Who We Are

Staff

Ridgeline Center brings together experts on climate change, clean air, and administrative law.

Jonas Monast

Executive Director

Jonas has served as executive director of Ridgeline Center since 2023. He previously focused on climate and energy policy as a professor at the University of North Carolina School of Law and as director of the Climate and Energy Program at Duke University’s Nicholas Institute. He has also worked as an attorney in private practice, as legislative counsel for the Center for Responsible Lending, and as a congressional fellow for Senator Paul Wellstone. He is a graduate of Appalachian State University and Georgetown University Law Center.

Alex St. Romain

Attorney
Alex is an environmental litigator, with administrative law and appellate experience. She was an Honors Attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice’s Environmental Defense Section, where she defended EPA regulations in district courts and courts of appeals. She clerked for the Honorable Mary M. Schroeder of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the Honorable Madeline Cox Arleo of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. She holds a J.D. from New York University School of Law.

Alyssa Huie

Associate Attorney

Alyssa has a background in environmental science and an interest in the intersection of environmental and administrative law. She interned at Earthjustice and the Natural Resources Defense Council in their litigation departments, and at the Environmental Law Institute. She earned a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, where she was also a student attorney with the Environmental Law & Justice Clinic.

Ben Diamond

Associate Attorney

Ben has a background in economic and climate policy and environmental litigation. In law school, he was co-president of the Environmental Law Society and interned at Donahue, Goldberg & Herzog, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, and Earthjustice. Prior to law school, he was an analyst at Keybridge, a research and economic consulting firm. He earned a B.A. from the University of Georgia and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.

Daniel Alvarez

Attorney

Daniel’s work focuses on federal environmental policy and regulation, especially in the power and transportation sectors. He also has extensive experience with state-level environmental regulation authority and program design across numerous states. He previously worked for O’Melveny & Myers LLP and earned a J.D. from Yale Law School.

Grace Van Horn

Deputy Director
Grace is an environmental advocate with over 15 years experience in combining policy expertise with technical analysis to support effective climate and clean energy solutions. She previously worked as an environmental and energy policy consultant for ERM and M.J. Bradley & Associates and as a senior regulatory project manager at an electric utility. She holds an M.Sc. in Environmental Science from Johns Hopkins University and a B.A. in Environmental Policy from Pomona College.

Jay Duffy

Director of Legal Strategy

Jay is an environmental advocate with deep experience in Clean Air Act appellate litigation, administrative law, and the defense of state authority to regulate climate pollution. Jay previously served for 10 years as Litigation Director at Clean Air Task Force and practiced with Clean Air Council in Philadelphia. He holds a J.D. from Villanova University School of Law and gained early experience at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Jay serves on the Board and Executive Committee of the Environmental Law Institute and on the Advisory Board of Harvard Law School’s Environmental & Energy Law Program.

Lissa Lynch

Senior Attorney
Lissa has a background in energy and climate litigation, advising, and policy advocacy. She most recently served as an attorney-advisor for the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations at the U.S. Department of Energy. She previously worked as director of federal climate and energy litigation at the Natural Resources Defense Council, as an associate at the Georgetown Climate Center, and as a contractor to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. She holds a J.D. from Georgetown Law.

Matthew Rand

Senior Attorney

Matthew spent five years in the Natural Resources Section of the Department of Justice, where he defended environmental decisions made by the Departments of Defense and Transportation and defended the United States in cases alleging it violated the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Previously, he was an attorney at prominent law firms in Los Angeles and New York. He clerked on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York and holds a J.D. from NYU Law School, an M.Sc. in International Relations from the London School of Economics, and a B.A. in Political Science from Vassar College.

Megan Fischer

Director of Operations

Megan has two decades of experience in nonprofit leadership, administration, and communications. She previously directed operations for the Physicians Association for Nutrition, served as the inaugural executive director of the Roger Williams Park Conservancy, and held various leadership roles at Providence Children’s Museum. She earned an M.A. in Public Humanities from Brown University, a B.A. in Sociology from the University of Georgia, and a certificate in Nonprofit Management and Leadership from Tufts University.

Patrick Jacobi

Senior Attorney
Before joining Ridgeline Center in 2023, Patrick practiced environmental litigation for 17 years with the U.S. Department of Justice and Beveridge & Diamond, P.C. He earned a J.D. from Vermont Law School and externed for the Honorable Paul L. Friedman of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. He teaches Environmental Law at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law and has presented at Lewis & Clark Law School.

Peter Heisler

Senior Attorney

Peter has over a decade of experience in policy design, regulatory and legislative advocacy, and litigation surrounding federal and state efforts to address climate and air pollution. He previously worked as an associate attorney with Earthjustice’s Anchorage, Alaska office; clerked for the Honorable Monica M. Márquez of the Colorado Supreme Court; and served as a legal fellow with the Environmental Defense Fund. He earned a J.D. from Yale Law School.

Board of Directors

Advisors providing strategic direction for the organization

Carrie Jenks
Carrie Jenks is the Executive Director of the Environmental & Energy Law Program (EELP) at Harvard Law School. She leads the EELP team to identify legally durable strategies to support climate and environmental policies and advance clean energy deployment. Previously, Ms. Jenks was an Executive Vice President at M.J. Bradley & Associates (MJB&A) where she directed power company coalitions that played a critical role supporting air pollution and climate regulations. Prior to MJB&A, Ms. Jenks was an Associate at Goodwin Procter LLP and Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP.
Gary Guzy
Gary Guzy is Senior Of Counsel at Covington & Burling LLP and a member of the firm’s environmental, clean energy, public policy, and government affairs practices. During the Obama Administration, he served as Deputy Director and General Counsel of the Council on Environmental Quality, where he led negotiations to secure the historic Clean Car Standards. He previously served as General Counsel of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Counselor to the Administrator during the Clinton Administration. Mr. Guzy was also Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary of APX, Inc., Global Practice Leader for Climate Risk and Sustainability for Marsh, Inc., and a Senior Attorney at the Department of Justice.
Justin Pidot

Justin Pidot is the Ashby Lohse Chair in Water & Natural Resources at the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law, where he also co-directs the Environmental Law, Science and Policy Program. His teaching and scholarship focus on environmental and natural resources law, administrative law, and related fields. Professor Pidot previously held political appointments as General Counsel for the White House Council on Environmental Quality and as the Deputy Solicitor for Land Resources at the Department of the Interior, served as an appellate lawyer in the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, and taught at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. He received his J.D. with distinction from the Stanford Law School.

Kevin Poloncarz
Kevin Poloncarz (Chair) is a Partner at Covington & Burling LLP and co-chairs the firm’s Environmental Practice Group and Energy Industry Group. He has been extensively involved in the development of climate laws and regulations at both the federal and state levels, including California’s cap-and-trade program, Low Carbon Fuel Standard, and Renewables Portfolio Standard, as well as greenhouse gas regulation under the Clean Air Act. Mr. Poloncarz argued in defense of the Clean Power Plan in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals for a group of power sector clients.
Meghan Greenfield

Meghan Greenfield, a Partner at Jenner & Block, is a strategic environmental litigator and regulatory counselor who leverages her extensive government background to navigate the rapidly evolving environmental legal landscape. She served as Senior Counsel for Litigation at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), overseeing major litigation and regulatory developments under the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and the regulation of PFAS (“forever chemicals”) under various statutes. She was previously a Senior Counsel for Appellate Matters in the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, where she led high-profile environmental litigation before the DC Circuit and other federal appellate courts, and worked in private practice as an associate at an AmLaw 10 law firm.

Norman Bay

Norman Bay was most recently a Partner in the Corporate and Financial Services Department and Head of the Energy Regulatory and Enforcement Group at Wilkie, Farr & Gallagher LLP. Previously, he was Chairman, Commissioner, and Director of Enforcement at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Prior to serving at FERC, Mr. Bay was U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico and before that was Professor of Law at the University of New Mexico School of Law. He also previously served as attorney-advisor for the U.S. Department of State, Office of Legal Advisor.

Shelley Welton

Shelley Welton is the Presidential Distinguished Professor of Law and Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School and the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy. She teaches courses in energy policy, environmental law, and climate change law and writes broadly on the topics of U.S. energy governance and climate change. Dr. Welton has a PhD in Law from Yale University and a JD from NYU School of Law. Prior to her current position, she taught for six years at the University of South Carolina School of Law and served as Deputy Director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University.