Who We Are: Staff Bios

Pat Gallagher, Director
Pat Gallagher is the director of the Environmental Law Program, and is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the program, including courtroom litigation and the administration of the Club's nationwide docket. Pat joined the Sierra Club as a senior attorney in 1999 after toiling in private practice for ten years.

He attended both college and law school at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and in between worked as a professional auto mechanic in Chico, California. Pat's other interests consist mainly of fathering three daughters, with a bit of Afro-Cuban drumming on the side.

David Bookbinder, Senior Attorney
David Bookbinder is Sierra Club's Chief Climate Counsel, and is a graduate of Princeton University and the University of Chicago Law School. After several years on Wall Street (and a failed attempt at writing the Great American Novel) he began practicing public interest environmental law, first in Boston and then in Washington DC. He has litigated cases under most of the federal environmental statutes and, after joining Sierra Club in 2002, is now responsible for the Club's climate litigation and legal issues arising from global warming legislation.

David lives in the woods with one spouse, two children, a cat, two rabbits, some fish, a dog, and two goats, and his answer to the 2000 Census question as to his "most important work duties" was "suing the Federal Government."

Kristin Henry, Staff Attorney
Kristin Henry first joined the Sierra Club's Environmental Law Program as a law student intern. After receiving her law degree from Golden Gate University School of Law in May 2002 (and then taking a well deserved trip to Greece) she became the Law Program's first Environmental Law Fellow. After serving as both an intern and a fellow, Kristin is now an Environmental Law Program Staff Attorney.

Kristin spent her undergraduate years at Boston University obtaining a degree in environmental policy and analysis. Upon graduation she traveled throughout South America. She took a position as a Campaign Director with the Public Interest Research Group, and then began attending night law school. Kristin lives in San Francisco and enjoys being known as one of the few environmentalists who would never be caught wearing Birkenstocks.

Eric. E. Huber, Senior Attorney
Eric E. Huber is a senior attorney based in the Boulder, Colorado regional office. He has practiced environmental law for 17 years, with an emphasis on litigation under the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the laws protecting the National Forests.

Before joining the Sierra Club, he was a staff attorney with Earthjustice, the Georgia Center for Law in the Public Interest, and in private practice. Eric earned his J.D. in 1985 from the University of Colorado School of Law, and his B.A., cum laude, in 1982 from the University of Colorado at Boulder, where he majored in Philosophy and Environmental Conservation.

Aaron Isherwood, Senior Attorney
Aaron Isherwood is the coordinating attorney for the Environmental Law Program. His responsibilities include helping chapters and other Club entities obtain approval for proposed litigation.

He graduated from the University of Chicago and the University of Oregon School of Law. After graduating from college, Aaron spent a summer on the "slime line" in an Alaskan cannery, and eventually landed at Greenpeace in Chicago, where he worked for over 3 years.

Aaron decided to go to law school when he learned from a prominent forest activist that court injunctions have saved more ancient forests than tree spikes. Before joining the Sierra Club as an associate attorney in 1999, Aaron clerked for the honorable Robert Durham of the Oregon Supreme Court, and also worked for the San Francisco-based law firm Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger.

Erin Chalmers, Environmental Law Fellow
Erin joined the law program in October, 2006 as an environmental law fellow. Erin has been interested in environmental law ever since taking a course on the subject at College of the Atlantic, from which he received his B.A. in 1999. After college, however, he spent a few years coordinating an experiential education program, traveling in South America and selling canoes before starting law school at the University of Wisconsin. He graduated from Wisconsin in 2006 and emmigrated to California, where he is enjoying climbing moutains higher than 1500 feet and being able to bike, kayak and hike year-round. As an antidote to living in the midst of a million people in San Francisco, Erin's goal is to visit every city, county, regional and national park in the area over the next few years.

Kathleen Krust, Paralegal
Kathleen Krust is a paralegal at the Sierra Club Environmental Law Program. A native of New Orleans, Kathleen moved to San Francisco after graduating from U.C. Santa Barbara with a degree in Law and Society.

She formerly worked as a paralegal in a San Francisco law firm before joining the Sierra Club in August 2001. When not doing her best to save the environment, Kathleen enjoys travel, soccer, hiking, and anything else that has to do with the outdoors.

Emily Ulmer, Paralegal
Emily joined the Sierra Club in 2006 and is proud to support the law program's important work, particularly its efforts to combat global climate change. Emily graduated from Cornell University with a degree in Biology and Society. Her hobbies include yoga, visiting museums, hiking, and exploring the rich natural beauty of the Bay Area.

Sanjay Narayan, Senior Attorney
Sanjay Narayan joined the Sierra Club as a staff attorney in 2002. Before coming to the Sierra Club, Sanjay worked for the Northern Rockies office of Earthjustice in Bozeman, Montana, and for Farella Braun Martel LLP in San Francisco.

Sanjay received an A.B. in Public and International Affairs from Princeton University in 1991, along with a certificate in Soviet Studies. The Soviet Union disintegrated shortly thereafter. Sanjay swears that it wasn't his fault. He received a J.D. from Yale Law School in 1995, and clerked for the honorable Robert Eastaugh on the Alaska Supreme Court.

Bruce Nilles, National Coal Campaign Director
Bruce joined the Sierra Club in 2002 and currently directs its National Coal Campaign, the largest component of Sierra Club's new Climate Recovery Campaign. The national coal campaign is working to reduce America's over reliance on coal, slash coal's contribution to global warming and other pollution woes, end destructive mining, and secure massive investments in clean energy alternatives. Bruce previously worked as a staff attorney for Earthjustice's San Francisco office, and during the Clinton Administration as Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for the U.S. Department of Justice's Environment and Natural Resources Division in Washington D.C. He received his J.D. and B.S. degrees from the University of Wisconsin.

Joanne Spalding, Senior Attorney
The Sierra Club was over 100 years old when it hired Joanne Spalding as its second staff attorney. By then, all the original promising applicants had died, so Joanne had the privilege of filling the position. She worked at the Club from 1994 to 1996 before entering private practice, where she represented labor unions against polluting employers and insureds against greedy insurance companies.

She returned to the Club in 2000, just in time to help prevent the return of the environmental dark ages. Joanne received her B.A. from Northwestern University, and her J.D. from the University of California's Hastings College of the Law. She clerked for the Honorable Melvin Brunetti of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Holly Bresset, Environmental Law Fellow
Holly Bressett joined the Sierra Club in 2007 as an Environmental Law Fellow. Holly received her undergraduate degree in Political Science and International Relations from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. She completed her J.D. at Golden Gate University in San Francisco. This is Holly's second stint at the Sierra Club. She worked at the club during law school, as well as at the California Coastal Commission, Earthjustice and the Environmental Law and Justice Clinic.

Holly's passion for the outdoors stems from her rural New England roots, where she spent most of her time hiking in hardwood forests and fishing in freshwater streams. She decided to trade in frigid winters for a more temperate climate and now considers San Francisco home. You may see Holly at the farmers market looking for culinary inspiration, getting lost in Golden Gate Park, or at a local café, bragging about her master tractor driving skills.

Craig Segall, Environmental Law Fellow
Craig Segall started at the Sierra Club in 2008 as an environmental law fellow. Before coming to the Club, Craig was a law clerk to the Honorable Marsha S. Berzon of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He is a graduate of the University of Chicago and of Stanford Law School, where he spent most of his time in the basement working with Stanford’s environmental law clinic.

When not practicing law, Craig keeps busy outdoors. In recent years, he has barely beaten a 12-year-old to the top of Mount Whitney, accidentally driven transmission-deep into a salt lake, and, on an ill-advised hike in South Africa, provoked a surprisingly aggressive ostrich.

Megan Greenwood, Program Assistant
Megan joined the Law Program as a Program Assistant in 2008, after previously working with the DC Operations and Responsible Trade Programs. A graduate from American University (Washington DC), with a degree in Political Science and Legal Institutions, Megan is excited to continue working for the Club in her new capacity.

Born and raised in Boulder, Colorado, Megan was brought up to be an environmentally minded citizen. Over the years she has survived Colorado blizzards, narrowly avoided falling trees when caught in the middle of a territorial battle between male Orangutans in Borneo, snorkeled in the Great Barrier Reef and even found time to feed Chipmunks in Estes Park, Colorado. When not working for the Club, Megan spends her time traveling, running, cooking, telling people that yes, the curls are natural and exploring the beautiful areas surrounding Washington DC (yes, they do exist).