ANNAPOLIS - Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler today announced the appointment of Erin Fitzsimmons as his Special Assistant for the Environment. Fitzsimmons is widely regarded as a staunch environmental advocate. She has long been active in water quality and coastal management issues in the Chesapeake and Delmarva Coastal Area, including working to ensure the passage of two key pieces of environmental legislation, Maryland’s Atlantic Coastal Bays Protection Act in 2002 and the Healthy Air Act in 2006.
“I am pleased that Erin will become a member of my staff at the Attorney General’s Office to help guide our efforts in cleaning up our most treasured natural resource, the Chesapeake Bay,”said Attorney General Gansler. “Her many years of experience leading efforts to protect the Bay, its tributaries and the habitats that depend on the Bay, will be an asset to the office.”
Fitzsimmons brings a wealth of experience to the job, presently serving as the Chesapeake Regional Director for the Waterkeeper Alliance. In that capacity, she manages the regional effort among the 15 Chesapeake Region waterkeepers in Pennsylvania, Maryland, the District of Columbia and Virginia. Prior to joining the Waterkeeper Alliance, Fitzsimmons served as assistant professor at Salisbury University and as an attorney representing public interest clients in natural resources and environmental matters at local, state and federal levels. At Salisbury University, she taught Environmental Law and Policy, Constitutional Law and her signature course, The Politics of the Chesapeake Bay. She continues to teach Environmental Law and Policy at Johns Hopkins University in Odyssey’s Environmental Certificate Program.
“I am looking forward to working with Attorney General Gansler on the important environmental challenges we face,” said Fitzsimmons. “Working together, our goal will be to prevent pollution, enforce our environmental laws, and protect the Bay.”
Elected to the City Council in Ocean City, MD in 1998, Fitzsimmons chaired the town’s Coastal Resources Legislative Committee and promoted the implementation of Ocean City’s “Clean Streets, Clean Waters” initiative. Fitzsimmons serves on the board of the Maryland League of Conservation Voters and is a founding member of the League’s Voters Education Fund. She has previously served as vice-chair of the Maryland Coastal Bays Foundation and as a member of the Lower Shore Land Trust, the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay and the Assateague Coastal Trust.
A graduate of American University, Fitzsimmons, 49, holds a law degree from the University of Maryland School of Law, with a concentration in Environmental Law, and a Master’s degree in Business Management from Johns Hopkins University.
Source: Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler