EWG Staff

Ken Cook

President. Ken Cook, EWG’s president and co-founder, is widely recognized as one of the environmental community’s most prominent and effective critics of establishment agriculture and U.S. farm policy.

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.

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 California with their son, Callahan Cook.

Heather White

Chief of Staff and General Counsel. 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 family.

Craig Cox

Senior Vice President for Agriculture and Natural Resources. 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 as Midwest Vice President of EWG in 2008 and directs the organization’s research and advocacy work in agriculture, renewable energy, and climate change. He has degrees in wildlife Eecology and agricultural economics from the University of Minnesota. He is an avid fly fisherman, hunter, and hiker.

Jane Houlihan

Senior Vice President for Research. Jane directs research programs on environmental health and the hazards of chemicals in food, water and everyday consumer products. Under her direction EWG has created go-to resources for its one million members and other consumers seeking safer choices, including the Skin Deep cosmetic safety database, the national tap water quality database covering 40,000 communities, and the body burden testing programs detecting 500 industrial pollutants in Americans. She holds degrees in civil and environmental engineering from Georgia Tech and is a former senior engineer with national research and consulting groups.

Chris Campbell

Vice President for Information Technology. 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.

Alex Formuzis

Vice President for Media Relations. 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.

Scott Mallan

Vice President, Finance & Chief Operating Officer. 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.

Nils Bruzelius

Executive Editor. Nils Bruzelius 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 sailor, he has completed two trans-Atlantic crossings and numerous shorter ocean passages.

Elaine Shannon

Editor-in-chief. 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.

Jocelyn Lyle

Director of Development. Jocelyn started her non profit work with an environmental law firm in Montgomery, AL. She is the director of development at EWG. She holds a BA from Allegheny College in political science and communication arts. Jocelyn hails from Pittsburgh, PA and is probably the only Bucco's fan in DC.

Renée Sharp

Director, CA Office & Senior Scientist. Renée holds Masters and Bachelors degrees in biology from Pennsylvania State University and Rice University, where she worked on the environmental and human health impacts of electricity production, conservation planning, and forest ecology. Once a professional wilderness guide, Renée still spends most of her time hiking, climbing, skiing and rafting when not sitting in front of her EWG computer.

Chuq Yang

Director of Technology. Chuq maintains the technology infrastructure at EWG. Previously, he served as Chief Technology Officer of the Obama-Biden Transition Project, where he evaluated and recommended vendors for <http://www.change.gov> and the Presidential Executive Search System. Chuq also oversaw the all technical aspects of correspondence, fundraising, operations, personnel and the help desk. Before that, Chuq was Deputy Director of Technology at the Democratic National Committee. There he designed and maintained the DNC’s infrastructure through two presidential elections. He’s a graduate of the University of Rochester with a degree in computer science. Chuq is also a PADI Rescue Diver, downhill skiing daredevil, captain of his American Poolplayers Association team and a fresh water fisherman.

Bill Allayaud

California Director of Governmental Affairs. Bill’s career in environmental protection includes: analyst with the California Coastal Commission; urban planner with two cities; state director of Sierra Club California; and consultant in the California State Assembly. He has particular expertise in water quality and supply, land use planning, and conservation of forests, farmland, and wetlands. 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. Outside of work, he is trying to stay fit enough to be able to ski expert terrain with his daughter when she gets old enough.

Aman Anderson

Web Designer. 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.

David Andrews, PH.D.

Senior Scientist. 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 University, and has authored over 10 peer-reviewed publications and currently has 1 patent pending on quantum interference devices. David enjoys designing and building audio equipment, traveling, camping, fishing, volunteering, outdoor sports, swimming, and landscape painting.

Claudia Arango

Development Associate. Claudia was born in Alexandria, VA, but she spent her youth in Colombia. She studied international affairs at la Universidad del Rosario in Bogota, where her thesis analyzed the strategy of coca plant eradication as a basis of international cooperation. Claudia is a certified diver who loves to travel, and in her free time she's an avid horseback rider.

Leeann Brown

Press Secretary. Leeann came to EWG after attending Rutgers University where she double majored in Journalism and Media Studies and music. Environmental and public health issues have always been key interests of the DC-area native. Leeann enjoys exploring new places, cultures, and music in her spare time.

Don Peterson Carr

Senior Communications and Policy Advisor. Don came to EWG from the Democratic National Committee, where he served as Communications Director for his home state of South Dakota. Previously, he worked in the SD state legislature and on former Majority Leader Tom Daschle's 2004 reelection campaign to the U.S Senate.

Before moving into the public policy world, Don worked in the food industry. He managed the kitchen for the Lighthouse Bistro -- a hunting and fishing resort on South Dakota's Lake Oahe, and co-owned a a catering business specializing in music and film festivals that provided meals for parties at the Sundance Film Festival.

Don has written about music and film for the Washington (DC) City Paper and published his first novel in 2009. He writes regularly for Grist, the Huffington Post and EWG’s Agmag blog and is an avid mountain biker and fly fisherman.

Dean Clark

Web Developer. 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.

Johanna Congleton, MSPH, Ph.D.

Senior Scientist. 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.

Thomas Cluderay

Assistant General Counsel. Thomas conducts legal research and provides regulatory and legislative analyses with an emphasis on public health, consumer protection, and environmental policy. He also collaborates with EWG’s government affairs team to develop strategies to advance EWG policy initiatives, representing EWG before lawmakers and other government bodies, as well as preparing regulatory petitions, public comments, and other related documents. Additionally, Thomas works closely with EWG’s general counsel to handle in-house legal matters. Thomas came to EWG as a Stabile Fellow after graduating from Georgetown University Law Center. During 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, is from Charlotte, N.C., and enjoys live music and the outdoors.

David DeGennaro

Legislative and Policy Analyst. 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.

Libby Foley

Administrative Assistant. 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.

Lisa Frack

Social Media Manager. Lisa came to EWG as an online parent organizer in 2008 and now focuses her attention on getting EWG's research, healthy living tips, and policy work into the hands of the millions of people on the internet (on Enviroblog, Facebook, and Twitter). She holds a BA in history from Princeton and a Masters in Public Policy from Duke. She lives in Portland, Oregon.

Sean Gray, M.S.

Senior Analyst. Sean compiles, maps, and analyzes data on public lands, food consumption, and public water contamination. Sean holds a Bachelor’s degree from Bucknell, a Master's from the University of Maryland, and postgraduate studies at Yale. He lives with his wife and son in Clinton, CT.

Kari Hamerschlag

Senior Food and Agriculture Analyst. Kari focuses on healthy, local, organic and sustainable food and agriculture policy. She started her career twenty years ago as an organizer, researcher and advocate for socially and environmentally sound development policy, mostly focused in Latin America. Prior to joining EWG, she worked for nearly a decade with a number of non-profits on fair trade, sustainable food and ag policy issues. Kari has a Masters from UC Berkeley in Latin American studies and City and Regional Planning. She is an avid telemark skier and loves hiking with her dog Shoki in the East Bay Hills.

Dusty Horwitt, J.D.

Senior Counsel. 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.

Andrew Hug

Analyst. Andrew began his career at the Center for Resource Economics, which later became EWG. He went on to work at the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture and Environment Iowa and launched a computer security software startup. He has now returned to EWG to focus primarily on lessening agriculture’s environmental impact. He earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a master’s in urban and regional planning at the University of Iowa. He enjoys hiking, canoeing, photography and raising organic fruit.

Colleen Hutchings

Deputy Director of Online Fundraising. Colleen graduated from George Mason University in 2004 with a BFA in Dance and a Minor in Women's Studies. After time working for the Democratic Party and multiple pro-choice organizations, Colleen is proud to be a part of the Environmental Working Group. When not using the internet and email to change the world, she pursues her other passion: professional modern dance performance and composition.

Emily Ion

Marketing Specialist Emily joined EWG in 2010, specializing in social media, online development and community outreach. A Los Angeles native, she spent two years on the communications team of the non-profit Healthy Child Healthy World and then led outreach and media efforts for author and pediatrician Dr. Harvey Karp. Emily has a Bachelor’s degree in international communications from The American University of Paris, France. She speaks French and Italian and is passionate about music, fashion and modern art.

Sheila Karpf

Legislative and Policy Analyst. Sheila grew up working on her family's cattle, corn and soybean farm in northeast Nebraska. She received a bachelor of science degree in economics and management information systems from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and a masters degree in environmental policy from the London School of Economics. Sheila has written about farm subsidies' effects on rural communities and farmers' views about conservation programs and farm subsidies in the next Farm Bill. She is a 2007 Harry Truman Scholar and most recently worked for Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-Neb.). In her free time, you’ll find Sheila enjoying life with her husband, skiing, running, cooking and cheering on the Nebraska Huskers.

Nneka Leiba, M.Phil., MPH

Senior Analyst. Nneka has a passion for the environment and environmental issues. This passion has led her to earn several related degrees, the most recent being a Master's in Public Health from The Johns Hopkins University. In 2006, she started at EWG where she works primarily on water-related projects.

Brett Lorenzen

Mississippi River Project Coordinator. Brett joins the EWG agriculture and natural resources team after two decades as a consultant to non-profits and foundations specializing in internet communications, law, program development, fundraising and management. His clients ranged from small non-profits to major foundations to the United Nations. Being a farm boy at heart, he returned to the Midwest in 2002 to work on clean water and agricultural/land-use reform issues. He also serves as the voluntary chair of the Iowa Council of Trout Unlimited and sits on the organization’s National Leadership Council. Brett holds an undergraduate degree, a J.D. and an LL.M. in international environmental law from the University of Iowa. In his "spare" time you'll find Brett reading, fly fishing, hunting or roaming the prairies and hills of the Driftless region with his dog.

Sonya Lunder

Senior Analyst. Sonya holds a Masters of Public Health in environmental health sciences from UC-Berkeley . Prior to joining EWG in 2002, Sonya managed a community health intervention at a Superfund site, and worked for California's Environmental Health Investigations Branch. Sonya likes to bake bread and play legos with her son.

Bobbie Manning

Environmental Health Outreach Coordinator. Bobbie is a grass roots and community outreach organizer. As an advocate for children with neurodevelopmental disorders for 15 years, Bobbie's successful coalition building and grass roots activities has lead to the passage of legislation in multiple states including New York, Iowa, and California. Prior to her political advocacy work, Bobbie was an applied behavior analysis therapist for children with developmental disorders and attended the University of Illinois-Chicago.

Morgan Maurer

Administrative Assistant. Morgan received her Bachelor’s Degree from Radford University. Before coming to EWG, she was a field organizer on a membership drive for the Human Rights Campaign and worked in community outreach at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia Tech. Morgan enjoys sports, cooking, traveling and spending time outdoors.

Olga Naidenko, Ph.D.

Senior Scientist. Olga holds a Ph.D. degree in immunology from the UCLA Molecular Biology Institute. Prior to joining EWG, she worked in Los Angeles, San Diego, and St. Louis, publishing 30 peer-reviewed papers in molecular and structural immunology. At EWG, Olga focuses on human health effects of chemical pollution. Olga enjoys yoga, dance, and learning new languages.

Nicole Oliver, MBA

Foundation Coordinator. Nicole has an eclectic professional background, most recently as the Search Engine Marketing Director for a web design firm in Portland. She is also the co-founder of a regional parenting magazine, has spent countless hours as a freelance writer and worked for several years as a counselor for at-risk youth. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology and a Masters of Business Administration degree in marketing. Nicole has been an avid EWG supporter since stumbling upon the Skin Deep database in 2004.

J. Paul Pestano

Research Analyst. A native of the Philippines, Paul emigrated to California at the age of 14. He joined the EWG’s research team after earning a B.S. in biochemistry and an M.S. in physiology at Georgetown University. He is a huge Hoyas fan and enjoys hiking, running, and snowboarding.

Jason Rano

Director of Government Affairs Jason joins the EWG government affairs staff after working in Baltimore City government and on Capitol Hill. Jason holds an undergraduate degree from American University and a Masters in public policy from Johns Hopkins University. When not at work you can find Jason reading, cooking, enjoying a new restaurant, or cheering on his hometown New York Mets.

Alex Rindler

Policy Associate. After graduating from Skidmore College with a B.A. in English and government, Alex, a native of Newton, Mass., moved to Washington to serve on the staff of Senator John Kerry, D-Mass. Alex is an amateur film buff and an avid reader.

Sara Sciammacco.

Press Secretary. Sara Sciammacco worked as a broadcast journalist for eight years. Most recently, she was a political reporter for Capitol News Connection covering the U.S. Congress for public radio stations. Her reporting focused on agricultural policy, health care, education, energy, and the environment. Her coverage of the 2008 farm bill highlighted the inequities in the federal farm subsidy programs. Earlier in her career, Sciammacco was a television reporter at New England Cable News in Boston, Massachusetts. She also held reporting positions in Rhode Island and South Dakota. Sciammacco is a former National Press Foundation Paul Miller fellow. She holds a bachelors degree in Government and Politics from the University of Maryland-College Park.

Rebecca Sutton, Ph.D.

Senior Scientist. Rebecca is an environmental chemist and a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley. Prior to joining EWG, her research focused on computational studies of contaminant fate and transport, and soil carbon storage to moderate global warming. She has authored 10 publications in peer-reviewed journals.

Dawn Undurraga

Nutritionist. Dawn Undurraga joined EWG after completing her Master's in Nutrition Communication at Tufts University and her dietetic internship to become a Registered Dietitian. While interning at the USDA's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion during the formulation of the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, Dawn became fascinated with the intersection of nutrition research and policy. After graduating, she decided to move to DC to contribute to shaping the large nutrition and food policy debates on the horizon. Prior to joining EWG, Dawn worked in both clinical and surveillance cancer research in California. Her undergraduate degree is in Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology from UC Berkeley.