I grew up alongside a northern California creek during a severe drought. The years of water rationing were a very effective way to learn the importance of conserving nature for the common good. My involvement in the environmental field began around the same time, starting with organizing recycling drives and beach clean-up days. Over the years, my environmental interest became progressively more nerdy. (Luckily for me, I somehow found a partner who thinks it’s cool I used to teach bicycle safety classes.)

After several years as a local government reporter, I decided I wanted to pursue public interest impact litigation. I love the tactics involved, but I was initially attracted to this type of work because the right case can have a big impact on public opinion. I saw this firsthand while covering the city attorney’s legal battle with Clear Channel, a $20 billion corporation. I was also heavily influenced by more famous examples, such as the book, Should Trees Have Standing, which had a big impact on me. I am the only person I know who read A Civil Action—a book about a personal injury lawyer who represented neighbors of a toxic waste site and nearly ruined himself in the process—and thought it would be fun to be an environmental litigator.

Of course, the work I do is often smaller in scale. For example, recently I’ve been sending warning letters to online retailers about the lack of energy efficiency information on their appliance listings, even though the information is required by federal law. Many of the companies have quickly responded to my letters by fixing the problem. Even if the ultimate goal—getting consumers to think more about the environmental impacts of their purchases—is an indirect one, it’s satisfying to see such fast intermediate results.

I like to spend my free time playing (or coaching or refereeing) water polo or doing other outdoor activities. I also still track and occasionally blog about local news from my hometown.