I am a senior attorney in NRDC’s NY office. Most of my advocacy is focused on protecting and restoring ocean and coastal resources in the mid-Atlantic and New England regions, particularly around the NY/NJ harbor and bight. I have also worked to save the Florida Everglades for the last fifteen years. I am an adjunct professor at Columbia University’s School of Law and Columbia's School of Public Health, Division of Environmental Sciences. I have JD and MPH from Columbia and a bachelor's degree from Stanford University.
Posted January 31, 2012 by Brad Sewell in Reviving the World's Oceans, Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
Our oceans are home to any number of remarkable, even bizarre, creatures. Today, one of the country’s largest—the Atlantic sturgeon—has officially been protected under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). This marvelous, armor-plated fish can reach 14 feet and more than...continued→
Posted November 26, 2011 by Brad Sewell in Reviving the World's Oceans, Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
After the Mayflower landed on Cape Cod, Tisquantum—a Native American better known as Squanto, who lived among the nearby Wompanoag tribe—taught the Pilgrims how to properly fish in Massachusetts’s estuaries. Seafood, in fact, likely played a much larger role in...continued→
Posted November 2, 2011 by Brad Sewell in Reviving the World's Oceans, Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
In early August, NRDC submitted a petition to list both blueback herring and alewife as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act. Together these fish are called “river herring.” Yesterday, NOAA announced that our petition made the case that a listing...continued→
Posted August 2, 2011 by Brad Sewell in Reviving the World's Oceans, Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
Among all the awe-inspiring phenomena of the natural world, the immense spawning runs of alewife and blueback herring along the Atlantic Coast ranks highly. Not long ago, these platinum, big-eyed fish poured into estuaries and up rivers in such overwhelming...continued→
Posted June 8, 2011 by Brad Sewell in Reviving the World's Oceans, Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
Today is World Oceans Day—and a global celebration couldn’t be more apt, since the seas unite us all, biologically and economically. Some, when they think of our communal oceans, might think only of vast, blue expanses, but deep within them...continued→
Posted March 18, 2011 by Brad Sewell in Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
Today, NRDC and nineteen other environmental and civic groups sent a letter to New York officials opposing a recent proposal to expand John F. Kennedy airport into Jamaica Bay. Such development would have unacceptable impacts on what’s widely considered New...continued→
Posted November 1, 2010 by Brad Sewell in Reviving the World's Oceans, Saving Wildlife and Wild Places, U.S. Law and Policy
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Fisheries Service will hold four public hearings over the course of the next two weeks to hear from the public about the recent proposal to list the Atlantic sturgeon as endangered. The hearings will...continued→
Posted October 7, 2010 by Brad Sewell in Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
Some good news on NRDC’s Atlantic sturgeon listing petition: the federal government agreed this week that the Atlantic sturgeon should be listed as an endangered species. The Atlantic sturgeon is a prehistoric-looking behemoth of a fish, growing up to 14...continued→
Posted February 25, 2010 by Brad Sewell in Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
The preliminary agreement being announced today between New York City, New York State, NRDC and several other citizen groups to clean up Jamaica Bay promises to be a game changer for this unique resource (my colleague Larry Levine makes this...continued→
Posted January 22, 2010 by Brad Sewell in Reviving the World's Oceans
The 11th Federal Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday upheld the decision by a federal district court in Miami to vacate a controversial set of permits for a massive mining project located near Everglades National Park that would have threatened to...continued→
Posted January 12, 2010 by Brad Sewell in Reviving the World's Oceans
It was reported last week that a bluefin tuna just fetched a record-breaking 16.28 million yen ($175,000) at the Tokyo fish market. This is a stark illustration of the risk faced by global bluefin tuna populations. There’s a belief out...continued→
Posted January 6, 2010 by Brad Sewell in Reviving the World's Oceans
The federal government said today that it will consider placing the prehistoric-looking Atlantic sturgeon – which can grow up to 14 feet long, weigh over 800 pounds, and have armor-like plates protruding from much of their body – on its...continued→
Posted October 15, 2009 by Brad Sewell in Reviving the World's Oceans
Atlantic sturgeon co-existed with dinosaurs - and they look like it. They can grow up to 14 feet long, weigh over 800 pounds, and have armor-like plates protruding from much of their body. They can also live up to 60...continued→
Switchboard is the staff blog of the Natural Resources Defense Council, the nation’s most effective environmental group. For more about our work, including in-depth policy documents, action alerts and ways you can contribute, visit NRDC.org.
