s Environment, Energy & Resources practice as senior counsels. Hanson is based in Madison, WI, and Oliphant is located in the firm’s Denver, CO, office.
The new president of the Alliance to Save Energy is former DOE and White House official Jason Hartke.
Arthur Haubenstock takes the helms of the California Efficiency + Demand Management Council as executive director. He comes to the council from his role as vice president of policy and strategy at 8minuteenergy Renewables, LLC.
The Northeast-Midwest Institute hired a new senior policy analyst. Eric Heath will work within the Institute’s Mississippi River Basin Program.
Sarah King leaves behind her role at Climate Mayors to lead sustainability for the commercial development unit at Skanska. King was a research associate at ELI.
Van Ness Feldman LLP has acquired Capitol Hill and Interior Department veteran Jason Larrabee. He will be a senior policy advisor at the government relations firm.
EPA’s new Office of Continuous Improvement, aimed at improving agency efficiency, will be run by Serena McIlwain, former EPA Region 9 assistant administrator.
The Bureau of Land Management has appointed Mike McCourtney as acting director of its Nevada office. He comes to Nevada from BLM’s Twin Falls, ID, office, where he served as manager.
Victor McCree, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s executive director, has retired after nearly 30 years at the agency.
Lori Michelin will oversee the World Environment Center’s programs and mission as its new CEO and president. She arrives from the Colgate-Palmolive Company, where she led global sustainability initiatives.
John Perkins, a top litigator at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, has moved to the energy team at the international law firm McGuireWoods.
The Austin office of Holland and Knight has added environmental attorneys John Riley and Paul Sarahan as partners. Both were previously with the firm of Kelley Drye.
Sambhav (Sam) Sankar has been selected as the new executive director at the Environmental Council of the States. He brings experience from his time at The Nature Conservancy.
Ben Scaggs has been tapped as executive director of the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council.
Tesla announced that Sanjay Shah, formerly vice president at Amazon, is the new head of the company’s energy division.
Principal Susan E. Smith (pictured) and Associate Kate A. Tipple join Beveridge & Diamond, P.C.’s San Francisco office, adding experience to the firm’s toxic tort and environmental litigation work.
SHAKERS
Donald Stever has started an independent consulting practice, Stever Environmental Law and Mediation, after retiring from K&L Gates. He is based in New York.
Best Lawyers has named Diane Whitney, chair of Pullman & Comley’s Land Use section, as the 2018 Connecticut Lawyer of the Year in Environmental Law.
New job? Been promoted? Received an honor? Send in your entries for Movers & Shakers to edmonds@eli.org.
Colleagues’ new jobs, promotions, and achievements.
Karen Bennett, formerly of national law firm Clark Hill, has begun lobbying for the National Mining Association, a coal and hardrock mining trade group.
New President and COO of Energy Fuels Inc. Mark Chalmers (pictured) takes over as CEO as Stephen Antony retires from the role.
Michelle DePass, a former senior U.S. EPA official, will take on a philanthropic role after being named CEO of the Meyer Memorial Trust. She takes over the job from Doug Stamm.
Former editor at Bloomberg News Mark Drajem will lend his communications skills to the National Resources Defense Council, where he has joined the group’s federal communications team.
Ted Garrish, a nuclear expert, has been nominated to serve as the Department of Energy’s assistant secretary for international affairs.
Mary Anne Hitt has been promoted to lead the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign. She was a campaign director for the program, and will now serve as senior director, taking over for Bruce Nilles, who leaves Sierra Club after 15 years.
Peter Kelley leaves his position as vice president of public affairs at the American Wind Energy Association to relaunch RenewComm LLC. — a public relations firm focused on promoting clean energy and running issue campaigns and events for renewable energy companies and environmental nonprofits.
Sarah Laskin says goodbye to the National Geographic Society as she takes on the role of vice president of the National Wildlife Federation’s National Advocacy Center.
Ranallo & Avenvi has promoted Joshua T. Morrow to partner at the boutique firm. Morrow leads the firm’s litigation practice.
Jennifer Murphy has been tapped from her role as assistant general counsel of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners to serve as the group’s director of energy policy and senior counsel.
Janet Naughton transitions from the private to public sector as she takes on the role of a senior advisor at the Department of Energy. Naughton served as a top advisor at the Heritage Foundation and also owns a DC-based consulting firm.
Jane Nishida switches roles at EPA’s Office of International and Tribal Affairs. After serving as the office director of regional and bilateral affairs, she becomes the principal deputy assistant administrator of the office.
Sidley Austin’s Houston office has added environmental partner Heather Palmer as part of the firm’s strategic expansion in the energy sector.
James Robb becomes the leader of the North American Electric Reliability Corp. as president and CEO after serving as CEO of the Western Electricity Coordinating Council, the largest of NERC’s eight regional entities.
Sambhav Sankar has been selected to take the lead as executive director and general counsel of the Environmental Council of the States. He leaves behind his role at The Nature Conservancy.
BP has picked a new lead for its Gulf of Mexico and California operations. Starlee Sykes is now head of the operations. She replaces Richard Morrison, who is slated to retire.
Robert Bonnie has joined the board of directors of The Conservation Fund. Bonnie oversaw the U.S. Forest Service from 2013-2017.
