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Michael Shellenberger is President and Chairman of Environmental Progress, and a leading energy and environmental researcher. He is a Time Magazine "Hero of the Environment" (2008), and coauthor of An Ecomodernist Manifesto (2015) and Nature Unbound (2015). Michael writes for publications including Scientific American, The New York Times, & the Washington Post. His 2015 TEDx talk was on "How Humans Save Nature."
Madison Czerwinski, Executive Vice President and former Senior Researcher at Environmental Progress, explores the factors driving the construction and cancellation of nuclear power plants and the politics of energy deprivation and development in impoverished countries. She also oversees EP's historical analysis, creating comprehensive timelines of all cancelled or constructed nuclear power plants in the United States.
A Wisconsin native, she graduated with degrees in environmental science and political science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2017. Madison loves to spend her time crossword puzzling, exploring the outdoors, and cheering on the Green Bay Packers and Milwaukee Brewers over a cold craft beer.
Originally from Santa Barbara, Paris graduated from the University of Santa Cruz with degrees in Environmental Studies and Liberal Arts. During her academic career she concentrated on understanding human interactions with the natural environment, focusing on how sociology, psychology and politics plays a role in achieving environmental and social justice. It is through her travels throughout Mexico and Europe that she decided to pursue a career that allowed her to combine her passion of aiding people and the natural environment. When she is not assisting in research and analytics at EP, you can find her at the beach, camping along the coast or tending to her house plants.
Born and raised in the San Francisco East Bay, Alexandra graduated from Goucher College in Baltimore, Maryland with degrees in Sociology and Philosophy. Through her studies, she garnered an interest in the social nature of the intersection between economics and the environment. Her time in Baltimore and her semester abroad in Denmark bred her passion for understanding how social change is made. While not managing EP’s operations, Alexandra enjoys cooking, hiking, and solo trips to the movies.
Jack, originally from Pittsburgh, PA, is a researcher for EP and studies English and History at U.C. Berkeley, expecting to graduate in 2021. He has volunteered in Malawi, Guatemala where he worked as a photojournalist to document Community Cloud Forest Conservation's (CCFC) work conserving the cloud forest, with homeless shelters and development programs in both Pittsburgh and the Bay Area. Jack was the editor-in-chief of his high school newspaper and he plans to become a journalist or a professor/author. Jack is passionate about music, photography, and soccer, and works as a DJ at the local radio station in his spare time.
Originally from Southern California, Grace Pratt is studying Society and Environment and minoring in Spanish at the University of California, Berkeley. She will graduate with her B.S. in 2020. She is also an Associate Consultant in the Bay-Area Environmentally Aware Consulting Network (BEACN) and enjoys hands-on problem-solving to improve environmentally aware businesses. In addition to her experience in the private sector, Grace is also very interested in policy and is planning on attending law school. She hopes to be able to change our legislation surrounding climate issues in order to mitigate the effects of climate change and ensure that the people who will be most harmed by global warming are protected. In her free time, Grace enjoys going outside to hike and camp, and dancing for Berkeley’s competitive ballroom dance team.
Nicholas is a writer and investigative journalist studying Media Studies at University of California, Berkeley. He will graduate with his B.S. in 2021 with a minor in Journalism. In his free time, Nick enjoys cycling around the Bay and exploring the local music scene.
Arun Ramamurthy, Research Fellow, Environmental Progress. Arun develops models and visualizations of energy trends on global, national and local scales, using data analytics to study the levers and effects of climate mitigation and energy policy.
Sid is a researcher for E.P. and a student of Economics at U.C. Berkeley, expecting to graduate in Fall 2019. Born in Bombay and raised in the San Francisco Bay, Sid has long been interested in the use of economic policy to meet social goals, the theme of his former column at The California Aggie, and the focus of his past internship at the D.C. office of Congressman Jimmy Panetta. In his free time, Sid enjoys the Grateful Dead, competitive running, and the Berkeley Hills.
Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, Ben is an undergraduate student at the University of Southern California pursuing a degree in Environmental Studies with a concentration in environmental policy. At USC, he is the Director of Advocacy for the university’s Environmental Student Assembly, focused on leading initiatives to promote sustainability and environmental responsibility on campus. He is also passionate about songwriting & music, oat milk (among other non-dairy alternatives), and cuddling with big dogs.
Born in Guadalajara, Mexico and raised in various parts of the US, Jacqueline Davis is an undergraduate at UC Berkeley majoring in Environmental Science and minoring in Toxicology. After graduating, she hopes to become a physician’s assistant. She has a passion for running and competes for Strawberry Canyon Track Club, a running club located in Berkeley, California. Her other passions include her two cats, Khaleesi and Milo.
Steve Kirsch founded Mouse Systems Corporation is 1982. Then he went on to co-found Frame Technology Corporation in 1986 to market publishing software called FrameMaker. In 1994, he founded a web portal company called Infoseek Corporation. Steve then founded Propel Software Corporation in 1999 and then led Abaca Technology Corp in 2007. More recently, Steve started OneID which allows for an Internet-scale digital identity system that uses key cryptography to replace usernames and passwords with a single digital identity which is being utilized by a number of non-profits.
Kristin Zaitz is a licensed professional civil engineer who works in nuclear energy, supporting the production of over 20% of California’s emission-free electricity at Diablo Canyon Power Plant. Kristin is a co-founder of Mothers for Nuclear, and she believes in supporting all clean energy sources to address major humanitarian and environmental issues. Kristin is a licensed professional engineer and project manager with over fifteen years of engineering and project management experience. She is a past president of the North American Young Generation in Nuclear and a board member for Diablo Canyon Women in Nuclear. Kristin holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Civil Engineering from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.
Dave Hervol is a mechanical engineering contractor working in support of NASA’s Glenn Research Center. A native of Wadsworth, Ohio, he studied mechanical engineering at the University of Akron and was initially fascinated by the possibility of a solar- and wind-powered economy. However, after touring the Perry Nuclear Power Plant in 1986 with a group of engineers from school, Dave’s opinions began to slowly change, culminating in research and training on the effects of radiation. He believes that nuclear power will allow a cleaner future without decimating the Ohio landscape with tens of thousands of windmills and countless millions of solar panels.
Robert Stone is New York Coordinator of Environmental Progress and the documentary filmmaker behind “PANDORA’S PROMISE,” which premiered at Sundance in 2013 broadcast on CNN. He is co-founder of Energy for Humanity based in London, and is a co-author of the Ecomodernist Manifesto. Stone has twice been nominated for Academy Awards, once for Best Feature Documentary, and twice for PrimeTime Emmys. His best known work includes “GUERRILLA: The Taking of Patty Hearst” (2004) OSWALD’S GHOST” (2007) EARTH DAYS” (2009) He is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Directors Guild of America, Writers Guild of America, and the Television Academy.
John Lavine is Senior Advisor to EP on Digital & Data Journalism. Lavine is former Dean of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism and is a professor of media management and strategy at Medill and the Kellogg School of Management.[1] He focuses on the emerging role and trends of media ranging from traditional and digital journalism and marketing communications to social networking, participatory media, the impact of new technologies, and how to increase audience engagement with the media. Read more >>
Alan Medsker is Coordinator of Environmental Progress - Illinois. He works as a technical solutions engineer, designing networks and solutions that allow people to communicate. His professional background includes electrical engineering, software development, network consulting, project management, sales engineering and management. He resides in Arlington Heights, IL.
Cesar Penafiel is EP's Director of Analytics and Operations. Cesar served as CEO of Engineerica Systems, Inc, a software development company. He recently received his Master's in Policy from Columbia University where he concentrated in energy and the environment and was research assistant to Former IEA Executive Director, Nobuo Tanaka. Cesar's publications include a report on the New York electricity capacity markets for Bloomberg New Energy Finance and co-chaired the Columbia University Coalition for Sustainable Development student organization.
Mark Nelson, Senior Analyst, oversees EP's ground-breaking Energy Progress Tracker, the most comprehensive review of nuclear power plants planned, under construction, and at-risk of premature closure.
Mark's research into the environmental impacts of nuclear closures in Germany and California has been cited in the New York Times and other publications.
Mark completed his graduate work in nuclear engineering at the University of Cambridge under the supervision of Tony Roulstone, and studied aerospace and mechanical engineering at Oklahoma State University. Mark is a competitive runner, musician and photographer.
Mark's Twitter handle is @energybants