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Staff

President
Ken Cook
kenneth-cook-bio.pdf

Ken Cook, president and co-founder of Environmental Working Group, is widely recognized as one of the environmental community’s most prominent and effective critics of U.S. farm and food policy and a leading voice on federal chemicals and pesticides law.

Cook’s early work at EWG culminated in the landmark 1996 Food Quality Protection Act that for the first time required EPA to consider the dietary risks of pesticides in food on children’s health. In 2005, at Cook’s direction, EWG researchers discovered hundreds of industrial chemicals in umbilical cord blood that changed the debate over chemical exposures in people, proving contamination began in the womb. Armed with that and other ground-breaking research, Cook developed a critically acclaimed presentation titled 10 Americans to make the case for overhauling the nation’s main chemicals management law.

Under Cook, EWG’s break-through innovation has been the creation of easy-to-use, online consumer databases to analyze toxic pollution in people, government farm subsidies, nuclear waste transportation routes to Yucca Mountain, mining claims near the Grand Canyon, tap water quality nationwide and provide consumers with cosmetics ingredient safety information for 80,000 personal care products.

Cook earned a B.A. in history, B.S. in agriculture and M.S. in soil science from the University of Missouri-Columbia. He and his wife Deb Callahan live in Marin County, California with their son, Callahan Cook.

Executive Director
Heather White

Prior to joining EWG, Heather served as Director of Education Advocacy for the National Wildlife Federation, Counsel for energy and environment issues for Senator Russ Feingold, General Counsel to EWG, a Florida Recount attorney for Gore 2000, Deputy Director for Women's Outreach for Al Gore's 2000 Presidential campaign, and an associate in the law firm of Bass, Berry & Sims in Nashville. Heather holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia in environmental science, and a J.D. from the University of Tennessee College of Law. Heather loves country music and playing in the backyard with her husband and two children.

Senior Vice President for Agriculture and Natural Resources
Craig Cox

Craig began his career in conservation by joining the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources in 1977 as a field biologist. Since then, he has worked for the National Academy of Sciences, the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and as Executive Director of the Soil and Water Conservation Society. He joined EWG in 2008 and leads the organization’s research and advocacy work in agriculture, renewable energy, and climate change. He also directs EWG’s Midwest Office in Ames, Iowa. He has degrees in wildlife ecology and agricultural economics from the University of Minnesota. He is an avid fly fisherman, hunter, and hiker.

Vice President of Government Affairs
Scott Faber

Scott Faber leads a team working to improve food and farm legislation, chemicals policy and a host of other issues important to EWG and its supporters. Prior to joining EWG, Scott was vice president for federal affairs for the Grocery Manufacturers Association, where he spearheaded efforts to enact the Food Safety Modernization Act, which sets new food safety standards for food manufacturers and farmers. From 2000 to 2007, he was a food and farm policy campaign manager for the Environmental Defense Fund, leading efforts to reform farm policies in the 2002 and 2008 farm bills. From 1993 to 2000, Scott was a senior director for public policy for American Rivers. A native of Massachusetts, Scott holds a J.D. From Georgetown University Law Center and lives in Washington, D.C.

Vice President, Finance & Chief Operating Officer
Scott Mallan

Scott moved over to the non-profit sector 15 years ago. After several years working in outsourced accounting for state governments, he switched over to accounting for the food service industry before making the move to non-profits. He earned his degree in business management from the University of South Carolina-Columbia

Editor-in-Chief & Publisher
Elaine Shannon

Elaine is a former correspondent for TIME and Newsweek magazines, a Nieman fellow at Harvard University, author of three books about terrorism, espionage and the global drug trade and consultant on several films about crime and terrorism. A Vanderbilt University alum,she and husband Dan Morgan, a former Washington Post correspondent, hike, ski, kayak and serve as pit crew for son Shannon Morgan, a Colorado College environmental policy student and bicycle racer with the Rio Grande Cycling Team.

Executive Editor and VP for Publications
Nils Bruzelius

Nils spent 40 years in journalism, most of it reporting or editing coverage of medicine, science and environmental issues. Before joining EWG in 2009, he was science editor at The Washington Post. Previously he spent 28 years at The Boston Globe, where he worked as a medical reporter, state political editor, Health/Science editor and finally Foreign Editor. He also spent two years on The Globe’s investigative Spotlight Team, where he shared a Pulitzer Prize for a series exposing mismanagement and corruption in Boston’s public transit system. He earned a B.A. in history at Amherst College. An avid cross-country skier and sailor, he has completed two trans-Atlantic crossings and numerous shorter ocean passages.

Vice President for Information Technology
Chris Campbell

Chris has led EWG's database operations since its founding in 1993 and is responsible for many successful reports, including the Farm Subsidy Database. He graduated from the University of Delaware with a degree in computer information sciences. A Delaware native and an expert beer brewer, Chris lives with his wife and four children in Northern Virginia.

Vice President for Media Affairs
Alex Formuzis

Alex came to EWG after 8 years as a senior aide to three members of the United States Senate. Prior to his time on Capitol Hill he was in the public affairs shop of the Clinton Treasury Department, in the policy shop for the NGO Independent Sector, and worked on state and local campaigns in Washington State. Alex was born and raised in the Northwest, spending his youth sailing, hiking and skiing from Southern California to British Columbia. Alex graduated from the University of Montana in 1995 with a B.A. in political science.

Vice President of Development
Jocelyn Lyle

Jocelyn started her non-profit work with an environmental law firm in Montgomery, Ala., where she focused on environmental justice organizing. Jocelyn manages all of EWG's fundraising efforts – including foundation management, organizing keystone events for the organization and directing the growing online and major gift programs. She graduated from Allegheny College with a dual degree in political science and communication arts. Jocelyn hails from Pittsburgh and can often be seen sporting black and gold. 

Director of Research
Renée Sharp

Renée directs EWG's toxics research program, working to educate consumers and policy makers about threats to public and environment health – and what we can do to avoid them. Renée  joined EWG as a scientist in 2000 after earning her Masters and Bachelors degrees in Biology from Pennsylvania State University and Rice University, and has since authored dozens of reports and led the effort to get the toxic chemical BPA banned from baby bottles in California. A true science geek at heart, she has also served on advisory boards for Kaiser Permanente's Research Program on Genetics Environment and Health as well as the University of California's Toxics Substances Research and Teaching Program. Renée is an avid outdoorswoman and a long-time practitioner of mindfulness and Buddhist meditation.

California Director of Governmental Affairs
Bill Allayaud

Bill’s career in environmental protection includes: 20 years with the California Coastal Commission as a planner, permit analyst, and legislative liaison; an urban planner with two cities; state director of Sierra Club California. He has a B.A. from U.C. Santa Cruz in Environmental Studies and Politics and a Master's from Cornell University in Regional Planning. He claims to be the only legislative advocate in California who saw Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Keith Moon, and Duane Allman live in concert. 

Web Designer
Aman Anderson

Though Aman surrounds himself with art, he has a passion for health and the environment. He brings to EWG more than three years of creative experience in higher education, health care and the non-profit world, with a focus on industry web standards. He studied physical science at the Hartland Institute of Health and Education. Aman is also an active member of the National Art Educators Association, and in his spare time he writes for design blogs, as well as design-trend magazine Pulchryzine.

Senior Scientist
David Andrews

David is using his chemistry background to investigate environmental health issues. He holds a B.A. in chemistry from Wesleyan University and a Ph.D. in chemistry from Northwestern. He has authored more than 10 peer-reviewed publications and currently has one patent on quantum interference devices. David enjoys designing and building wooden furniture, traveling, camping, fishing, volunteering, outdoor sports, swimming and landscape painting.

Administrative Assistant
Natalie Apcar

Originally from New York, Natalie has lived and volunteered in Southeast Asia and West Africa, where she developed a passion for non-profit work. She graduated from American University with a B.A. in international development and minored in French. After interning for several non-profits that focused on multiple forms of outreach and advocacy, she is excited to be able to combine her interests of development, community health and environmentalism at EWG. 

Development Coordinator
Claudia Arango

Arango holds a B.A. in International Relations from La Universidad del Rosario in Bogota, Colombia. Her thesis analyzed the strategy of coca plant eradication as a basis of international cooperation. She is fluent in Spanish and completed an intermediate level of French, certified at the University of Lyon in France. She is a certified diver who loves to travel, and in her free time she's an avid horseback rider and dedicated yoga practitioner.

Web Developer
Dean Clark

Since the mid-1990s, Dean has been developing websites focused on many different subjects, including music, automobiles and news. He is a graduate of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

General Counsel
Thomas Cluderay

Thomas leads EWG’s legal team and oversees all of the organization’s legal matters. He also works with the government affairs team to develop strategies for advancing EWG policy initiatives, represents EWG before lawmakers and other government bodies and provides regulatory and legislative analyses with an emphasis on public health, consumer protection and environmental policy. Thomas earned his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, where he currently serves as an adjunct professor of law and co-teaches a course on consumer advocacy. While at law school he served as a law fellow for Rep. Walt Minnick (D-Idaho) in the U.S. House of Representatives, interned at the Federal Communications Commission and worked as a summer associate at Kelley Drye & Warren, LLP. Thomas has a B.A. in journalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is from Charlotte, N.C. He enjoys live music and the outdoors.

Senior Scientist
Johanna Congleton

Johanna holds a BS in Communications from Syracuse University, an MSPH in Environmental Science from Tulane University’s School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, and a Ph.D. in Environmental Toxicology from Cornell University. She has over 15 years of experience working with environmental health organizations, including Clean Water Action, the Sierra Club, and Physicians for Social Responsibility. She served as Executive Director of Physicians for Social Responsibility-Louisiana, which provided health assistance services to people impacted by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. She continues to use her experience and education in support of programs that advance public health and environmental science education, research, and policies. Johanna enjoys traveling, cooking, and the outdoors.

Legislative and Policy Analyst
David Degennaro

DeGennaro worked as a legislative aid to Congressman Ron Kind from 2005 to 2010. He spearheaded a major effort to reform U.S. farm policy and has advanced a broad environmental agenda particularly related to wildlife, water quality, and climate change. DeGennaro has also reported for United Press International, the Capital News Service, and the Prince George’s Post. He graduated from New York University with a degree in biology and is currently pursuing graduate work in environmental science and policy at The Johns Hopkins University.

Government Affairs Assistant
Libby Foley

Libby graduated from Hobart and William Smith Colleges with a major in Environmental Studies and double-minor in Political Science and Geoscience. Born and raised just outside Chicago, Libby moved to Washington D.C. after college to intern at the Alaska Wilderness League and later for Senator Mark Kirk. She enjoys playing tennis and sailing.

Digital Media Manager
Christina Frenzel

Christina has created award-winning documentaries, two of which aired on HBO, tackling subjects such as childhood chronic illness. Her thesis film at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, which focused on helping families cope with the effects of autism, has been internationally recognized. She has worked with David O. Russell and other acclaimed filmmakers and at companies such as National Geographic and PBS Frontline. Christina has a passion for using film to examine social and environmental issues and has gone undercover internationally to expose environmental crimes. She brought that passion to EWG in 2012.

Senior Analyst
Sean Gray

Sean compiles and analyzes the underlying data for many of EWG's consumer guides, including Skin Deep®, the sunscreen guide, and the Guide to Healthy Cleaning. Before joining EWG, he studied climate dynamics at Yale and the University of Maryland. He currently resides in Clinton, Conn. and serves on the town's Water Pollution Control Commission. His two young children motivate Sean's work at EWG toward a healthier, safer future.

Senior Analyst
Kari Hamerschlag

Working out of EWG's California office, Kari focuses on research on and promotion of healthy, organic, local and sustainable food and agriculture policies at the state and federal levels. She started her career 20 years ago as an organizer, researcher and advocate for socially and environmentally sound development policy, mostly focused on Latin America. Prior to joining EWG, she worked for nearly a decade with a number of non-profits on fair trade, sustainable food and agricultural policy issues. Kari earned Masters degrees in Latin American Studies and City and Regional Planning at UC/Berkeley. She  is an avid telemark skier and loves hiking with her dog Shoki in the East Bay. 

Senior Counsel
Dusty Horwitt

Dusty focuses on natural gas and oil drilling, metal mining and public lands. He previously worked as a lawyer, journalist and deputy press secretary on Capitol Hill. Dusty holds a BA in History from Brown and a J.D. from Georgetown. He enjoys biking, playing basketball and strumming his guitar.

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