The ABA Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources (SEER) will honor the following twelve lawyers with its Distinguished Environmental Advocates Award during the 42nd Spring Conference in Salt Lake City on March 22.

Biographies

Brian Accardo, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Tallahassee, FL (University of Miami School of Law)

Brian Accardo is the director of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s Division of Air Resource Management. In this role, Brian leads the State of Florida’s efforts to responsibly manage its air resource. In addition to developing and implementing statewide regulatory policy, he oversees the monitoring of ambient air quality, permitting and compliance of emission sources, and siting and licensing of power-generation and transmission facilities. Brian communicates and coordinates agency activities with public and private stakeholders, including the U.S. EPA, federal and state legislators, regulated industry, and non-governmental organizations.

Brian previously practiced law at a Tallahassee firm focusing on environmental and energy law, which he joined after graduating with honors from the University of Miami School of Law. Prior to attending law school, Brian earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Florida and worked as an environmental consultant specializing in the assessment and remediation of hazardous material discharges.

Brian Accardo Press Release

Rita Bolt Barker, Wyche, P.A., Greenville, SC (Harvard Law School)

Rita Bolt Barker is an environmental attorney at Wyche, P.A. in Greenville, SC. Her varied environmental experience includes advising clients on matters arising under the Endangered Species Act, the Administrative Procedure Act, the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act, the Clean Water Act, and the SC Pollution Control Act. Rita also advises businesses on assessing environmental risks and incentives associated with corporate transactions, including mergers, acquisitions, and real estate deals. She is currently teaching a course on Environmental Law & Conservation Advocacy at Furman University. Rita has received well-deserved recognition for her work, including being named a “Rising Star” by South Carolina Super Lawyers and “Legal Elite” by the Greenville Business Magazine. She is listed in Best Lawyers in America. She has taken on many leadership roles in the community and was named of our region’s “Best and Brightest Under 35.” Rita is a graduate of Harvard Law School.

Rita Bolt Barker Press Release

Marisa Blackshire, Alston & Bird LLP, Los Angeles, CA (Southwestern University Law)

Marisa Blackshire is a senior associate focusing her practice on environmental permitting, regulatory compliance and litigation. Marisa assists clients in obtaining environmental permits, and provides advice regarding environmental issues, including environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), air compliance, water quality, global climate change, chemical regulations, and endangered and threatened species. In these contexts, she has experience negotiating with regulatory agencies, coordinating with engineers and environmental consultants and conducting administrative hearings, and has been successful in obtaining regulatory amendments. Marisa also represents clients in litigation challenging the sufficiency of CEQA/NEPA documents.

Marisa recently completed the Southern California Leadership Network’s fellowship, California Connections. Her pro bono legal and community involvement includes handling adoptions for Public Counsel; handling matters for the Disability Rights Legal Center; mentoring students in the South Central Scholars program; and sitting on the Junior Board for the After-School All-Stars of Los Angeles.

Marisa Blackshire Press Release

Janice Dean, New York State Attorney General, Environmental Protection Bureau, Brooklyn, NY (Pace University School of Law)

Janice A. Dean is the Section Chief of the Toxics and Cost Recovery Section in the Environmental Protection Bureau of the New York State Attorney General’s Office. She is one of the lead lawyers on New York State’s challenge to the Indian Point nuclear power plant’s application for a renewed operating license, and recently initiated the matter of New York v. NRC, the State’s successful NEPA challenge to the federal nuclear waste storage rule.

Ms. Dean is the author of SEQRA’s Alarm Rings for Climate-Impact Considerations (N.Y. LAW J., Aug. 28, 2007) and Remembering the Forgotten Community: Community-Based Supplemental Environmental Projects and Environmental Justice (24 NEW YORK ENVIRONMENTAL LAWYER 3 (2004)). Ms. Dean is an honors graduate of Pace Law School, where she was Editor-in-Chief of Pace Law Review, and she earned a Bachelor of Science degree with High Honors from the University of California at Berkeley’s College of Natural Resources.

Janice Dean Press Release

Hella Jordan Diamond, Environmental Law Institute, Washington, DC (University of California Berkeley School of Law)

H. Jordan Diamond is a Staff Attorney and the Deputy Director of the Ocean Program at the Environmental Law Institute (ELI). Since joining ELI in 2008, she has focused on identifying ways to improve domestic and international ocean and coastal law and policy, with an emphasis on integrated and comprehensive approaches to marine management. For the past several years her work has included efforts to strengthen Alaska Native voices in marine resource management processes in the U.S. Arctic, supporting community engagement in Gulf of Mexico restoration and recovery following the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster, and analyzing regional frameworks for offshore energy development in the Mid-Atlantic, among other things. She holds a J.D. with a Certificate of Specialization in Environmental Law from the UC Berkeley School of Law, and a B.A. in Earth and Environmental Sciences with a Certificate in Environmental Studies from Wesleyan University.

Reda Hicks, Diamond McCarthy LLP, Houston, TX (University of California Berkeley School of Law)

Reda Hicks is a partner in the Houston office of litigation boutique Diamond McCarthy LLP. She practices commercial and environmental litigation, particularly mining and environmental issues related to the mine assets of distressed entities. She also works on policy issues related to mining and minerals extraction in Asia Pacific, including stakeholder education and engagement. A proud Army wife, Reda is managing editor of Bars and Stripes, the journal produced by the Military Spouse JD Network, a non-profit organization working to reduce professional licensing barriers for attorneys married to active duty service members. Reda serves on the Board of Directors of Leadership Houston, where her projects include the development of two new green spaces in Houston on the organization’s behalf. Reda received her BA with honors from the University of Texas at Austin, her JD from the University of California Berkeley (Boalt Hall), and her Sustainable MBA in Environmental Policy from Marylhurst University.

Reda Hicks Press Release

David Johnson, Arizona Department of Water Resources, Phoenix, AZ (Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law, LLM Pace University School of Law)

David Johnson is Deputy Counsel for the Arizona Department of Water Resources, the state agency tasked with assuring Arizona’s continued long-term and dependable water supplies. In that role, David works on all tribal related matters including negotiation of federal reserved water rights, counsels on adjudication matters and serves as counsel for the departments of dam safety, groundwater permitting and the water protection fund. Before ADWR, David worked in private practice where he represented mining interests, water and wastewater treatment plants and tribal entities.

David is the Chair of the Energy and Natural Resources Litigation committee, vice-chair of the SEER QT committee and YLD liaison to the SEER Special Committee on Section, Division and Forum Coordination. David is currently a board member of the Arizona State Bar’s YLD. David earned his Environmental LL.M. from Pace University in 2006, his J.D. in 2004 from SMU, and his B.A. in 2001 from SMU.

David Johnson Press Release

Melissa Meirink, Greenberg Traurig, LLP, Denver, CO (Seattle University School of Law)

Melissa Meirink is an attorney at Greenberg Traurig LLP in Denver, Colorado. Her practice focuses on federal environmental regulatory compliance, public land use and American Indian law. Melissa assists clients with the planning, siting and construction of energy and non-energy related projects on and off tribal land. She has particular experience with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) and guides clients through the federal environmental compliance process. Melissa provides advice on the section 106 process and its tribal consultation requirements. She has helped many oil and gas, mining and renewable energy clients with tribal outreach and coordination efforts. Melissa has experience negotiating and drafting memoranda of agreement, programmatic agreements and nominating properties to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). She frequently lectures on NEPA, the NHPA, traditional cultural properties, sacred sites and tribal consultation. Melissa serves as the Secretary of the Colorado Indian Bar Association.

Melissa Meirink Press Release

Tina Meyers, Blue Water Baltimore.org, Baltimore, MD (SUNY Buffalo Law School)

An environmental attorney and Buffalo, NY native, Tina specializes in Clean Water Act law and policy. Prior to starting as the Baltimore Harbor Waterkeeper with Blue Water Baltimore in 2012, Tina worked as a staff attorney for the University of Maryland School of Law Environmental Law Clinic, representing the Chesapeake region Waterkeepers and other clients in several Clean Water Act lawsuits, permit appeals, and environmental justice cases. Since moving to Baltimore in 2008, Tina has fallen in love with the area and is devoted to protecting local water quality to ensure a healthy community. Tina earned a B.S. in Environmental Science and Biology from University of Rochester and a J.D. from University at Buffalo School of Law, with a concentration in Environmental Law. She is barred in New York State, Maryland, and the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.

Tina Meyers Press Release

Jessica O’Neill, Hangley Aronchick Segal Pudlin & Schiller, Philadelphia, PA (Georgetown Law)

Jessica O’Neill is an associate at Hangley Aronchick Segal Pudlin & Schiller in Philadelphia, PA. She previously served as an Assistant Regional Counsel for the United States Environmental Protection Agency in Region 3 and as a Counsel to the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling.

Jessica graduated magna cum laude from the Georgetown University Law Center, where she was Symposium Editor of the Georgetown International Environmental Law Review and a member of the Order of the Coif. She earned her undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies, cum laude, from Brown University. Following law school, Jessica served as a law clerk for the Honorable Louis H. Pollak of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the Honorable Robert B. Kugler of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey.

Jessica O'Neill Press Release

Jessica Scott, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of General Counsel, Washington, DC (Vermont Law School)

Jessica Scott is an attorney at the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of General Counsel. She provides legal advice under the numerous federal statutes, Executive Orders, and policies that affect all of EPA’s programs, including environmental justice, Indian law, and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Jessica also provides legal counsel on international environmental law, including trade, investment, and the environment, US-Canada transboundary issues, and international environmental justice. She has a B.S. cum laude from Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service and a J.D. magna cum laude from Vermont Law School. In November and December of 2011, Jessica participated in the National Committee on US-China Relations’ Environmental Law Professionals Exchange and served as a Fellow at the American Bar Association’s Rule of Law Initiative in Beijing.

Jennifer Sorenson, Natural Resources Defense Council, San Francisco, CA (Yale Law School)

Jen Sorenson is a litigation attorney in the San Francisco office of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). She represents NRDC in litigation to address significant environmental problems, threats to public health, and environmental injustices. Jen developed and litigated a groundbreaking lawsuit against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to restrict the nontherapeutic use of medically important antibiotics in livestock production. She has also worked on actions to abate groundwater pollution, to defend California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard, and to protect NRDC’s landmark settlement to reestablish salmon populations in the San Joaquin River. Before joining NRDC, Jen clerked for the Honorable Marsha S. Berzon on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She earned her BA in English from Wesleyan University in 2001 and her JD from Yale Law School in 2009.

Jennifer Sorenson Press Release

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