We are Trustees for Alaska

Vicki often says that she has held nearly every position at Trustees. Since 2014, she has been the executive director, but she started with Trustees in 1994 as a legal intern. That was what sparked her expertise in the Clean Water Act. Vicki joined the staff in 2003 as a staff attorney and also held the position of legal director for eight years. She hadn’t ever considered that she would run a nonprofit and be a fundraiser! Vicki is a graduate of Golden Gate University School of Law, and received certificates in Environmental Law and Public Interest Law. Her legal work focused on public interest environmental law in the areas of citizen enforcement, especially in the area of water quality, and land use in California and Alaska. Vicki received her undergraduate degree in Aquatic Biology from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Teresa rejoined Trustees for Alaska as legal director in August 2023, previously serving as a staff attorney from 2004 to 2007. In the intervening years, Teresa taught environmental law courses, published academic papers, and directed the Environmental & Natural Resources Law Clinic at Vermont Law School. She also worked in private practice at Bessenyey & Van Tuyn LLC and ran her own solo law practice, Clemmer Law Office LLC, here in Alaska. Teresa is a member of the prestigious American College of Environmental Lawyers and is serving on their Board of Regents. Teresa graduated with a bachelor’s degree in political science from Princeton University in 1994, and she received her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1999, where she won the James John McTigue Essay Award and served on the staff of the Georgetown International Environmental Law Review. During law school, Teresa volunteered with the U.S. Department of Justice Environment and Natural Resources Division and with the non-profit Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. In her free time, Teresa enjoys hiking, biking, traveling, a little carpentry, keeping up with her husband, teenager, dogs, cats, sheep, bunny, and sometimes chickens, and enjoying small town life in Palmer.

Brook became a senior staff attorney in 2015. Prior to joining Trustees, Brook worked for the Northern Alaska Environmental Center on clean water and public lands issues related to industrial development in the Interior and Arctic Alaska and served as a law clerk to Judge David Mannheimer on the Alaska Court of Appeals. Brook graduated from Lewis and Clark Law School in 2008, where she obtained a certificate in Environmental and Natural Resources Law and interned for a number of conservation and social justice organizations. Prior to law school, Brook taught environmental education in Colorado and Vermont.

Suzanne joined Trustees for Alaska in January 2013. Prior to joining Trustees, Suzanne served as a law clerk to now-Justice Joel Bolger on the Alaska Court of Appeals. Suzanne graduated from Lewis and Clark Law School in 2010, where she obtained a certificate in Environmental and Natural Resources Law and was the editor in chief of the environmental law review. Suzanne also interned with Trustees during law school. Before law school, Suzanne was the Legislative and Communications Manager for the Alaska Conservation Alliance and Alaska Conservation Voters. In her free time, Suzanne enjoys traveling, cooking, and playing outside. She also owns a small business where she moonlights as a chocolate maker.

Bridget joined Trustees for Alaska in November 2017. Prior to joining Trustees, Bridget worked in various roles for the Department of the Interior for six years: a NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) project manager for the Bureau of Land Management-Alaska; an attorney-advisor detailee in the Office of the Solicitor in Washington, D.C.; and finally as a Program and Legal Analyst for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Alaska Region. Bridget graduated from Pace University School of Law in 2011, where she received a certificate in Environmental Law and interned at Pace’s Environmental Litigation Clinic. After graduating from the Pennsylvania State University and prior to law school, she was an Americorps volunteer, travelled, and worked at a ski resort in Montana. Bridget loves playing outside in Alaska year-round, and spends most of her “indoorsy” time reading, cooking, and listening to music.

Joanna joined Trustees in the summer of 2020. She graduated from Lewis and Clark Law School in 2013 and, prior to joining Trustees, she worked for six years as a public interest litigator protecting the rights of Alaskans with disabilities at the Disability Law Center of Alaska. Her career has been incredibly rewarding, but Joanna loves Alaska’s wild places and has long sought an opportunity to protect the state she has called home for 15 years. Contributing to Trustees work is a long-held goal and she is excited to join the team. In her free time, she enjoys getting her son outside, camping, hiking, skiing, and playing with her dog.

Siobhan joined Trustees for Alaska in October 2023. Prior to joining Trustees, Siobhan worked in the public sector for over a decade, handling a diverse docket of advisory and civil litigation matters as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Alaska and as an Assistant U.S. Attorney with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Alaska. She graduated from Vermont Law School in 2011, at which time she headed (even further) North to spend a year as a law clerk with the Alaska Superior Court in Kenai. During law school, she studied environmental and natural resources law and interned with environmental non-profit organizations, as well as with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. Prior to law school, she worked for both the National Park Service and the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation. Outside work, she enjoys starting the day with a strong cup of coffee and spending time with family exploring Anchorage’s vast wealth of local parks and trails.

Dawnell joined Trustees for Alaska in 2016. She grew up in California and came to Alaska in 1988 to work in Denali National Park, homelands of the Tanana Athabascan Peoples. She now lives on Dena’ina lands in Anchorage. Her work experience includes writing, reporting, brewing beer, running a book store, and doing communications work in public health and for nonprofits and art groups. She loves to hike, hang out with her family, pick berries, run with dogs, read incessantly, skate, bike, and make poems, essays, short stories, and art.

Ashley Boyd joined Trustees for Alaska in May 2018. Prior to joining Trustees, Ashley worked as an event director in Texas for four years. Ashley earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in government from the University of Texas in Austin. Outside of the office, Ashley enjoys reading, kayaking, politics, traveling, and hanging with her family.

Lang was raised in a dry cabin in Bird Creek where he grew up fishing and exploring Chugach State Park. He graduated from the University of Alaska Anchorage with a BA in Political Science in 2011. Since graduating Lang has been worked on development projects in rural Alaska at several different entities and has been involved in programs as diverse as renewable energy, housing, and education. He is currently working on a Master’s in Public Administration at UAS with a focus in rural development and natural resource management. When he isn’t working, he spends as much time as possible playing outside and enjoys rock climbing, backcountry skiing, and mountain biking.

Lydia joined Trustees for Alaska in the fall of 2022. Lydia graduated from UCLA School of Law in May 2022 where she specialized in environmental law and policy. During her time in law school, Lydia interned for the U.S. Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, Earthjustice, Stoel Rives LLP, and the Promise Institute for Human Rights. Prior to law school, Lydia interned for U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley and got her B.A. in Political Science from the University of Portland. Outside the office, you’ll generally find Lydia roaming the mountains, climbing, cycling, rooting for her favorite sports teams, or searching for a new coffee shop.

Geoff joined Trustees for Alaska in August 2022. Prior to joining Trustees, Geoff spent three years as a staff attorney with the Turner Environmental Law Clinic at Emory University School of Law, working on land use, pollution, and agricultural issues in the Southeast and helping teach environmental law students. He also worked in civil litigation in Atlanta, Georgia after graduating from Emory Law in 2016. During law school, Geoff worked in the Turner Environmental Law Clinic and also interned with the environmental law department at Coca-Cola. Outside of the office, Geoff likes to read, cook, hike, and paint.