About the Environmental Mediation Center

The Environmental Mediation Center (EMC) was established after a study by the New England Environmental Policy Center, Green Mountain Environmental Resolutions, and the Consensus Building Institute determined that mediation screening is an effective tool in selecting cases that would benefit from engaging in mediation. The EMC designs and administers environmental dispute resolution programs utilizing mediation screening for governmental and regulatory permitting bodies.The Vermont Agricultural Mediation Program (VTAMP) is administered by the EMC. The EMC is a part of the non-profit New England Environmental Policy Center (NEEPC).

New England Environmental Policy Center

NEEPC is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that promotes dispute resolution and collaborative research in environmental and agricultural policy and science. NEEPC ‘s recent projects include Integrating Mediation Into Land Use Decision Making (funded by the Windham Foundation, JAMS Foundation, the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and the Orton Foundation), a study of Long Distance Transportation of Dioxins (funded by the Jessie B. Cox Charitable Trusts and the John Merck Fund) and Establishing Forest Certification Standards (funded by the Ford Foundation, SURDNA Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Foundation and others).

Matt Strassberg

Matt Strassberg is the executive director of the New England Environmental Policy Center’s Environmental Mediation Center and the Vermont Agricultural Mediation Program. He is an attorney and mediator with over twenty years of experience in environmental law and mediation. He is the founding director of Green Mountain Environmental Resolutions, a dispute resolution firm focused on developing collaborative solutions to environmental and land use disputes. He is also a senior consultant with the Consensus Building Institute in Cambridge, MA. He currently serves on the Steering Committee of the Coalition of Agricultural Mediation Programs and on the Vermont Environmental Court’s Advisory Committee on Mediation.

Julie Hoyt

Juliana Hoyt is an associate at the Environmental Mediation Center. She received her Master’s degree in Mediation and Applied Conflict Studies from Woodbury College. She is a mediator and an attorney admitted to practice in Massachusetts. From 2003-2005, she worked with David Hoffman at Boston Law Collaborative, LLC in Boston, Massachusetts. A trained collaborative lawyer, Juliana has also received training in elder mediation. Juliana is a cum laude graduate of Wellesley College and Boston University School of Law where she was a a Paul J. Liacos scholar and a member of the Law Review.

Dr. Jean Richardson

Dr. Jean Richardson is the president of NEEPC. Dr. Richardson is a Professor Emerita at the University of Vermont, Department of Environmental Studies, Natural Resources, and Geography. She is a former Director of the Environmental Partnerships in Communities, a sustainable rural development project. She is also a former member of the Vermont Environmental Board.

Sarah Flack

Sarah Flack is on the Board of Directors of NEEPC and an advisor to VTAMP. She has farmed for many years in Fairfield, Vermont. She has also been a farm manager on a dairy farm and has a wide range of practical farm experience in both animal and horticultural production. She has an MS degree in Plant and Soil Science from the University of Vermont, and works extensively with farmers in Vermont and throughout the US on innovative methods for managing agricultural resources in a sustainable manner.