Vicki Arroyo
Vicki Arroyo is the Executive Director of the newly launched Georgetown State and Federal Climate Resource Center based at Georgetown University Law Center, where she is also a Visiting Professor. She previously served at the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, most recently as the Pew Center’s Vice President for Domestic Policy and General Counsel. Since 1998, she directed the Center’s domestic policy program as well as managing the Center’s work on science, environmental impacts, and economics. She served as Managing Editor of the Center’s book, Climate Change: Science, Strategies, and Solutions. She has taught courses on environmental policy and climate change at Catholic University, George Mason University’s graduate public policy program, and Tulane Law School. Previously, she practiced environmental law with Kilpatrick Stockton in Washington DC and other firms and served in two offices at U.S. EPA: the Office of Air and Radiation and the Office of Research and Development, where she reviewed development of standards under the Clean Air Act. From 1988 to 1991, she created and directed the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality’s policy office, and also served during some of that period as Governor Buddy Roemer's environmental advisor. Prof. Arroyo has served on several federal panels, including those reviewing economic modeling of climate legislation (DOE’s Energy Information Administration) and on climate change adaptation along Gulf Coast (Climate Change Science Program). She currently serves on the Advisory Council to National Center for Atmospheric Research and on a National Academy of Sciences/Transportation Research Board panel on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transportation. She holds a B.S. in biology, Magna Cum Laude, from Emory (double major in philosophy); a Masters of Public Administration from Harvard (top honors in program), and a J.D., Magna Cum Laude, from Georgetown, where she was Editor-in-Chief of The Georgetown International Environmental Law Review.

Kathryn Zyla
Kathryn Zyla, the Center’s Director of Research and Policy Analysis, previously served as Senior Associate in the Climate and Energy Program at the World Resources Institute. Her work focused on greenhouse gas emissions markets, energy security, and state-federal roles in climate policy. She also staffed the Midwest Regional Greenhouse Gas Reduction Accord’s process to design a cap-and-trade program in the Midwest. Kathryn previously held the position of Senior Research Fellow for Domestic Policy at the Pew Center on Global Climate Change. She has advised the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council on opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in transportation planning, and conducted an energy efficiency study of municipal buildings for the City of New York. Ms. Zyla holds a Master of Environmental Management degree from Yale University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering from Swarthmore College.

Diane Derby
Diane Derby, the Center’s Communications Director, served as Press Secretary and Communications Director for U.S. Senator Jim Jeffords, I-Vt., and the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee from 2001 until 2006. Most recently, she served as Media Relations Director and Congressional Liaison at Vermont Law School. While at Vermont Law, she was appointed by the Vermont Supreme Court to serve on the state’s Judicial Conduct Board. Before joining Jeffords’ D.C. office, she was a longtime journalist in Vermont, where she covered the Legislature and the Administration of Gov. Howard Dean. She has a Bachelor of Arts in journalism/political science from Northeastern University, and has studied international human rights law at the National University of Ireland, Galway. She is a founding board member of the Phulmaya Foundation, which raises funds to build schools and libraries in rural Nepal.

Kym Hunter
Kym Hunter, the Center’s Research Assistant, is a third-year law student at Georgetown University Law Center. Hailing from the United Kingdom, she completed her undergraduate degree at the University of East Anglia, where she earned First Class Honors for a B.Sc. in Environmental Sciences. Kym came to law school to focus on climate change law and has spent time working with Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, the Environmental Law Institute, and as a research assistant for Professor Lisa Heinzerling. An active member of the environmental community at Georgetown Law, she serves as President of the Environmental Law Society and is the incoming Editor-in-Chief of The Georgetown International Environmental Law Review.

Gabriel Pacyniak
Gabriel Pacyniak, a research assistant for the Center, is a third-year law student at Georgetown University Law Center. Gabriel interned on the environmental staff at the House Committee on Energy and Commerce during Spring 2009, and has also worked with the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a public interest watchdog organization. Prior to entering law school, Gabriel served for four years as a reporter and editor at Capital Community News. He holds a bachelor's degree from New College of Florida, the honors college of the Florida University System.

 

Tsinu Tesfaye
Tsinu Tesfaye, the Center's Administrative Assistant, worked in international human rights organizations prior to joining the Climate Center.  Most recently, she worked as United Nations Liaison and Middle East/North Africa Liaison for Equality Now, an international human rights organization for women.