Contact Us

Please contact us if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions.

Xiao Recio-Blanco
Director. Ocean Program
(202) 939-3863
recio-blanco@eli.org

Xiao Recio-Blanco is a Staff Attorney and Director of the Ocean Program. He has conducted legal research on the regulation of small-scale fisheries in developing nations, the implementation of Marine Spatial Planning, the negotiation of maritime boundaries agreements, the creation of transboundary Marine Protected Areas, and the regulation of ocean renewable energy.

Before joining ELI, Xiao was an attorney at Banco Santander in Madrid (Spain), and an Associate Professor of International Law at CIDE (Mexico City). He was also a Visiting Attorney at Earthjustice in the District of Columbia. He holds a J.D. from the Complutense University of Madrid, and a S.J.D. from Duke University School of Law.

Jay Austin
Senior Attorney
(202) 558-3103
austin@eli.org

Jay Austin, Senior Attorney, has been at the Environmental Law Institute since 1992. He has worked extensively on the Institute’s water and ocean projects, including studies of ecosystem-based management, coastal and marine spatial planning, wetland mitigation, nonpoint source pollution, and Western water issues. He graduated with honors from the University of Virginia School of Law, and and served as a Law Clerk to the Honorable Michael Boudin in US District Court for the District of Columbia.

Teresa Chan
Staff Attorney
(202) 939-3848
chan@eli.org

Teresa Chan is a Staff Attorney at ELI, where she works on a variety of domestic and international environmental law and policy issues. This includes working for the past three years to support effective restoration and recovery in the Gulf of Mexico following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Prior to joining ELI in 2009, Teresa worked as an associate in the New York office of Sidley Austin, and served as a law clerk for the judges of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Toronto. Teresa holds a JD from the University of Toronto and a BSc (Honours) with a subject of specialization in Environmental Biology from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario.

David Roche
Staff Attorney
(202) 939-3804
roche@eli.org

David Roche is a Staff Attorney at ELI. He works with the Ocean Program on regional ocean and coastal governance issues, with an emphasis on supporting coastal community health and resilience in the U.S. Arctic and Gulf of Mexico. David holds a JD magna cum laude from Duke University School of Law, an MA in Environmental Science from Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment, and a BA with honors in Environmental Science from Columbia University.