I have worked as an environmental advocate, environmental regulator, environmental funder, and environmental researcher. I retired from The Conservation Fund, a national land conservation and economic development organization in 2024. At the Conservation Fund I helped expand Mt. Mitchell and Hammocks Beach State Parks. I also helped protect watersheds in Maggie Valley and helped Alamance County establish its Cane Creek Mountain Park. I currently serve on the Board of Directors of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC). ATC celebrates its centennial of protecting the AT and its landscape in 2025. I was Director of State Policy at Duke University's Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions from January 2007 - December 2012 where I worked on state water allocation policy, water infrastructure financing, green infrastructure, planning for and adapting to climate change, and state energy policy.I served as Governor Jim Hunt's Secretary and Assistant Secretary of the NC Dept of Environment & Natural Resources from 1998-2000. I was executive director of the $100 million NC Clean Water Management Trust Fund, a water quality financing agency, from 2001-2006. I lobbied the NC General Assembly on behalf of the Conservation Council of NC, NC Chapter of the Sierra Club, NC Chapter of the American Planning Association, NC Public Transportation Association, NC Chapter of the Nature Conservancy, and others from 1979 - 1997.