Sarah Backer

Sarah Backer joined the Environmental Law Institute as a Research Associate in September 2022. She is currently working on ELI’s municipal climate change and waste reduction work, including ELI’s Food Waste Initiative, to spearhead key research, work with stakeholders, and draft policy tools for cities to achieve climate and waste goals. Sarah is also the host of People Places Planet Podcast and the managing editor for ELI's Vibrant Environment blog. Prior to joining ELI, Sarah interned for the EPA’s Green Power Partnerships, where she researched the program’s contributions to energy equity and developed educational content for the website relaunch. Sarah is a recent graduate from Wesleyan University with a BA in Government, specializing in environmental global policy and a minor in the College of East Asian Studies and Mandarin. Her senior thesis analyzed public opinion on democracy and capitalism promotion in the United States since 2016, in order to evaluate the public’s shifting attitudes about America’s international role.