Meet our Team
Jody Freeman
Professor Freeman is the Archibald Cox Professor at Harvard Law School and a leading expert on administrative law and environmental law. She is the founding director of Harvard Law School’s Environmental & Energy Law Program and established the Law School’s Emmett Environmental Law and Policy Clinic. Professor Freeman served as Counselor for Energy and Climate Change in the Obama White House in 2009-2010 and worked with the Biden transition team on its climate action plan. A new edition of her landmark book, Global Climate Change and U.S. Law (edited with Mike Gerrard and Mike Burger) was published in January 2023. She serves as an independent director on the board of ConocoPhillips, advising the company on climate change and the clean energy transition, and in 2023 was named to the climate advisory board of Norges Bank Investment Management, which manages the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund, to help implement and refine the fund’s climate action plan to drive positive change. She is part of three university-wide climate research clusters sponsored by Harvard’s new Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability to accelerate climate solutions, focused on corporate net-zero commitments, methane reduction, and strengthening communities for the energy transition. She teaches courses in administrative law, climate and energy law, legislation and regulation, and environmental law.
Jody’s Faculty Profile
Jody’s Media Appearances
Links and Appearances
Global Climate Change and US Law, Third Edition, edited with Michael B. Gerrard and Michael Burger
Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability Climate Research Clusters:
- Corporate Net-Zero Targets Project, Principal Investigator
- Strengthening Communities for the Clean Energy Transition, Co-investigator
- Reducing Global Methane Emissions, Collaborator
Norges Bank Investment Management announces Climate Advisory Board
Watch a panel discussion at Harvard’s Salata Institute, moderated by Jody, in which faculty experts in the field of climate and sustainability discussed how Harvard is mobilizing to inform and guide society’s response to climate change. October 2022
Jody wrote an op-ed for the New York Times about the landmark Inflation Reduction Act and its implications for climate change. August 2022.
Jody wrote an op-ed for the Boston Globe about the Supreme Court’s decision on West Virginia v EPA. June 2022.
Click here to see Professor Freeman lead a conversation about global climate policy for the Council on Foreign Relations.
Jody wrote a guest essay for The New York Times about the Supreme Court’s ability to undermine the EPA’s authority to limit carbon emissions.
Jody appeared on a panel alongside other Harvard faculty to discuss Tackling the Climate Crisis featuring James Stock, Harvard’s Vice Provost for Climate and Sustainability
Listen to Jody’s conversation with Canadian energy experts providing an overview of U.S. energy and climate policy in 2021 and what it means for Canadian policy. December 2021.
Jody appeared on Fortune’s Reinvent podcast to discuss GM’s announcement to go all electric by 2035. November 2021.
Jody joined Steve Curwood on Living on Earth to talk about new EPA rules about methane emissions. November 2021.
Listen to Jody’s appearance on the Environmental Insights: Discussions on Policy and Practice from the Harvard Environmental Economics Program podcast. April 2021
Jody wrote an op-ed for the New York Times about GM’s decision to stop producing gas-powered vehicles by 2035 and become carbon neutral by 2040. February 2021
Richard Lazarus
Richard J. Lazarus is the Howard J. and Katherine W. Aibel Professor at Harvard Law School, where he teaches environmental and natural resources law. Professor Lazarus has represented the United States, state and local governments, and environmental groups in the United States Supreme Court in 40 cases and has presented oral argument in 14 of those cases. He served as the Executive Director of the National Commission on the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill as well as on the Biden Transition Team for the U.S. Justice Department.
Faculty Profile
Media Articles
Selected Appearances
Washington Post: Richard wrote an op-ed about the Supreme Court’s decision on West Virginia v EPA.
Globus Podcast: SDSN Youth USA network coordinators Elizabeth Kostina and Nikita Angarski spoke with Richard about his expertise in environmental law and his work on the Commission investigating the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
Living on Earth: Steve Curwood interviews Richard about his book The Rule of Five: Making Climate History at the Supreme Court.
SCOTUS preview: Richard and Jody Freeman offered an overview of major takeaways from the Court’s last term, including significant decisions for environmental lawyers, before transitioning to discuss both upcoming term cases and continuing cases. October, 2019
Accepting the Sacks-Freund Award for Teaching Excellence at HLS graduation. May, 2019
Delivered oral arguments defending Wisconsin before the Supreme Court in Murr v. Wisconsin, Spring 2017
Carrie Jenks
As Executive Director of the Environmental & Energy Law Program, Carrie leads the EELP team to identify legally durable strategies to support climate and environmental policies and advance clean energy deployment. With her legal and policy expertise in climate and environmental law, she has worked to build strategic alliances among stakeholders to advance policy solutions. Prior to the Environmental & Energy Law Program, Carrie was an Executive Vice President at M.J. Bradley & Associates where she directed power company coalitions that have played a critical role supporting, and defending in court, air pollution and climate regulations. Before that, Carrie was an Associate at Goodwin Procter and Willkie Farr & Gallagher. She received her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center and B.A. from Harvard University.
Selected Publications and Appearances
Appearance on Investopedia’s The Green Investor Podcast discussing the Supreme Court’s ruling against the EPA’s oversight of power plant greenhouse gas emissions. July 2022.
Appearance in CNN article discussing the Supreme Court’s decision on West Virginia v EPA. June 2022.
Podcast with Kate Konschnik in which they discuss EPA’s proposed methane rules for new and existing oil and natural gas sources. December 2021.
EPA’s Methane Proposal for the Oil and Gas Sector – A Strong Foundation to Reduce Methane Emissions and Regulatory Path for More, an EELP publication with Kate Konschnik, Hannah Perls, and Abby Husselbee. November, 2021
EPA’s Clean Cars Standards: Solid First Steps Toward Electrification, an EELP publication with Hana Vizcarra. August 2021.
Dale Bryk
Dale Bryk is Senior Attorney and Director of our State & Regional Climate Policies work. With over two decades’ experience developing and implementing climate, energy efficiency, renewable energy, and clean transportation policies, Dale will help states and cities craft policies to deliver a just and equitable transition to a clean energy economy. Dale served as New York State’s Deputy Secretary for Energy and Environment from 2019-2020 and oversaw New York’s nation-leading climate agenda and directed the agencies and authorities responsible for developing and implementing the state policies and initiatives needed to build a just and sustainable clean energy economy. Prior to this, Dale served in a variety of positions at the Natural Resources Defense Council, including Chief Planning Officer, Director of Programs, and Director of the Energy & Transportation Program. Dale holds a bachelor’s degree from Colgate University, a master’s from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.
Ari Peskoe
Ari Peskoe is Director of the Electricity Law Initiative at the Environmental & Energy Law Program. He has written extensively about electricity regulation, on issues ranging from rooftop solar to constitutional challenges to states’ energy laws. Prior to the Electricity Law Initiative, Ari was an associate at a law firm in Washington, D.C., where he litigated before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission about the Western Energy Crisis. Before that, Ari was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ghana and spent two years trying to bring the 2012 Olympics to New York. He received his J.D. from Harvard Law School and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with degrees in electrical engineering and business.
Selected Publications and Appearances
Is the Utility Transmission Syndicate Forever? EELP White paper, January 2021
Jurisdiction over Distributed Energy Resources, National Conference of Regulatory Attorneys, Nashville, TN, May 5, 2019
Jurisdiction over Distributed Energy Resources, Organization of MISO States, Austin, TX, Oct. 25, 2018
“Power Over the U.S. Electric Grid,” Kleinman Center for Energy Visiting Scholar Lecture Series, Nov. 8, 2017
Did Rick Perry Just Propose a Value-of-Coal Tariff? Green Tech Media podcast, Oct. 2, 2017
Sara Dewey
Sara Dewey is a Senior Staff Attorney at the Environmental & Energy Law Program. Sara joined EELP from Conservation Law Foundation, where she served as Director of the Farm & Food Initiative. Sara previously worked on environmental, agricultural, and energy issues as a Legislative Aide in the U.S. Senate and as Policy Director of the Governance, Environment, and Markets Initiative at Yale University. Sara holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School, a Masters in Environmental Management from Duke University, and a B.A. from Middlebury College.
Hannah Perls
Hannah Perls (she/ella) is a Staff Attorney and former EELP Legal Fellow. Her work focuses on equitable disaster preparedness and response and federal environmental justice initiatives. Before law school, Hannah spent four years in San Salvador, El Salvador as a Program Assistant and then Development Director for Cristosal, a human rights non-profit providing legal and humanitarian assistance to families internally displaced by violence. She also worked as an Environmental Scientist for AnchorQEA, specializing in coastal Superfund sites. Hannah received her J.D. from Harvard Law School and her B.A. with honors in environmental science and sustainable development from Columbia University. She serves on the Environmental Justice Legal Advisory Board for Alternatives for Community and Environment (ACE) in Roxbury, MA, and as the Law & Policy Co-Chair for the Climigration Network.
Está disponible responder a consultas en español.
Selected Publications
Hurricane Ian exposes cracks in Florida’s flood insurance market, Harvard Law Today (October 14, 2022)
DOJ Revives Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEPs) as Part of EJ Agenda (2022).
Deconstructing Environmental Deregulation Under the Trump Administration, Vermont Law Review, Vol. 45, Book 4 (2021).
U.S. Disaster Displacement in the Era of Climate Change: Discrimination and Consultation Under the Stafford Act, Harvard Environmental Law Review, Vol. 44, No. 2 (2020).
Biden’s First 100 Days of Climate Action, co-authored with Hana Vizcarra (May 11, 2021).
The Downfall of the “Secret Science” Rule, and What It Means for Biden’s Environmental Agenda (March 5, 2021).
Biden’s Week One: Mapping Ambitious Climate Action, co-authored with Hana Vizcarra (March 3, 2021).
New Cost-Benefit Rule Hampers EPA’s Ability to Regulate Harmful Air Pollutants (Jan. 12, 2021).
EPA Undermines its Own Environmental Justice Programs (Nov. 12, 2020).
Hannah Oakes Dobie
Hannah Oakes Dobie is a Staff Attorney at the Environmental & Energy Law Program. Before EELP, Hannah was an associate with law firms in Boston and Denver, where she represented clients before six state utility commissions and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Prior to law school, she helped to conserve working forests in the Pacific Northwest with a land trust based in San Francisco. During law school she continued her focus on environmental protection and energy issues through various internships, including with Trustees for Alaska, in Anchorage. Hannah holds a J.D. from University of Colorado Law school and a B.S. in environmental policy from University of California Davis.
Abby Husselbee
Abby Husselbee is an EELP Legal Fellow. Before EELP, Abby spent a year as the Re-entry Policy Fellow at Greater Boston Legal Services CORI & Re-entry Project. Abby received her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in 2020 and served as an Executive Editor of the Food & Drug Law Journal during her time at Georgetown. Prior to law school, Abby graduated with a B.S. from Boston College, where she was an active member of the Arts Council and a choreographer with student dance groups.
Akriti Bhargava
Akriti Bhargava is an EELP Legal Fellow. She received her J.D. with honors from Lewis & Clark Law School, with certificates in Energy and Sustainability Law, and International Law. During law school, she focused her work on climate policy and clean energy through various internships and jobs—including with the Climate Imperative Project at Energy Innovation, the Climate Social Science Network at Brown University, and the Northwest Environmental Defense Center. Prior to law school, she worked as a Research Analyst for the Sierra Club Environmental Law Program, supporting the Beyond Coal campaign. Akriti received her B.A. in environmental studies, political science, and economics from the University of Vermont.
Robin Just
Robin Just is Director of Outreach and Communications for the Environmental & Energy Law Program. She has been a water regulator for the State of New Mexico and City of Santa Fe, and an environmental consultant on large-scale Superfund and military sites. She also managed ocean program communications for the Conservation Law Foundation in Boston. Prior to HLS, Robin was a research associate at the Harvard Business School, where she spent several years investigating the effectiveness of environmental regulations and trends in U.S. energy production. Robin has a B.S. in biology and Master of Water Resources, both from the University of New Mexico.
Sara Burr Levy
Sara Burr Levy is the Program Administrator for the Environmental & Energy Law Program. She joined EELP after a career at a large insight and information organization. Sara worked primarily in the oil and gas power and renewable energy sectors, supporting executives, subject matter experts, commercial teams, and clients. In her last position there she served as a key member of the marketing and communications team for an annual ministerial and c-level energy insight conference. Sara holds a BFA from Syracuse University.
Former EELP Fellows
Laura Bloomer
Laura Bloomer was an EELP Legal Fellow from 2019-2020. She is a 2019 graduate of Harvard Law School and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, earning a J.D., cum laude, and a Masters in Public Policy. Prior to law school, Laura worked on President Obama’s reelection campaign and taught English in East Java, Indonesia with the Peace Corps. Laura received her B.A. with honors from the University of Texas at Austin. After EELP, Laura was a staff attorney at the Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development, and is now Advisor in the Office of the Solicitor at the Department of the Interior.