Sarah Newkirk is the Executive Director of the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County, Santa Cruz, CA, a NIAC member since 2011.
The mission of the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County is to protect, care for, and connect people to the extraordinary lands that make this area special. They protect both working lands, like farms and timberland, and natural lands with high conservation value – thus protecting water supplies, wildlife habitats, and open space.
Before joining the Land Trust, Sarah worked with the Nature Conservancy as their Director of Disaster Resilience.
Sarah holds a JD (magna cum laude) from Pace University School of Law, White Plains, NY and a MS in Marine Environmental Science from Marine Sciences Research Center, S.U.N.Y. at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY.
She served as Law Clerk to the Hon. Thomas Griesa, District Judge, Southern District of New York, was the first Schwartz Public Policy Fellow with the Natural Resources Defense Council, and has worked as a litigator, policy advocate, and researcher with a wide range of environmental NGOs in both New York and California.