WASHINGTON — President Obama announced on Thursday his intention to nominate Jane Toshiko Nishida as assistant administrator for international and tribal affairs at the Environmental Protection Agency.
Nishida has 30 years of environmental experience working in federal and state government, and international and nongovernmental organizations. She is currently the acting assistant administrator for international affairs and principal deputy assistant administrator for international affairs at the EPA, a position she has held since December 2013.
Prior to this, Nishida served as the director of the Office of Regional and Bilateral Affairs within the Office of International and Tribal Affairs from 2011 to 2013.
Previously, Nishida was the senior environmental institutions specialist at the World Bank from 2004 to 2011, and the senior policy advisor at the Planning and Development Corporation from 2002 to 2004. From 1995 to 2002, Nishida was secretary of the Maryland Department of Environment, and she served as the Maryland executive director of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation from 1991 to 1995.
From 1984 to 1991, she served as deputy and assistant legislative officer for the governor of Maryland. Nishida was committee counsel to the House Environmental Matters Committee and Senate Economic Affairs Committee of the Maryland General Assembly from 1980 to 1984.
She received a B.A. from Lewis and Clark College and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.