My earliest and most vivid memories are all outdoors. I can still smell the salty air as I searched the tide pools in Monterey for starfish when I was just three years old. I can still taste the tart cherries that my sister and I gathered with juice-stained hands from my Opa’s orchard in Belgium. I can still hear the pounding monsoon rain that I watched from my Didimoni’s (great-aunt’s) balcony in India. And I can still feel the bark scratching my shins as I climbed into my favorite tree to watch the squirrels in my backyard in Michigan.

I am the daughter of immigrants. I moved and traveled a lot during my formative years. I was constantly the person who didn’t quite fit in — the American in a rural, Flemish village; the girl with feet too big for any chappals in Kolkata; the mixed-race, first-generation kid in a neighborhood where virtually everyone was of Northern European descent several generations back. But regardless of where I found myself and how I felt about it, I always found myself outside. When I felt stressed, I found peace in the outdoors. When I felt alone, I found connection. When I felt vulnerable, I found resilience.

Unfortunately, I also found highways full of pollution-spewing cars and trucks that cut through once-thriving Black communities in Detroit. On each family visit to Kolkata, I found more and more single-use plastic waste along the roadsides and in the Hooghly River as multinational corporations pushed Western-style consumption into this vast new market. And I found the agricultural land of my mother’s birthplace disappearing to make way for more housing to serve those commuting to Brussels. So I made a commitment early on to fight for the environment, especially on behalf of communities that bear the greatest environmental injustices.

I didn’t initially know what form this fight would take. But, as a risk-averse, Type-A personality, I ultimately took the safe route and became a lawyer. I started my career in the US Department of Justice as a trial attorney where I pursued cases against companies and municipalities for violating environmental laws. I enjoyed holding wrongdoers accountable for harms to public health and the environment, and I pushed hard to address the environmental justice issues presented by my cases. But as the years passed, I felt disconnected from the environmental movement, particularly the grassroots. I felt the pull to pursue more creative and ambitious legal strategies. Additionally, I welcomed my first child into the world on the cusp of the Trump presidency. Simply put, staying with the federal government no longer felt tenable.

I took some time to adjust to motherhood, to enjoy time with my daughter, and to reflect on my next steps. Then, I joined Earth Island Institute as the inaugural general counsel. Here, I work hand-in-hand with Earth Island’s network of grassroots and community-based organizations to bring mission-critical lawsuits, and provide strategic advice to ensure that Earth Island’s work can proceed with minimal legal risk. And we have been busy! Among other things, we’ve sued Big Plastic for its blatant greenwashing, taken Wisconsin to court over its illegal wolf hunts, and challenged the US Environmental Protection Agency over its rules permitting the use of toxic chemical dispersants following oil spills. I am energized every single day by the incredible activists that I have the privilege to learn from and work with on these issues and more.

Outside of my professional life, my commitment to fighting for the environment and impacted communities is further deepened by my two young daughters, the second of whom arrived at the height of the pandemic in 2020. Having a baby during a public health crisis was a stark reminder of how connected we all are as human beings, and how connected we are to the natural world. I know that my daughters’ future is dependent on a thriving web of life, human and nonhuman alike. So, I keep getting up and I keep fighting each day, no matter how exhausted I feel.

I hope one day my girls will reflect back fondly on their own experiences outdoors, and know that their Mama worked as hard as she could to ensure a healthy environment for them.