Staff

Liz Crosson - Executive Director / Baykeeper

Liz joins Baykeeper after being intimately involved in Baykeeper’s litigation and enforcement program as an associate attorney with Lawyers for Clean Water, Inc. She gained environmental advocacy experience working for several non-profits in Oregon and California. She’s been involved in community outreach and organizing, organizational development, and environmental litigation striving to protect water quality, endangered species, and coastal and forest ecosystems.

Liz has an undergraduate degree from UC Berkeley where she studied Environmental Science, Policy, and Management. She also has an M.S. in Biology/Environmental Education and a J.D. from Lewis and Clark Law School with an emphasis in environmental law.

During law school, she was a member of the National Environmental Moot Court First Place team at Pace Law School and received several honors for her dedication to public interest law. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center and the Advisory Board of the Rogue Riverkeeper, both based in Ashland, Oregon. Liz’s current work is focused on eliminating pollution and preventing the degradation of Southern California's aquatic and coastal ecosystems.

Tatiana Gaur - Staff Attorney

Tatiana Koleva Gaur was born and raised in Bulgaria where she first became interested in water quality issues while working as the project coordinator of Ecoglasnost-Stara Zagora, one of the first environmental organizations in Bulgaria. There Tatiana led a water quality expedition, comprised of high-school students and university professors, to examine the condition of the river providing drinking water to the town of Stara Zagora. The results of the expedition were presented in an exhibit at the Stara Zagora Municipal Building in 1997. Tatiana, together with other members of Ecoglasnost-Stara Zagora, also organized the first-ever Earth Day celebration in Bulgaria in 1996.

In 1998, Tatiana moved to the United States and attended law school. Her first summer job in law school was as a law clerk at the Natural Resources Law Section of the California Attorney General's Office in Los Angeles. In the summer after her second year in law school, Tatiana worked at the UN International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia at the Hague, The Netherlands. There Tatiana served as a legal intern for the trial of Slobodan Milosevic in Trial Chamber III. While in law school, Tatiana also worked as a judicial extern to the Honorable Maxine M. Chesney, District Judge at the Northern District of California, and legal intern at the Center for Justice and Accountability in San Francisco.

Following graduation, the BAR, and the birth of her daughter, Tatiana decided to return to her old passion, the environment and water quality issues, by joining Santa Monica Baykeeper.

Tatiana has a BA and Masters in Law from Sofia University in Bulgaria and a J.D. from University of California, Hastings College of the Law.

Brian Meux - Marine Programs Manager

Before working at Baykeeper, Brian attended U.C. Berkeley where he majored in integrative biology with an emphasis in marine ecology. He earned a Master’s of Science degree in Regenerative Studies at Cal Poly Pomona, which aims to find innovative solutions and gives experiential learning related to sustainable development and ecological restoration and design.  His master’s thesis analyzed Santa Monica Baykeeper’s Kelp Restoration and Monitoring Project.  Brian began volunteering for Baykeeper in 2005 and joined the staff in 2007 as Kelp Program Coordinator, working to maximize restoration and monitoring of L.A. County kelp forests, and has personally witnessed acres of kelp forests recover in multiple locations off the Malibu and Palos Verdes coasts.  An ongoing goal is to ensure local SCUBA divers have the opportunity to perform hands-on work making a positive difference for natural communities and marine resources as a whole.  As Marine Programs Manager since 2008, Brian is also involved in outreach and advocacy for improved oil spill prevention and response, science-based marine protected areas, sustainable fisheries, abalone recovery, and eelgrass habitat restoration.  He is also participating in aerial boat surveys with our partners at LightHawk to help illuminate fishing types and locations off the southern California shores.  

Lara Meeker - Watershed Coordinator

Lara Meeker manages Baykeeper's volunteer-based water quality monitoring program. Her upbringing in the neighboring coastal county of Ventura gives Lara a local perspective and strong interest in preserving the natural beauty and diversity of Santa Monica Bay.

She earned her B.S. in Environmental Systems at the University of California at San Diego where she researched atmospheric brown clouds, studied ecology in Nepal, and worked for the Sierra Club's legislative office in Washington, DC. Lara then attended the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at the University of California at Santa Barbara where she received her Master's degree in Water Resources Management.

Prior to joining Baykeeper Lara was knee-deep in oil while she worked as part of the emergency response to the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico. If you can't find her in the office chances are Lara is sporting a pair of rubber boots and collecting samples at the beach, from a storm drain, or up a canyon creek. If you are interested in helping out let her know!

Jennifer Badger - Program Administrator

Jennifer Badger provides administrative support to Baykeeper's various programs. Jennifer is a long time coastal advocate, beginning as a volunteer with the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and more recently as support for SM Baykeeper's DrainWatch program.

She earned her B.S. in Conservation Resource Studies at the University of California at Berkeley where she researched algal community ecology in Mo'orea, French Polynesia, studied forest resource managment in the northern Sierra Nevada, and worked as an ecologcal restorationist at the Western Stege Marsh in Richmond, CA.

Jennifer currently enjoys the Santa Monica Bay via sailing, surfing, and storm drain sampling!