Staff
Joseph K. Lyou, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Dr. Lyou serves as the Executive Director of the California Environmental Rights Alliance. Dr. Lyou is also California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s appointee to the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) Governing Board. AQMD is the air pollution control agency for more than 16 million people living in Orange County and the urban portions of Los Angeles, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties.
Since 1990, Dr. Lyou has assisted communities with many environmental protection issues, including air and water pollution, contaminated site clean-up, radioactive waste, and environmental justice. Prior to the inception of CERA, Dr. Lyou served as the Director of Programs for the California League of Conservation Voters Education Fund and Executive Director of the Committee to Bridge the Gap, a Los Angeles public interest organization dedicated to protecting communities from the misuse of nuclear technology.
Dr. Lyou specializes in issues related to research methods, statistics, open-government laws, and environmental policy. Dr. Lyou graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the California State University at Northridge and earned his Masters of Science and Doctorate of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Social Psychology from the University of California at Santa Cruz.
Nicole Nishimura
Program Assistant
Ms. Nicole Nishimura serves as the Program Assistant for the California Environmental Rights Alliance and assists in the day-to-day activities of the organization as well as miscellaneous assignments. She also serves as the Board Assistant for Dr. Lyou in his capacity as Governing Board Member with the South Coast Air Quality Management District.
Prior to her work with CERA, she worked as a journalist, taught English, traveled, and lived abroad. Ms. Nishimura holds a B.A. in Mass Communications with a minor in Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of California at Berkeley.