Environmental Career Paths: Panel & Networking at SULC

Zora Djenohan

Associate Attorney at Earthjustice

Zora works as an associate attorney for the Fossil Fuels program at Earthjustice. Their work centers on sustaining community partnership to tackle the fossil fuel infrastructure build out in the Gulf South. Zora was born in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, raised in Seattle, Washington, and moved to New Orleans to attend law school. Zora attended Loyola University of New Orleans College if Law, where they became involved with the local environmental justice movement. Zora was particularly inspired by local, Black-led organizations fighting against the many manifestations of environmental racism in the stretch of land between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, that has come to be known as Cancer Alley. It was this involvement that led Zora to a career in environmental law, partnering with those same communities to push back against fossil fuel industry expansion in the region.

Charmel Gaulden

President & CEO at Foundation for Louisiana

Charmel is Foundation for Louisiana’s President and CEO. She has over 15 years of experience in philanthropic leadership, nonprofit administration, program design, and strategic advocacy. Charmel has been a visionary leader in Louisiana and the Gulf South. She is known across the region for her groundbreaking work with the Greater New Orleans Funders Network, her innovative grantmaking and thought leadership in reducing violence and accelerating criminal legal reform, and for being a talented convener across sectors toward solving our most intransigent challenges. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Xavier University of Louisiana and her Juris Doctorate from the University of Georgia. Licensed in both Georgia and Louisiana, Charmel has practiced law in both state and federal courts.

Machelle Hall

Assistant Attorney General at Louisiana Department of Justice, Lands and Natural Resource Section

Machelle is an Assistant Attorney General in the Lands and Natural Resources section at the Louisiana Department of Justice. She also teaches Animal Law as an adjunct at Tulane and LSU, teaches Drafting Environmental Laws each summer at the International Legislative Drafting Institute, and serves on the board of the LaSPCA. She previously worked as a full-time clinical professor at the Tulane Environmental Law Clinic and before that as an attorney with a firm that specialized in toxic torts, oyster fisheries, takings, and climate change litigation. Ms. Hall has also taught International Environmental Law for two summers at Baku State University in Azerbaijan under the ABA and U.S. State Department’s Rule of Law project. Before law school, Ms. Hall was an archaeologist doing cultural resources surveys under the National Historic Preservation Act in the Upper Midwest and the South, and she also received a Master’s degree in Nationalism Studies from Central European University in Budapest, Hungary.

Beaux Jones

General Counsel and Chief of Staff at The Water Institute of the Gulf

Beaux is the General Counsel and Chief of Staff for The Water Institute of the Gulf. Prior to joining the Institute, Jones served as the environmental section chief for the Louisiana Department of Justice, where he represented the State of Louisiana and its agencies in a wide variety of matters ranging from environmental and coastal law to criminal and appellate law. He most recently worked as an environmental and coastal lawyer for the law firm Baldwin Haspel Burke & Mayer in New Orleans. Jones has extensive experience representing agencies, companies and organizations inside the courtroom and internally. He has argued cases at every level of state and federal court in Louisiana and has worked on several high-profile cases related to the Gulf Coast and Louisiana. He was on the BP spill litigation team with the Louisiana Attorney General.

Jones handles general legal matters for the Institute, such as contracts and immigration law, but is also a key member of the leadership team, merging the Institute’s ongoing work in science, engineering and resiliency with legal policy. Jones earned his bachelor’s from Davidson College and his law degree from the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at LSU. He is active in a variety of community and environmental causes.

Megan Terrell

Partner at Plauche & Carr LLP

Megan is a partner with Plauché & Carr LLP. She provides counsel on issues regarding environmental, natural resources and coastal law, as well as administrative, governmental, and constitutional law. She has represented clients on a wide array of issues, including federal and state project permitting, regulatory, and enforcement matters; environmental, coastal restoration, and resilience issues; mitigation and ecosystem banking; land use and conservation easements; and federal and state governmental and legislative matters.

Megan has served in multiple roles including as a project manager and facilitator through the planning, financing, and regulatory processes for infrastructure and restoration projects, an advocate through the legislative process, and also represents clients in administrative and judicial litigation. She spent twelve years with the Louisiana Department of Justice, representing the State of Louisiana and several state agencies, boards, and commissions and served as lead in-house counsel for the State of Louisiana during the Deepwater Horizon disaster and subsequent litigation. Megan also served as Deputy Director and Legal Advisor for the Governor’s Office of Coastal Activities, where she developed, reviewed, and coordinated with federal, state, and local officials and stakeholders on funding and implementing integrated coastal protection projects.

Rachel Ramirez-Guest

Staff Attorney

Rachel Ramirez-Guest (she, her, hers) is an attorney with experience in environmental law and policy, including issues of environmental justice and municipal environmental compliance.