Food & Water Watch’s hard-hitting litigation experts fight tirelessly to hold polluters and the government accountable. Here are the advocates committed to protecting our rights:

Tarah Heinzen

Legal Director env

Tarah Heinzen is Food & Water Watch’s Legal Director. In this role, she directs FWW’s legal strategy and oversees a team of attorneys leading impact litigation and grassroots campaign support across the country to advance Food & Water Watch’s mission and campaigns.
Prior to joining Food & Water Watch in 2015, Tarah spent 5 years as a staff attorney at the Environmental Integrity Project, leading programs focused on factory farm pollution and restoring the Chesapeake Bay.

Prior to law school, she worked as an organizer for the Sierra Club, working to build grassroots power to hold factory farms accountable for their pollution in Iowa. She has a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies and geology from Macalester College and graduated cum laude from Lewis & Clark Law School in 2009 with a certificate in environmental and natural resources law. She is based in Portland, Oregon.

Tarah is admitted to practice in Oregon, Minnesota, Washington D.C.

Erin Doran

Senior Staff Attorney env

Erin Doran joined Food & Water Watch as a Senior Staff Attorney in January 2023. Her docket is focused on climate and energy litigation and regulatory matters. Prior to joining FWW, she was a Senior Attorney for Riverkeeper, where she advocated for clean water, healthy ecosystems, and resilient climate solutions in the Hudson River and New York City watersheds. Erin also previously served as Regulatory Counsel for the ASPCA, where she advocated for improved legal protections for farmed animals, companion animals, and equines. Erin began her career as an attorney with the University of Maryland Environmental Law Clinic, where she represented non-profit organizations and community associations seeking to protect the environment and public health in the Chesapeake Bay region. Erin is also on the faculty of the Bard Center for Environmental Policy.

Erin received her J.D. cum laude from the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law with a Certificate of Concentration in Environmental Law. During law school, she clerked for the Animal Legal Defense Fund and the Maryland Office of the Attorney General.

Erin is admitted to practice in Maryland, New York.

Tyler Lobdell

Senior Staff Attorney env

Tyler Lobdell is a Senior Staff Attorney at Food & Water Watch, where he focuses on combating the environmental and public health harms of factory farming. Tyler joined Food & Water Watch after years of working in the public interest environmental field. Before that, he spent 8 years leading conservation programs across the United States before becoming a lawyer. Outside of work, Tyler enjoys hiking, biking, rock climbing, and skiing. He shares his life with his wife, two sons, and dog Maddox.

Tyler is admitted to practice in Idaho and California.

Emily Miller

Staff Attorney env

Emily Miller joined Food & Water Watch in 2021 as a Staff Attorney working to combat the polluting impacts and exploitative practices of factory farms through legal and regulatory advocacy. Emily primarily focuses on legal strategies to address factory farm water and air pollution harming frontline communities, the environment, and the climate. She earned her JD from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, and is currently based in Boulder, Colorado.

Emily holds a license to practice law in California and a limited license to practice law in Colorado on behalf of Food & Water Watch.

Dani Replogle

Staff Attorney env

Tarah Heinzen is Food & Water Watch’s Legal Director. In this role, she directs FWW’s legal strategy and oversees a team of attorneys leading impact litigation and grassroots campaign support across the country to advance Food & Water Watch’s mission and campaigns.
Prior to joining Food & Water Watch in 2015, Tarah spent 5 years as a staff attorney at the Environmental Integrity Project, leading programs focused on factory farm pollution and restoring the Chesapeake Bay.

Prior to law school, she worked as an organizer for the Sierra Club, working to build grassroots power to hold factory farms accountable for their pollution in Iowa. She has a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies and geology from Macalester College and graduated cum laude from Lewis & Clark Law School in 2009 with a certificate in environmental and natural resources law. She is based in Portland, Oregon.

Tarah is admitted to practice in Oregon, Minnesota, Washington D.C.

Alex Davis

Paralegal env

Alex Davis is a Paralegal at Food & Water Watch. He supports the legal team with a wide range of administrative and litigation work. Before joining FWW Alex was a paralegal at Earthrise Law Center, a legal clinic at Lewis & Clark Law School. Alex enjoys foraging, hiking, holding polluters accountable, and is based in Portland, Oregon.

Rita Flanagan

Legal Fellow env

As a legal fellow, Rita works on developing and active cases that hold government agencies and factory farms accountable for environmental degradation.

Rita grew up rescuing and rehabilitating farm animals at her family farm in Ohio, which instilled in her a lifelong respect for nature and animals. She earned a JD from Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University and a Master of Environmental Management from Yale School of the Environment in 2025. Rita first confronted the environmental harms and animal abuses caused by factory farming as an intern in the Climate Change and Animal Agriculture Legal Initiative at Yale Law School. Rita built on this experience by interning with Animal Welfare Institute, Earthjustice, the Yale Environmental Protection Clinic, and the Pace Environmental Litigation Clinic. Prior to joining FWW, Rita worked as a special prosecutor of animal cruelty throughout the State of Ohio.

Outside of work, Rita spends most of her time caring for her rescued animals, but also enjoys hiking with her dog, playing ultimate frisbee, and spending time with family.

Rita is admitted to practice in Ohio.