Vicki Arroyo

Vicki Arroyo [1] is the Executive Director of the Georgetown Climate Center of Georgetown University Law Center where she is also a Visiting Professor. She oversees the Center’s work at the nexus of climate and energy policy, supervising staff and student work on climate mitigation and adaptation at the state and federal level. She teaches “experiential” environmental law courses to both law and public policy students.

She previously served at the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, most recently as the Pew Center’s Vice President for Domestic Policy and General Counsel. For over a decade, she directed the Pew Center’s policy analysis, science, adaptation, economics, and domestic policy programs. She also served as Managing Editor of the Center’s book and oversaw publication of numerous reports and policy briefs. more ↓

In addition to teaching at Georgetown Law, she has taught courses on environmental policy and climate change at Catholic University, George Mason University’s graduate public policy program, and Tulane Law School. Previously, she practiced environmental law with Kilpatrick Stockton and other private firms and served in two offices at U.S. EPA: the Office of Air and Radiation and the Office of Research and Development where she reviewed development of standards under the Clean Air Act. From 1988 - 1991, she created and directed the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality’s policy office, and briefly served as Governor Buddy Roemer's environmental advisor.

She has recently served on California’s Economics and Allocation Advisory Committee advising California Air Resources Board on cap-and-trade design; on the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) external advisory committee; and on a National Academy of Sciences Transportation Research Board Committee on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector. She is currently serving three year terms on an advisory committee to the National Science Foundation and as a member of the Board of Trustees for the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (a consortium of 77-PhD granting research universities which oversees NCAR). She also serves on the editorial boards of the Climate Policy journal and the Georgetown International Environmental Law Review.

She holds a B.S. in biology, high honors, from Emory (double major in philosophy); a Masters of Public Administration from Harvard (top honors in program), and a J.D., Magna Cum Laude, from Georgetown Law, where she was Editor-in-Chief of The Georgetown International Environmental Law Review.

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Kathryn Zyla

Kathryn Zyla [2], directs the Center’s analytical work as Director of Research and Policy Analysis. Kathryn previously served as Senior Associate in the Climate and Energy Program at the World Resources Institute. Her work focused on greenhouse gas emissions markets, energy security, and state-federal roles in climate policy. She also staffed the Midwest Regional Greenhouse Gas Reduction Accord’s process to design a cap-and-trade program in the Midwest. more ↓

Kathryn previously held the position of Senior Research Fellow for Domestic Policy at the Pew Center on Global Climate Change. She has advised the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council on opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through transportation planning, and conducted an energy efficiency study of municipal buildings for the City of New York. Kathryn holds a Master of Environmental Management degree from Yale University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering from Swarthmore College. hide ↑

Chris Coil

Chris Coil [3], the Center’s Communications Director, has worked with prominent nonprofit and progressive organizations for more than a decade to develop effective branding, marketing and strategic communication plans. more ↓

Prior to joining the Georgetown Climate Center, he served as the Director of South-Southwest Communications for the Service Employees International Union where he managed communication teams and media outreach for electoral, political and policy campaigns across the country. He possesses extensive new media experience and recently developed a social networking system that is used by political candidates to increase participation in their campaigns. Early in his career, Chris worked as a political journalist in Texas and Tennessee. He holds a bachelor's degree from the University of North Texas. hide ↑

Gabriel Pacyniak

Gabriel Pacyniak [4], an institute associate at the Center, provides legal and policy analysis. He has worked on issues relating to reducing GHG emissions from the transportation sector, state implications of federal GHG regulations, proposed federal energy, climate and transportation legislation, and regional GHG reduction programs. more ↓

He is a recent graduate of Georgetown, where he earned a J.D., cum laude. While in law school, he interned at the White House Office of Energy and Climate Change and on the environmental staff of the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee while the committee was drafting the American Clean Energy and Security Act. Prior to entering law school, Gabe was a metro reporter and editor in Washington, D.C.. He also holds a B.A. from the New College of Florida with a concentration in philosophy. hide ↑

Cassandra Powers

Cassandra Powers [5], an Institute Associate at the Center, provides transportation policy analysis. She works primarily with the Transportation and Climate Initiative’s Clean Vehicles and Fuels workgroup, where she facilitates interaction between stakeholders and provides research and analysis of electric vehicle policies and programs. more ↓

She is a recent graduate of the University of Virginia, where she earned a Master’s Degree in Urban and Environmental Planning. While in school, she interned at the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission, where she worked on transportation planning initiatives. Prior to entering graduate school, Cassie was a Member Services Associate at the American Wind Energy Association. She also holds a B.A. from the College of William and Mary with a concentration in Environmental Policy and Government. hide ↑

Tsinu Tesfaye

Tsinu Tesfaye [6], the Center's Administrative Assistant, manages all financial, HR, and administrative activities for the Center, coordinates and manages the Center’s grants, organizes all Climate Center events and maintains the Center’s offices at the Law Center and the Hall of States. more ↓

Prior to joining the Climate Center, Tsinu interned and worked in the High Commissioner for Human Rights office at the United Nations Headquarters, where she served as research assistant with the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). Most recently, she worked as United Nations Liaison and Middle East/North Africa Liaison for Equality Now, an international human rights organization for women and girls. She holds a bachelor's degree from Yale University. hide ↑

Pinal Patel

Pinal Patel [7] assists with foundation research, grant writing and reporting, outreach, and legal and policy research. She also helps develop and write content for some of the Center’s core adaptation and mitigation work. In addition to her employment with the Georgetown Climate Center, Pinal also supports the law school’s Office of Advancement.more ↓

Pinal received her J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center. While in law school, she served as executive editor of submissions review for the Georgetown International Environmental Law Review, and she was a research assistant for the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law. She interned at the Center for International Environmental Law, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, and Washington Week with Gwen Ifill.

Outside of law school, Pinal worked at the Center for Environmental Citizenship, Ceres, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Pinal gained environmental health experience at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences of the NIH. She attained a M.P.H. in health law from Boston University, and a B.A. in political science from Emory University. hide ↑

Research Assistants

Georgetown Law students work with the Georgetown Climate Center every semester, producing important research for both the Center and states that are engaged in developing climate and energy policies. The Center's current research assistants are Anthony Moriello, Evan Shapiro, and John Michael Cummings. To learn more about the work of Georgetown Law students, click here [8].

Harrison Institute Staff

The Georgetown Climate Center works in partnership with a team of attorneys and students from Georgetown Law's Harrison Institute. For more information about the Institute, click here [9]. Below are a few of the key staff that work with the Georgetown Climate Center on adaptation issues.

Robert Stumberg

Robert Stumberg is a professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center, where he is also the director of the Harrison Institute for Public Law. His past positions include policy director at the Center for Policy Alternatives and legislative counsel for Montgomery County, MD. He has 30 years of experience in legislation, economic development, community lending and housing policy. Most recently, he has studied the impact of trade agreements on state and local government, including energy, water services, prescription drugs, foreign investor rights and agricultural subsidies. His publications include: GATS & Electricity (2005); Trade Policy & Prescription Drugs (2005); Federalism & Political Accountability Under Global Trade Rules, Publius – The Journal of Federalism (2001 with Matthew Porterfield); Preemption & Human Rights, Law & Policy in International Business (2000); and Sovereignty by Subtraction: The Multilateral Agreement on Investment, Cornell Journal of International Law (1998).

Jessica Grannis

Jessica Grannis is a Staff Attorney at the Harrison Institute for Public Law working in the Policy Clinic under the Climate Team, which is looking at strategies to help state and local governments adapt to climate change impacts. Prior to coming to the Harrison Institute, she was staff counsel for two California state agencies, the State Coastal Conservancy and the Ocean Protection Council. Prior to her work in state government, she worked as an associate for a civil litigation firm focusing on real property disputes. Jessica was admitted to the California State Bar in 2005 and anticipates being admitted to the District of Columbia Bar in 2009.

Sara Pollock Hoverter

Sara P. Hoverter is a senior fellow and adjunct professor at the Harrison Institute for Public Law, Georgetown University Law Center. Her area of concentration is health policy, including climate change and public health, Medicaid, state and federal health reform, and the use of community health workers to reach vulnerable populations. Her past positions have included law clerk at the National Partnership for Women and Families, research assistant for the Center for Law and the Public’s Health, and program associate at the DC Appleseed Center.

Matthew Porterfield

Matthew Porterfield is a senior fellow and adjunct professor of law at the Harrison Institute for Public Law, Georgetown University Law Center, where he leads projects on agriculture, investment and constitutional law. Before coming to Georgetown, he practiced environmental law in Washington, DC. His publications include: An International Common Law of Investor Rights?, University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Economic Law (2006); International Expropriation Rules and Federalism, Stanford Journal of Environmental Law (January 2004); Who Preempted the Massachusetts Burma Law?, Publius – The Journal of Federalism (2002 with Robert Stumberg); and State & Local Foreign Policy Initiatives & Free Speech: The First Amendment as an Instrument of Federalism, Stanford Journal of International Law (1999).

Staff Bios