STAFF

  • John Meyer

    EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

    John is the first person in his family to graduate from a four year college. He started Cottonwood after graduating with honors from Vermont Law School in 2009. During law school, John clerked for Jack Tuholske, Tom Woodbury, EarthJustice, the Sierra Club, and Vermont Law School’s Natural Resource Clinic.

    John received an undergraduate degree in biology and Spanish from the University of Montana and then worked as a seasonal biologist for the Flathead and Tongass National Forests. He spent two summers getting dropped off on the side of a road with a map and compass in northwest Montana to survey alone for threatened and endangered plants in grizzly bear habitat where the Forest Service wanted to log. One of the first lawsuits John won with Cottonwood stopped a coal railroad from taking farmers and ranchers land in southeast Montana—because the government failed to survey for rare plants.

    John lived in a yurt without running water or electricity in southwest Montana for more than five years to get Cottonwood started. He hunts, skis, mountain bikes, climbs, occasionally skins road kill, and chases his identical twin sons around the Greater Yellowstone.

    John currently serves as the Chair of the Natural Resources, Energy, and Environmental Law section of the State Bar of Montana.

  • Nathan Gracey

    DEPUTY DIRECTOR

    Nathan graduated from Montana State University with a degree in environmental studies. Growing up in the Sierra Nevada Mountains skiing, climbing and hiking right outside his backdoor gave him a strong passion and love for outdoor environments and public lands.

    Going to school in Montana has given Nathan a strong awareness of the environmental issues concerning all the places so many people love to recreate in. He has recognized the potential to make a meaningful impact, armed with the knowledge gained from his coursework, and that’s why he has decided to become a part of Cottonwood. Nathan sits on the city of Bozeman sustainability advisory board and joined Cottonwood full time after a year long internship.

    In Nathan’s free time you can find him reading, embarking on month-long cycling adventures, attempting (with little success) to grow plants, and occasionally pulling Cottonwood’s executive director up some cracks in the Gallatin.

  • DR. MEGAN WOLFF

    ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH DIRECTOR

    Megan holds a doctorate and a masters degree in public health from Columbia University, and a BA in English from Wesleyan University. Her dedication to environmental health comes from her sense that the health of the ecosystem and the health of those who live in it are inextricable. We cannot live on a planet we pollute (and we wouldn’t want to, anyway).

    Megan’s first dream job at age 8 was to join Greenpeace to zip around in zodiac boats saving whales from extinction. As a grown-up she is still passionate and action-oriented, though most of her career has taken place on land. After graduate school, she worked for over a decade in the department of psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City. In 2021, she turned back to her environmental roots, and became the health policy director at Beyond Plastics, an advocacy group fighting plastic pollution. During that time, she served on the Minderoo-Monaco Commission on Plastics and Human Health, a research group whose comprehensive report on the heath impacts of plastic was released in March, 2023. She continues to give lectures and teaches a course on the subject.

    Megan’s involvement with the Cottonwood Environmental Law Center began when Cottonwood took aim at HB 407 -- the Montana state law banning the local regulation of single use plastic -- and won. She is excited to bring her public health expertise, her experience in policy and advocacy, and her commitment to environmental health to further work in and around Bozeman. In her free time, Megan is a parent, a gardener, a coffee drinker, and a doting steward of two cats.

  • Alex Weinman

    COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR

    Alex Weinman is a recent graduate of Colorado College who interned for Cottonwood last summer, running the Center’s social media pages. He has been serving on Cottonwood’s Advisory Board since November of 2023 as the Center’s social media expert, and is currently a Master’s student in Marist College’s Integrated Marketing and Communications program. He is returning to Cottonwood to run the Center’s social media pages and communications. Outside of the office, Alex is an avid fly fisherman and can often be found on the local rivers around Bozeman. He is interested in a career in environmental law or conservation, and is passionate about clean water and healthy trout streams.

  • Joe Mattson

    FALL UNDERGRAD INTERN

    Joe is a Senior at Montana State University pursuing a degree in Political Science and Sustainability. He grew up in Illinois though his dads side of the family is from the upper peninsula of Michigan. Growing up going to the U.P. gave him a great appreciation for the outdoors and a love for skiing, fishing and just about any other activity that involves being outside. After he completes his undergraduate journey he hopes to attend law school.

  • Gracie Caldwell

    FALL UNDERGRAD INTERN

    Gracie is a sophomore studying Environmental Science at Montana State University. Her childhood in California amidst droughts inspired her to fight to preserve natural resources for today and for the future. Gracie is heavily involved on campus, especially in Honors College, and leads a chapter of Citizens Climate Lobby. She is very ambitious and is excited to make the world a better place. In her free time, Gracie can be found studying, helping with climate action events, obsessing over ancient cultures, and ravenously eating mandarin oranges at 3AM. 

Board of Directors

  • John Bonine

    SECRETARY/TREASURER

    John is a professor of environmental law at the University of Oregon. He founded the Public Interest Environmental Law Conference, the largest environmental law conference in the world. Before beginning work for the University of Oregon, Bonine was in charge of national air pollution law for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

  • Tom Elfmont

    BOARD MEMBER

    Tom is a Vietnam veteran and former captain of the Los Angeles Police Department. He is the CEO of Thomas Dale and Associates, a global investigative and security firm.

  • Josie Arnold

    BOARD CHAIR

    Josie is an LLM candidate in Global Environment and Climate Change Law at the University of Edinburgh. When she is not in Scotland, she guides pack trips through wilderness areas in the Rockies.

  • Tim Crawford

    BOARD MEMBER

    Badass. Rest In Peace, Boss.

Advisory Board

  • Pat Parenteau

    Pat is a professor of environmental law at Vermont Law School. He is nationally recognized for his expertise regarding endangered species and biological diversity, water quality and wetlands, environmental policy and litigation, and land use and property rights.

  • Alaina Buffalo Spirit

    Alaina is a self-taught and internationally renowned artist from the So’taa’ee band of the Northern Cheyenne Nation. Her work honors women that made a difference.

  • Craig Mathews

    Craig co-founded 1% for the Planet. He is an avid fly fisherman, former police chief of West Yellowstone, and previous owner of Blue Ribbon Flies.

  • Rick Wallen

    Rick is a retired wildlife biologist for the National Park Service. He spent 17 years as the leader of the Yellowstone Bison Ecology and Management Team. Rick’s work with Cottonwood focuses on finding ways for our society to allow bison to migrate on public lands outside of Yellowstone National Park.

  • Lara Birkes

    Lara is a sustainability and policy professional with over fifteen years experience managing partnerships, initiatives and policy engagement with companies, international organizations, governments and NGOs. She holds an M.A. in International Trade Policy, served as a Fulbright Scholar in Morocco, worked as an International Economic Specialist in Washington D.C., and held positions on Capitol Hill with the U.S. Senate Finance Committee and in the Office of the Democratic Leader.

  • Trevor Lowell

    Trevor serves as the Farm to Institution program manager at the Vermont Agency of Agriculture. He worked for the University of Montana after receiving a Masters in Food Studies from NYU.

  • Michael Lilly

    Mike is a long-time practicing attorney in Bozeman, Montana. He is a skilled mediator, avid cyclist, and strong advocate for making Bozeman a sustainable home for future generations.

  • Joan Montagne

    Joan's environmental activism started in the 1970s with petitions to stop the Yellowstone River from being dammed in Livingston, Montana. She then went on to help prevent storage of uranium tailings in Montana. Joan served as President of the Montana Wilderness Association (now Montana Wild) in the early 1980s and helped form the Greater Yellowstone Coalition.

  • Patrick McGinley

    Pat is a distinguished professor at West Virginia University College of Law faculty where he has taught courses in contracts, civil procedure, criminal, environmental, administrative, land use and natural resources, constitutional law, and appellate advocacy as well as seminars in public access to information, environmental justice and U.S. Supreme Court litigation.

  • Dan Carty

    Dan is retired from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, where he worked in fishery management and fish biology from the mid-1980s to 2014. Dan was privileged to have worked in Yellowstone National Park, as well as in Kalispell and Bozeman, MT. Dan is an adherent of Aldo Leopold’s land ethic—the idea that the well-being of people and land is intertwined—and is an advocate for environmentally responsible development.

  • Jon Motl

    Jon is the former Commissioner of Political Practices in Montana. He has authored and published over 200 decisions, opinions or statements regarding campaign finance, ethics, or lobbying. Jon has been licensed to practice law in Montana since 1981.

  • Bill McKibben

    World Renowned climate activist and author Bill McKibben is co-founder of 350.org. Bill has been one of the most influential leaders of the climate movement for decades.