Maria da Silva Ballerio
Brazil
Maria Judite da Silva Balerio (Guajajara) is an attorney who works with the Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of Maranhão (COAPIMA) and the Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon (COIAB).

Felipe Martins Cândido
Brazil
Felipe Martins Cândido (Apurinã) is a lawyer working with Indigenous peoples in the states of Amazonas and Acre.

Fatima Diallo
Senegal
Fatima Diallo is Executive Director of Centre de Recherche et d’Action sur les Droits Economiques, Sociaux et Culturels (Center for Research and Action on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, CRADESC).

Ahmed Elseidi
Egypt
Ahmed Elseidi heads the Ahmed Elseidi Law Firm, which focuses on environmental and climate change law.

Paulo Celso de Oliveira
Brazil
Paulo Celso de Oliveira (Pankararu) is a partner at Dora, Azambuja e Oliveira - Advocacia em Direitos Humanos (Advocacy for Human Rights).

Frank Tumusiime
Uganda
Frank Tumusiime is Coordinator and Senior Research Fellow at Advocates for Natural Resources and Development (ANARDE).

Eliésio da Silva Vargas
Brazil
Eliésio da Silva Vargas (Marubo) is an attorney for the Union of Indigenous Peoples of Vale do Javari (UNIVAJA).

Ivo Cípio Aureliano
Brazil
Ivo is a Macuxi lawyer with the Conselho Indígena de Roraima (Indigenous Council of Roraima, CIR) in Boa Vista, Roraima.

Bohdan Kuchenko
Ukraine
Bohdan Kuchenko is a scientist at the Kyiv office of Environment People Law.

Kateryna Polianska
Ukraine
Dr. Kateryna Polianska is a scientist at the Kyiv office of Environment People Law.

Nchunu Justice Sama
Cameroon
Nchunu Justice Sama is an environmental lawyer and Executive Director of the Foundation for Environment and Development (FEDEV).

Jimmy Munguriek Ufoy
Congo
Jimmy Munguriek Ufoy is an attorney and Executive Director at Cadre de Concertation de la Société Civile de l’Ituri sur les Ressources Naturelles (CdC/RN Ituri).

Capacity Building for CEMDA
Mexico
Eight new staff members at at El Centro Mexicano de Derecho Ambiental (Mexican Center for Environmental Law, CEMDA) gathered online in a 4-week series with ELAW staff that focused on law, science, and protection resources available to environmental defenders under threat. The virtual ELAW Fellows were Ricardo Garibay, Aarón Siller, Gerardo Álvarez, Luz Coral Hernández, Yoatzin Popoca, María Inés Centeno, Gabriela Sánchez, and Gabriela Carreón.

Strengthening Indigenous Advocacy in Brazil
Brazil
Five Indigenous lawyers from Brazil’s Amazon region gathered online in a 2-month weekly series with ELAW staff and others. They collaborated with ELAW Staff Attorneys and Staff Scientists, heard from experts in Brazil, met with an economic analyst, met with Indigenous lawyers from Nicaragua and Panama, and worked with ELAW’s Defending Defenders team. The virtual ELAW Fellows were Ivo Cípio Aureliano, Christiane Baré, Kari Guajajara, Felipe Apuriná, and Eliésio Marubo. Read more here.

Joseph Ahimbisibwe
Uganda
Joseph Ahimbisibwe is a scientist and Program Officer for Nature Conservation at Advocates for Natural Resources and Development (ANARDE), based in Kampala.

Mamadou Alpha Mariam Diallo
Guinea
Mamadou Alpha Mariam Diallo is an attorney at Les Mêmes Droits pour Tous (The Same Rights for All, MDT) based in Conakry.

Hugo Echeverria
Ecuador
Hugo Echeverria, based in Ecuador, is an attorney and leading scholar on “rights of nature.”

Anna Fomina
Russia
Anna Fomina is an attorney working in Russia to protect communities and the environment through law.

Dickens Kamugisha
Uganda
Dickens Kamugisha is CEO at the Africa Institute for Energy Governance (AFIEGO).

Olivier Bahemuke Ndoole
Democratic Republic of Congo
Olivier Bahemuke Ndoole is Executive Secretary at Alerte Congolaise pour l’Environnement et les Droits de l’Homme (ACEDH).

Gligor Radecic
Croatia
Gligor Radecic is Legal Officer at Biom Association (BirdLife Croatia).

Isaias Ramos
Panama
Isaias Ramos is Staff Scientist at Centro de Incidencia Ambiental (Center for Environmental Advocacy, CIAM), based in Panama City.

Emmanuel Umpula
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Emmanuel Umpula is an attorney with African Resources Watch, based in Kinshasa.

Juliana de Paula Batista
Brazil
Juliana de Paula Batista is an attorney at Instituto Socioambiental (ISA).

Bernis Cunningham
Nicaragua
Bernis Cunningham is Executive Director at the Nicaragua Center of Environmental Conservation.

Laura Haiselova
Czech Republic
Laura Haiselova is an attorney on the Responsible Energy team at Frank Bold, based in Brno, Czech Republic.

Issiaga Keita
Guinea
Issiaga Keita is an attorney at Memes Droits pour Tous (Same Rights for All, MDT) based in Conakry, Guinea.

Csaba Kiss
Hungary
Csaba Kiss is a lawyer at the Environmental Management and Law Association (EMLA) in Budapest, Hungary.

Olena Kravchenko
Ukraine
Olena Kravchenko is Executive Director at Environment-People-Law (EPL) in Ukraine.

Natasha Lisitcyna
Russia
Natasha Lisitcyna is a lawyer at Sakhalin Environment Watch in the Russian Far East.

Bernard Ngalim
Cameroon
Bernard Ngalim is a Cameroonian attorney pursuing an LLM at Northeastern University School of Law.

Ragchaa Ochirbal
Mongolia
Ragchaa Ochirbal is a lawyer and Lecturer at Otgontenger University in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

Saa Pascal Tenguiano
Guinea
Pascal is the Executive Director of Centre du Commerce International pour le Developpement (CECIDE).

Juana Bilbano
Nicaragua
Juana is the Executive Director and an attorney at the Centro por la Justicia y Derechos Humanos de la Costa Atlántica de Nicaragua (CEJUDHCAN).

Aura Tegria Cristancho
Colombia
Aura Tegria Cristancho is an indignenous U'wa attorney from Colombia and legal advisor to the U’wa Association of Traditional Authorities and Councils (ASOU’WA).

Cesar Gamboa
Peru
Cesar is the Executive Director of Derecho, Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (Law, Environment and Natural Resources, DAR), a leading NGO in Peru committed to strengthening governance, advancing sustainable development, and promoting indigenous rights in the Amazon.

Miłosz Jakubowski
Poland
Milosz Jakubowski is an attorney at the Poland office of Frank Bold, where grassroots attorneys are taking the lead to keep coal in the ground in Central Europe.

Kadi-Kaisa Kaljuveer
Estonia
Kadi-Kaisa Kaljuveer is an attorney at the Estonian Environmental Law Center.

Hanna Khomechko
Ukraine
Hanna is Development Director at the Lviv office of Environment People Law (EPL).

Brice Séverin Pongui
Congo-Brazzaville
Brice Séverin Pongui is Executive Director of Institut Cerveau Vert 2063, a leading non-profit organization in Central Africa.

Delvin Rosalio
Nicaragua
Delvin is the Communications Coordinator and an attorney at the Centro por la Justicia y Derechos Humanos de la Costa Atlántica de Nicaragua (CEJUDHCAN).

Damaris Santana
Mexico
Damaris is an environmental lawyer at Instituto de Derecho Ambiental (IDEA), based in Guadalajara.

Tamás Börcsök
Hungary
Tamás is an attorney at Hungary's Environmental Management and Law Association (EMLA) where he works to advance sustainable energy policy. He holds a PhD in International and EU Law from the University of Pécs, Hungary.

Zuzana Caputova
Slovakia
Zuzana Caputova is an attorney at Via Iuris. She won a 2016 Goldman Environmental Prize for spearheading a successful campaign that shut down a toxic waste dump that was poisoning the land, air and water in her community, setting a precedent for public participation in post-communist Slovakia.

David Linares
Mexico
David Linares is an attorney in the Southeast office of Centro Mexicano de Derecho Ambiental (CEMDA), based in Cancun.

Kateryna Norenko
Ukraine
Kateryna Norenko is an environmental scientist at the Kyiv office of Environment People Law.

Eduardo Salazar
Spain
Eduardo Salazar Ortuño is an attorney who defends the public interest in environmental conflicts on behalf of citizens and NGOs. He is also a Professor and Researcher at the University of Murcia and a member of the Asociación para la Justicia Ambiental (AJÁ).

Diana Vasquez
Honduras
Diana Vasquez is the Executive Director of Centro de Estudios Marinos (Center for Marine Ecology). She is a marine biologist and graduated from the National Autonomous University of Honduras with a master's degree in project management with a focus environmental education.

Samira Idllalène
Morocco
Samira Idllalène is a law professor at Cadi Ayyad University. She is an expert in marine law and speaks English, French, Arabic, and her native Amazigh.

Erick Kassongo
Democratic Republic of Congo
Erick is President of the Centre Congolaise pour le Developpement Durable and a consultant with Conseil National des ONG de Développement de la République Démocratique du Congo, DRC's largest network of NGOs.

Daena Rosa Lobo
Honduras
Daena Rosa Lobo is a sentencing judge in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. She participates as an expert in trainings for judges, prosecutors, and communities on environmental law and human rights.

Kristína Sabova
Czech Republic
Kristína Sabova is a lawyer for the biggest watchdog organization in the Czech Republic -- Frank Bold. She works in the Responsible Energy Division.

Ram Charitra Sah
Nepal
Ram Charitra Sah is the Executive Director and an Environmental Scientist at the Center for Public Health and Environmental Development (CEPHED) in Kathmandu, Nepal. He works to protect communities in Nepal from mercury, lead, asbestos, and other toxins.

Alla Voytsikhovska
Ukraine
Alla is an environmental scientist at the Lviv office of Environment People Law. She is also Associate professor and Chair of Environmental Safety and Nature Protection at Lviv Polytechnic National University.

Sebastian Bechtel
Germany
Sebastian is a legal intern at UfU and an external expert for the European Environmental Bureau. His focus is access to justice and environmental information, Environmental Impact Assessments, and environmental courts and tribunals. He holds a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) in International and European Law from Groningen University in the Netherlands.

Paul Zepeda Castro
Honduras
Paul is an attorney volunteering with the Instituto de Derecho Ambiental de Honduras (IDAMHO). He is the 2015 Laurie Prosser and Xiaoli Jiang ELAW Fellow.

Caidan Cao
China
Caidan is Legal Counsel for Greenpeace East Asia. Her focus is environmental issues at national, regional and international levels, including environmental justice, consumer rights, access to information, and corporate social responsibility.

Montana Duangprapa
Thailand
Montana serves as an advocacy officer at ENLAWTHAI Foundation, based in Bangkok. ENLAWTHAI has worked to control pollution at the MapTaPhut petrochemical facility, and helped clean up a lead contaminated creek in Kanchanaburi Province, the only water source for hundreds of Ethnic Karen villagers.

Irene Francis Fugara
Tanzania
Irene works at the Dar es Salaam-based Lawyers’ Environmental Action Team. She works on issues tied to pollution, land rights, and gender. She received her Bachelor of Laws from the University of Dar es Salaam in 2012.

Oksana Imetkhenova
Russia
Oksana is the chair of the Department of Ecology, Health and Safety at the East Siberia State University of Technology and Management in Ulan-Ude, Russia, where she also studies law. She volunteers at the Buryat Regional Organization for Lake Baikal to advance protection of the world’s oldest and deepest lake, and the surrounding forests. She holds a PhD in biology from the Buryat State University.

Jamal Juma
Tanzania
Jamal is Legal Program Officer at the Lawyers’ Environmental Action Team (LEAT). He trains communities on environment and land rights, organizes workshops and seminars, conducts research, and publishes policy briefs. He received his Bachelor in Law at the University of Dar es Salaam.

Elifuraha Laltaika
Tanzania
Eli is the founder of the Association for Law and Advocacy for Pastoralists(ALAPA), based in Arusha. He is a Fulbright alumnus and advocate for the High court of Tanzania. He holds a Master of Laws from the University of Oregon School of Law, a Master of Laws from the University of Kwazulu-Natal, and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Dar es Salaam.

Ruth Mwongeli Nzioka
Kenya
Ruth is an intern at the Institute for Law and Environmental Governance (ILEG) where she says there is no better place to “learn and grow.” She received a Bachelor of Law from the School of Law at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology.

Saitoti Parmelo
Tanzania
Saitoti is Programme Officer for Environment and Climate Change at the Association for Law and Advocacy for Pastoralists (ALAPA). He is a member of the Maasai pastoralists community in Simanjiro District and was raised in the Simanjiro game controlled area. Saitoti received a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B) from Tumaini University Makumira.

Sofiya Shutiak
Ukraine
Sofiya is a lawyer at the Lviv office of Environment-People-Law (EPL). She represents citizen interests in court and before state authorities on a wide range of environmental matters. She also works on law reform, develops proposals for legislation, and writes for EPL’s newsletter.

Frank Tumusiime
Uganda
Frank is the Coordinator and Senior Research Fellow for Advocates for Natural Resources Governance and Development (ANARDE). Frank has published studies of the oil and gas sector and facilitated trainings for Members of Parliament, the Uganda Law Society, and civil society organizations. He holds a Master of Laws and is an enrolled and a practicing Advocate of the High Court of Uganda.

Luisa Arauz
Panama
Luisa is Staff Attorney at El Centro de Incidencia Ambiental (Environmental Advocacy Center of Panama, CIAM). She developed an interest in nature and international issues at a young age from her father, a nature guide, and her mother, a diplomat. Luisa’s focus at CIAM is protecting water resources and human rights.

Liubov Balandina
Russia
Liubov is finishing her degree in environmental engineering, and is getting a second degree in law, at the East Siberia State University of Technology and Management. She volunteers at the Buryat Regional Organization for Lake Baikal to advance protection of the world’s oldest and deepest lake, and the surrounding forests.

Harriet Bibangambah
Uganda
Harriet is Program/Research Officer at Greenwatch, based in Kampala, Uganda. Greenwatch promotes public participation in the sustainable use, management and protection of the environment and natural resources, and the enforcement of the Constitutional right to a clean and healthy environment. Harriet facilitates community dialogue and involvement in environmental matters. She has an MA in Management Studies from the Uganda Management Institute and a BA in Social Sciences from Makerere University.

Marco Lazcano
Mexico
Marco is an attorney at Defensa Ambiental del Noroeste (DAN), an inspiring organization of dedicated environmental leaders working to protect Mexico’s Baja California. DAN is working with ELAW to challenge an enormous open pit gold mine proposed for Sierra La Laguna Biosphere Reserve, and other projects that threaten communities and ecosystems. ELAW has collaborated with DAN for 10 years.

Baigalimaa Nyamdavaa
Mongolia
Baigalimaa is a Program Officer at the Centre for Human Rights and Development (CHRD)'s Human Rights Advocacy Program. She is also an assistant in CHRD's project: Strengthening Environmental law and Accountability in Mongolia's Extractive Industry. She supervises law students participating in CHRD's Public Interest Law Clinic, which provides free legal services to low-income community members. She earned her law degree in 2010 from the Institute of Commerce and Business in Ulaanbaatar.

Manda Urantulkhuur
Mongolia
Manda is Coordinator of the Community Based Development Program at the Centre for Human Rights and Development where she works to advance the economic, social, and cultural rights of Mongolia's disenfranchised. Her program has empowered women's groups in Ulaanbaatar and Darkhan, and the provinces of Uvurkhangai, Dornod, and Khentii. Manda has a bachelor's degree in education from the Pedagogical University of Saint Petersburg, Russia, and a masters degree in Inter-Asia NGO Studies from Sungkonghoe University, South Korea.

Gonca Yilmaz
Turkey
Gonca co-founded the Denge Ecological Life Foundation, based in Istanbul, and has plans for an environmental law center. She works on problems related to hydropower and coal plants, and is involved in litigation on a large dam project. She has practiced law for ten years.

Rahul Choudhary
India
Rahul Choudhary is an attorney with the Legal Initiative for Forest & Environment (LIFE), a non-profit organization based in New Delhi. Rahul has won big victories before the National Green Tribunal. He helped protect communities and wetlands in Chhattisgarh threatened by a coal-fueled power plant and communities in Orissa threatened by a polluting steel plant. The National Green Tribunal recently appointed Rahul to investigate claims that an incinerator in South Delhi is emitting life-threatening levels of toxic metals, including lead. Rahul is also working to protect India’s 400 remaining Asiatic lions. He helped win orders in May 2013 to re-locate part of the population, to ensure their survival. Rahul’s organization has worked closely with ELAW for many years and co-hosted the 2012 ELAW Annual Meeting, in Goa.

Nataliya Horodetska
Ukraine
Nataliya is Legal Advisor at Environment People Law in Lviv, Ukraine. Her work focuses on issues related to climate change, alternative energy and green tariffs, hydro power projects in the Carpathian mountains, biodiversity conservation, forest protection, access to information, and public participation. She received her Master of Law at Ivan Franko National University in 2010. She has served as Legal Advisor at EPL since 2007.

Thuli Brilliance Makama
Swaziland
Thuli is Swaziland's only public interest environmental attorney. After a grueling three-year legal battle, she won a landmark case to include environmental NGO representation in the Swaziland Environment Authority, reinforcing the right to public participation in environmental decision making. Thuli has collaborated with ELAW for many years to protect communities and the environment through law. Thuli is collaborating with ELAW staff and international partners to build skills and boost ELAW's work in Africa.

Benedette Mutuku
Swaziland
Benedette Mutuku is a Project Officer at the Institute for Law and Environmental Governance (ILEG) based in Nairobi, Kenya. Her work focuses on climate change, forest governance, Open Governance in the Extractive Sector in Africa (OGESA), land and natural resources, access to information, access to justice and public participation, and public interest environmental litigation. She earned her law degree from the University of Nairobi School of Law and has training in project management from The Kenya Institute of Management.

Bazarsad Nanjindorj
Mongolia
Bazarsad is an attorney and consultant at the Center for Human Rights and Development and recently founded a new organization, the Public Interest Lawyers' Initiative. Both organizations are based in Ulaanbaatar. His focus is protecting human and environmental rights in Mongolia. Bazarsad is an attorney and consultant at the Center for Human Rights and Development and recently founded a new organization, the Public Interest Lawyers' Initiative. Both organizations are based in Ulaanbaatar. His focus is protecting human and environmental rights in Mongolia.

Laura Palmese
Honduras
Laura Palmese is a public interest environmental attorney at Instituto de Derecho Ambiental de Honduras (IDAMHO, Environmental Law Institute). She uses the law to advance environmental justice and sustainable development while raising awareness about environmental issues. "We are amplifying the voices of communities and making the government accountable to its people, its land, and its natural resources," she says. Laura began work at IDAMHO as a volunteer in 2011.

Minerva Rosette
México
Minerva Rosette is an environmental engineer, from Chihuahua, México. She works in the Southeast office of Centro Mexicano de Derecho Ambiental (Mexican Center for Environmental Law, CEMDA), in Cancun. Her focus is evaluating environmental impact assessments and monitoring changes to land use, to protect the Mesoamerican Reef. Before joining CEMDA, she worked with local communities to conserve the biodiversity of the Sierra Tarahuamara.

Adolf Runyoro
Tanzania
Adolf Runyoro is Legal Officer at the Lawyers' Environmental Action Team (LEAT) based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. He conducts research, participates in environmental awareness campaigns, and provides legal assistance to citizens whose lands have been encroached upon. He also holds trainings for marginalized groups to raise awareness about environmental and land rights.

Dana Tabachnik
Israel
Dana is the Director of the Economy & Environment Department at Adam Teva v’Din, also known as the Israel Union for Environmental Defense. In the wake of newly discovered offshore oil and onshore shale oil resources, she is helping making the case for a sustainable energy economy for Israel. She also works to protect the Dead Sea from industrial pollution and mineral extraction. Tabachnik holds LL.B. and LL.M. degrees from The Hebrew University. In 1994, Adam Teva v’Din co-hosted the ELAW Annual International Meeting in Jerusalem.

Ali Anthar Qazi
Pakistan
Ali is an advocate at the Sindh High Court. His landmark cases include cleaning up contamination in the Indus River, proper disposal of hospital waste, restricting tree cutting, and conserving forests. In 2012 he was presented with an Achievement Award by the Chief Justice of Pakistan for promoting environmental laws in Pakistan.

Emilio D’Cuire
Honduras
Emilio is protecting the Mesoamerican Reef and the way of life for small fishing communities in Honduras through strengthening the rule of law. He and his co-workers at the Environmental Law Institute of Honduras (IDAMHO) are taking on short-sighted tourism development schemes and empowering communities to participate in decisions that impact the local environment. He says: "I want to protect nature and improve the quality of life for the dispossessed." Emilio received a degree in biology from Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Honduras. He was granted a tuition scholarship for the University of Oregon’s American English Institute's Intensive English Program. Stronger English skills, he says, will open up "a world of information."

Ana Lucia Maya Aguirre
Colombia
Ana is a seasoned advocate and litigator on human rights before national and international bodies. Her work has focused on refugees, internal forced displacement, and forced migration; prior consultation and free, prior and informed consent of Afro-descendant and indigenous communities; right to participation and access to information in environmental matters in Latin America; and environmental governance, global justice, and the Inter-American System of Human Rights. The mission of Asociación Ambiente y Sociedad is to generate positive changes in the regulation, policies and decision-making processes, and promote an active, central and effective participation of civil society in environmental matters. Ana graduated from the National University of Colombia where she specialized in Constitutional Law.

Alejandra Serrano
Mexico
Alejandra is working to permanently protect vital natural resources in Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula. She works with local communities to establish Natural Protected Areas and set standards for sustainable fisheries. Alejandra has been with CEMDA since 2001 and directs CEMDA's Southeast office, based in Cancun. Alejandra earned her law degree at Panamericana University in Mexico City and has additional training in international environmental law and integrated watershed management.

Lottie Cunningham Wren
Nicaragua
Miskito attorney Lottie Cunningham Wren collaborates with indigenous communities to conserve biological diversity, sustain cultural practices, and advocate for sustainable fisheries. Lottie has worked with ELAW for more than 10 years to defend the rights of indigenous communities and protect the environment of Nicaragua's north Atlantic coast. Lottie was an expert witness in the Awas Tingni vs. Nicaragua case, before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. This case resulted in a tremendous land rights victory for indigenous peoples throughout the Americas.

Roles Theard
Haiti
Roles works with traditional farming communities in Haiti to promote sustainable agriculture and protect traditional cultural resources. As an attorney and an agronomist, he forges ties between sustainable agriculture, healthy communities, and the rule of law.

Erdenechimeg (Chimgee) Dashdorj
Mongolia
Erdenechimeg Dashdorj, also known as "Chimgee," wants her fellow Mongolians to live in a safe and healthy environment. She manages the Human Rights Advocacy Program at the Center for Human Rights and Development. Together with her colleagues she is working to protect Mongolia from polluting mining operations.

Sergey Shapkhaev
Russia
Sergey is a scientist with expertise in geophysics and oceanography. He has worked for many years to protect the biological and cultural diversity of Lake Baikal.

Elena Chernobrovkina
Russia
Elena is a lawyer and International Program Coordinator at the Buryat Regional Organization for Lake Baikal. She works to protect the Lake Baikal watershed from threats posed by dams, pipelines, and mining operations.