• In the U.S. ~12.6 million people live near 1.3 active oil & gas facilities

    Our board helps us maintain a national and internal presence on oil and gas issues. Learn more about our Board of Directors below

Michele Fetting

President

Program Director

Michele has more than 20 years of experience in the nonprofit sector, including work on campaigns and policies to protect U.S. farmland, the Florida Everglades and Gulf Coast, air and water quality and endangered wildlife. She has a deep commitment to environmental justice and building a clean energy economy. Michele co-authored The Challenge of the Environmental City: A Pittsburgh Case Study, a chapter in the book Toward Sustainable Communities(MIT Press), and her work has been published in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Naples Daily News, the Philadelphia Enquirer, GoWorldTravel, American Birding and NEXTpittsburgh.

Michele has a BA in Journalism from Ohio State University and a Master’s in Public and International Affairs from the University of Pittsburgh. During graduate school, Michele worked in Kenya on a USAID project to improve nutrition and decrease childhood mortality, and improve the economic status of women. She remains deeply committed to women’s issues and access to healthy food in all communities.

Michele serves on the Board of Directors of the Climate Institute, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, P3R/Pittsburgh Marathon, Friends of the Riverfront and FracTracker Alliance. Michele can often be found running the trails or paddling the rivers around Pittsburgh.

Mike Kane

Treasurer

President and Executive Director, Community Foundation for the Alleghenies
Johnstown, PA

As its director, Mike Kane is responsible for the oversight of all operations at CFA, including managing a portfolio of loans and investments in excess of $8 million. He obtained his undergraduate education from the University of Pittsburgh and M.A. from Emerson College. Additionally, Mike obtained a certificate in Major Gifts and Planned Giving from the Institute for Healthcare Philanthropy, Univ. of Wisconsin Graduate School of Business.

Mike has served and assisted in the start up of a number of local and regional nonprofits and initiatives, including the Stonycreek-Quemahoning Initiative and Lift Johnstown. He has served on the steering committee of the Power of 32; as well as on the boards of Johnstown Area Regional Industries, Pennsylvania Highlands Community College, ArtWorks in Johnstown, Johnstown Industrial Development Corporation, the Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds, FracTracker Alliance, Conemaugh Valley Conservancy, Goodwill Industries of the Conemaugh Valley and others. He has also served as President of Grantmakers of Western Pennsylvania, a regional association of philanthropic organizations. Learn more about CFA

Julia Trigg Crawford

Secretary

Farm Manager, Red’Arc Farm
Sumner, TX

Julia Trigg Crawford is the 3rd generation Manager of her family’s 650 acre farm in far northeast Texas. Purchased by her grandfather in 1948, Red’Arc Farm is named for the waterways that form two of it’s borders, the Red River and the Bois d’Arc Creek. Here on some of the finest land in the county her family raises Red Limousin cattle and grows wheat, corn and soybeans. Rich in archeological treasures as well, Red’Arc Farm houses a well documented Caddo Indian burial site within its boundaries.

In 2011 Julia Trigg refused TransCanada’s offer for an easement across their farm to build the Gulf Coast Section of the Keystone XL pipeline, so the land was taken through eminent domain. She appealed that condemnation all the way to the Texas Supreme Court. Even though that appeal was denied she continues to fight for property rights and eminent domain reform. Along the way she has testified to the U.S. Congress on federal eminent domain legislation, spoken out many times in Austin to the Texas Legislature, was arrested in front of the White House, joined with Native American and First Nations Peoples in protest, supported landowners in other states challenging pipelines and eminent domain abuse, and proudly stands at the ready to help wherever her story and experiences are needed.

A graduate of Texas A&M University with a B.A, Journalism, Julia Trigg was also a four-year letterman and Captain of the Women’s Basketball team. She lives and works in Direct, Texas, a community of 70 on the outskirts of Paris (Texas, that is).

R. John Dawes

Member

Executive Director Emeritus, Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds
Alexandria, PA

As the Executive Director of the Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds from 1994 – 2024, John, Dawes helped to support more than 1,500 projects that protect healthy streams, clean up pollution and restore degraded wildlife habitat. Under his leadership, FPW provided $14 million in grants to leverage $190 million in total project costs.

Although Dawes is now retired, his legacy lives on through the R. John Dawes Clean Water Fund, created in partnership with the Community Foundation for the Alleghenies (CFA), which honors his more than three decades of work that spanned the state.

For five years Dawes was a consultant to the Heinz Endowments Environment Program where he supervised grants to regional watershed groups pursuing a DCNR Rivers Conservation Plan. Other duties included participation in sustainable forestry round tables, and the facilitation of a statewide watershed advocacy group called POWR – the PA Organization for Watersheds and Rivers.

Dawes graduated from Pennsylvania State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Education and an M.Ed.

Other Awards:
John Dawes, Lifetime Achievement Award Winner: 2017 Western Pennsylvania Environmental Awards

Joel Gehman, Ph.D.

Member

Professor of Strategic Management and Public Policy, and Thaddeus A. Lindner and Sergius
Gambal Professor of Business Ethics, George Washington University
Falls Church, VA

Dr. Gehman is an organization theorist. His research investigates how businesses and other organizations can contribute to tackling grand challenges related to sustainable development through strategic practices, technological innovation, and institutional change. He has authored more than 50 journal articles and book chapters. His research examines such questions in a wide range of contexts, including B Corporations and benefit corporations; organizational values practices; environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance; hydraulic fracturing and unconventional shale gas development; crowdfunding; natural and biodynamic wine; social entrepreneurship and innovation; and social license to operate, among others.

Professor Gehman is the creator of WellWiki.org, which has cataloged information on over 4.3 million oil and gas wells drilled in Canada and the United States since the Drake well in 1859. He also is cofounder, board member and vice president of B Academics, a nonprofit working to advance the state of academic study into business as a force for good. Before becoming a professor, Joel spent 13 years in industry. Professor Gehman graduated from Cornell University (B.S.) and the Pennsylvania State University (Ph.D.).

Kirk Jalbert

Member

Assistant Professor, ASU School for the Future of Innovation in Society
Tempe, AZ

Kirk Jalbert is an assistant professor in the School for the Future of Innovation in Society at ASU where he directs the Civic Science for Environmental Futures Lab (CivicFutures), a research space that uses participatory action research in working with communities to create more equitable environment futures. Jalbert‘s own research examines how public engagements with environmental science and governance are shaped by the production and use of new knowledge in energy justice movements. In particular, he focuses on understanding the unique technical practices and skills that emerge in these spaces. He received his PhD in Science and Technology Studies and was formerly a JPB Environmental Health Fellow with the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Prior to joining ASU, Jalbert served as FracTracker Alliance’s Manager of Community Based Research and Engagement.

Theresa Landrum

Member

Community Activist
Detroit, MI

A lifelong resident working in Michigan’s most polluted zip code, Theresa has educated hundreds of advocates, residents, and elected officials on the true costs of industrial pollution and environmental racism. Theresa has led a number of public pressure campaigns to decrease harmful emissions and other impacts from industrial sites such as oil refineries, coal-fired power plants, steel manufacturers, and frac sand mines. She leads countless numbers of Environmental Justice tours that educate and inspire others to take meaningful action. Theresa’s affiliations include The Original United Citizens of Southwest Detroit, 48217 Community and Environmental Health Organization, Michigan Advisory Council on Environmental Justice, Sierra Club Detroit Chapter, MEJC Clean Air Council, and Michigan PFAS action response team.

Dan Xie

Member

Political Director
Student PIRGs

Dan (pronounced Dawn) directs the political strategy for the Student Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs). Dan’s areas of expertise include campaign strategy, student and campus organizing, and management of large-scale field campaigns. Dan has managed successful campaigns from coast to coast to cap global warming pollution, fight the high cost of higher education, fight poverty, protect consumers, and make voting accessible for students. Dan sits on the Board of Directors for the Florida Public Interest Research Group and has trained student leaders for the Student Government Resource Center, the National Campus Leadership Council, APIAVote, and more. She graduated from the University of California – Davis in 2008 with a degree in Environmental Policy Analysis and Planning. She lives in St. Petersburg, FL and likes to ride bikes and climb rocks. You can tweet at her @DanlikeDawn. Learn more about Student PIRGs

Questions? Email us: info@fractracker.org