Alex Matthiessen (born July 3, 1964) is an environmentalist and lives in New York City. He is the son of author and naturalist

Peter Matthiessen Peter Matthiessen (May 22, 1927 – April 5, 2014) was an American novelist, naturalist, wilderness writer, zen teacher and onetime CIA agent. A co-founder of the literary magazine ''The Paris Review'', he is the only writer to have won the Nat ...

Biography

Mr. Matthiessen graduated from the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

at Santa Cruz in 1988 with a BA in Biology and Environmental Studies, and earned his Masters of Public Administration from the

John F. Kennedy School of Government The John F. Kennedy School of Government, commonly referred to as Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), is the school of public policy of Harvard University, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Kennedy School offers master's de ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in 1995. Matthiessen began his activist career in 1990 as the grassroots program director for the

Rainforest Action Network Rainforest Action Network (RAN) is an environmental organization based in San Francisco, California, United States. The organization was founded by Randy "Hurricane" Hayes and Mike Roselle in 1985, and first gained national prominence with a gra ...

in San Francisco. In this capacity, he organized and managed an international network of affiliate activist groups. During the summer of 1994, he interned at the

White House Council on Environmental Quality The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) is a division of the Executive Office of the President that coordinates federal environmental efforts in the United States and works closely with agencies and other White House offices on the develop ...

. From 1995 to 1996, Matthiessen worked for the

Harvard Institute for International Development The Harvard Institute for International Development (HIID) was a think-tank dedicated to helping nations join the global economy, operating between 1974 and 2000. It was a center within Harvard University, United States. Foundation and leadership ...

(HIID) as a macroeconomic policy analyst in the Indonesian Ministry of Finance. In 1997, Matthiessen was appointed as a special assistant to the

U.S. Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the management and conservation of most federal lands and natural resources. It also administers programs relating t ...

, where he worked on matters of special importance for Interior Secretary

Bruce Babbitt Bruce Edward Babbitt (born June 27, 1938) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 47th United States secretary of the interior from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He previously served as the List of governors of Arizo ...

. He managed a multi-agency task force charged with reforming the hydropower licensing process of the

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates the interstate transmission and wholesale sale of electricity and natural gas and regulates the prices of interstate transport ...

. He was also co-creator and head of the Green Energy Parks initiative, a joint program between the Department of the Interior's

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

and the

Department of Energy A ministry of energy or department of energy is a government department in some countries that typically oversees the production of fuel and electricity; in the United States, however, it manages nuclear weapons development and conducts energy-rela ...

, which promotes renewable and energy efficient technology throughout the national park system. Matthiessen received a Presidential Award from the White House for his work on this project.Alex Matthiesse
National Outdoor Leadership School
Matthiessen was Riverkeeper’s chief executive from 2000 to 2010 and served on the organization's board of directors during that time. Under his direction, Riverkeeper—an environmental non-profit that protects and defends the

Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...

and the

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

watershed Watershed may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, an area of land where surface water converges (North American usage) Music * Watershed Music Festival, an annual country ...

—maintained a full-time patrol boat enforcement presence up and down the Hudson River and its tributaries, and extended its principal jurisdiction from north of Albany to New York Harbor. In addition to strengthening the group's traditional enforcement role, Matthiessen pushed the organization to develop long-term, preventative strategies designed to strengthen the deterrents and incentives necessary to avoid pollution.The Hudson Riverkeepe
Boating on the Hudson
Under Matthiessen's leadership, Riverkeeper joined forces with institutions such as

Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory The Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO) is a research, research institution specializing in the Earth science and climate change. Though part of Columbia University, it is located on a separate closed campus in Palisades, New York. The obs ...

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

School of Law A law school (also known as a law centre/center, college of law, or faculty of law) is an institution, professional school, or department of a college or university specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for bec ...

, and

Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation The Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP) is the architecture school of Columbia University, a private research university in New York City. It is also home to the Masters of Science program in Advanced Architect ...

, to enhance scientific understanding of the Hudson River, as well as stop what it views as ill-conceived development projects along the waterfront. In 2006, Matthiessen served on New York State Governor

Eliot Spitzer Eliot Laurence Spitzer (born June 10, 1959) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 54th governor of New York from 2007 until his resignation in 2008 after a prostitution scandal. A member of the Democratic Party, he was also ...

’s transition team as an advisor on the new administration's goals for energy and environmental policy. He also served as chair of the energy committee for

Westchester County Westchester County is a county located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of New York, bordering the Long Island Sound and the Byram River to its east and the Hudson River on its west. The county is the seventh most populous cou ...

’s Climate Change Task Force as well as chair of the MTA Blue Ribbon Commission on Sustainability's water committee. Matthiessen also served on the boards of directors of the Hudson River Improvement Fund, Governor's Island Preservation and Education Corporation (GIPEC), and

Waterkeeper Alliance Waterkeeper Alliance is a worldwide network of environmental organizations founded in 1999 that work to protect bodies of water around the United States and the world. By December 2019, the group said it had grown to 350 members in 46 countries, ...

—the umbrella organization for over 190 Waterkeeper programs around the world dedicated to protecting local water resources.Board of Trustee
Water Keeper Alliance
He currently serves on the board of the Catskill Mountainkeeper. In July, 2010, Matthiessen started an environmental consulting firm, Matthiessen Strategies, based in New York City, with clients in New York, Massachusetts, and Vancouver.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matthiessen, Alex 1964 births Living people American environmentalists Harvard Kennedy School alumni Activists from New York (state) University of California, Santa Cruz alumni Harvard Institute for International Development