Western Resource Advocates Staff
WESTERN RESOURCE ADVOCATES APPOINTS NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Karin Sheldon’s leadership begins a new era for conservation in the Interior West
 Western Resource Advocates is pleased to announce that Karin Sheldon is our new executive director as of September 4, 2007. Christopher Wirth, Chairman of the Board of Western Resource Advocates, states, “We are tremendously enthusiastic to welcome Ms. Sheldon,” adding, “Her strong legal and policy expertise combined with her organizational management experience will make her an ideal director. Ms. Sheldon possesses, in volumes, every skill needed to lead Western Resource Advocates in building a sustainable future for the Interior West.”
Ms. Sheldon has served as Associate Dean for the Environmental Law Program and Director of the Environmental Law Center at Vermont Law School since 1994. Prior to that, she was the president of the Wilderness Society. Ms. Sheldon was also a staff attorney at the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund in Denver for eight years, and has served on numerous boards of directors. Ms. Sheldon brings extensive legal, public policy, and political experience to Western Resource Advocates at a time when the Interior West faces many challenges including numerous proposals for new coal-fired power plants, increasing strain on water resources due to growing population, and landscapes that are threatened by oil and gas development. John Nielsen, interim director of Western Resource Advocates, says, “Ms. Sheldon’s background and well-known leadership in the conservation community provide her with a great foundation for building creative solutions to the urgent environmental issues facing the region.”
Ms. Sheldon looks forward to joining Western Resource Advocates late this summer, stating, “I am honored and delighted to be Western Resource Advocates' new executive director. I accepted the position because of the excellent work the organization does, and I will do my best to build Western Resource Advocates’ capacity to make a lasting difference on the complex and vital issues facing the West.”
Western Resource Advocates began its search for a new executive director in January when former director, Jim Martin, was appointed by Governor Bill Ritter to be the Director of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
We look forward to introducing Ms. Sheldon to Western Resource Advocates’ members, friends, and colleagues later this summer!
Charles Benjamin
Staff Spotlight
Growing up around his adoptive parents’ restaurants and nightclubs in Miami Beach in the 1950s, attorney Charles Benjamin should feel right at home in Las Vegas. But he is not in Nevada to play the slots: the stakes regarding clean energy are much higher than that.
In January, Charles moved from Kansas to become Director of WRA’s Carson City office. He will be representing WRA and Nevada energy advocates in proceedings before the Public Utilities Commission concerning renewable energy, efficiency, and related matters, and will be working with legislators and other state officials to encourage the development of Nevada’s vast geothermal, solar, and wind energy potential. This seems to be a serendipitous situation for both WRA and Charles.
Labeled “incorrigible,” at an early age, Charles has spent the rest of his life proving that quality has positive applications. After undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Southern California, Charles landed at Bethel College in Kansas. There, he was embraced by the community and became both an assistant professor of political science and environmental studies, and a county commissioner.
Following his mother’s advice that, “Arguing was my only visible talent,” Charles entered law school at age 44, and, upon passing the bar, represented the Sierra Club, the Kansas Natural Resource Council, and many neighborhood associations.
Last spring, Charles was in the right place at the right time to meet WRA staff and become involved in the energy issues in Nevada. “Sometimes you’re knocking on one door and someone opens another door that will change your life,” Charles says about his relocation. He feels the work in Nevada is a good match for his skills and, loving a challenge, is jumping feet first into fighting coal-fired plants and increasing the state’s renewal energy portfolio. Both Charles and WRA feel they have hit the jackpot.
Joro Walker Wins International Award and
Recognition by France’s Yves Rocher Foundation
Joro Walker, director of Western Resource Advocates' Utah office, recently won first prize in the U.S. category at the Yves Rocher Foundation's "Women of the Earth" award ceremony in Paris. Joro was honored for her long-term advocacy for Utah’s public lands, red rock wilderness, and the Great Salt Lake. The Yves Rocher Foundation supports women and environmental causes. It is the philanthropic arm of the French beauty company Yves Rocher, a world leader in botanical beauty care. Jim Martin, executive director of Western Resource Advocates, says, “The Yves Rocher Foundation’s recognition of Joro Walker is an honor for all of us at Western Resource Advocates. It is fantastic that conservation initiatives that protect Utah’s splendor are now internationally recognized.”
Joro traveled to Paris in early March to receive the award in person. She enjoyed the free trip, French meals, and the opportunity to walk around the city and play tourist. Joro said, "It was like being at 'Miss America' except I was there for my work," and noted, "Conservationists in the U.S. never get treated this luxuriously!"
Along with the thanks that Joro received for her tireless environmental advocacy, Western Resource Advocates was granted an award of $8,000which will benefit the special places that Joro has worked so hard for over the years.
The other Americans who won awards were Carol Childress of the Opacum Land Trust in Massachusetts and Bonnie Hoag of the Dionondehowa Wildlife Sanctuary and School in New York. Both women focus on land trustee/conservation easement work. The other country categories were won by women across the world who do work preserving heirloom peach orchards, and developing primate habitats in Ecuador, to name just two.
Congratulations to Joro!
Western Resource Advocates Staff
Penny Anderson: Energy Project Assistant/ IT Manager
Penny is the Energy Program's administrative assistant and WRA's IT manager. Before joining WRA in 1998, she worked for two years as a volunteer with The Nature Conservancy and Thorne Ecological Institute and for ten years with the Texas State Historical Association as an editor and network administrator. She has a B.A. in music and humanities from Augustana College in Illinois.
Charles Benjamin: Director, Nevada Office
Charles joined WRA’s Nevada office in January 2007 to represent WRA and others in proceedings before the Nevada Public Utilities Commission concerning renewable energy, efficiency, and related matters. Prior to moving to Nevada, Charles was the lobbyist and attorney for the Kansas Chapter of the Sierra Club from 1997. He also had a law practice representing over 25 neighborhood associations across Kansas on a variety of land use and zoning issues. Mr. Benjamin was a political science professor at Bethel College in Kansas where he taught courses in environmental studies, American government, and international relations, and served 16 years as a county commissioner in Harvey County, Kansas. Charles holds B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees from the School of International Relations at the University of Southern California, and a J.D. degree from the School of Law at the University of Kansas.
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David Berry: Energy Project Senior Policy Advisor
David is an economist and planner specializing in natural resources, including land use, energy, outdoor recreation, and water policy. He joined WRA in October 2001. David served as Chief of Economics and Research at the Arizona Corporation Commission for eleven years. In addition, he taught urban and regional planning at the University of Illinois and Boston University, and was an adjunct professor of geography at Arizona State University. He has a B.A. in geography from Syracuse University and a Ph.D. in regional science from the University of Pennsylvania.
Andria Bronsten: Office Manager/Building Manager/Human Resource Director
Prior to coming to WRA in 2000, Andria worked for a mediator's office in Boulder, and brings with her a good foundation in the fine art of conflict resolution. A dual Canadian-American citizen, her past lives have included non-profit experience in health care and food banking, as well as stints in the arts, food, newspaper journalism, market research consulting, and bookkeeping. Andria attended Goddard College and the Rhode Island School of Design.
Michael Chiropolos: Lands Program Director
Mike joined WRA in October 2001. His work focuses on protecting and
restoring public lands from the impacts of oil and gas development,
backcountry logging projects and off-road vehicle use. WRA advocates
alternative technologies to reduce the footprint of oil and gas development,
and promotes renewable energy sources to reduce the demand for fossil fuels.
Mike earned his J.D. from the University of Colorado and a B.A. in Political
Science and Economics from Northwestern University. Prior to WRA, Mike
practiced federal Indian law for seven years.
Jennifer Coken: Director, Western Clean Energy Campaign
 Jennifer is a 20-year veteran of developing and managing political and issue campaigns. Prior to coming to WRA in March 2007, Jennifer worked for Congresswoman Diana DeGette, Congressman Tony P. Hall, the National Parks Conservation Association, Main Street Colorado, the New Jersey Public Interest Research Group and the National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness. She founded Coken Consulting Company, a Washington, DC firm that provided campaign management services and strategic guidance for national and community-based organizations. In addition to her responsibilities at WRA, Jennifer is also a trainer for Democracy for America, teaching activists to run for office and manage successful campaigns nationwide. Ms. Coken grew up in Cleveland and received her M.A. in Political Campaign Management from Kent State University.
Tom Darin: Staff Attorney
Tom joined WRA in February 2007 as an attorney focusing on energy policies and transmission projects that will affect western public lands. Prior to this, he worked with the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance and the Wyoming Outdoor Council where he focused on the impacts from oil and gas extraction to public lands and national forests within Wyoming. His work on these issues led to published articles and speaking engagements about coal-bed methane development. Previously, Tom volunteered with the National Wildlife Federation, worked in Illinois for a private law firm, and clerked for the Honorable Magistrate Judge P. Michael Mahoney. He has also volunteered with youth literacy programs. Tom earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Notre Dame, received his J.D. from Northern Illinois University, College of Law, and has worked towards a Master's degree in the field of resource conservation and ecology. He is licensed in the states of Illinois, Colorado, Montana, and Wyoming.
Dan Heilig: Staff Attorney
 Mr. Heilig joined WRA in March 2008. His work focuses on advocating for environmentally responsible oil and gas development on public lands. Mr. Heilig earned his J.D. from the University Wyoming and a B.A. in geography from the University of Delaware. Before joining WRA, Mr. Heilig was the Executive Director at and a staff attorney for the Wyoming Outdoor Council in Lander. Since then, he has been an instructor for the National Outdoor Leadership School, and has also worked for the State of Wyoming Department of Transportation as a motorcycle safety instructor.
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Taryn Hutchins-Cabibi: Water Policy Analyst
Taryn Hutchins-Cabibi focuses on technical and policy issues related to urban water conservation and efficient supply throughout the Interior West. Prior to joining WRA in 2005, Taryn worked with Environmental Defense, seeking cost effective approaches to the balance between human water demands and protection of the natural environment. She holds a B.A. in Earth and Environmental Science from Wesleyan University, and a M.A. in International Environmental Policy from American University.
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Debbie Lewis: Lands Program Attorney
Debbie focuses on legal issues related to motorized recreation on the national forests as well as wildlands defense on federal lands. Prior to joining WRA in 2007, Debbie worked with the U.S.D.A. Office of the General Counsel, providing legal counsel to the Forest Service in the area of natural resource management. She holds a B.A. in French from Purdue University, and a J.D. from the University of Denver.
Mike Mendelsohn: Senior Policy Advisor
Mike joined WRA in August, 2007 to work with electric utilities, business community, consumer advocates, and environmental groups to develop and advocate for energy policy. He had been a consultant with Levitan & Associates in Boston, providing energy market and regulatory consulting services, and with DRI/McGraw Hill forecasting and analyzing trends in the electricity industry. Mike was an economist for the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities, and research assistants for the Philadelphia Recycling Office and the Solar Energy Industries Association in Washington, D.C. He has an advanced certificate in finance from Suffolk University, a Masters in Science Energy Management Policy from the University of Pennsylvania, and a Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science from Ithaca College.
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Steven Michel: Energy Program Senior Attorney
Steve joined WRA in January of 2007, bringing with him 25 years of experience in the energy industry. For the past 17 years, he served as general counsel for the New Mexico Industrial Energy Consumers, and prior to that, worked five years as Assistant Attorney General in the New Mexico Attorney General’s Consumer Division Energy Unit. In 2007, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson appointed Steve to the board of the Renewable Transmission Authority (RETA), an entity created to help deliver New Mexico’s world-class renewable energy resources to market. Steve has donated countless hours of pro bono work and, as counsel for a coalition of Indian tribes and environmental groups in the early 1990s, was instrumental in stopping the construction of a major utility transmission line through New Mexico’s Jemez Mountains. In 1995, Steve was awarded the New Mexico State Bar’s Robert H. LaFollette Pro Bono Award. He has served on many governmental task forces dealing with energy issues, and has helped develop and draft energy-related legislation in New Mexico. Steve received a B.A. degree in History and Economics from Northwestern University and received M.B.A. and J.D. degrees from Vanderbilt University.
Bart Miller: Water Program Director
Prior to joining WRA, Bart spent 4 years in the Solicitors Office in Washington, DC, on the legal staff that advises the many agencies within the U. S. Department of the Interior. After an initial year in the Solicitors' Honors Program, he focused on natural resource issues in the Division of Indian Affairs. Bart is a 1995 graduate of the University of Colorado Law School and a 1988 graduate of Dartmouth College. Between college and law school, Bart honed his public relations skills, selling everything from tomatoes to computer software, and spent 6 months hiking the Continental Divide in New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana.
Regina M. Nichols: Office Administrator/Legal Assistant - Nevada Office
Regina Nichols joined WRA in 2006, having worked as a Legal Research Assistant for the Public Utility Commission of Nevada and previously as a paralegal/legal assistant with two private law firms in the areas of corporate law, probate, and estate planning. She has an AA in Business and is a Certified Legal Assistant and certified Professional Legal Secretary. Regina will be assisting on electrical energy issues in Nevada.
John Nielsen: Energy Project Director
John has worked at WRA as an economist and policy advisor since 1995. He is an expert on the relationship between energy policy and air quality, and has served as an expert witness in regulatory proceedings around the region involving utility resource planning, electric industry restructuring, renewable energy, energy conservation, and green marketing. John holds a B.A. (summa cum laude) in mathematics and economics from the University of Colorado at Boulder and M.A. and M.Phil. degrees in economics from Yale University.
Christine Quenroe: Bookkeeper, Accounting Assistant
Prior to joining the WRA staff in 2002, Chris served for 12 years as
the office manager and bookkeeper in the for-profit world of design and
architecture. Chris' other past career lives were spent in the fields
of secondary education and academic librarianship. Chris received her
undergraduate degree from Augustana College, Sioux Falls and her Masters
Degree from University of Maryland, College Park.
Anita Schwartz: Development and Communications Director
Before joining WRA in August 2004, Anita worked at Environmental Defense
where she managed fundraising efforts in a seven-state region. Prior to
that, Anita worked at The Dairy Center for the Arts in Boulder on an ambitious
project to transform an abandoned 40,000 square-foot dairy building into
a multi-disciplinary community arts center. In that capacity, she led
a capital campaign, hosted a live weekly television program, installed
dance floors, and even fixed the plumbing. Anita started her non-profit
career at Conservation International in Washington, D.C. in 1990. She
has a B.A. from American University in Washington, D.C., with a double
major in literature and American studies.
Karin Sheldon: Executive Director
Karin became Executive Director of WRA in September, 2007. Prior to this, she was Professor of Law, Associate Dean for the Environmental Law Program, and Director of the Environmental Law Center at Vermont Law School. Her areas of specialty were natural resources and environmental law, in particular federal land management, wildlife conservation, water resources allocation, and watershed management and protection.
Before joining the faculty at Vermont Law School in 1994, Karin was President of the Wilderness Society in Washington, D.C., a staff attorney with the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund in Colorado, a partner in a public interest law firm, and one of Ralph Nader’s original “raiders.” Her work included efforts on behalf of environmental organizations and Native American tribes on issues of mining and oil and gas development, endangered species protection, and federal reserved water rights.
Karin serves on the Board of Directors of Defenders of Wildlife, EarthWorks, and the Hubbard Brook Research Foundation. She has also been a member of the Board of Directors of the Environmental Law Institute, and the Advisory Board of the Natural Resources Law Center at the University of Colorado School of Law.
Karin received her AB in Political Science from Vassar College and her J.D. from the University of Washington School of Law.
Nicole Theerasatiankul: Development and Communications Coordinator
Nicole started with WRA in November 2007 assisting the Development and Communications Director. She has been a graduate teaching assistant and instructor at the University of Colorado, and taught English as a second language in Korea. Nicole has a B.A. in Economics and a B.S. in Business Administration from Colorado State University, and a Masters in Journalism and Mass Communications from the University of Colorado in Boulder.
Joro Walker: Senior Attorney and Utah Office Director
Joro opened the Utah Office of Western Resource Advocates in 1998. She attended Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania and graduated from the University of Utah with Masters of Arts degrees in philosophy. In 1993, she received her law degree from the University of Utah, graduating in the top ten percent of her class. For the next four years, Joro worked at a private civil rights law firm specializing in inmate and First Amendment rights litigation and Utah constitutional and civil rights law. In 1997 and 1998, Joro served as associate director of the Wallace Stegner Center at the University of Utah, College of Law. In 2005, Joro’s environmental work was recognized internationally when she was selected as the U.S. winner of the Yves Rocher Foundation’s “Women of the Earth” award.
Justin Wilson: Organizing Director, Western Clean Energy Campaign
Justin joined WRA in December 2007 as the Organizing Director for the Western Clean Energy Campaign. Prior to that, he worked for Grassroots Campaigns, Inc. organizing volunteers across the country to take part in “get out the vote” operations and grassroots political advocacy. He has also worked on energy campaigns with Environmental Action, Florida PIRG, and Environment Colorado. Justin has a B.S. in Public Administration from the University of Arkansas.
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