 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mara Baum
Megan Brachtl
Garrett Fitzgerald
Ann Grodnik
Nicole Heller
Andrea Johnson Andrea graduated from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies in 2005 with a Master\'s in Environmental Science. After previous work on orangutans in Indonesia and macaw ecology in Peru, she shifted focus at Yale towards the social, financial, and political aspects of tropical conservation, conducting thesis work on Peru\'s Camisea Natural Gas Pipeline controversy and organizing on campus for more transparent endowment investment policies. Andrea\'s research interests include the role of field stations and other scientific institutions in applied conservation and the role of civil society organizations and North-South networks in environmental conflicts. After a brief stint in 2006 with the Native Species Reforestation Project (PRORENA) at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama, Andrea has returned stateside. She is currently working as the Forest Campaigs Coordinator with the Environmental Investigation Agency, an NGO that uses undercover investigation and advocacy to document and expose international environmental crimes. Her focus will be on forests in Latin America and Southeast Asia.
Matthew Kolan
David Kramer
Melissa Laser
Emil McCain
Susannah McCandless
Dustin Mulvaney
Daniel Orenstein
Tracey Osborne
Anne Short
Katherine Smith
Brett Thelen
Mark Tompkins
Andrew Whitney
|
|
|
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
As an architect and sustainability coordinator at Anshen+Allen Architects in San Francisco, Mara's current work focuses on improving the human and environmental health impacts of hospital and university campuses. She is currently involved with designs for several major healthcare and academic buildings, and recently completed grant-funded research on the conflicts and synergies between evidence-based design and sustainability. She is also on the architecture faculty at California College of the Arts and the Boston Architectural College.
Prior to work at Anshen+Allen, Mara held the Mark Ginsberg Sustainability Fellowship with the US Green Building Council, for which she authored “Green Building Research Funding: An Assessment of Current Activity in the United States,” and was a contributing author to the USGBC's National Green Building Research Agenda. Mara also previously worked in urban design, green building consulting, and was an artist in residence at an inner city arts center. She graduated with a Masters in Architecture and a Masters of City and Regional Planning from UC Berkeley with a focus on building science and environmental urbanism, and received a Bachelors of Arts in Architecture with a minor in anthropology from Washington University.
Megan Brachtl is a Presidential Management Fellow working on fuels issues for the Office of Transportation and Air Quality at EPA headquarters in Washington, DC. She received her masters degrees from Tufts University in 2005, combining studies in environmental and water resources engineering with international environmental policy and development. For her master's thesis, Megan studied polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in ambient air and from mobile sources in Quito, Ecuador.
Megan received her BS in civil and environmental engineering at Northeastern University, Boston. She served in the Peace Corps in Côte d'Ivoire from 1998 to 2000, where she worked on urban environmental problems.
Garrett completed a Master's through U.C. Berkeley's Energy and Resources Group, where he focused on issues of community livability and sustainability. His work primarily explores the empowering process of local sustainability assessment and the integration of assessment data into planning and governance models. As the lead coordinator of a comprehensive sustainability assessment of the U.C. Berkeley campus, Garrett also established a new model for such initiatives and laid the groundwork for improvements at U.C. Berkeley for years to come. In addition to engaging key campus stakeholders, he offered a new course in Fall 2004 in which students participated directly in the assessment process. Garrett also worked closely with the City of Berkeley, helping the City to develop indicators for measuring progress relative to sustainability and mechanisms for integrating indicator data into existing decision-making processes. As an undergraduate at the Pennsylvania State University, Garrett served as student body president and graduated with a self-styled major in Environmental Energy Engineering. He is pursuing a career empowering people in U.S. communities to identify and act upon local opportunities to move toward social and environmental sustainability.
Ann Grodnik is an Assistant Vice President in Public Finance at Seattle-Northwest Securities. Her work focuses on the power sector in the Northwest and she is involved in exploring new opportunities for public financing of renewable energy.
Ann received a joint MS/MBA in 2006 from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and the Yale School of Management. She specialized in energy/climate policy and finance and her research focused on how residential consumers decide to purchase clean energy for their homes. During graduate school, she worked on forestry investments and energy finance at Ecotrust, Evolution Markets, and GE Capital. Prior to graduate school, Ann was the Development Director at The Natural Step, an organization that advises corporations on integrating social and environmental priorities into strategy and operations. Ann was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Guinea, West Africa and graduated with a BA in English Literature from the University of Vermont.
Nicole Heller received her Ph.D. from the Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University. Broadly, her research examines the effects of global change on biodiversity and strategies for urban sustainability. She is currently working on climate change education and media outreach at a new non-profit Climate Central. Prior to working at Climate Central, Nicole taught ecology and evolution at Franklin and Marshall College. In her research, she has studied the ecological and environmental factors that regulate growth, spread, and impact of an invasive ant species in Northern California. Explored climate change adaption strategies for biodiversity management. And investigated the effects of land use and Nitrogen pollution on invertebrate communities in rapidly urbanizing south San Jose, California. Prior to her graduate work at Stanford, Nicole worked with Environmental Defense, The Gorilla Foundation, National Park Service and The Nature Conservancy. She also wrote about environmental issues for a popular culture magazine, Speak.
Matt is currently pursuing a PhD at the University of Vermont. A recent graduate of UVM's Field Naturalist Program, he is combining his passions by
developing educational experiences that foster a connection to natural cycles
and cultivate a deep understanding of natural processes. He is currently in
the process of developing a local study abroad program for UVM's
Environmental Residential College that is aimed at exploring the art of living well in place.
Matt currently teaches Environmental Problem-solving and Impact Assessment, a project-based service-learning course that serves as the capstone experience for all undergraduate seniors at UVM's Rubenstein School of Natural
Resources. Matt also works as a staff member for the PLACE Institute where he facilitates workshops and works with communities to develop an integrated series of experiences and resources designed to interpret the natural and cultural history of their town landscape and envision a path towards asustainable future. He also works as a consultant on various wildlife and animal tracking projects.
David Kramer currently serves as Program Officer for Institutional Development at EcoLogic Development Fund, based in Cambridge, Mass., where he previously served as an intern during his studies toward a Master’s in Public Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. EcoLogic aims to strengthen the capacity for community-based conservation in rural Latin America by forging multi-year, highly-engaged partnerships with local groups. EcoLogic’s mission is to advance the conservation of threatened ecosystems in rural areas, where poverty is extreme, by promoting sustainable livelihoods that affirm local cultures and by strengthening community participation in natural resource management. David works on grant writing, researching, and reporting to foundations, companies, and government funders and is also engaged in several special initiatives, including increasing coordination with EcoLogic’s field office Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, and collaborating on a comprehensive overhaul of project design and creation of a program strategy. Prior to joining EcoLogic, David earned a B.A. in English from Dartmouth College and spent several years as a teacher in Cali, Colombia and in Boston. He also earned a certificate in Outdoor Leadership with the help of Switzer Foundation professional development funds. David is fluent in Spanish, and he and his wife, Carolina, who hails from Colombia, have a daughter named Alana, and a Colombian yellow Labrador retriever named Shenandoah. They live in Jamaica Plain, a highly diverse neighborhood of Boston with arguably the best access to parks and recreation opportunities in the entire city. David serves as a volunteer with the Friends of Nira Rock www.fonr.org.
Radha Kuppalli focuses on developing New Forests' international strategy, supports the investment programs of the company's US and European investment clients, and participates in international advisory assignments related to ecosystem services markets. Radha was previously an Analyst at Natsource LLC for two years. At Natsource, she advised clients on a range of issues related to greenhouse gas emissions markets and renewable energy credit markets and developed extensive experience in environmental markets-related investments. Radha has Bachelor of Arts Degrees in International Studies and Economic Theory from American University in Washington, DC, and Masters Degrees in Business Administration and Environmental Management from Yale University's School of Management and School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.
Melissa is an ecologist working for the Department of Marine Resources on diadromous fish restoration. She serves as the Conservation Planner for the Bureau of Sea Run Fisheries and Habitat. In this role she is responsible for leading river specific planning efforts, including a plan for the Penobscot River, the target of a large restoration project involving the removal of several large main stem dams. She also works on ESA issues as they relate to the Gulf of Maine Distinct Population Segment of Atlantic salmon. Along with her interest in restoration, both of habitat and species from an ecosystem perspective, she is looking at ways to integrate human dimensions into natural resource decision making. In addition, she has an interest in applying the principles of Interpretation to help engage the public in environmental issues. Finally, she has been working with Nova Southeastern University as an Adjunct faculty where she teaches an on-line class in environmental interpretation.
Emil McCain is a Master’s student in Wildlife Management at Humboldt State University. Large carnivore conservation is Emil’s passion and will be the focus of his career. Emil’s vision is not only to learn more about carnivore ecology, but to use this information to protect large-scale ecosystems. He is currently working on jaguar conservation ecology in the borderlands area of northern Mexico and the southwestern United States. Emil’s Master’s thesis focuses on the spatial and temporal relationships between predators and between predators and their prey species. Specifically, he is examining how closely these cats track the activity patterns of their prey. During his junior year at Colorado College, Emil conducted his undergraduate thesis on jaguar predation on nesting sea turtles in Costa Rica, where he worked with Dr. Eduardo Carillo, Central America’s leading jaguar biologist. After receiving an undergraduate degree in Biology from the Colorado College, Emil surveyed for endangered Orange-breasted Falcons in Belize and southern Panama. He then studied mountain lion ecology in Yellowstone National Park and tracked wolves on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Before beginning graduate school, he worked in Grand Teton National Park on a raptor study that was started by Frank and John Craighead during the middle of the last century to monitor the health of the Jackson Hole ecosystem. He plans to combine the solid scientific background from his graduate and undergraduate programs with the technical skills gained from his field work experiences to protect large wild areas using the “umbrella effect” of carnivore conservation. High profile carnivores such as jaguars and mountain lions require extensive, connected, relatively unaltered habitat; therefore, the conservation of these animals results in the protection of large wild areas. His work will require large-scale efforts that include obtaining solid ecological date on “indicator species” as well as working effectively with land owners, government agencies, and conservation organizations. Emil also hopes to develop effective environmental education approaches to assist people who live in and near critical habitat in developing alternative ways to balance their economic and cultural concerns with an understanding of the importance of holistic conservation ecology.
Susannah McCandless is a doctoral candidate in human-environment geography at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts. Her dissertation research will
investigate whether and how conservation land trusts in Vermont provide area residents with equitable, just access to conserved lands, as community
land trusts have done for low-income urban dwellers. She will also combine interviews, transects, and remote sensing techniques to examine how trust
activity has changed the Vermont landscape. After college, Susannah pursued a Fulbright fellowship near Monteverde, Costa
Rica, looking at biological and social aspects of sustainable development in the buffer zone of conserved lands. While working closely with several area NGOs, she became interested in the potential of private lands to contribute to both conservation and livelihood maintenance. Susannah currently sits on the
board of two non-profits, including Quaker Earthcare Witness of the Americas. For
the last 5 years she has chaired the subcommittee of that group which coordinates and facilitates work with their Costa Rican project partners, and recently
returned to Monteverde to continue community development work there. While studying at Clark and living in Worcester, Susannah co-founded a grassroots
residential brownfield phytoremediation and environmental toxics education
effort. The Worcester Roots Project is entering its third successful growing season in the lead-infested soils of several neighborhood sites, and is
filing for 501(c)3 status to further its exposure and effectiveness. Susannah
also designed curriculum, taught and mentored in the inaugural year of summer urban youth environmental education and social change program. In her spare time, she informally mentored neighborhood youth, teaching ESL, math and
environmental science, and assisting in a youth bike repair class. Susannah graduated with highest honors from Swarthmore College, where she studied plant ecology and biodiversity conservation, with minors in Latin American and Caribbean Francophone studies.
Dustin is a College 8 \"Environment and Society\" Fellow and Lecturer at the University of California at Santa Cruz, where he received a Ph.D. from the Department of Environmental Studies. He came to Santa Cruz from New Jersey, where he received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering and a M.S. in Environmental Policy Studies from the New Jersey Institute of Technology.
His commitment to solving environmental problems has led him down many paths. He has worked as a process engineer for a Fortune 500 chemical manufacturer and later as a engineering group leader for a venture capital start-up that developed groundwater remediation technology.
Dustin\'s Ph.D. research focused on local and state regulations for genetically engineered organisms (GEOs), with attention to the role that social movements and political economic forces play in influencing containment policy on pharmaceutical corn, California rice, and transgenic salmon.
His more recent research is focused on the ways that life cycle analysis is used in debates about renewable energy policies and investments, with an emphasis on emerging technologies. In particular, he is looking at how life cycle analysis is used to justify and oppose biotechnology in biofuels and nanotechnology in solar power. How are regulators, activists, and investors defining the boundaries of the life cycle, what is included and excluded, and can these differences be bridged?
Dustin is currently working to secure funding for this project through consulting work with the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition and a post-doctoral grant opportunity at UC Berkeley.
Daniel Orenstein is a post-doctoral fellow at the Center for Urban and Regional Studies, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning at the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology. His work focuses on characterizing patterns of exurban sprawl in Israel's peripheral regions, and the ecological implications of those development patterns. He is also teaching courses in climate change and environmental policy at the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies. His environmental editorials and book reviews have been published in the Jerusalem Report, the Jerusalem Post, Ha'aretz, the Jewish Daily Forward and other venues. He also speaks to anyone willing to listen about a variety of environmental issues.
In 2006-2007 Daniel was a Switzer Leadership Fellow, and was provided a grant to work with the Coalition on Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL) as Science and Policy Fellow. Daniel completed his Ph.D. at Brown University’s Center for Environmental Studies in 2006. His research, then and now, is inspired by concern for the rapid development of Israel's open spaces. He believes that hope for conserving open spaces in the future will require an understanding of the interaction between human social systems and ecological systems.
Daniel studied Environmental Biology and Management at U.C. Davis (B.Sc. 1992), and ecology at Ben Gurion University of the Negev in Israel (M.Sc. 1996), where he investigated the impact of leaf litter on ecosystem flows in arid environments. Following the completion of his masters research, he taught environmental studies at the Rothberg School for Overseas Studies at Hebrew University and at the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies. At the Arava Institute, he had the opportunity to work with environmental studies students and professionals from Israel, Palestine, Jordan and North America, inspiring him to address environmental problems at a regional scale. At Brown, Daniel initiated and co-coordinates the Middle East Environment Futures Project, bringing together 40 Middle Eastern and North American environmental scholars to develop an innovative, interdisciplinary and policy relevant environmental study of Israel and Palestine.
Tracey Osborne is a PhD student in the Energy and Resources Group at UC Berkeley, researching the politics of sugar and the potential for ethanol production in the Caribbean. Her dissertation will analyze the political, economic and environmental ramifications of decisions to substitute an export commodity for a renewable energy crop. Greater and more efficient use of biomass energy resources can have substantial local and global environmental benefits, while allowing many Caribbean countries to maintain foreign exchange formerly spent on oil imports. Lessons learned from this research can be useful to other sugar-producing developing countries, by shedding light on how biomass resources can contribute to cost-effective and sustainable energy use. Tracey has a Master’s degree in Food and Resource Economics from the University of Florida, and has worked with a number of environmental NGOs on issues ranging from tropical deforestation to global climate change.
Anne Short is a Ph.D. student in the Energy and Resources Group (ERG) at UC Berkeley. Her current work examines the relationships between forest fragmentation, rural development, land management, and watershed health.
Katherine is an Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Brown University and Research Scientist with the Consortium for Conservation Medicine in New York.
Her research group at Brown works in the field of Conservation Medicine - an emerging discipline that resides at the intersection of environmental change, conservation biology, and the health of humans, wildlife, and ecosystems. They are primarily interested in four topics:
1) The patterns of human and wildlife infectious diseases that exist on the planet.
2) Environmental change and the emergence of infectious disease.
3) The implications of emerging infectious diseases and invasive species for public health and conservation.
4) Best management practices for regulating the mechanisms that facilitate the spread of infectious disease.
Their principal approach in exploring these topics has been to examine the biogeographical dynamics of human and wildlife infectious diseases using a combination of meta-analyses, theory, and field studies.
Brett Amy Thelen has just completed a Master of Science degree in Environmental Studies at Antioch University New England. Her research and coursework represent the merging of conservation biology and environmental education; she is particularly focused on cultivating meaningful environmental change through the expansion of volunteer involvement in ecological research initiatives. She envisions a world where such citizen science plays a critical role in the conservation efforts of every community, and where opportunities for engaging in local ecological research are available to all. In addition to her work with participatory science, Brett was also the editor of Volume 14 of Whole Terrain, a nationally-acclaimed journal that explores emerging ecological and social issues from the perspectives of environmental practitioners. Prior to her graduate work, Brett volunteered with an AmeriCorps program focused on land conservation, water conservation and environmental education on Cape Cod, and served as the lead on several environmental education and natural resource management projects for Cape Cod National Seashore. She has also worked as a teacher and interpretive naturalist in western Massachusetts. Brett received her B.A. in Literary & Cultural Studies from the College of William and Mary.
Mark Tompkins earned his Ph.D. in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning at UC Berkeley, where he investigated the role of floodplains in river restoration efforts. Floodplains provide important aquatic and terrestrial habitat as well as significant hydrologic, water quality, and aesthetic benefits, and have been recognized as critical elements of healthy river ecosystems. Mark currently works on projects that re-envision and restore rivers and their floodplains across the United States, drawing on his interdisciplinary background in civil engineering, fluvial geomorphology, and environmental planning to improve management and stewardship of rivers, especially those draining urban watersheds. Mark also writes and takes photographs for a wide variety of outdoor and conservation magazines.
Andrew is pursuing a master’s degree in Natural Resource Planning at Humboldt State University. The aim of his research is to create an inventory of brownfields in Humboldt County. In the process of doing his research Andrew has made connections between members of the university community, the private sector and officials in city, county and tribal governments. Andrew hopes that his research will encourage brownfield redevelopment in Humboldt County and create methodologies for small-municipal and rural communities to incorporate land recycling into their regional planning practices. After graduation, Andrew aims to work on brownfield redevelopment projects targeted to meet community needs such as sustainable economic development, affordable housing, and open space.
Prior to graduate school, Andrew worked as an organic farmer in New England and western New York. More recently Andrew has been working as a carpenter who employs green building practices and ecological design principals. Volunteerism is important to Andrew and he currently leads and participates in dune habitat restoration projects and coastal clean-up activities.
