Justin Kirkpatrick and Stephanie Roe will be working within the technical environmental group of the Public Ministry of the State of Rio de Janeiro (MPRJ).  The MPRJ is a group of public prosecutors whose mission, as established by the state’s Constitution, is to file suit on behalf of the environment, minorities, consumers, and civil society in general.

Within the MPRJ, Stephanie will be establishing a framework for ecosystem valuation to assist the prosecutors of the MPRJ in assessing environmental damages.  10 cases in particular have been identified by the MPRJ as a “new step” in enforcing environmental standards that have, in the past, largely gone ignored; Stephanie’s framework will be used in court to attach a “price tag” to environmental damage from these cases.

Justin will be working within the MPRJ to develop a set of policy changes for the state’s Environmental Impact Assessment process to proactively prevent the damages inflicted by these top 10 cases.  These recommendations will be ratified by the state’s Secretary of the Environment and its environmental quality agency, INEA.