I am so excited to join California Coastkeeper Alliance as its new Policy Analyst! My passion for environmental stewardship and water policy stems back to time hiking, running, and swimming in Wissahickon Valley Park on Lenni Lenape land in Philadelphia. As an undergraduate at Saint Joseph’s University and a community relations and fundraising professional at a shelter for unhoused people in Philadelphia, I fell in love with the Wissahickon while experiencing the aftermath of its degradation and pollution from dams and industrial mills.
Those experiences sparked my passion for environmental advocacy and led me to pursue a law degree at the University of Oregon with the sole purpose of becoming an advocate for the environment. At Oregon Law, I tailored my entire experience to focus on environmental law and policy while hiking, running, and swimming in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains.
My time at Oregon Law was transformative and affirmed my desire to pursue a career fighting for a healthier environment. As a student, I served as a representative for the University of Oregon’s 2021 Public Interest Environmental Law Conference and completed clerkships at Cascadia Wildlands in Eugene, the Environmental Defense Center in Santa Barbara, and Earthjustice in Seattle. At Cascadia Wildlands, I worked with a team to successfully advocate for the up-listing of marbled murrelet from threatened to endangered under Oregon’s Endangered Species Act. Additionally, I fulfilled my capstone writing requirement with a research paper on environmental justice, civil rights, and drinking water contamination in the United States. After graduating, I worked as a research associate on the Energy Law and Policy Project at Oregon Law’s Environmental and Natural Resources Law Center. There, I worked with a team to conduct research and analysis for a paper about the Major Questions Doctrine’s impact on environmental policymaking.
California is now my home, and I am thrilled to work with the team at CCKA to help attain fishable, swimmable, and drinkable waters for all Californians.
Policy Analyst Marty Farrell advocates for statewide policies and programs that protect the health of California’s water.
