Areas of Expertise: California water policy, environmental law, wetlands, groundwater, hydropower

Ashley is the Water Policy Advisor for Defenders’ California Program and engages on a variety of issues statewide, including water transfers, water rights and the enforcement of environmental laws to protect wildlife that rely on a healthy San Francisco Bay-Delta and Central Valley wetlands.

Ashley currently serves on Friends of the River’s Board of Directors and the Central Valley Joint Venture.

Prior to joining Defenders in 2022, Ashley worked on water policy and land use at Friends of the River, the Hydropower Reform Coalition, the South Yuba River Citizens League, Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger LLP and the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research.  

Ashley graduated cum laude from the University of California, Santa Cruz with a bachelor’s degree in history and literature. She also holds a J.D. from the University of California Hastings College of the Law and an LL.M. from The University of London, SOAS with a specialty in water policy.