Avra Heller, US EPA
Sara Jacobs, US EPA

Avra Bio: Avra is the Project Officer for USEPA Region 9’s Clean Water Act 319 Nonpoint Source Pollution grants to California, Guam, CNMI, and American Samoa. Prior to joining EPA in 2022, Avra spent six years as a project manager for the California State Coastal Conservancy, managing coastal and riparian habitat restoration and public access projects in the San Francisco Bay Area. Prior to her work in CA, Avra spent four years as the CNMI Coral Reef Initiative Project Coordinator at BECQ on Saipan. In this role she managed coral and watershed restoration and public outreach grants from NOAA and DOI. Avra is THRILLED to be back in CNMI, continuing to support Pacific Island watershed restoration work. Avra holds dual bachelor’s degrees in environmental biology and environmental development from Tulane University, and a joint master’s in international Affairs and Natural Resources and Sustainable Development from American University in D.C. and the UN University for Peace in Costa Rica.

Sara Bio: Sara Jacobs is an Environmental Engineer in the Water Division at the US EPA Region 9 San Francisco office. She received her bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the University of California at Davis and her master’s degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Sara has been at USEPA for more than 25 years and has worked in the Tribal Program Office, managing General Assistance Program Grants to Tribes, in the Drinking Water Office where she managed the SRF Drinking Water Tribal Set-Aside Program, and in the Superfund Division where she worked to clean up abandoned uranium mines on the Navajo Nation. In her current position, she manages the Sewer Overflow and Stormwater Reuse Municipal Grant (OSG) Program as well as coordinates EPA’s Water Technical Assistance for communities in Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada and the Pacific Island Territories.