Wildlife Protection

Senior Counsel

Jeff serves as Senior Counsel to PEER, where he specializes in civil service, scientific integrity, and whistleblower protection issues. Jeff was PEER’s Executive Director from 1997 to 2019 and its Pacific Director from 2019 to 2025. Previously, he was the Policy Director and a staff attorney at the Government Accountability Project, representing whistleblowers from both the public and private sectors. Before coming to DC, Jeff worked in California state government for 17 years, mostly in the State Legislature as counsel to various committees where he drafted hundreds of laws on topics ranging from energy conservation to the rights of employed inventors. Jeff served stints as a deputy district attorney and an appellate court clerk. He is a graduate of the California Correctional Officers Academy.

COMMENTARY | Beefalo Befuddlement in Grand Canyon

by Jeff Ruch | May 17, 2021
Grand Canyon's plan to "lethally remove" 12 beefalo from its herd is fraught with ambiguity and lacking in scientific rationale ...

Op-Ed | The Park Service Has Lost Its Conservation Compass

by Jeff Ruch |
The Park Service has cut programmatic work on conservation of species like endangered sea turtles - what will it take for NPS to turn itself around ...

COMMENTARY | Migratory Birds Get a Lift with Proposed Rule Reversal

by Tim Whitehouse | May 11, 2021
To protect migratory birds and other living things, we not only need stronger environmental laws, but stronger IGs to ensure compliance ...

Alaska Red King Crab Dethroned by Scientific Fraud

by PEER | April 26, 2021
For 40 Years NOAA Inflated Population and Masked Disastrous Overfishing ...

COMMENTARY | Green Energy: An Eco-Price for Fighting Climate Change

by Guest Contributor | April 20, 2021
Increasing wind energy production, a necessity for clean energy goals, will impact navigation, endangered species, marine mammals and fisheries ...

USGS Restores Fired Lab Biosafety Whistleblower 

by PEER | April 14, 2021
Scientist Had Raised Alarms about Wildlife Disease Lab Biosecurity Breaches ...