Lynda Farrell
Founder/President
A former farmer and educator, Lynda brings a holistic approach to pipeline safety education. With 23 years of knowledge and experience in the community pipeline safety field, Lynda has brought pipeline safety education to communities in need. In her tenure as founder and Executive Director of PSC, Lynda spearheaded efforts to create the Chester County, Pennsylvania Pipeline Notification Protocol and Pipeline Information Center, as well as the national Mayors’ Council on Pipeline Safety. She serves as an Associate Director of the Chester County Conservation District, a member of Break Free From Plastics, and a member of the US Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (USEITI).
Email me: lynda@pscoalition.org
Carolyn Elefant, Esq.
Board Member
Carolyn joined the PSC board in 2014. She provides the expertise needed for PSC to provide current and accurate regulatory education. She has practiced law since 1988, and opened her own Washington, DC law firm, Law Offices of Carolyn Elefant, in 1993. Her firm helps clients within the United States and abroad navigate through and prevail in complex, multi-party regulatory and judicial proceedings at reasonable costs. In the energy industry, Carolyn’s woman-owned micro-firm is a rarity, yet flourishes because of her unwavering commitment to excellence and superior client service.
Steve Farrell
Board Member
Steve is an Information Technology Executive, with over 20 years experience in corporate consulting. Steve guides clients through the crucial decision-making processes to achieve solutions that best suit his client’s needs. An avid softball player, Steve has been married to Lynda for 30 years. The logical progression from husband and safety advocate to PSC board member was made official in 2015. Steve supports the technology and websites of the PSC.
Dr. Nathan Phillips
Board Member
Nathan is a professor in the Earth and Environment Department at Boston University. Nathan was part of recent studies that documented thousands of natural gas leaks in Boston and Washington, DC. This included finding and reporting grade one leaks, some of which remained un-repaired weeks and months later. Nathan’s current interest is in finding solutions to the gas leaks problem by considering them as part of a holistically-managed infrastructure ecosystem.
Dr. Kirk Jalbert
Board Member
Kirk Jalbert is an assistant professor in the School for the Future of Innovation in Society at Arizona State University. He is also a JPB Environmental Health Fellow with the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Kirk directs the Civic Science for Environmental Futures Collaborative, a research group that does participatory action research projects with communities working to create a more equitable environment future. Kirk also spent several years in the nonprofit sector as Manager of Community-Based Research and Engagement for the FracTracker Alliance, working with communities to facilitate data transparency, mapping, and digital storytelling projects related to shale gas extraction and pipeline impacts.
Dr. Donald Davis
Emeritus Board Member
Dr. Davis is currently a Professor of Plant Pathology and Environmental Microbiology at The Pennsylvania State University, where he also has a joint appointment with the Penn State Institute of Energy and the Environment. Dr. Davis’ research and teaching at Penn State involve potential impacts of air pollution on vegetation. He has also served as a Senior Fulbright Research Scholar in both The Netherlands and Australia, where he conducted research dealing with air pollution and has published more than 100 technical papers dealing with air pollution impacts on vegetation. Dr. Davis also has an environmental consulting practice where he specializes in evaluating potential impacts of air pollution emissions from coal-fired electric generating stations on the terrestrial ecosystem. Don earned his PhD in Plant Pathology from Penn State, and has since traveled the world studying, consulting and teaching courses on forest and plant pathology. Extensively published, Don has studied the effects of natural gas pipeline leaks on the plants in the ground above and around gas leaks. A founding board member, Dr. Davis returned to the PSC board in 2015 after a brief hiatus.
Dr. Simona L. Perry
Social Science and Community Engagement Advisor
Simona currently serves as the Communications & Impact Coordinator at Livelihoods Knowledge Exchange Network (LiKEN) and is a social science and community engagement advisor to Pipeline Safety Coalition. She began her service to PSC as Vice-President on the Board in 2013. She is passionate about advocating for community rights, just energy transitions, culturally relevant and science-based research and communications, and alternative dispute resolution processes. After serving as a marine scientist and regulator with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for 10 years, she earned her PhD in the human dimensions of natural resources conservation in 2009. She is recognized as a pioneer in community-based participatory methods for understanding the cultural and political consequences of environmental and social change. In 2019 she joined the Board of Directors of Wilderness Southeast and Mulberry Grove Foundation to contribute to environmental education and cultural preservation in her own community along the Georgia coast.
For more about Dr. Perry’s scholarly and ongoing work within rural places on the front lines of unconventional energy developments visit the Global Countryside website,