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LEADERSHIP
Erica Tergeson, Principal
Erica Tergeson is the owner and founder of Crosswinds Solutions, a full-service government and public affairs company. Erica has worked on and off Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. for the House Appropriations Committee, House Natural Resources Committee, and several U.S. Representatives. She has also represented non-profits, trade associations, and publicly and privately held companies in Washington, D.C. She specializes in natural resources policy and politics but also represents clients in the fintech sector. Tergeson has served as a spokesperson conducting numerous TV and radio interviews and numerous speaking engagements. She has also authored op-eds and various policy and legislative articles published and quoted in the Wall Street Journal, Daily Caller, and Washington Free Beacon. Recently, she served as a member of the Secretary of the Interior’s International Wildlife Conservation Council.
Previously, Tergeson was Staff Director for the U.S. House of Representatives Natural Resources Committee’s Subcommittee on Federal Lands from 2015 through 2017. There she was responsible for conducting congressional hearings, drafting and passing laws, and negotiating numerous bills with the U.S. Senate and the Administration. The Subcommittee had jurisdiction over the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Erica was the key negotiator in several large conference committees to resolve differences between the House and Senate.
From 2013-15 Erica was a federal lobbyist for NRA-ILA where she handled the states of Idaho, Montana, Florida, Nebraska, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Mississippi. She was also the principal advisor on natural resources, wildlife, hunting, and appropriations issues.
In 2011, Tergeson was hired as professional staff with the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Interior Appropriations. There she wrote and negotiated numerous appropriations bills and continuing resolutions funding the Department of the Interior and the U.S. Forest Service.
Prior to her service on the Appropriations Committee, Erica was the Director of Policy at the Society of American Foresters (professional society) from 2009-2011 and a government affairs advisor at Ball Janik, LLP in Washington, DC, from 2007 to 2008, where she represented clients in the field of natural resources. From 2002 to 2007 she served as a member of the legislative staff of the House Natural Resources Committee, where she worked on federal and public land-related bills and laws. She also served on the personal staffs of U.S. Representatives Richard Pombo (R-CA) and Bob Schaffer (R-CO).
Erica was born in California and raised in a ranching family in Northern Colorado. She attended Colorado State University and received a B.A. in Political Science that led her to Capitol Hill after graduation.
Dr. Jenifer Chatfield, Senior Advisor
Dr. Jenifer Chatfield is a twice board-certified veterinarian with an extensive career in many facets of clinical practice including public animal parks, private collections, emergency and critical care, as well as general practice. She is a diplomate of both the American College of Zoological Medicine (ACZM) and the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine (ACVPM). Dr. Chatfield is a national thought-leader in infectious disease and conservation medicine. She’s been a practice owner, a relief vet, worked in public health, serves as a member of the National Veterinary Response Team, and is a Medical Reserve Corps member. She serves on the advisory boards for DVM360, PetVet Magazine, and VPNextGen and as an Associate Editor of the Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine. Dr. Chatfield is one of the most popular speakers at the largest veterinary conferences and has been quoted in national magazines including Better Homes & Gardens.
Dr. Chatfield’s peer-reviewed scientific publications range from pharmacokinetics to wild animal behavior to infectious disease and assisted reproduction in endangered species. She has been an instructor for FEMA/DHS courses and was a Regional Leader for the National Disaster Medicine System Team for several years.
Dr. Chatfield developed the “Veterinary Support to Zoological Animals in a Disaster” for the National Veterinary Response Team’s (NVRT) training curriculum. Dr. Chatfield has a particular interest in infectious diseases and biosecurity and her work for the Dept. of Homeland Security’s (DHS) courses has been focused on topics such as foreign animal diseases, quarantine and isolation, and malicious introduction of pathogens. Dr. Chatfield served on the curriculum redevelopment team for the nationally renowned DHS course, “Emergency Response to a Domestic Biological Incident.” Her extensive experience in public health includes developing a jurisdiction’s plan for response to bioterrorism in a large metropolitan area.
With a background in the animal industry, Dr. Chatfield provided guidance to US policymakers while serving in the US House of Representatives first as a Science Fellow and then as a Senior Science Advisor. Dr. Chatfield was then appointed to serve on the International Wildlife Conservation Council by the US Secretary of the Interior and was subsequently elected the Vice-Chair of the Council.
Dr. Jenifer Chatfield has cultivated an incredible network of experts and policymakers because of her diverse background and she continues to provide expertise in the areas of international wildlife trade, public health, and agriculture.
