Ms. Ariel chaired the R.I. Bar Association’s Alternate Dispute Resolution Committee for five years and chaired the 2001-2002 Rhode Island Supreme Court’s Task Force on Alternate Dispute Resolution which was instrumental in furthering ADR in the state court system. Ms. Ariel has presented professional seminars on topics such as Mediation Representation for Advocates and Freshwater Wetlands Regulation.

As Special Assistant Attorney General, Rhode Island Department of Attorney General, Ms. Ariel served in the Civil Division, Environmental Prosecution Unit handling civil actions, administrative matters and criminal grand jury investigations for State environmental agencies like the Coastal Resources Management Council and Department of Environmental Management. She also acted as criminal prosecutor within the Criminal Division for the District, Family and Superior Court Units where she handled both bench and jury trials. Ms. Ariel presented papers at the Northeast Hazardous Waste Conference, the Environmental Criminal Institute, and the National Ocean Pollution Conference.

As Assistant General Counsel, Vermont National Education Association, Ms. Ariel assisted in-house counsel with public sector employment, labor and civil rights litigation and handling grievance arbitrations, mediations and collective bargaining activities.

Ms. Ariel previously worked for six years as a biologist and wetlands ecologist for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service-National Wildlife Refuge System, the Rhode Island Audubon Society, and the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management-Freshwater Wetlands Section inventorying and evaluating environmental resources in Rhode Island for purposes of preservation, enforcement action and/or alteration.