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2026 Board

Officers:

Chair: Zachary Ogaz 

Past Chair: Kari Olson

Directors:

Josh Hirsch | Steven Landeros Hernandez | Maslyn Locke | Spenser Lotz | Anne Minard | Yarithza Peña | John Verheul | Julia Shaver

Additional Representatives:

UNM NREEL Student Liaision: Caitlyn Tullar (non-voting)

UNM Faculty: Cliff Villa

YLD Liaison: Samantha Catalano

Email the NREEL Section Board

Josh Hirsch

Josh Hirsch

Director

Where You Work: Modrall Sperling

Area of Practice: Civil Litigation, Natural Resources

Why you enjoy practicing NREEL in New Mexico? I enjoy practicing NREEL in New Mexico because of the opportunity it provides to collaborate on and find solutions to some of New Mexico’s most important challenges and issues.   

Anna Linn

Anna Linn

UNM Student Liaison

Where You Work: 2L at University of New Mexico School of Law; Extern at NM PRC

Area of Practice: Energy and Environmental Law

Why you enjoy practicing NREEL in New Mexico? I enjoy being a part of the NREEL community in New Mexico because I am a born and raised New Mexican that has always wanted to preserve the beauty of this state for generations of New Mexicans to come.

Julia Shaver

Julia Shaver

Director
Where You Work:
Office of the State Engineer

Area of Practice: Water Law

Why you enjoy practicing NREEL in New Mexico? I enjoy practicing water law in New Mexico because of the rich history, both legally and scientifically, of water in New Mexico. I have been incredibly fortunate at the Office of the State Engineer to help grow New Mexico water law and to make our state better for future generations! 

Cliff Villa

Cliff Villa

UNM Faculty Representative

Where You Work: Faculty at UNM School of Law

Area of Practice: Constitutional rights, environmental law, environmental justice, emergency response

Why you enjoy practicing NREEL in New Mexico? I was born and raised in Albuquerque, grew up camping and fishing in the mountains of northern New Mexico, and much later came to understand and appreciate his family tradition of stewardship tracing back to the Atrisco Land Grant of 1692.

Samantha Catalano

Samantha Catalano

YLD Liaison

Where You Work: Spencer Fane, Santa Fe

Area of Practice: Water law; environmental law; oil and gas law; civil litigation

Why you enjoy practicing NREEL in New Mexico? New Mexico is a great place to practice.  The attorneys that I have had the privilege of practicing with are excellent, and the clients whom I have worked with have a vested interest in protecting the environment and consistently seek to better their practices towards that end.

Zachary Ogaz

Zachary Ogaz

Director (2023-2025)

Where You Work: New Mexico Environment Department

Area of Practice: Water and Environmental Law
 

Why you enjoy practicing NREEL in New Mexico? New Mexico’s big skies, untouched high desert, picturesque bosque and river valleys, and our long heritage of farming are all part of the New Mexico culture and identity that I love and appreciate. I am grateful to have the opportunity to be a good steward of New Mexico’s natural resources.

Kari Olson

Kari Olson

Past Chair

Where You Work: Spencer Fane, Santa Fe

Steven Landeros Hernandez

Steven Landeros Hernandez

Director (2023-2025)

Where You Work: Solo Practitioner in Mesilla, NM

Why you enjoy practicing NREEL in New Mexico? The Water Law Bar is relatively small and close knit. I think that leads to more collaboration in trying to find solutions to the many water issues that face the state.

Maslyn Locke

Maslyn Locke

Director (2024-2025)

Where You Work: The New Mexico Environmental Law Center

Area of Practice: Air Quality, Water Quality and Quantity, Land Use, Civil Rights

Why you enjoy practicing NREEL in New Mexico? I enjoy working alongside communities most-impacted by the disproportionate effects of natural resource extraction and development and serving frontline communities in the fight for environmental justice.

Spenser Lotz

Spenser Lotz

Director (2025-2026)

Where You Work: New Mexico Department of Justice, Environmental Protection Bureau

Area of Practice: Environmental enforcement, government litigation & rulemaking

Why you enjoy practicing NREEL in New Mexico? I enjoy practicing NREEL because of the diversity of topics and the direct connection between the law and the land that I love. I love waking up to a new challenge and grappling with a novel issue, all while working to protect the natural environment that makes New Mexico the “Land of Enchantment.”

Anne Minard

Anne Minard

Director (2025-2027)

Where You Work: Minard Law and University of New Mexico School of Law

Area of Practice: Environmental, general

Why you enjoy practicing NREEL in New Mexico? I am passionate about helping to protect New Mexico and make life better here. Many opportunities to do this arise in natural resource contexts.

Yarithza Peña

Yarithza Peña

Director (2024-2026)

Where You Work: Hardy McLean LLC

Area of Practice: Natural Resources

Why you enjoy practicing NREEL in New Mexico? I enjoy practicing NREEL in New Mexico because of the collaboration opportunities in a small tight-knit legal community that is able to address a wide range of issues that impact our entire state.

John Verheul

John Verheul

Director (2024-2025)

Where You Work: TXNM Energy

Area of Practice: Energy Law

Why you enjoy practicing NREEL in New Mexico? The diversity of issues and practitioners.