Board
Jessica Burness — Medical Doctor
Jessica Burness hails from Northern California, where she spent springs and summers hiking in the Sierras and learning the names of wildflowers with her father. She went to college and medical school at Brown University, and returned to the West Coast to do her residency in family medicine at Oregon Health Sciences University. She now practices at the Native American Rehabilitation Center Clinic in Portland, and has interests in access to health care, international health and infectious diseases. She retains her childhood love for and sense of connection to nature, and considers environmental preservation and environmental health critical to human health. She is excited to share in the Crag Law Center’s mission.
Brian Litmans — Public Interest Attorney
Brian Litmans is a staff attorney with Trustees for Alaska, a non-profit environmental law firm. Brian graduated from Lewis and Clark in 2001 and worked as a solo practitioner for six years with an environmental law practice that focused predominately on natural resource and endangered species matters. Brian has been on the Crag Law Center’s Board since its inception, and brings a diverse background of government and non-profit environmental work experience. He has worked in the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, the White House Council on Environmental Quality, the Regional Solicitor’s Office for the Department of the Interior and Portland’s Metro Regional Government. He has also worked and volunteered with a number of environmental organizations, from Portland to D.C. to Geneva, Switzerland, including the Center for International Environmental Law, Defenders of Wildlife, the National Wildlife Federation, the Alaska Quiet Rights Coalition, the Sierra Club, the Northwest Environmental Defense Center, and the Pacific Environmental Advocacy Center.
Gary Kish — Director of Development, Oregon Humane Society
For the past 12 years Gary has been the Director of Development of the Oregon Humane Society. During that time he has implemented a diverse array of programs including a highly successful planned giving program. In that regard, he is very proud of his work to get two state laws passed that facilitate including pets in estate plans. He has also used direct mail, monthly giving and a retail store to provide OHS with a greatly increased and stabilized private donation base. Since starting with OHS, he has raised its supporters from 2,500 contributors to 42,000 and grown the revenue budget by a factor of eight to $4.2 million.
As a volunteer, Gary serves on Oregon Wild’s Development Committee. He is also Chair of the Mazamas Fundraising Committee and a member of the Mazamas Facility Task Force. Mr. Kish also provides fund-raising advice to other conservation organizations including the Association of Northwest Steelheaders, the Oregon Natural Desert Association and The Crag Law Center. Gary has strong personal interests in native fish conservation, forest preservation and mountaineering.
Aubrey Baldwin – Clean Air Advocate & Public Interest Attorney
Aubrey grew up in Southern Appalachia, where she has lived and represented public-interest organizations and citizens in their efforts to fight coal-fired power plants and other sources of air pollution across the country. She currently works for the Pacific Environmental Advocacy Center, the environmental law clinic based out of Lewis & Clark law school. Her practice focuses on the Clean Air Act, national air quality and climate policy initiatives. Aubrey graduated with honors from Lewis & Clark Law School, where she was active in student government, the National Lawyers’ Guild and OutLaw. Aubrey earned a Certificate in Natural Resources and Environmental Law and was inducted into the Cornelius Honor Society. In 2006 Aubrey was awarded the Williamson Award, which is presented yearly by the Environmental Alumni Association to an outstanding recent graduate who has demonstrated a commitment to public interest environmental work. While in law school, Aubrey received a Public Interest Law Project Stipend to work at the Crag Law Center, was a law clerk at the Center for Food Safety in Washington, D.C. Before law school, Aubrey was an activist, organic farmer, and social worker.
Bill Barnes – Professor of Economics & Advocate for Climate Change Solutions
Bill grew up camping, fishing and hiking with his parents in the Adirondacks in upstate New York, and he has been hooked on nature ever since. He spent his undergraduate years at the University of New Hampshire, and then spent three years in Japan teaching English and cultivating a new appreciation for the bounteous North American wilderness. He received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Notre Dame in 2001. At the University of Portland, his interests include Environmental Economics, and in his classes and research he strives to incorporate local environmental issues. He is currently researching clean technology barriers and drivers and the diffusion of alternative energy in the Northwest.
Sadhana Shenoy – Software Engineer & Accountant
Sadhana grew up in Bombay, India where she recieved a degree in Accounting and enjoyed hiking and climbing in the ecologically wondrous coastal ranges called the Western Ghats. She has lived in the Portland area since 1986. She earned a Master’s degree in Computer Science from the Oregon Graduate Institute and worked in the software field for some time before committing her time to raising her two wonderful daughters and to volunteer causes. She has participated extensively in fundraising campaigns for schools and in support of Democratic candidates. She is the Treasurer for the Oregon Chapter of the Sierra Club and has served on the Executive Committee of the Columbia Group of that organization. Her interests include sustainable living, rural development and health issues in India – to all of which she has made active contributions. She is interested in native and organic gardening and enjoys various outdoor activities in the Pacific Northwest. She also volunteers for the Crag Law Center!
Lori Ann Burd — Student & Activist
Lori Ann currently attends the Lewis & Clark College of Law where she focuses her energies on environmental and natural resources issues. Lori Ann went to law school out of her desire to do more substantive work for environmental causes. Lori Ann has extensive fundraising, media outreach, public speaking, event coordination, organizing, and coalition-building skills. Lori Ann worked last summer for the Center for Food Safety. CFS is a non-profit public interest and environmental advocacy organization which challenges harmful food production technologies and promotes sustainable alternatives. Lori Ann currently serves on the Board of the Northwest Resistance to Genetic Engineering which works for food safety and educational efforts on genetic engineering. The Crag Law Center aims to train the next generation of leaders by taking young students and integrating them into our work, and Lori Ann is serving a two-year stint on our board and looks forward to learning about non-profit management.
Leo McCloskey — High-Tech Entrepreneur
Leo is a firm believer in the right of the people to participate in the process of government. At the end of every day, we, the people, are the owners of this public corporation we call a country and have every right to fair and transparent adjudication of decisions that impact our environment. Public servants and government agencies are supposed to act in the public interest. Yet Leo is pretty convinced that this is typically the exception and rarely the rule. A conservationist at heart, participating in the Crag Law Center is his way of finding balance and sustainable relationship with the environment. A technologist by trade, he assists large corporations with technology and networking strategic design and planning. He is currently employed by a large global systems integrator and travels widely. He has lived and worked in Japan, Russia, Europe and several US states, and currently resides in Sammamish, WA. Leo received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Russian language and International studies from Dickinson College. He is blissfully married and has three terrific girls, a dog and a cat.
Charlie Ringo — Attorney
Charlie practices law in Bend, Oregon and previously served as a Senator in the Oregon State Legislature. Charlie grew up in Corvallis, Oregon and enjoys hiking, climbing and skiing in the Cascade mountains with his family. Charlie served in the US Air Force after graduating from the Air Force Academy with a Bachelor in Science. He obtained an MBA from Boston University and a law degree from Northwestern School of Law, Lewis & Clark College. In the past, Charlie has volunteered with the Oregon Chapter of the Sierra Club, Meals on Wheels, Oregon Literacy Project and St. Mathew’s Legal Clinic. While in the legislature Charlie worked to obtain stable funding for K-12 and opposed cuts to schools. He sponsored a bill to require financial audits of school districts to get more money into the classroom. He supported early education programs such as Head Start to help kids start school ready to learn and he led the fight to protect our clean air and water, and hold polluters accountable for their toxic mess. He is excited to help guide the Crag Law Center as a director.
Jennifer Baldwin – Development Director – American Lung Association of Oregon
Jennifer Baldwin brings unbridled enthusiasm and strong organization building skills to the Crag Law Center. Through her work for the American Lung Association, Jennifer understands the importance of a healthy environment for people and the places they live, work and play. Jennifer has successfully organized and run fundraising events like Reach the Beach, Reach the Summit and Reach the Bridge for the ALA for many years. She shares her invaluable insight with the Crag Law Center as the organization seeks to grow. Jennifer enjoys the great outdoors that Oregon has to offer, and her volunteer service with the Crag Law Center is one way for her to give back to the places she loves.
Board of Advisors
Carrie Richardson - Realtor
Carrie was born in Chicago, Illinois and lived there through the end of high school. She attended Cornell College and The American University of Paris and received a B.A. in English, Philosophy, and French. Carrie discovered the great outdoors on a National Outdoors Leadership School semester in Patagonia, and became hooked after 3 months of climbing and kayaking through the wilds of Chile. She moved to Oregon in 1994 to attend law school and enjoy the rivers, mountains, deserts and ocean in the Pacific NW. She graduated with a Special Certificate in Environmental Law in 1998 from Lewis & Clark. After working for a few non-profit environmental organizations her career took turned towards residential real estate and she has been working as broker in Portland since 2000. She still is deeply involved in conservation issues and enjoys volunteering her time to give back her skills to the community.
Kristin Ruether — High Desert Advocate
Kristin has worked for the Oregon Natural Desert Association in its Portland field office, where she focused on litigating public lands grazing issues in eastern Oregon. She is a recent graduate of Lewis and Clark Law School, where she was active with the school’s clinic, Pacific Environmental Advocacy Center. Before law school, she worked as forest watch coordinator for Friends of the Clearwater in Moscow, Idaho. She grew up in the scenic Rust Belt and has a degree in biology from Cornell University. She enjoys backpacking, cross-country skiing, and souping up her biodiesel wheels.
Peter Brown – Business Development, Avnera Corporation
Peter is an Oregon native who has demonstrated a strong interest in protecting the diverse and unique community in which we live. Peter received a degree in marketing from Portland State, and built on that knowledge to help grow early stage growth in notable Oregon enterprises including Pixelworks, In Focus Systems and KVO Advertising and Public Relations. Peter also served a stint at Sun Microsystems. Peter has a solid expertise and understanding of embedded hardware, software, development tools and the service elements of high technology. Peter intends to put these valuable skills to work for the Crag Law Center, and to develop new ones, in order to build a strong community for future generations.
Erica Lewis – Executive VP Environmental Marketing, Better World Travel
Erica’s current work as Vice President for Environmental Marketing focuses on providing sustainable travel and transportation options to business and leisure travelers and bringing these products to market. She pioneered the world’s first climate neutral air travel certification; an innovative travel option that empowers travelers to eliminate the greenhouse gas pollution associated with air travel. The program received certification from the Climate Neutral Network in November 2000. Additional climate neutral travel services are currently in development as well as a “green” hotels database. She is also involved in the development of Better World Travel’s charitable foundation that identifies suitable carbon offset projects for investment purposes. She is leading the company’s marketing efforts and business development strategy by creating partnerships with businesses, environmental organizations, community groups and government agencies.
Abby Wool Landon – Attorney
Abby is an attorney with the law firm of Samuels Yoelin Kantor Seymour Spinrad LLP. She is licensed to practice law in Oregon and focuses her practice on Business, Litigation, Estate Planning, Trusts and Probate law. Abby graduated from Simmons College in 1980 then completed a graduate degree at Reed College in 1984. She received her law degree from Northwestern School of Law at Lewis & Clark in 1991 and was admitted to Oregon Bar the same year. She was general counsel and Executive Vice President, TripleE, Inc. from 2000-2001. She has been involved with Club Cabaret Fund Raising Committee and the Oregon State Public Interest Research Group.
Barbara Brower – Professor of Geography, Portland State University
Barbara Brower received her first degree from UC Berkeley in Anthropology in 1977, and later received an MA in 1982 and a Ph.D in 1987 in Geography from UC Berkeley. Barbara’s interests lie in bio-geography, cultural ecology in the regions of High Asia, Nepal and the Western United States. Barbara is the editor of the Himalayan Research Bulletin, which reviews scholarship, research, and other information of interest to members and other Himalayanists and promotes an understanding and appreciation of the region through the publication and support of original research. She has a strong passion for mountains and wildland resource conservation and policy.
Matthew Follett – Follet Corporation
Matt received his undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies in 1999 from Lewis & Clark College. In May, 2000 after serving as Campaign Director for the Green House Network, a Portland-based non-profit, Matthew was promoted to Program Director. Green House Network is the only nationally oriented non-profit organization with the sole focus on building a grassroots movement to stop global warming pollution. Its mission is to educate and unite people, students, government and business in the effort to create the clean energy future that can stop global warming pollution. Matt now lives in the mid-west and sells books for a living to schools across the country.
Jill Vaughn – Wildlife Biologist
Early in life, Jill felt drawn to the true experience of the wilderness, the simplicity and beauty she felt there. This heartfelt connection ignited her passion for forests, rivers, deserts, and all the creatures living there. This passion carried her to the wildlands of Australia and beyond. Jill has a B.S. from the University of Wisconsin in wildlife ecology and vast experience in the field of avian ecology. Her passion for wildlife is demonstrated in the numerous field projects that she has managed over the years. In the wetlands of Nevada and Oregon she began her professional career researching white-faced ibis. Her most recent project with Alaska Biological Research (“ABR”) focused on the northern spotted owl and the marbled murrelet, two endangered bird species here in the Pacific Northwest. Additionally, Jill has worked on the Oregon Coast surveying the impacts of caspian terns on endangered salmonid species. Jill revels in her time in the wilderness; such as the years she spent living in the Grand Canyon researching the endangered southwestern willow flycatcher. Now, living in the city of Portland, she is excited by the opportunities to combine her vast scientific knowledge with the shimmering edge of progressive action.
