Environmental Defense Center Adds Three New Board Members

The Environmental Defense Center (EDC), a nonprofit environmental law firm working to protect the Central Coast and the Earth’s climate, has added three new board members from the areas of science, public health, environmental law.

Joining EDC’s Board of Directors are Dr. Jai Ranganathan, an ecologist and data scientist; Dr. Van Do-Reynoso, the former head of the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department; and Antonette (Toni) Cordero, a civil rights and environmental justice attorney in California.

“On behalf of everyone at EDC, we are honored to welcome three new directors who bring extensive experience, expertise and passion to the fight for our environment on the Central Coast,” said Alex Katz, executive director.

“EDC is working to stop new fossil fuel projects, protect clean drinking water for local communities, and preserve wild places from the Los Padres National Forest to the Santa Barbara Channel, among other critical projects,” Katz said. “We’re grateful for the insight and incredible talent that these directors bring to the table.”

EDC is working to increase diversity, equity and inclusion within the organization. Half of the members of EDC’s 12-member Board of Directors are now people of color, allowing greater representation of the communities it serves in the tri-county area.

Ranganathan is a conservation biologist and data scientist who is dedicated to the promotion of science communication and outreach. As a data scientist, he focuses on the visualization of marine environmental data within the context of nonprofit and governmental organizations.

He is the co-founder of SciFund Challenge, a nonprofit that focuses on training researchers how to engage non-technical audiences with their science.

Ranganathan also has mentored kids at the Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse for about 15 years and won Mentor of the Year in 2019. He holds a Ph.D in Biological Sciences from Stanford University and an MS in Conservation Biology from the University of Minnesota.

“I’m thrilled to work with an organization that has done so much to protect the Santa Barbara Channel – one of the most biodiverse and ecologically important marine environments on the planet,” Ranganathan said.

Dr. Do-Reynoso holds a Ph.D in Public Health from the UC Merced, an MPH from UC Berkeley, and a BA in Biology from UC Santa Cruz.

As Public Health director, she led Santa Barbara County through the COVID-19 pandemic, Thomas Fire, and the Montecito debris flow while also providing oversight of health care centers, homeless shelter clinics, and a variety of health programs.

Dr. Do-Reynoso also served as Public Health director and interim Behavioral Health Services director at the Madera County Department of Public Health, worked in public health for Tulare County and Asian Health Services in Oakland, California, and was a postgraduate fellow and management consultant for Kaiser Permanente in Northern California.

Now, she focuses on expanding access to health care in our community.

“EDC’s focus on environmental justice is critical in an area where frontline communities continue to suffer disproportionate health impacts from living near fossil fuel operations and other forms of pollution,” Dr. Do-Reynoso said.

Cordero was born and raised in Santa Barbara and is a member of the Coastal Band of the Chumash Nation. She descends from the local village of Syuktun.

Before retiring in 2020, she practiced environmental, civil rights, and cultural resources protection law in California for more than 30 years.

Cordero served for some 25 years in the California Attorney General’s Office, including as the chief of the entire legal division.

Most recently, she was a supervising attorney for Berkeley Law School’s environmental law clinic.

She has been an advisor to the Environmental Law Section of the California Lawyer’s Association for more than 20 years.

Cordero also serves on the Board of Advisors for the Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples and the Board of Directors for the Surfider Foundation. She spent almost 20 years on the Board of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California.

“I am excited to work with EDC to help address the urgent threats to our environment posed by the climate crisis, biodiversity loss, and increasing economic and social inequity,” Cordero said.

EDC continues its summer happy hour series, TGIF!, 5:30-7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 6. The events are open to the public and offer a chance to meet EDC’s Board and staff. Tickets are available online.