The Trust for Public Land CEO and leadership

Diane Regas is Senior Vice President for Programs at Environmental Defense Fund, where she is responsible for providing overall vision, strategy and leadership for current and new program development.Prior to joining EDF in 2006, Diane spent 20 years developing and supporting scientifically sound responses to environmental challenges at Environmental Protection Agency. Today, her extensive management and policy experience is driving success throughout all of EDF’s programmatic efforts in the United States and beyond. The solutions EDF seeks require a commitment to strong science and bi-partisan solutions, both of which Diane has demonstrated time and again throughout her career. As a senior policy analyst for President Clinton, she advised the president, through the Domestic Policy Advisor on environmental and natural resource issues. Award-winning work protecting and strengthening our rivers, lakes, bays and oceans defined her tenure at EPA, and she also chaired President George W. Bush’s interagency task force on Oceans. She’s been equally productive at EDF. Among numerous accomplishments, thanks to Diane’s teams and their partners, protecting one of the largest ocean areas in history—more than 195,000 square miles—bigger than the state of California; and one out of two fish caught in U.S. waters is from a catch share-style fishery.With the unmatched expertise EDF staff bring to all of our program areas, she’s confident that even greater successes are yet to come. Prior to joining EDF, Diane spent 20 years at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), where she served during four presidential administrations in some of the agency's highest positions, including Deputy Assistant Administrator.Her EPA accomplishments included: receiving the Presidential Rank Award for ''exceptional long-term accomplishments,'' and leading a path-breaking monitoring strategy, establishing the first-ever scientifically valid national report card on fresh water quality. Diane is a member of the U.S. Supreme Court Bar and California Bar.Diane received her BA in history, her MS in environmental science and her JD at the University of California at Berkeley. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including one of the most prestigious, the Presidential Rank Award.