Staff Alumni
Libby Zemaitis
Climate Change Program Coordinator
Libby Zemaitis led the Climate Change Program at the NYS DEC Hudson River Estuary Program. Her team helped communities adapt to climate change and build resiliency to flooding, heat and social risks using nature-based solutions, in collaboration with the DEC Office of Climate Change and other state agency and non-profit partners.
Lyndsey Cooper
Climate Outreach Specialist
Lyndsey served as the Climate Outreach Specialist at the NYS DEC Hudson River Estuary Program. She supported communities in the Hudson Valley to adapt to climate change and build resiliency through community planning, ecological solutions, and collaborative design.
Clif Staples
Climate Change Specialist
Email: clifton.staples [at] dec.ny.gov
Primary Location: New Paltz (HREP)
Originally from Maine, Clif started working at WRI in 2019 researching flood risk with the Climate Change Program. During this time, he has worked with the NYS DEC Hudson River Estuary Program on improving resilience to climate change in the Hudson Valley. As part of this work, Clif has worked closely with the Office of Climate Change Climate Smart Communities project where he co-chairs the equity and climate justice working group. His interests include climate change communications and interdisciplinary problem solving.
Kristin Marcell
Climate Change and Special Projects (CV)
Telephone: 845-256-3017
Email: kristin.marcell [at] dec.ny.gov
Kristin led the Climate Resilience team. The team works with Hudson Valley partners to help riverfront communities increase their resilience to flooding, heat and drought, and with the DEC Office of Climate Change and other state partners to create policies that foster resilient nature-based solutions. She’s deeply interested in approaches that rebuild human equity, reduce long-term costs, enhance living systems and connect communities with what they love most. She was lead author of the NYS Sea Level Rise Task Force report and co-developed the NYS Climate Smart Communities Program. Kristin has a M.A. in Urban and Environmental Policy from Tufts University and a B.A. in Biology from Clark University.
Osamu Tsuda
Outreach Assistant
Email: ojt3 [at] cornell.edu
Osamu Tsuda worked in collaboration with WRI and Cornell Cooperative Extension helping municipalities throughout New York’s southern-tier become certified Climate Smart Communities.
Jessica Kuonen
Research & Outreach Assistant
Email: jak546 [at] cornell.edu
Jessica helped administer WRI’s programs, grants, and outreach while fostering statewide partnerships with New York Sea Grant and the Hudson River Estuary Program. Her research and interests include community engagement, resilience and adaption planning, and natural resource decision-making in a changing world. She hails from Syracuse, NY, the traditional land of the Onondaga Nation.
Tahneen Jahan Neelam
Research Assistant
Email: tjn47 [at] cornell.edu
Tahneen Jahan Neelam's work with WRI involved watershed scale hydrologic modeling. Her current research focuses on the hydrologic responses of solar farms. She received her MS in Civil Engineering from University of Texas at El Paso in 2018 and BSc from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology in 2014.
Allison Truhlar
Email: amt94 [at] cornell.edu
Allison currently serves as the AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow within the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science, Office of Workforce Development for Teachers & Science (WDTS). In this role, she works to increase the visibility and diversity of WDTS's national internship programs, and collaborates with inter-agency partners to advance Federal STEM education and workforce development priorities.