Over the past decade, the Conservation Law Center has grown steadily. Together, we have trained over 200 student interns.

Contact

Conservation Law Center, 116 S Indiana Ave, Ste 4, Bloomington, IN 47408

T 812 856 0229

Looking for a specific person? Find direct contact information for attorneys and staff below.

For general inquiries, contact us at

(812) 856-0229 or admin@conservationlawcenter.org

Staff

CHRISTIAN FREITAG, DIRECTOR

Christian Freitag joined Conservation Law Center in 2019 as its second Executive Director, replacing CLC’s founder and longtime Director W. William Weeks. For the previous 18 years, Christian served as Executive Director of Sycamore Land Trust, a nonprofit land conservation organization in southern Indiana. Christian graduated from Indiana University’s Maurer School of Law in 1997, and clerked from Chief Justice Randall T. Shepard at the Indiana Supreme Court. Christian received his PhD from Indiana University’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs in 2010, where his research focused on the implementation of the National Environmental Policy Act on public agencies including the US Forest Service. He lives in the beautiful unglaciated hardwood forests of southern Indiana with his wife Paige and two Labrador retrievers.

CFREITAG@INDIANA.EDU (812) 855-4230

Kim E. Ferraro, Senior Attorney

Kim E. Ferraro is the Conservation Law Center’s Senior Staff Attorney. Before coming to CLC, Ferraro held that same position with the Hoosier Environmental Council (HEC), Indiana’s largest statewide environmental advocacy organization where she was the force behind numerous precedent-setting victories in federal and state courts that have held both violators and regulators accountable and enforced the laws and policies meant to protect the environment and human health. Among other successes, her legal advocacy stopped several factory farms from endangering the health of Hoosier communities, required the cleanup of millions of tons of steel-making waste dumped within feet of Lake Michigan, put an end to toxic exposures suffered by a low-income community in Elkhart from a nearby industrial waste processor, prevented a dangerous ethanol refinery from being built near the Kankakee River and required federal agencies to enforce existing protections for the state’s few remaining wetlands. Ferraro is a graduate of Valparaiso University School of Law and DePaul University. She is dual-licensed to practice in Indiana and Illinois and is admitted to the bars of the U.S. Northern and Southern District Courts of Indiana, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, and the U.S. Supreme Court.

KIMFERRA@IU.EDU (812) 856-5737

Rob McCrea, Land Conservation Attorney

Rob McCrea is the Land Conservation Attorney for Conservation Law Center. Rob grew up hiking, hunting, and camping in the hills of southern Indiana. Rob’s passion for the outdoors began in his childhood camping at his family’s land in Monroe County with his father and friends. Rob studied Ecology and Natural History at Prescott College in Arizona and received his Law degree at Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon. While he has been fortunate to travel widely, his heart has always remained in Indiana. Rob first practiced law in Bloomington at McCrea & McCrea, a law firm founded by his grandfather. After eight years of practice, he decided to return to environmental roots and worked as Land Preservation Director for Indiana’s largest land trust, Sycamore Land Trust. Representing the public interest on environmental issues and working towards ecosystem management and landscape scale conservation were ultimate career goals that guided Rob towards the study and practice of law.

Rob and his wife Aika, enjoy rock-climbing in their free time and spending time with their Goldendoodle Maple.

RSMCCREA@IU.EDU (812) 855-9774

Kacey Cook, Marbach conservation attorney

Kacey joins the Conservation Law Center as the inaugural Constance and Terry Marbach Conservation Attorney. For Kacey, growing up in the woods and on the lakes of Northern Michigan fostered a deep appreciation for the Midwest’s natural resources. Her time working as a student in the Conservation Law Clinic at Indiana University Maurer School of Law affirmed her interest in pursuing a career in environmental law. While at Maurer, Kacey gained additional experience working on environmental issues and initiatives through internships with the Mexican Center for Environmental Law and the Environmental Law Institute. Most recently, she worked as the Policy Specialist and Staff Attorney at Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council in Northern Michigan, where she collaborated with local governments, property owners, and community members to preserve the area’s abundant freshwater resources. Kacey is dual-licensed to practice law in Indiana and Michigan

In her free time, she enjoys kayaking, hiking, and exploring new places.

KACCOOK@IU.EDU (812) 855-2350

Megan Freveletti, Ralston graduate fellow attorney

Megan Freveletti is the inaugural Ralston Graduate Fellow Attorney, and a 2022 graduate of the Indiana University Maurer School of Law. A Midwest native from Rochester, Illinois, she graduated from the University of Mississippi in 2017, and worked for the Illinois House of Representatives for two years before returning to law school. She expanded her passion for environmental work during her time at Maurer by interning with the Conservation Law Center and Friends of Animals. During her semester abroad in Budapest, Hungary in her third year of law school, she interned for TRAFFIC and the World Wildlife Fund in their work combatting illegal international wildlife trade and conducted research for the Costa Rica based Macaw Recovery network. Megan passed the Indiana Uniform Bar in July of 2022.

In her free time she enjoys hiking, traveling, and trying new foods.

MBFREVEL@IU.EDU (812) 855-1824

Michael Spalding, Southern Indiana Sentinel Landscape Coordinator

Michael Spalding is the Program Coordinator for the Southern Indiana Sentinel Landscape. Michael grew up in central Indiana on land that has been in his family since 1889. His passion for conservation began while exploring the fields, forests, and streams of his family’s farm. Michael graduated magna cum laude from Purdue University College of Agriculture with a Bachelor of Science in Forestry in 2005. Since that time, he has performed conservation work in 55 counties throughout Indiana. He began his career as a field forester with a forestry consulting firm and has spent the past 15 years managing public forests at Jackson-Washington, Yellowwood, and Morgan-Monroe State Forests as well as Atterbury-Muscatatuck Training Center.

Michael resides in the rugged hills of Brown County with his wife, two sons, and adopted cat and dog. He enjoys traveling with his family, hunting whitetail deer and turkey, cooking, and making maple syrup from trees in their forest.

MSPALDING@SENTINELLANDSCAPES.ORG (812) 855-1898

Andrea Lutz, DEPUTY DIRECtOR

Andrea Lutz grew up in Michigan with a love of the outdoors. After graduating with a Biology degree, she shifted focus and has been working as an entrepreneur in Bloomington for nearly twenty years. Andrea comes to the Center with an extensive sales and marketing background, as well as program and project management.

Andrea has been a volunteer, and board member of the Sycamore Land Trust, serves on the Cardinal Stage Board, and is a champion for small business and local non-profits. She loves living in Southern Indiana and has made it her home with her husband, two children and two rescue pups. When she’s not at the office, she enjoys cooking, reading, hiking and spending time in her garden.

ANDLUTZ@IU.EDU (812) 856-0819

Christie Pace, Operations Manager

Christie Pace is the Operations Manager for the Conservation Law Center. Christie graduated with a B.S. in Kinesiology at Indiana University and received her M.S. in Occupational Therapy from the University of Southern Indiana. As a young adult, Christie’s love for the outdoors developed through hiking, camping, and gardening. After practicing Occupational Therapy for a few years, she decided to follow her passion and join the Conservation Law Center team in their conservation efforts.

Christie resides in beautiful Southern Indiana near the Morgan-Monroe State Forest with her partner, Adam, and their cats, Bowser and Samus. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, camping, canoeing, gardening, and traveling.

CLPACE@IU.EDU (812) 856-0229

Mike Zoeller, Senior attorney

Mike Zoeller is a Senior Attorney with the Conservation Law Center leading its Environmental Legal Aid Program in Hammond, Whiting, East Chicago, and Gary, Indiana. Mike grew up in Clark County where he spent much of his time riding his bike throughout southern Indiana. Mike received his undergraduate degree in Geography from Indiana University and moved to Washington, DC to work as a cartographer for the Defense Department. Once there, he obtained a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center and spent the next thirty years engaged in civil litigation at private firms, as a staff attorney for the federal court, with the Environmental Enforcement Section of the U.S. Department of Justice, and most recently with the Environmental Law & Policy Center. Throughout his career, Mike has gained extensive experience working with clients and members of the public who are unfamiliar with the law and their legal rights. Mike is excited to return to IU and to serve residents of the Region with their environmental legal needs.

MJZOELLE@IU.EDU