Staff

Monti Aguirre, Latin America Program Coordinator
Ms. Aguirre works as part of International Rivers’ Latin America program to support local movements for the protection of rivers; to identify new dam projects in Latin America and to examine their economic, social, and environmental impacts; and to design strategies to counteract their effects. She has worked for more than a decade in support of Amazon indigenous peoples’ rights and is co-producer of Amazonia: Voices From the Rainforest, a film on the fight of grassroots groups in the Amazon to defend their lives and their land. She has also been a tireless supporter of the people affected by Chixoy Dam in Guatemala. Prior to joining International Rivers in 1998, Ms. Aguirre worked with the Environmental Action Coalition and El Puente Academy for Peace and Justice in New York City. Ms. Aguirre has a Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology and a Master’s degree from New York University in Environmental Education and Conservation.

Karolo Aparicio, Director of Individual Giving
Mr. Aparicio works to advance International Rivers’ mission by helping increase and diversify financial support for its projects. A development professional and advocate for human rights and environmental sustainability, Mr. Aparicio previously worked at Global Exchange and Save The Bay to expand those organizations’ membership bases. He is also a co-founder of CASA - Salvemos Nuestros Pueblos, an all-volunteer grassroots organization that successfully fought against the San Nicolas Dam in Jalisco, Mexico. Mr. Aparicio earned his Master’s degree in Anthropology at Vanderbilt University and completed a double major in Anthropology and French at San Francisco State University. He has also completed professional certificates in Non-profit Management and Integrated Marketing and is currently enrolled in an MBA program at San Francisco State University.

Peter Bosshard, Policy Director
Mr. Bosshard leads International Rivers’ efforts to strengthen the social and environmental standards of governments, financial institutions, and the dam industry. He has promoted corporate social responsibility since the early 1990s, was closely involved with the World Commission on Dams, and has coordinated campaigns to stop destructive projects in many countries. Mr. Bosshard leads our effort to strengthen the social and environmental standards of China’s overseas investors, and supervises our Policy, Africa and South Asia programs. Mr. Bosshard studied at the universities of Zurich, Minnesota, and the West Indies, and holds a Ph.D. from Zurich University. Before joining International Rivers in 2002, he was the coordinator of the Berne Declaration, a Swiss advocacy organization. Mr. Bosshard has authored numerous reports and articles in books, academic journals and the popular press, and blogs for International Rivers and Huffington Post. His favorite river is the Albula in the Swiss Alps.

Elizabeth Brink, Technology Director/River Revival & Day of Action for Rivers Coordinator
Ms. Brink oversees the Web and IT departments at International Rivers. She also coordinates the annual March 14 International Day of Action for Rivers, as well as River Revival, our river restoration and dam decommissioning project. Ms. Brink began working with International Rivers in 1998 as an intern helping to organize our Dam Decommissioning Strategy Workshop, and joined International Rivers’ staff in 1999. Ms. Brink has a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations and Environmental Science from California State University, Chico, and a Master’s degree in International Environmental Policy from the Monterey Institute of International Studies.

Pianport Deetes, Mekong Campaigner
Based in Bangkok, Ms. Deetes' work focuses on protecting the Mekong River from dams proposed for its mainstream, and in particular on Thailand's role as dam developer and the main intended market for the hydroelectricity. Before joining International Rivers in 2010, Ms. Deetes spent seven years as coordinator of the Thai NGO, Living River Siam (SEARIN), working to empower communities living alongside the Mekong and Salween rivers to protect their rivers, rights and livelihoods, and to stop destructive dams proposed for their rivers. Ms. Deetes has a Bachelor's degree in English and is an Ashoka Fellow.

Ian Elwood, Web Producer
Mr. Elwood works on all aspects of the website. He coordinates with staff and site users to ensure an accurate and engaging presentation of International Rivers' work in various media. Mr. Elwood previously worked on technology projects for CorpWatch, Media Alliance, Spot.Us and other nonprofits, creating and managing tools used for social change. When he is not advocating for open web standards, open source software, corporate accountability and ecological democracy, he likes to bike, hike, go to the farmers market and spend time with his partner and their house rabbits. Mr. Elwood earned both a Master's degree in Media Studies and a Bachelor's degree in Arts & Social Change from New College of California.

Jamie Greenblatt, Assistant to the Executive Director
Ms. Greenblatt provides administrative support to the executive director, and assistance to other International Rivers program and administrative staff as needed. She also serves as liaison to the International Rivers staff and board of directors. Most of her employment experience, prior to joining International Rivers, has been as a paralegal, including fifteen years at a civil rights law firm. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Theatre Arts from Oberlin College. In her spare time she writes plays and serves as her young son’s social director. She joined International Rivers in 2005.

Terri Hathaway, Africa Program Director
Ms. Hathaway provides advocacy and analytical support to African communities and NGOs working to protect themselves from the destructive impacts of large dams. Her work focuses on the proposed Grand Inga project in the Democratic Republic of Congo and plans for an extensive hydro-based grid expansion across sub-Saharan Africa. She is monitoring numerous proposed dams and helping communities long affected by Kariba and other destructive dams to seek reparations. Ms. Hathaway also works with local African NGOs and dam-affected communities to advocate for participatory water and energy planning and to promote decentralized, renewable energy options. She is an advisor to the African Rivers Network, which links African NGOs and dam-affected communities. Before joining International Rivers in 2004, Ms. Hathaway completed Pipe Dreams: People of the Cameroon Pipeline, an independent documentary about the local impacts of a World Bank sponsored oil pipeline. She received her Bachelor’s degree in social work and Master’s degree in public administration, both from the University of Washington in Seattle.

Inanna Hazel, Director of Finance and Operations
Ms. Hazel oversees International Rivers’s finance, human resources, and office management activities, and serves as a member of International Rivers’s management team. Before joining International Rivers in 2002, she worked at a variety of for-profit and nonprofit organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area, including serving as the office administrator at the San Francisco office of the Natural Resources Defense Council. She is trained as an herbalist, and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a Master’s degree in Theological Studies.

Gary Hughes, Patagonia Campaign Consultant
Mr. Hughes joined International Rivers in 2009 to lead our Patagonia Campaign. Mr. Hughes works with Chilean and international partners to stop a series of dams planned for Chile's Patagonia region. He began working on environmental and human rights issues in the 1980s and spent time in both Guatemala and Nicaragua working on environmental education and recreation projects with youth in marginalized communities. He has also served as an instructor on mountaineering and river rafting courses for Outward Bound and for the National Outdoor Leadership School. Over the last 12 years, Mr. Hughes has worked on environmental protection in Chile with Ancient Forest International, Native Forest Network, Forest Ethics, and the Natural Resources Defense Council. It is this intimate involvement with the natural treasures and diverse communities of South America that inspires him in this line of work. Mr. Hughes received his Bachelor's in Science in Sociology from the University of Oregon, and completed his Master's of Science in the Environmental Studies Program at the University of Montana.

Aviva Imhof, Campaigns Director
Ms. Imhof manages International Rivers' Latin America and Southeast Asia programs, and is actively involved in campaigns to stop dams in Chilean Patagonia, the Amazon and Southeast Asia. She works with regional and international program partners in investigating hydropower projects in Latin America and Southeast Asia, disseminating information, and providing technical, legal and campaign assistance. She was the lead organizer of Rivers for Life: The Second International Meeting of Dam–Affected People and their Allies, which brought together 300 people from 62 countries in Rasi Salai, Thailand in December 2003. She co-wrote Dams, Rivers and Rights: An Action Guide for Communities Affected by Dams and a Citizen's Guide to the World Commission on Dams, coordinated the report, Power Struggle: The Impacts of Hydro-Development in Laos, and has written extensively on the movement to stop destructive river development projects in Southeast Asia. Ms. Imhof joined International Rivers in 1998. She has a Bachelor's degree in Law and a Bachelor's degree in Social Work from the University of New South Wales, Australia. The river of her heart is the Mekong.

Shannon Lawrence, Senior Policy Analyst
Ms. Lawrence works with International Rivers' policy team to advocate for stronger environmental and social standards at international financial institutions and promote alternative approaches to water and energy development. Before joining International Rivers, Ms. Lawrence worked for Environmental Defense in Washington, DC as an international policy analyst. During her five years with Environmental Defense, she monitored World Bank and Asian Development Bank operations and policies, including large infrastructure projects in Laos, Pakistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and other countries. Ms. Lawrence has written a number of reports and articles about international financial institutions and their environmental, social and accountability standards. Her previous experience includes development work with indigenous groups and local volunteers for International Voluntary Services in Ecuador and media and community relations for a national public relations agency. Ms. Lawrence has a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and English from Georgetown University and a Master’s degree in Development Economics and Environmental Policy from the Fletcher School at Tufts University. Ms. Lawrence joined International Rivers in 2007 and is currently based outside of Washington, DC.

Aaron Levy, IT Administrator
Mr. Levy excels at keeping the International Rivers network and computers in order and the staff amused. Growing up near the Yuba River prepared him almost as well for this job as his vast technical experience. Since becoming a staff member in 2007, Mr. Levy graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a Bachelor's degree in Peace and Conflict Studies, focused on human rights. Highlights of his tenure include building the staff intranet, affectionately named The Swamp, and waking up to find his shoes in a fountain.

Berklee Lowrey-Evans, Online Organizer and Campaigns Assistant
Ms. Lowrey-Evans coordinates International Rivers' online organizing efforts, assists our Latin America and Southeast Asia campaigners, and is helping organize Rivers for Life 3: The Third International Meeting of Dam Affected People and Their Allies. In her free time, you will find her practicing and performing with two local Salsa dance teams, or knitting something interesting for friends and family. Ms. Lowrey-Evans joined the International Rivers team in 2008 after graduating from the University of California, Berkeley with a Bachelor’s Degree in Development Studies.

Ikuko Matsumoto, Laos Program Director
Prior to joining International Rivers in 2009, Ms. Matsumoto worked for the International Finance Corporation (IFC), one of the private arms of World Bank Group in Washington, DC as a policy officer in the Environment and Social Development Department. To ensure the implementation of new sustainability policies of IFC, she developed training and guidance materials, analyzed policy implementation, and shared the IFC's experience with Equator Principle Financial Institutions, Export Credit Agencies and other financial institutions. Prior to joining the IFC, Ms. Matsumoto was a Program Director of Friends of the Earth Japan (FoEJ), where she had over eight years of experience in leading campaigns, developing advocacy strategies, and coordinating among local, national and international NGOs in order to reform the social and environmental policies and practices of Japan Bank for International Cooperation, Japan International Cooperation Agency, and Nippon Export Investment Insurance. During her work with FoEJ, she helped to create a new environmental policy at JBIC, and facilitated policy dialogues among different stakeholders. Her previous experience includes advocating climate change policies for Kiko Forum, and developing environmental policies in the local governments of Japan for a consultancy firm. Ms. Matsumoto has a Bachelor's degree in Economics from Kobe Gakuin University in Japan and a Master's degree in Social Ecology from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.

Patrick McCully, Executive Director
Mr. McCully is author of Silenced Rivers: The Ecology and Politics of Large Dams (Zed Books, London, 1996; updated edition 2001), described by Booker Prize-winning Indian author Arundhati Roy as "a truly dazzling book." Silenced Rivers has also been published in Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin and Farsi. He has written numerous articles and reports and made many presentations at universities, conferences and other public events on issues connecting dams, human rights, riverine ecosystems, international development, climate change, energy and water policies. Mr. McCully was International Rivers' Campaigns Director from 1994 to 2005. He has worked on numerous campaigns to stop or reduce the impacts of destructive dams, and to promote better methods of meeting water and energy needs. He was a member of the Steering Committee of the UN Environment Programme’s Dams and Development Project, of the World Commission on Dams Forum, and of the group that oversaw the establishment of the World Commission on Dams. He is an advisory board member of EcoEquity, a US-based NGO that advocates for a just and effective global climate treaty, and of two Indian organizations, the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People and the Manthan Research Centre. Before joining International Rivers, Mr. McCully was co-editor of the UK journal The Ecologist, and editor of an information service for NGOs based in Uruguay. Mr. McCully, originally from Northern Ireland, has a Bachelor’s degree in Archaeology from the University of Nottingham, England.

Lia Metz, Bookkeeper and Office Manager
Before joining International Rivers in 2008, Ms. Metz worked for both nonprofit and for-profit organizations, including A New PATH (Parents for Addiction Treatment for Healing) and First Equity Direct. Ms. Metz has been in bookkeeping and management positions since 2001, but her interest in environmental and human rights issues extend much farther back to before High School, where she was the President of the "Students for Environmental Action" club. In her spare time, she enjoys working on theatrical productions.

Samir Mehta, South Asia Program Director
Mr. Mehta works with regional partners to campaign against the construction of destructive dams in the Himalayas. He supports social movements and provides advocacy support to South Asian communities and NGOs. Mr. Mehta was appointed by the Bombay High Court on a Committee to assess the impacts of development on the tidal movement of a coastal river in Mumbai. Prior to joining International Rivers in 2010, Mr. Mehta worked with Bombay Environmental Action Group for over 17 years. He worked on environmental and town and regional planning legislation and developed an expertise on declaration and planning of ecologically sensitive areas. He was on several Federal and State appointed Committees. After obtaining his Bachelor's Degree in Statistics from the University of Bombay, India, he started his career in IT. Exposure to environmental activism in the west influenced his decision to change careers. He also has a Master's Degree in Public Administration from Harvard University.

Carl Middleton, Mekong Program Coordinator - View my video >>
Mr. Middleton's work focuses on monitoring the dam building industry in the Mekong Region, and promoting better planning processes and technologies for sustainable use of water and energy resources. Prior to joining International Rivers in 2006, Mr. Middleton spent three years living and working in Cambodia with local NGOs on a variety of environmental and natural resource management issues including: agriculture, industrial pollution, plantations, fisheries, and gold mining. Most recently, Mr. Middleton was based at the Fisheries Action Coalition Team researching and monitoring major development projects around the Tonle Sap Lake, promoting community fisheries, and developing a Tonle Sap Community Database. In addition, Mr. Middleton held a part-time lecturer position within the Department of Environmental Science at the Royal University of Phnom Penh teaching environmental ethics and environmental chemistry. Mr. Middleton graduated from the University of Manchester, UK with a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering and a Ph.D. in Environmental Chemistry.

Payal Parekh, Climate Program Director
Ms. Parekh works with the Climate team to raise awareness that dams are emitters of the powerful greenhouse gas, methane; to stop international carbon offsetting schemes; and promote climate adaptation strategies that protect rivers and the communities dependent on them. Before joining International Rivers in 2008, her experience included working in solidarity with the Narmada Bachao Andolan, a social movement in India fighting the damming of the Narmada River, investigating the Indian government’s plans to interlink rivers, and providing technical environmental assistance to Indian NGOs and social movements. Most recently, she was a Marie Curie research fellow at the University of Bern in Switzerland conducting scientific research on carbon cycle – climate interactions. Ms. Parekh holds a Ph.D. in Oceanography from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Lori Pottinger, Editor, World Rivers Review and Africa Campaigns
Ms. Pottinger is one of our key communications staff members: she is the editor of International Rivers' quarterly publication, World Rivers Review, editor and manager of our annual Dams, Rivers and People reports, and an editor for our website. Since joining International Rivers in 1995, she has been a lead campaigner for our Africa program, working to raise international awareness about the problems with large dams in Africa and alternatives to them. Key campaigns include the Bujagali Dam in Uganda; the giant Lesotho Highlands Water Project (read a personal essay about her field visit there); and the proposed Mphanda Nkuwa Dam in Mozambique (watch a video interview with her on this project). She was the primary editor for “A Renewable Energy Plan for Mozambique,” a groundbreaking analysis of that nation’s potential for green energy.  She also solicited research on the relationship of dam operations in Uganda and dropping water levels at Lake Victoria, and helped publicize the results. Ms. Pottinger has a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism from San Francisco State University, and a Master’s degree in Landscape Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley. After so many years with the organization, she still finds it challenging and satisfying; right now, she is especially excited about the prospects for energy efficiency. She regularly blogs for Huffington Post and International Rivers.

Elizabeth Sabel, Foundations Director
Ms. Sabel oversees International Rivers’ grant proposals and reports. She supports International Rivers’ mission by helping to raise money for its programs and increase awareness of its issues. She is motivated by the dedication of her colleagues and the communities around the globe who are working to protect their rights, land and livelihoods. Before joining International Rivers in 2003, she applied her research, editing and writing skills in her work for several non-profit organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area. Ms. Sabel has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Arizona.

Glenn Switkes (1951-2009), Amazon Program Director
Based in Brazil, Mr. Switkes was responsible for International Rivers' campaigns in Latin America, the Amazon river basin. He joined International Rivers in 1994 to facilitate organization of a campaign on the Hidrovia project, which would open a shipping channel through Latin America’s second largest river system with potentially devastating environmental impacts to the Pantanal, the world’s largest tropical wetlands. Mr. Switkes helped to facilitate the creation of a network of grassroots groups working for protection of the rivers of Amazonia, particularly in light of plans to build a network of 70 large dams in the Brazilian Amazon, and to convert three of the principal tributaries of the Amazon into industrial waterways. Before coming to International Rivers, Mr. Switkes coordinated Rainforest Action Network’s Western Amazon oil campaign, where he worked closely with environmental groups and indigenous peoples’ organizations to challenge the handing over of vast areas of the Amazon for oil drilling. Mr. Switkes was a journalist and filmmaker who produced an Oscar-winning documentary, and who worked for more than 25 years in support of indigenous rights.

Susanne Wong, Special Projects Coordinator
Ms. Wong is helping organize the 3rd International Meeting of Dam-Affected People and Their Allies in Mexico in 2010. She also writes articles as Assistant Editor of International Rivers' newsletter, World Rivers Review. Ms. Wong has worked on and off for the last 10 years for International Rivers as a consultant, campaigner for the Southeast and East Asia programs and campaigns assistant. She co-authored several publications, including the Citizens’ Guide to the World Commission on Dams and Dams, Rivers and Rights: An Action Guide for Communities Affected by Dams. She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a Bachelor's degree in Environmental Engineering Science.

Katy Yan, Campaigns Assistant and Intern & Volunteer Coordinator
Ms. Yan joined International Rivers as an intern in the China Program. Currently, she manages the Intern and Volunteer program and provides support for the Climate, Policy, Africa and China programs. She will also be helping to organize the 10th Anniversary of the World Commission on Dams and the Rivers for Life 3: The Third International Meeting of Dam Affected People and Their Allies. Within the Climate team, she researches both regional and international offset programs, and promotes awareness of the links among climate change, rivers and human livelihoods. Prior to joining International Rivers in 2008, she acted as a Head Program and Teaching Assistant at Stanford’s Earth Systems Program. When she isn’t promoting environmental education, civic engagement, and empathy, she's practicing Chinese brush painting and calligraphy, rock-climbing, and exploring hidden cultural spaces in the Bay Area. Ms. Yan received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Earth Systems from Stanford University.