Lisa Mitchell, MES, LL.B has been part of East Coast Environmental Law since its inception.

Lisa served on ECELAW's originating Board from 2007 to 2009, and she has been providing legal support to the organization since 2011. Lisa obtained her law degree from Dalhousie and followed that with a graduate degree in Environmental Studies. Her early law career was with the federal government, where she contributed to the drafting of pesticide legislation. After a brief period in Ottawa, Lisa returned to Atlantic Canada to begin an environmental law practice focused on legislative drafting and interpretation, and agricultural law. Over the years, that practice grew to include a broad range of environmental law practice areas and clients. Lisa has provided advice and training on environmental legislation and policy in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, and Ontario. Her recent work with ECELAW has included valuable collaborations with national, regional and local groups on the creation of legally-based environmental rights.

Mike Kofahl is a life-long student, traveler, cook, amateur historian, storyteller, tree-planter, and dog-lover. He enjoys being outdoors, playing soccer, hiking and biking, cooking and BBQing for friends and family, and just relaxing by the water.

He lives in beautiful Margaree in Cape Breton, NS. Mike enjoys everything about Nova Scotia: the people, the history, the food, the forests, and the salty smell of the water along the coast.

Mike has always been connected to the environment. He grew up on a horse farm and has worked plenty of outdoor summer jobs, including picking blueberries, unloading crab, and planting more than 1.5 million trees over 10 years as a tree-planter.

Mike graduated from Dalhousie three times. He received both a Bachelor of Arts (with honours) and a Master of Arts from the History Department. He then graduated with a Juris Doctor from the Schulich School of Law, where he also completed two certificates of specialization in marine law and environmental law at the school's Marine and Environmental Law Institute.

Mike worked as a Pro Bono student at East Coast Environmental Law for several years during law school. Mike's experience with East Coast Environmental Law included helping to draft the Nova Scotia Environmental Rights Working Group's Environmental Bill of Rights, researching legal topics ranging from pesticides to asbestos use in schools, and helping grow the organization’s online Information Library.

Mike articled jointly with East Coast Environmental Law and McKiggan Hebert. Mike then worked as ECELAW's Coastal Research Coordinator before being called to the Bar in Nova Scotia in October 2019 and moving into a new position as ECELAW's Staff Lawyer.

Mike continues to pursue pro bono opportunities. He has been volunteering with the Community Justice Society in Halifax for several years, facilitating restorative justice conferences for young and adult offenders, and serving on its board of directors.

Kostantina (Tina) Northrup is a settler Nova Scotian who was born in Toronto and raised in New Brunswick from a young age.

Before pursuing a career in law, Tina earned an MA and PhD in English literature through research on environmental writing by Canadian poets and novelists. Ultimately, her interests in environmental and climate justice inspired her to enter the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University with the goal of becoming a public-interest environmental lawyer.

Tina volunteered with East Coast Environmental Law through the Pro Bono Dalhousie program through all three years of her legal studies. After her first year of law school, she became East Coast Environmental Law’s part-time office manager, and she interned with the organization for the summer. In the years that followed, her commitment to public legal education and community collaboration led her to take on a variety of roles with the organization, contributing legal research and supporting project development, communications, and fundraising.

After finishing law school, Tina stepped into a shared articling position with East Coast Environmental Law and McKiggan Hebert. In the spring of 2020, she was called to the Nova Scotia Bar and assumed a full-time role as staff lawyer. Her areas of special interest include Aboriginal and Indigenous law in environmental contexts, laws related to climate change mitigation and adaptation (including energy law focused on the renewable energy transition), environmental assessment and decision-making, human rights in environmental contexts, and rights of nature.

Tina has provided public legal education and training in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. She teaches part-time at the Schulich School of Law, and she has supervised Schulich students undertaking Directed Research Projects and the Environmental Law Placement course.

When Tina completed her law degree at the Schulich School of Law, she received the Elizabeth May Award for Environmental Service. In addition to volunteering with East Coast Environmental Law, she has served as a Co-Chair of the Environmental Law Students’ Society at the Schulich School of Law and a Co-Chair of the Energy Action Team at the Ecology Action Centre. She has also volunteered with the Environmental Noxiousness, Racial Inequities and Community Health (“ENRICH”) Project, the Adult Literacy Program at Halifax Public Libraries, and the Out of the Cold shelter. She is currently a member of the Truth and Reconciliation Working Group of the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society.