Geoff Gisler

Program Director

Rivers are key to the flourishing of our society, Geoff Gisler will remind anyone who asks about his leadership work at SELC. Until recently, his work focused on water protection issues in North Carolina, leading SELC’s federal work on clean water and, to ensure that future battles are well-fought, he mentored younger attorneys involved in clean water issues. He now serves as SELC’s Program Director, overseeing the organization’s legal work.

“Our clients and the people and places they protect deserve their day in court,” says Geoff. 

He was at the ready as the Environmental Protection Agency, in late 2019, threatened to dismantle the Clean Water Act, including redefining U.S. waters in a way that removes protections from vast swaths of streams and wetlands, allowing more pollution, and strip states of authority to keep water clean. Geoff testified before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment, describing the havoc that loosening safeguards would wreak on the nation’s waterways: “By shifting the burden of pollution from those who create it to families and communities downstream, this administration would take us back to the era before the Clean Water Act.”  

We’re working to keep rivers safe from industrial chemicals, harmful effects of agriculture, stormwater pollution, and excessive water withdrawals.

Senior Attorney Geoff Gisler

Geoff has long been inspired to keep waters in the southeast clean, fishable, and swimmable. He loves to visit the North Carolina coast. “I spent many of my early years working to protect it, and its marshes, beaches, and rivers are among my favorite places,” he says.

Previous Experience

• J.D., Notre Dame Law School, cum laude
• B.S., University of Georgia, summa cum laude
• With SELC since 2006