It looks at where non-governmental groups like the Mono Lake Committee are most effective and what strategies are most effective in influencing government entities to take action. There's an overlap between my dissertation topic and what the Committee has done in working with, and then being a goad to, some governmental agencies. Playing that double role of being both friend and advocate in a governmental setting is very similar to most effective groups that are active internationally. Not as much as you might think. I knew about Mono Lake from my international work, so for me it's a very international place.
Mono Lake is very much an international site with people as well.
In addition a lot of the work I did with Audubon was with local chapters, trying to translate large policy issues into something that made sense at the local level. The MLC is working on water policy issues which are both statewide, national, and international. We are a physical example of how a policy issue affects a place. My experience so far with the MLC has been an answer to a dream to actually work in a place that is so connected to the outside world and so illustrative of why we need good water policy and sound environmental policy locally and globally. You've come to the Committee at a time when the organization has obtained a reputation for being effective and has built a successful history.