Elissa Torres-Soto

Elissa currently works as an attorney in the Office of General Counsel of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. During her time as a Staff Attorney at ELI from 2021 to 2023, her work focused on domestic and international projects, particularly on the Inter-American region. She worked on a variety of issues ranging from the mitigation of environmental, social, and economic impacts of environmental crimes in the Peruvian Amazon to domestic environmental law and policy topics such as land-based aquaculture, community science, climate resiliency and environmental justice. Prior to joining ELI, Elissa was the first-ever legal policy fellow at Maryland Sea Grant where she worked in close partnership with the Agriculture Law Education Initiative.

She received an LL.M. degree in Environmental and Energy Law from Georgetown University Law Center. She obtained a JD with honors from the Catholic University of Puerto Rico, and she is admitted to practice law in Puerto Rico.