Staff
Stephen D'Esposito, EARTHWORKS President
Before becoming president in January 1998, Steve served as EARTHWORKS' Vice President for Policy from February to December 1997. In this role he directed all program staff and designed campaigns focusing on legislative and regulatory initiatives.
Before joining EARTHWORKS, Steve was instrumental in building Greenpeace USA into one of the largest environmental groups in the country, from 1986 through 1992. During that time he served as Deputy Director and Acting Executive Director. From 1993 through 1995 Steve was Deputy Director and then Executive Director of Greenpeace International, based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Steve received a bachelor's degree in political science from Tulane University in New Orleans in 1982.
Kimberlee Dinn, Director of Operations and Development
Kimberlee earned a B.S. in Biology in 1990 and completed her MBA in 2002. Prior to joining MPC, Kimberlee served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Panama. She spent four years working in Latin America providing marketing support for rural cooperatives with Pueblo to People, a Fair Trade organization. She has also worked on projects ranging from sustainable agriculture, tropical reforestation, and E-commerce.
Gwen Lachelt, Oil & Gas Accountability Project Executive Director
Gwen Lachelt is the director and co-founder of the Oil & Gas Accountability Project (OGAP). Gwen has worked on oil and gas issues at the local, state and national levels since 1987. She is the former executive director of the San Juan Citizens Alliance and Western Colorado Congress and was a visiting instructor at Fort Lewis College. Gwen has extensive experience in non-profit management, campaign development, and community organizing. In 2005 the Ford Foundation selected Gwen as a national finalist for the prestigious Leadership for a Changing World award. Gwen has a B.A. in Political Science from Fort Lewis College in 1985 and has pursued graduate studies in environment and community at Antioch University.
Payal Sampat, International Campaign Director
Prior to joining EARTHWORKS in 2002, Payal worked for 5 years at the Worldwatch Institute on mining, materials efficiency, and freshwater issues. Payal is author of several publications related to global mining and materials issues including "Scrapping Mining Dependence" in State of the World 2003 and "Mind Over Matter: Recasting the Role of Materials in Our Lives." A native of India, Payal has also worked as an organizer with the Bombay Environmental Action Group on campaigns to protect coastal areas and public lands. She holds degrees from Tufts University, MA, and St. Xavier's College, Bombay.
Bruce Baizel, Oil & Gas Accountability Project Staff Attorney
Bruce comes to OGAP from Dine CARE, a Navajo action group, and Round River Conservation Studies, groups he staffed and represented for eleven years. Bruce received his law degree in 1986 from the University of Denver College of Law, has a BA in Biology and a Masters in International Relations.
Scott Cardiff, International Campaign Coordinator
Scott comes to Earthworks from Greenpeace USA, where he has worked as a field organizer for the "Project Hot Seat" climate-change campaign and on research for campaigns targeting logging companies operating in old-growth forests. Prior to that, Scott investigated the impacts of a mining boom occurring in Madagascar, where he had previously served as a Peace Corps volunteer. Scott speaks French, Malagasy, and Spanish and holds degrees in Natural Resources and Conservation Biology from Cornell and Columbia Universities.
Cathy Carlson, Senior Policy Advisor
Before joining MPC, Cathy was Director of the National Wildlife Federation's regional office in Boulder, Colorado as well as the public lands issues coordinator and advocate. She has been an advocate for mineral policy reform since 1987 in both Washington, D.C and in Colorado. Besides her expertise in mineral development, Cathy has extensive expertise in natural resources issues on public lands in the western U.S. including oil and gas leasing and development, livestock grazing, and fisheries and wildlife habitat conservation. She received her Bachelor of Science in Wildlife Management from Humboldt State University.
Roger Featherstone, Southwest Organizer/Circuit Rider
Roger Featherstone, Southwest Circuit Rider. Roger was first with EARTHWORKS in 2001 as Campaign Director for the "Stop the Rollbacks Campaign." As Campaign Director, Roger was instrumental in generating the most comments ever received to date by the BLM and also helped create EARTHWORKS' action network. He returned in May of 2004 as the Southwest Circuit Rider. Before working with EARTHWORKS, he was Campaign Director for Alaskans for Responsible Mining, directed the Grassroots Environmental Effectiveness Network for Defenders of Wildlife and was the National Grassroots Director of the Endangered Species Coalition. Roger has a long history in the conservation community as a grassroots organizer and campaigner working mostly on wildlife and conservation issues. Roger is based in Tucson, Arizona.
Bonnie Gestring, Northwest Circuit Rider
Bonnie began work with EARTHWORKS in May 2001. For the previous 5 years, Bonnie worked as a Community Organizer at Montana Environmental Information Center (MEIC) in Helena, Montana. She was a leader in campaigns to stop gold mining on the Blackfoot River and to pass the citizen's initiative banning open pit cyanide process mining in Montana. She has also provided critical support to residents in Libby, Montana dealing with illness and death caused by the W.R. Grace operation there. Bonnie is an effective strategist with a demonstrated commitment to local communities.
Prior to working with MEIC, Bonnie has been a Peace Corps Volunteer in Belize and a park ranger in several national parks across the West. Bonnie received a B.S. in biology from Montana State University in 1987 and an M.S. in Environmental Studies from the University of Montana in 1999.
Jennifer Goldman, Oil & Gas Accountability Project Associate Director
Jennifer is based in OGAP's new field office in Bozeman, Montana. Jennifer brings to OGAP four years of experience in both the nonprofit sector and the field of environmental conservation. Before joining OGAP, Jennifer served as the Development Manager for New Mexico at the Trust for Public Land's Southwest Regional Office in Santa Fe. She received her Masters of Arts in Philosophy from the University of Montana in 1997 and her Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from Seattle University in 1994.
Renee Lewis Kosnik, OGAP Research Director
Renee received her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology/Pre-Law from The University of Montana in 2000, Master of Studies in Environmental Law and Juris Doctorate from Vermont Law School in 2006. While in law school, Renee clerked for the Environmental Law Clinic working primarily on litigation involving mining issues. Her areas of focus include oil, gas, and mining laws and federal environmental statutes.
Lauren Pagel, Policy Director
Lauren joined EARTHWORKS in August of 2002 from the Union of Concerned Scientists where she helped organize their campaign to reduce the use of antibiotics in food animals. Before UCS, Lauren was a part of the Legislative team at Friends of the Earth, working on a variety of issues ranging from the Farm Bill to trade issues. Prior to her work at FoE, Lauren assisted with Mineral Policy Centers Stop the Rollbacks campaign and worked on the field team at the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. Lauren graduated from Vassar College in 2000 with a bachelor's degree in political science.
Alan Septoff, Research and Information Systems Director
Alan joined EARTHWORKS in July 1997 as Program Coordinator. He came to EARTHWORKS from the National Academy of Sciences. Alan became legislative director of EARTHWORKS in January of 1998. As legislative director, he played a key role in orchestrating the millsite agreement which prevents future mines from using unlimited public land for toxic waste dumping, and led the legislative and regulatory effort to enact stronger mining regulations. Alan became Research and Info Systems Director in June of 2001. He earned masters degrees in Environmental Science and Public Affairs in 1996 from Indiana University's School of Public and Environmental Affairs.
Sam Rigby, Development Director
A former EARTHWORKS intern, and most recently an analytical writer at Georgetown University, Sam has experience in geological research and has worked and volunteered at several environmental and international development organizations. Sam has a B.A. in Politics from Oberlin College and a B.S. in Geology, with honors, from Portland State University. In 2004, he received an M.S. in Earth Sciences from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, where his research focused on geochemistry, and he has co-authored articles in the journals Lithos and the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
