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Vincent Nolette joined the Sabin Center in April 2024 as the Equitable Cities Climate Law Fellow. His work supports the Center’s Cities Climate Law Initiative, focusing on developing city-level law and policy at the intersection of climate and racial wealth equity.

Before joining the Sabin Center, Vincent served as an Excelsior Legal Fellow at the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and was also a litigation associate at Carter Ledyard & Milburn LLP.  Before law school, he worked on the Human Rights Measurement Initiative (HRMI) in Wellington, New Zealand.

Vincent received his J.D. from CUNY Law School in 2022, where he concentrated in Environmental Justice, and a B.A. in Economics from Saint Louis University in 2018, where he was awarded the Leroy J. Grossman Outstanding Student Award in Economics.

You can reach Vincent at [email protected].

Olivia Guarna joined the Sabin Center as a Climate Justice Fellow in September 2024. Her work focuses on environmental justice and equity considerations in climate change law and policy, such as energy insecurity or the cumulative burdens of land use and siting decisions.

Olivia graduated from New York University School of Law in 2024. At NYU, she was the editor-in-chief of the N.Y.U. Environmental Law Journal and a research assistant to the NYU-Yale American Indian Sovereignty Project. She was a summer intern for the Vermont Law School’s Center for Agriculture and Food Systems and Earthjustice’s Toxic Exposure and Health Program. Olivia received her B.A. from Lafayette College in 2019.

Matthew Eisenson joined the Sabin Center in May 2022, where his work is focused on leading and expanding the Renewable Energy Legal Defense Initiative (RELDI), which uses legal research and engagement to support siting utility- and community-scale renewable energy facilities and associated transmission and storage equipment.

Before joining the Sabin Center, Matthew served for four years as an Assistant Attorney General in the Environmental Protection Bureau of the New York State Attorney General’s Office. He also previously worked as a litigation associate at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP and as a law clerk for Senior U.S. District Judge Berle M. Schiller of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Before law school, he served as a special assistant to the President and Executive Director of the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Matthew received a J.D. from Yale Law School in 2015 and a B.A. in History, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, with distinction in the major, from Yale College in 2009.

Martin Lockman is a Climate Law Fellow at the Sabin Center, where his work focuses on climate-related financial risk and the law and finance of complex climate infrastructure projects. Prior to joining the Sabin Center, Martin worked in renewable energy and infrastructure finance at Milbank LLP’s New York office. From 2021-2022, Martin clerked for the Honorable Cynthia M. Rufe on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Martin graduated from Columbia Law School in 2019, where he was a James Kent Scholar (2017-2019) and a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar (2016-2017). While at Columbia, he served as Articles Editor for the Columbia Human Rights Law Review, worked as a Research Assistant at the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment, and spent a semester in the Law and Finance MLS program at Oxford University through Columbia’s Global Alliance Program. Before law school, Martin worked as a community organizer in southern West Virginia. He received his Bachelor of Arts from Washington University in St. Louis in 2014.

Martin’s recent publications include The Private Litigation Impact of New York’s Green Amendment,49 Colum. J. Envtl. L. 357 (2024), Climate Entrenchment in Unstable Legal Regimes, 118 Nw. U. L. Rev. Online (2023), and Fencing the Wind: Property Rights in Renewable Energy, 50 W.V. L. Rev. 27 (2022). Martin’s work has been extensively covered in the media, and has been cited by the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

You can reach Martin by email at [email protected].

Margaret Barry is the Environmental Law Writer at the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. She manages the Sabin Center’s U.S. Climate Change Litigation Database and is the managing editor of the Environmental Law in New York newsletter. Margaret received her J.D. from New York University School of Law, where she was the editor-in-chief of the New York University Environmental Law Journal. 

Prior to joining CSLDF, Lauren was a litigation associate at the international law firm Dechert LLP. At Dechert, she represented commercial and individual clients on a variety of multi-billion and multi-million dollar commercial disputes as well as litigation over Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, document discovery claims, and defamation claims.

She has also held legal and policy positions at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Lauren graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

Jacob Elkin rejoined the Sabin Center in October 2023 as a Renewable Energy Legal Defense Initiative (RELDI) Fellow. His work focuses on supporting utility- and community-scale renewable energy, along with associated transmission and storage, through legal research and engagement.  

Jacob was a 2021-22 Climate Law Fellow at the Sabin Center, during which time he worked on issues pertaining to climate resilience, renewable energy development, climate change attribution science, and cryptocurrency. He then clerked on the District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Jacob graduated from Columbia Law School in 2021, where he was awarded the Alfred S. Forsyth Price for dedication to the advancement of environmental law. While there, Jacob participated in the Environmental Law Clinic and served as the Managing Online and Symposium Editor for the Columbia Journal of Race and Law. He received a B.A. from the University of Chicago in 2016.

Isabel joined the Sabin Center in May 2023 as its Assistant Director of Operations. In this role, she designs and manages processes related to budgets, grants, contracts and other business operations. 

Isabel previously held positions at Achievement First, a public charter school network serving 41 schools in New York, Connecticut and Rhode Island, where she led board relations and governance; at Evolve, a venture-philanthropy outfit in California, where she developed and institutionalized policies and procedures governing day-to-day operations including finance and grants management; and at the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, where she administered funds in support of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Isabel has a BA in Communications from Ateneo de Manila University (Philippines) and a MA in International Affairs from The New School (New York). 

Ilmi Granoff is a Senior Fellow at the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law and Adjunct Research Scholar at Columbia Law School. He is an attorney and climate and sustainable finance expert with over two decades of experience—spanning public, private, and third-sector institutions—working on the policy and financing of the transition to a net-zero greenhouse gas, sustainable economy. He serves as a trusted advisor, manager, and fiduciary for philanthropies, governments, financial institutions, and companies on sustainable finance and policy matters in the US, Europe, Latin America, and Africa, and an accomplished speaker, researcher, and author. 

Ilmi is also a member of the Climate-related Financial Risk Advisory Committee (CFRAC) of the Financial Stability Oversight Council at the US Department of the Treasury, and a Visiting Senior Fellow at the Grantham Research Institute at the London School of Economics. llmi is a principal at the strategic advisory firm Climate Technology Group and at the private investment firm Adventure Capital and a Senior Advisor to the ClimateWorks Foundation, where he recently served as a Senior Director and established and led their Finance Program. Previously, Ilmi headed the Green Growth Business Unit at the Overseas Development Institute, served as the Special Counsel for Climate and Environment at the African Development Bank, practiced law in the global energy and infrastructure group at Freshfields, and worked at the United Nations Development Program. He holds a J.D. from New York University School of Law, master's degrees in international relations and environmental science from Yale University, and a B.A. (High Honors) from Swarthmore College.

Dr. Maria Antonia is the Director of Global Climate Change Litigation at the Sabin Center. She manages the Sabin Center's Global Climate Change Litigation Database with the support of the Sabin Center's Peer Review Network of Climate Litigation. Maria Antonia is a leading expert in the field of climate change law and climate litigation, having published dozens of articles on the topic. She also co-heads the Sabin Center and GNHRE's project on Climate Litigation in the Global South. Her research particularly focuses on rights-based climate litigation, climate litigation in the Global South, and the forthcoming advisory opinions on climate change. 

With extensive experience in the field, she previously worked as a Senior Attorney at the Environment Program of the Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice. During her tenure, she provided pro bono legal services to NGOs worldwide, focusing on issues related to protected areas and the intersection of human rights and the environment. Prior to her work at the Vance Center, Maria Antonia held a fellowship position at the World Resources Institute. Before, she practiced law in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in the private sector. Maria Antonia also serves as the Deputy Director of the Global Network for Human Rights and the Environment (GNHRE), where she collaborates with scholars and practitioners to study the relationship between human rights and the environment.

As a member of the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law, Maria Antonia actively contributes to developing and advancing environmental legal frameworks. She has authored numerous publications on regional and international environmental law, with a specific focus on environmental rights, the evolution of international environmental law, and climate litigation. Her research also encompasses the protection of the Amazon ecosystem, emphasizing the importance of regional cooperation.

Maria Antonia is a sought-after speaker at conferences and symposiums and has delivered a TEDx talk. She completed her Doctorate in Juridical Studies (S.JD.) at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University in 2022. In 2013, she earned a dual LL.M., magna cum laude, specializing in environmental law and comparative legal studies, from the same institution. Maria Antonia obtained her LL.B. from the Pontifícia Universidade Católica of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Daniel Metzger joined the Sabin Center in September 2023 as a Smart Surfaces Fellow. His work focuses on facilitating the adoption of reflective roofs and pavements, porous pavements, green roofs, solar PV, trees, and more at the metropolitan and community level.

Before joining the Sabin Center, Dan advocated for the just transition to renewable electricity generation in the Southeast as a litigator with the Southern Environmental Law Center. Prior to that role Dan was a Climate Law Fellow at the Sabin Center focused on international climate change litigation, climate risks and opportunities in the reinsurance industry, and the law and science of climate change attribution. 

Dan clerked on District Court for the Eastern District of New York after graduating from Vanderbilt Law School, where he was the executive editor of the Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law and a member of the Environmental Law and Policy Annual Review. He also completed a master’s degree in natural resource management at Iceland’s University Centre of the Westfjords.

Cynthia Hanawalt is the Director of the Sabin Center’s financial regulation practice. Her work supports regulatory and policy responses to climate-related financial risk at the federal and state level and includes a focus on the complex intersections of ESG and antitrust law with sustainability goals and climate resiliency measures. Cynthia is affiliated with Columbia Climate School and the Initiative for Climate Risk & Resilience Law. She is a frequent speaker and media source and writes regularly on issues of climate law and finance.

Prior to joining the Sabin Center, Cynthia served as Chief of the Investor Protection Bureau for the New York State Office of the Attorney General. Under her leadership, the Bureau recovered over $850M on behalf of New York investors and achieved groundbreaking results in electronic trading and cryptocurrency matters. Previously, she was a litigation partner at the firm Bleichmar Fonti & Auld LLP.

Cynthia serves as a Trustee and Chair of the Audit Committee of Wave Hill, a public garden and cultural center in the Bronx. She is a graduate of Columbia Law School, where she was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, and Duke University, where she received the William J. Griffith University Service Award.

Chloe Field received her J.D. from Harvard Law School in 2021 and an L.LM in Environmental and Energy Law from NYU Law in 2023. She previously worked as a litigation associate at Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP. Chloe will be joining the Sabin Center as a Legal Fellow to contribute to the Center’s work addressing climate risk and resilience in the financial sector. Working with the ICRRL she will focus on federal and state regulatory efforts to address climate-related financial risks. Chloe is barred in New York and Florida. 

Dr. Carolina Arlota is currently a non-resident fellow at Columbia Law School under the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. Her work explores international and domestic (U.S.) laws governing the cross-border transport of carbon dioxide (CO₂) for sequestration, and how such transportation fits into broader climate and environmental protection regimes, including the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, carbon markets and emissions trading. This line of investigation builds on her previous research on the Paris Agreement and related climate policies. Carolina’s research interests are further detailed at her SSRN webpage.

Carolina is the co-editor of the book Carbon Capture and Storage in International Policyand Law: Perspectives on Sustainable Development, Climate Change, and Energy Transition (Elsevier, Oct. 2021). She publishes in law journals as well as in renowned peer-reviewed journals, such as the Review of Law & Economics, and the European Business Law. Her academic credentials also include being a referee for International Review of Law and Economics, Energy Policy, and the Journal of Law and Courts. In addition, she is an invited reviewer for Routledge Publishers.

Carolina holds an LL.M. and a J.S.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, College of Law. Her doctoral thesis investigates the Brazilian federalism vis-à-vis the U.S. federal system discussing how federalism choices adopted by the Brazilian Constitution of 1988 have impacted judicial review since then. In Illinois, Carolina was awarded the Lemann Graduate Fellowship. At the time, she was also a recipient of coveted fellowships granted by the TINKER Foundation to conduct field studies in Brazil and by the Fondation pour le Droit Continental (Université Paris II, Pantheon Assas, located in Paris, France).

Prior to joining the Sabin Center, Carolina was a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Oklahoma, College of Law, where she has taught several courses on international law, including International Commercial and Investment Arbitration, International Business Transactions, Comparative Law, European Union Law, and International Energy Law. Before moving to the United States, Carolina held prestigious clerkships in Brazil and worked as an attorney for Petroleo Brasileiro S.A—PETROBRAS, the Brazilian state-controlled oil company. During her tenure at PETROBRAS, then among the top ten largest oil companies, her practice focused on International Commercial Arbitration and International Business Transactions. Carolina is a member in good standing of the New York Bar as well as of the Brazilian National Bar Association. She currently co-chairs the American Branch of the International Law Association—ABILA’s committee on International Environmental and Energy Law.

Ashwin Murthy joined the Sabin Center as a Negative Emissions Fellow in August 2024. His work focuses on the legal framework around negative emissions and ocean-based carbon dioxide removal, at both the national and international level.

Ashwin Murthy graduated from Columbia Law School in 2024 with an LL.M. Prior to Columbia, Ashwin worked at Kim & Chang in Korea, and in Khaitan & Co. in India, as an arbitration and dispute resolution lawyer. Ashwin graduated from NALSAR University of Law, India with a B.A. LL.B. in 2020, and is qualified to practice law in India.

Amy Turner is the Director of the Cities Climate Law Initiative at the Sabin Center, and an Associate Research Scholar at Columbia Law School. Her work focuses on the laws and legal tools cities use to achieve their climate and equity commitments. In addition to legal academic research on municipal carbon mitigation law and policy, Amy consults directly with city attorneys and sustainability professionals on legal questions relating to carbon mitigation in the buildings, transportation, waste and energy sectors. She is particularly interested in the intersection of environmental and municipal law and in identifying legal pathways for cities to enact policies consistent with their climate and equity targets, including through evolving laws such as the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. She is co-author of the book Urban Climate Law from Columbia University Press and is widely cited in press stories on local climate law and policy. Amy is also a senior advisor to the Sustainable Cities Fund.

Prior to joining the Sabin Center in 2019, Amy was the executive director and a co-founder of the NYC Climate Action Alliance. She practiced environmental and transactional law for ten years at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP and in solo practice. Amy graduated from Middlebury College, magna cum laude, and from Harvard Law School, where she was an articles and technical editor for the Harvard Environmental Law Review. She formerly served as co-chair for the New York City Bar Association’s Committee on Environmental Law and currently serves on New York City’s Sustainability Advisory Board, which advises the city on a range of sustainability initiatives, and as vice chair of the board of directors for the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative.