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Senior Counsel

Peter has been an environmental, land use, and consumer attorney and advocate since 1983. He has held various roles in Washington, DC including Of Counsel at the Center for Food Safety; Vice President for U.S. Government Policy at Conservation International; Director of International Conservation at Defenders of Wildlife; and Staff Attorney at the Center for Science in the Public Interest. Additionally, he worked as a contracted consultant on endangered species recovery efforts with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Turner Endangered Species Fund in New Mexico. Prior to that, he served as an Attorney and Policy Analyst for the U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, and was also in private law practice. His career has centered on bringing the best science to bear in environmental protection efforts; he has specialized in working with scientists so their findings can inform good policy, as well as in federal litigation. Most of his work has been in aid of wildlife conservation in the fields of pesticides, genetically modified organisms, invasive species, wildlife disease prevention, international trade, land use conflicts, and other areas. Peter received his law degree from the University of Puget Sound (now Seattle University) School of Law and also has a master’s degree in Environmental Studies from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, with a focus on conservation biology.

Op-Ed | Biden’s Leadership Vacancies at Interior Recall Trump’s Track Record

by Peter Jenkins | December 16, 2021
The department plays a pivotal role in fulfilling many of the administration’s goals. It deserves more than temporary minders ...

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

by Jeff Ruch | May 17, 2021
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 ...

Op-Ed | Reversing Scientific Integrity’s Race to the Bottom

by Tim Whitehouse | April 21, 2021
Biden's order to review federal agencies' scientific integrity policies must include certain provisions to work - suppression of science is a major problem ...

3 whales on the path to extinction in US waters

by Kyla Bennett | April 7, 2021
“If current trends hold, the U.S. will earn the uniquely ignominious distinction of presiding over the extinction of three large whale species which largely or solely inhabit our waters. The extinction of any one of these whales would be a black eye for American conservation while ...

Scientific integrity, or more hot air?

by Jeff Ruch | April 4, 2021
“On Jan. 27, President Biden issued a more than 10-page executive memo to all agencies on the topic of scientific integrity. In an accompanying fact sheet, the White House claimed this action sends “a clear message that the Biden-Harris Administration will protect scientists ...