Murkowski Welcomes New Committee Staff
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, today announced three recent additions to her Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee staff: Tristan Abbey, who is returning to the committee as a senior professional staff member; Nick Matiella, who has joined the committee as a professional staff member; and Stephanie Miller, who has joined the committee as a detailee from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
“I’m thrilled to welcome Tristan, who helped spearhead our efforts to lift the oil export ban, back to the committee. He brings a wealth of knowledge and a very strategic perspective to the issues we are focused on,” Murkowski said. “Nick has years of congressional experience on lands and natural resources policy and has already been a valuable addition to our lands team. I’m also pleased that Stephanie has agreed to join us and know that we will all benefit from her expertise on matters affecting Alaska and other states.”
Abbey is returning to the committee after previously serving on the committee staff from 2012 to 2017. He will focus primarily on economic statecraft and international energy-related issues. In 2017, Abbey served on the Department of Energy’s transition team before becoming a director at the National Security Council. In that role, he developed the Japan-U.S. Strategic Energy Partnership and the Australia-U.S. Strategic Partnership on Energy in the Indo-Pacific. He also shepherded President Trump’s Executive Order 13817 on critical minerals and contributed to the National Security Strategy. He is a graduate of Stanford University and the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service.
Matiella joined the committee in February 2019. He focuses primarily on wildland fire, forest management, and grazing policy issues. Prior to joining the committee, Matiella was a legislative assistant for the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., for more than 10 years working on natural resources and Native American issues, and later for Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., in 2018. Matiella has a bachelor’s degree in political science from Arizona State University.
Miller also joined the committee in February 2019. She has previously served in several positions within the federal government, most recently as an advisor to the BLM director. She brings substantive knowledge on matters relating to the integration of management efforts and policy and strategic planning across the Bureau. She has a bachelor’s degree from Plymouth State University, and a Master of Science in aquatic ecology from Utah State University, Logan.
