About Us

Our Mission

The Eastern Environmental Law Center is a non-profit, public-interest environmental law firm located in Newark, New Jersey. We work on behalf of environmental advocacy, conservation and community groups to achieve environmental justice, implement clean-energy solutions and preserve the region’s open space, wildlife and natural resources for generations to come.

Who We Are

EELC’s work emphasizes clean energy, sustainable development, open space, and air and water quality. A core focus of our mission is to serve environmental justice communities who are overburdened with pollution and stand on the frontlines of climate change.

We respond to the needs and requests of our clients while taking into consideration our view of the critical issues facing the State and region. EELC represents national and state environmental advocacy organizations, as well as local community groups. We provide legal assistance to 35+ clients and are open to new clients, big and small. Many of our clients cannot afford private law firms, and we depend on generous foundation grants and individual donations to be able to provide our services.

EELC engages in statewide, regional and local environmental issues. Our clients include organizations advocating for environmental justice in the Ironbound (Newark) and Waterfront South (Camden) communities, and organizations dedicated to protecting unique, environmentally sensitive areas, including the Highlands, Pinelands and Barnegat Bay.

Financial Documents

Christopher Miller, Esq. | Executive Director

Prior to joining EELC, Chris was a partner at Maraziti Falcon, LLP, where he litigated environmental and land use cases on behalf of local governments throughout the State. ... Chris is a graduate of Vermont Law School where he earned a J.D. and a Master of Studies in Environmental Law cum laude, and served as a student attorney in the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Clinic. Chris lives in Brooklyn with his wife and two sons.read more

Daniel Greenhouse, Esq. | Senior Staff Attorney

Prior to joining EELC, Dan handled environmental litigation at Cullen and Dykman, LLP in Princeton, New Jersey. ... Before that, Dan represented the NJ Department of Environmental Protection as Deputy Attorney General at the NJ Department of Law and Public Safety, Division of Law. He is a graduate of Rutgers Law School, Camden and Binghamton University. Dan lives in Skillman, NJ with his wife, a teacher, and three young children.read more

Maggie Broughton, Esq. | Staff Attorney

Before joining EELC, Maggie worked on zoning and land use cases as a law clerk for Bryan Brice & Associates in Raleigh, NC. ... Prior to that, Maggie was an extern at the Southern Environmental Law Center in Chapel Hill, NC, where they worked on environmental justice and water quality issues; and a summer intern at Super Law Group, LLC, in New York City, where they worked on Clean Water Act permitting. Maggie graduated from Vermont Law School in 2021 with a J.D. and a Master of Environmental Law and Policy, and graduated from Ithaca College in 2018 with a degree in Philosophy/Religion.read more

Kaitlin Morrison , Esq. | Staff Attorney

Prior to joining EELC, Kaitlin worked as an environmental litigator and policy advocate at several nonprofits, including the Natural Resources Defense Council. ... She served as the Director of the New York City Environmental Law Leadership Institute from 2019-2022. Kaitlin graduated from Columbia Law School and clerked on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Kaitlin lives in Princeton, New Jersey, with her partner and their toddler. read more

Amy Koehler | Office Manager/Legal Assistant

Aside from providing legal and administrative support to the EELC staff, Amy assists with communications and social media.... Prior to joining EELC, Amy worked at a number of non-profits following a 20-year career with CNN as a producer/assignment editor. She is a graduate of the University of Maryland and lives in Maplewood, NJ.

Alexi Assmus, PhD. | Co-Chair

Alexi Assmus is founder of Assmus Group, LLC, a niche strategic communications firm. She co-founded and sold Princeton Bioanalytical Laboratory,... a laboratory service company which was acquired by the PharmaNet Corporation in 2008, where she worked with the Senior Vice President of Global Development and Director of Marketing to integrate the laboratory into their international business. Previous to her work in the pharmaceutical industry, Ms. Assmus was a professor of history at Polytechnic University, currently a part of NYU. She also taught at Princeton University and the University of California at Berkeley, where she was an NSF Postdoctoral Fellow, and at Harvard University where she was a Mellon Fellow and received a PhD in History of Science and a Masters Degree in Physics. She holds a B.A. in History from Stanford University. Alexi is an activist in environmental and land-use issues, founding Princeton Citizens for Sustainable Neighborhoods in 2012.read more

Randy Jones | Member

Randy Jones is the co-founder and Managing Director of The Brunswick Group, an information technology consulting and executive search firm... based in New Brunswick, NJ. He is an avid fly-fisherman and triathlete. Randy also serves on the Board of the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters. He formally served as Board Chair of New Jersey Audubon. Randy, along with his wife and daughter, is a resident of Franklin Park, New Jersey.read more

Lydia Chambers | Secretary

Lydia Chambers has been working as an environmental organizer in the Chatham area for the last 15 years on the Planning Board and Open Space Committee in Chatham Township. ... She served for over a decade. In conjunction with the Environmental Commission, she led several environmental campaigns in her community that were later used as models for communities around NJ: pesticide-free lawns and parks, anti-idling, and anti-bottled water. Lydia co-founded a social business called Back2Tap that worked with schools, non-profits, and corporations nation-wide to raise awareness about the wastefulness of bottled water and to encourage the use of re-useable bottles. With a BA in Earth Science from Dartmouth College and an MS in Geological Sciences from the University of Colorado, Lydia worked in the oil industry for 9 years as a geological engineer and hydrogeologist. read more

Tim Willke | Treasurer

Tim is a career market researcher, working in firms that service the Consumer Packaged Goods industry such as Procter & Gamble and Kraft. ... The last 7 years he worked at PRS IN VIVO, serving as COO and a member of the Board. Prior to that he worked for Nielsen and BASES (a division of Nielsen) in various leadership capacities, including Global President of BASES from 2007 to 2009. Tim received a BA in History from Yale University.read more

Yannick Wood, Esq.| Member

Yannick Wood is the Director of the Criminal Justice Reform Program at the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice....In this capacity, he manages the Institute’s efforts to transform New Jersey’s youth incarceration system as well as create initiatives to keep law enforcement accountable to the communities in which they serve.

Yannick was an assistant district attorney with the Queens County District Attorney for over five years. While leading prosecutions of simple offenses to violent felonies, he advocated for diversion programs, substance use and mental health treatment programs, and alternatives to incarceration. He has also been a voice for diversity and inclusion within the law enforcement community. Prior to working in the District Attorney’s office, he served as a fellow with Transform Johannesburg (now Neighbours), a community-based non-profit organization that focused on alleviating poverty, eliminating xenophobia, and promoting police accountability in inner-city Johannesburg, South Africa.

Yannick first developed an appreciation for the environment through his time as a Boy Scout. He is interested in environmental justice issues. On the side, he enjoys gardening, hiking, and being a cat parent.

Yannick holds a B.A. from the University of Michigan and a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School.

Edward Lloyd, Esq. | Co-Chair

Mr. Lloyd is the Evan M. Frankel Clinical Professor in Environmental Law at Columbia Law School and the Director of the Columbia University Law Clinic,... He is a leading expert in environmental legal issues and citizen suit litigation. Mr. Lloyd is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Fund for New Jersey and serves on the New Jersey Pinelands Commission. He is the former Director of the Rutgers Environmental Law Clinic.read more