Jeffrey H. Taylor -
Mr. Taylor began his planning career with the City of Berlin, New Hampshire, in 1977. There he was responsible for zoning and subdivision issues, grant writing, and project administration. He later became director of all community and economic development for the city. He attracted in excess of $10,000,000 in public grant funds to this community of 12,000 people.
In 1989 Mr. Taylor was asked by then Governor Judd Gregg to become the Director of the New Hampshire Office of State Planning. Mr. Taylor was asked to stay on in that capacity under Governors Steven Merrill and Jeanne Shaheen. During these terms Mr. Taylor led major initiatives in environmental legislation, in economic development, and in community planning.
In January of 2003, Mr. Taylor formed Jeffrey H. Taylor and Associates to provide consulting services in the areas of community planning and economic development to northern New England communities. His current client list includes the Cities of Dover and Berlin, New Hampshire; the Newfound Lake Region Association, and the NH Departments of Environmental Services and Transportation.
Mr. Taylor is the winner of numerous awards for his work in community planning, including, in 2003, being named an honorary member of the New Hampshire chapter of the American Institute of Architects and receiving an award for outstanding leadership from the New Hampshire Preservation Alliance.
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Bob Varney is Senior Vice President of Normandeau Associates. Considered one of the nation’s most experienced and respected environmental leaders, Robert Varney is a former Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) New England Regional Administrator, who joined Normandeau Associates as Senior Vice President in 2009. He was the longest-serving regional administrator and the top environmental official in New England for 8 years and is recognized for instituting many innovative approaches and policy initiatives that have served as national models. Prior to EPA, Mr. Varney was one of the nation’s longest-serving state environmental commissioners. Appointed by three Governors of both political parties, he served as Commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (DES) for 12 years.
Mr. Varney has been considered a pioneer on the issues of climate change and energy. In the mid-90’s, he was the first state environmental commissioner to hire a full-time climate change specialist and to include climate change in a state’s clean air strategy. He also helped create, and served as a board member of, the EPA/ECOS (Environmental Council of the States) Climate Change Forum and was the first state environmental commissioner to formally propose multi-pollutant state legislation to simultaneously reduce greenhouse gases, nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide and mercury emissions. At EPA in 2001, he was the first regional administrator to establish an Energy Team to boost energy efficiency and renewable power. He also initiated the NE Community Energy Challenge, hosted the first meeting of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), and sponsored numerous energy conferences, workshops and training sessions.
As one who strongly believes that government should lead by example, Mr. Varney’s leadership resulted in significant clean energy efforts in agency operations. The region’s research laboratory was the first LEED Gold Certified building in Massachusetts, and through smart energy management, successfully and progressively improved operational efficiencies, reducing electricity costs by more than $200,000 in 2007 alone. Through changes to the region’s fleet, overall fuel efficiency improved from less than 20 mpg in 2001 to over 30 mpg by 2006.
Mr. Varney has extensive expertise working with local communities in New Hampshire. He holds a masters degree in urban planning and has served as director of two regional planning commissions where, in collaboration with local officials and stakeholders and with extensive public involvement, he wrote local master plans, downtown revitalization strategies, zoning, subdivision and site plan review regulations, and successfully prepared numerous grant applications on behalf of communities for housing, water and sewer infrastructure, parks and economic development projects. He also prepared regional highway, rail and bus feasibility studies, transportation improvement and solid waste management plans and local and regional economic development strategies. As state planning director and state environmental commissioner, he helped create municipal grant programs for drinking water, wastewater, landfill closures, recycling and water supply land protection as well as increased funding for contaminated site cleanups and reuse.
Mr. Varney’s professional affiliations and honors are extensive. On Earth day, 2009, EPA presented him with its prestigious Lifetime Achievement Environmental Merit Award. Prior to joining EPA, Mr. Varney was elected by his peers to serve as president of the Environmental Council of the States (ECOS), the national association of state environmental commissioners. He also served as Chairman of the New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission (NEIWPCC), the New Hampshire Energy Site Evaluation Committee (SEC), the New Hampshire Water Resources Council, the New Hampshire Water Supply Task Force, New Hampshire Planners Association, State/EPA Superfund Policy Forum, NAFTA Governmental Advisory Committee, the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment, the Federal Ozone Transport Commission, and the New England Governors Conference Environment Committee.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of New Hampshire and a master’s degree in urban planning from Michigan State University.
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Richard Ober is Vice President of Civic Leadership and Communications at the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation. Dick has 25 years of experience in non-profit leadership, public policy, and communications in New Hampshire. His role at the Foundation is to unite public and private partners to address the state’s most significant challenges. His portfolio of issues in 2009 includes energy policy, affordable housing, transportation, state park management, substance abuse, and deliberative democracy. Dick currently chairs the Public Utilities Commission Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Energy Board. Before coming to the Charitable Foundation in January 2008, he was Executive Director of the Monadnock Conservancy (2001–2007) and a senior staff member of the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests (1985–2001). He has served as a member or chair of more than a dozen non-profit and public boards. Dick is an active writer and lecturer. His published works include books, several book chapters, scripts, magazine articles, and essays on a wide range of topics.
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Joanne O. Morin is the manager of Climate and Energy Programs for the Air Division of the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services. In this capacity, she is responsible for many initiatives to promote cleaner energy sources, energy efficiency, and energy conservation in the transportation, power generation, commercial, industrial and residential sectors. She recently facilitated the development of the New Hampshire Climate Action Plan involving a 29-member Task Force and over 125 stakeholders. For the past four years, she has served as the New Hampshire representative on the staff working group for the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (known as RGGI), a “cap and trade” program for limiting carbon dioxide emissions from major electric power plants in 10 eastern states. She helped develop legislation for a renewable portfolio standard for New Hampshire which was passed in the summer of 2008 and she serves on the Board of Directors for "The Climate Registry". Her previous experience includes twelve years as an environmental consultant and four years as a Corporate Environmental Manager for The Timberland Company. Her previous environmental work ranged from Superfund litigation to monitoring overseas labor and environmental conditions.
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AnnMarie Rowlands French is a communications specialist with the New Hampshire Local Government Center (LGC), which provides programs and services for the Granite State’s 234 cities and towns. In this role, she coordinates the publication of a wide array of educational and informational materials, serves as associate editor of New Hampshire Town and City magazine, and assists with the planning and implementation of a variety of programs and outreach initiatives. AnnMarie represents the LGC as a member of the New Hampshire Energy and Climate Collaborative. She is a member of the LGC Energy Conservation Committee, advocating for improved building efficiency and promoting an energy-conservation ethic. AnnMarie began her experience working with municipal government in 1994, serving the City of Boston for ten years in various communications capacities, and focusing on the city’s neighborhood revitalization efforts from 1998 to 2004. While she often misses Boston’s urban amenities and available public transportation options, she is now happily settled in Dover, NH, within walking distance of downtown.
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Joe Byk has led sustainability initiatives as a member of the Peterborough Select Board and the Sustainable Peterborough Committee. These include a proposed blower door requirement for all new residential and commercial construction, a first for New Hampshire. He has served as General Counsel for tech companies in Silicon Valley and Boston. He now works as legal and business development advisor to startup tech and green companies. He is working with the Monadnock Economic Development Corporation to create a regional “Green [Resource] Center.
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Sarah Marchant has served as the Town Planner and GIS Coordinator for Milford, NH since 2005 and serves as the Public Information Officer on the New Hampshire Planners Association Executive Board. In her role as Town Planner she has assisted the community in writing and adopting new Site Plan and Subdivision Regulations, several Zoning Changes including new Sign, Small Wind Energy and Accessory Dwelling Unit Ordinances, a Stormwater Ordinance and a new Housing Chapter for the Master Plan. She also helps to represent the NH GIS community on the NEARC Conference Development Committee. Sarah has a BA in Geography from the University of New Hampshire and a MA from the University of Connecticut.
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Dean Shankle is the Town Administrator in Epping and the co-founder of Aretao, a consulting company currently developing renewable energy projects. Since 1984 he has worked in communities in New Hampshire in positions including Executive Director of the Southwest Region Planning Commission and Community Development Director and Town Manager in Merrimack. He has initiated, planned and implemented a variety of community recycling and energy efficiency initiatives. During 2006-2007 Dr. Shankle was a Fulbright Scholar in Moldova where he taught public administration and worked with the American Embassy helping develop a program designed to improve small communities’ access to safe drinking water and health care.
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Bev Edwards is chair for the Temple Energy Committee, appointed by the Temple Select Board in 2007. Her professional life has focused on the realms of mental health and the healing arts for the past 30 years. Her involvement in community relations began in the late 60's and has included being one of the founders and organizers of the Cambridge Women's Center in Cambridge, MA; developing new action areas for the Lexington Civil Rights Committee in Lexington, MA; being a community fundraiser for Project Place, a teen shelter in Boston, MA; and co-creating the New England Therapists Association for the Study of Abuse. Her devotion and concern for the environment has been life long and has involved memberships in a wide range of environmental organizations.
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Julia Betjemann Dundorf joined CA-CP in May of 2008, following a temporary position as Local Energy Committee Field Organizer. As Manager of Community Relations Julia continues to develop trainings and resources for local energy committees and community, as well as to co-direct the Residential Carbon Challenge, now a joint initiative with the University of New Hampshire (UNH). Julia co-founded the NH Carbon Challenge in 2006 as a UNH initiative committed to helping NH households reduce their carbon dioxide emissions. She is a founding and Steering Committee Member of Barrington Energy Task Force, and co-founder of the Rockingham/Strafford Energy Committee Alliance, a grassroots convening of local energy committees in the NH Seacoast area. Julia is also a member of the Carbon Coalition Local Energy Committee Working Group. Julia has a background in small business and non-profit development and directing, including Yankee Barnraising, a nonprofit dedicated to helping low-income and disabled individuals in need of home repairs or alterations. The mother of three children, she is an avid woodworker and outdoors enthusiast. Julia has a B.A. in German and International Relations with concentration in Business Administration from the University of New Hampshire.
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James S. Gruber Jim is a core faculty member of the Environmental Studies Department and co-founder of Antioch New England Institute of Antioch University New England and a previous municipal manager in Vermont and New Hampshire. During the past 30 years, he has consulted to national and state governments, regional non-profit organizations, and local governments in seven Eastern European Countries, Mexico, and the United States on environmental policy, energy conservation and passive solar technology, social capital building, and facilitating systemic change. His most recent publication is entitled: Key Principles of Community-Based Natural Resource Management: A Synthesis and Interpretation of Identified Effective Approaches for Managing the Commons.
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Christa Koehler was a City Planner for Keene, New Hampshire, where she performed a broad array of planning and development tasks including the development of comprehensive plans and review of development proposals. One of Christa’s primary duties was to coordinate and run the Cities for Climate Protection program in Keene where she worked on implementing a Local Action Plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Christa earned her B.A. in Political Science at Pace University and her M.S. in Resource Management and Administration at Antioch New England Graduate School. Her research has centered on how comprehensive planning can curtail the advent of climate change in the northeast. Christa is an adjunct professor at Antioch New England Graduate School and is the Vice President of the New Hampshire Planners Association.
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Wes Golomb - Having worked for the Public Utilities Commission since 1999 as their Energy Conservation Coordinator, Wes moved into new territory as Professor of Energy Services and Technology at Lakes Region CC's campus. He has many years of experience teaching about energy efficiencies, conservation, and renewable energies. His community and non-profit volunteer efforts include the NH Residential Energy Performance Association, Residential Energy Services Network, the Deerfield Conservation Commission, NH Estuaries Board, Project Nature, Ambassadors to the Solar System, and myriad other organizations. He joined the NHSEA Board of Directors in autumn 2006.
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Bob Walker is founder, president and executive director of Sustainable Energy Resource Group, a nonprofit organization founded in 2002, which promotes energy conservation, efficiency and renewables by forming and consulting with town energy committees. Bob is a certified Home Performance with ENERGY STAR contractor. In 1992, Bob wrote EarthRight Institute's “Guide to Town Energy Planning in Vermont”. Bob is also director of the Elizabeth Mine Study Group, working on the cleanup of an abandoned Superfund site and chair of the Thetford Energy Committee. Bob has been a social, political and environmental community organizer and activist in Vermont since 1979.
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Michele Gagne is a Community Development Training and Planning Coordinator with the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension and teaches an undergraduate course at UNH called Managing Community Conflict and Change. She is on the Board of the Seacoast Workforce Housing Coalition and is part of the Executive Committee of the newly formed NH Citizen Planner Training Collaborative, a group of state agencies, regional planning commissions and community board members to develop innovative training methods to meet the needs of land use boards. Her expertise is in group facilitation and deliberative dialogue, participatory planning and collaborative problem solving, and community development evaluation.
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Denise Blaha is Co-Director of the NH Carbon Challenge, a joint initiative of the University of New Hampshire and Clean Air-Cool Planet that provides households with the tools, resources and support to reduce their energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Denise is also program coordinator of UNH Cooperative Extension’s Energy Answers program. She was previously a researcher with the Global Atmospheric Chemistry group at UNH, studying anthropogenic sources of atmospheric methane. Denise has co-authored two chapters for the Earth Exploration Toolbook that are used by teachers throughout the U.S. to teach students about climate change. She is also a member of the Carbon Coalition Steering Committee and Speakers Bureau, and an advisory panel member to the Local Energy Committee Working Group as well as New Hampshire Public Television's Planet Granite.
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Chris Skoglund is an Energy and Transportation Analyst at the NH Department of Environmental Services (DES). In 2008, he was the staff coordinator for Climate Change Policy Task Force, which developed greenhouse gas emission targets and a Climate Action Plan to achieve those goals. In addition, Chris represents DES during transportation planning, working with the DOT and the Regional Planning Commissions in the southeastern corner of the state. Previously Chris was engaged in efforts that targeted reductions in greenhouse gas emissions through community-based behavior change campaigns and innovative building design projects. As part of this work, Chris served as the NH Carbon Challenge Program Manager, providing guidance on the implementation framework and programatic vision. Before attending UNH graduate school, Chris worked as an educator for almost a decade in traditional classroom settings and in the outdoors with students of all ages.
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Nancy Hirshberg is Vice President of Natural Resources for Stonyfield Farm, the world’s leading organic yogurt producer, based in Londonderry, New Hampshire. For the past 18 years, Nancy has led Stonyfield Farm’s efforts to identify opportunities to improve the company’s environmental performance and reduce its ecological footprint. Under her management, Stonyfield Farm’s environmental leadership has brought praise from the environmental community including many of the most prestigious awards bestowed on businesses including The Green Cross Millennium Award for Corporate Environmental Leadership; the President’s Council on Sustainable Development National Award for Sustainability; and most recently the 2006 Green Power Leadership award from the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S Department of Energy. Nancy has served on the board of directors of numerous organizations including the Organic Trade Association and the American Farmland Trust. Before joining Stonyfield Farm, Nancy studied Plant and Soil Science and environmental education, and worked in education, forestry and agriculture. Nancy is the mother of a yogurt loving daughter who serves to continuously remind her of the importance of her work on behalf of the planet, and above all to keep a good sense of humor.
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Cheryl King Fischer is the Executive Director of the New England Grassroots Environment Fund, a funder/activist grantmaking collaborative that focuses on community-based environmental issues including energy & climate change, environmental health, traditional land, water and natural resource management, civic engagement, democracy and sustainable communities.
Cheryl’s has worked extensively in both the public and non-profit sectors. She holds a bachelor’s degree in biology and two masters degrees, one in medical technology and the second in resource economics. She has served on many boards and committees, including a two-year term on Montpelier’s City Council and most recently the Montpelier Energy Team which she helped found. Cheryl is also a volunteer for the Center for a Bio-based Economy, a group of entrepreneurs and citizen activists in the Hardwick, Vermont area, who are creating a new model of community development rooted in a locally robust and sustainable food and energy system.
Cheryl lives in Montpelier, loves to garden, cook, read non-fiction works about global and social change, be involved in her community, and retreat with her family’s camp in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom where they find great inspiration in their totally primitive, off-the-grid “wooden tent” and the surrounding fields and forestland that nature shares with them and asks in return that they steward, protect and enjoy.
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Michael Behrmann is a principal partner of Sustainable Development & Energy Systems Group, LLC and serves as SDES Group’s Energy Analyst and Public Relations manager. In his work with SDES Group he actively pursues opportunities municipalities, businesses, and residents have regarding energy efficiency and alternative energy generation projects. Mike has worked on a number of innovative projects within New Hampshire and throughout the New England region, including the Town of Epping’s micro-Combined Heat/Power and solar array installation at their Town Hall. Before returning to New Hampshire in 2007 he worked to advance clean energy education and legislation throughout New York State as the New York Public Interest Group’s Environmental Advocate. Mike holds a BS from the University of New Hampshire, along with a Master’s degree in Environmental Law from Vermont Law School.
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Linda Darveau holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Health and a Masters Degree in Biostatistics from Boston University. She worked as an industrial hygienist for Dupont for eight years before joining the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection in 1989. At MA DEP Linda was involved in implementing the landmark Toxics Use Reduction Act legislation. Linda joined EPA New England in 1991 as a member of the New England Environmental Assistance Team, providing regulatory compliance and pollution prevention assistance to small businesses, hospitals, municipalities, and colleges and universities. Linda recently began incorporating Lean Manufacturing into her work with these sectors, promoting Lean and the Environment and Lean and Energy reviews. Linda joined EPA’s Energy Team in October of 2008, and currently works on energy efficiency and renewable energy projects with municipalities, school, hospitals, and water and waste water treatment plants.
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Corey Johnson is an undergraduate student at the University of New Hampshire in the Whittemore School of Business and Economics. He became involved with the Small Town Carbon Calculator (STOCC) through an internship with the UNH Office of Sustainability and worked closely with Clean Air-Cool Planet and the Carbon Coalition to make the program available to towns across the state. He is currently involved with helping New Hampshire municipalities complete the STOCC process.
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Angela Vincent joined ICLEI as the Northeast Regional Director in May 2008. She is responsible for supporting local governments within the region on implementing climate change prevention policies and programs. Originally from Washington State, Angie has dedicated her professional career on environmental planning. Over the past 8 years, she has worked for local and regional planning agencies, focusing on how providing innovative, sustainable planning tools and services to communities in the Nashua Region, located in Southern New Hampshire. Angie's climate change experience stems from her involvement in creating the Nashua Green Team, a dedicated group of
City staff, business leaders and Nashua citizens that are working to address climate change in the City of Nashua, NH. She worked closely with ICLEI staff in developing the Green Team and providing support both as a City staff member and then a volunteer. She brings enthusiasm and experience in energy planning to the ICLEI team and is excited about working on sustainability throughout the entire Northeast.
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Eric Steltzer is an Energy Policy Analyst for the NH Office of Energy and Planning. He has extensive experience in renewable energy, energy efficiency, and community engagement. Prior to his work at OEP, Eric received his Masters in Resource Economics and Development from the University of New Hampshire and worked as a Regional Planner for Rockingham Planning Commission. Locally, Eric volunteers his time in his community as the chairperson of the Dover Energy Advisory Committee.
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Gil Gelineau has more than 35 years experience in the electric utility industry, and for the last 15 years, he has been focused on issues surrounding energy efficiency. Beginning in the early 90s he was involved in the design and delivery of PSNH’s conservation and load management programs. Since restructuring in the electric utility industry, he has worked with the NH Public Utilities Commission and other interested parties to develop what has emerged as the CORE Programs – a suite of energy efficiency programs, available statewide to NH electric customers. He currently is responsible for PSNH’s implementation of the CORE Programs.
Gil earned his Masters and Bachelors degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Connecticut and has taught power systems engineering at the University of New Hampshire.
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D. Dickinson Henry, Jr. is the Executive Director of The Jordan Institute, a non-profit organization, located in Concord, New Hampshire, dedicated to minimizing the contribution of the built environment to climate change. The Institute’s current priority is to reduce the use of fossil fuels, both thermal and electric, in all types of buildings.
While at the Jordan Institute, Mr. Henry has had an active public role in formulating and implementing energy policy in New Hampshire. Representing one of only three non-profit members, Mr. Henry serves on the Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Energy Board at the Public Utilities Commission, the advisory board to the PUC for the Regional Green House Gas Funds, the Renewable Portfolio Standard funds, and the Systems Benefit Charge funds. These funds may generate approximately fifty million dollars annually, of which about forty million is designated for energy efficiency work. Mr. Henry also participated in the work groups of the Governor's Task Force on Climate Change serving on both the Residential, Commercial, and Industrial sub-committee and the Government Policy committee. He is a member of the CORE Energy Efficiency Advisory Board where he has emphasized the expansion of the Smart Start program in both the commercial/industrial sector and the residential sector and the inclusion of both gas and electric efficiency programs under CORE oversight. Lastly, Mr. Henry served on the Governor's Task Force on the Winter Home Heating Crisis and participated in establishing the Stay Warm New Hampshire initiative.
Mr. Henry brings to these efforts an extensive background on strategic energy and environment issues pertaining to the electrical utility industry. While president of the Audubon Society of New Hampshire, he collaborated on the implementation of the first selective catalytic reduction system on a coal fired power plant in North America. As a private consultant, he pioneered the first conversion in the country of a fifty megawatt coal fired power plant to wood using fluidized bed combustion. In the 1990’s he participated extensively in the electric utility restructuring process in New Hampshire and led a consortium of low-income, small business and environmental interests that helped develop the concept for a system benefit charge now producing twenty million dollars a year for electric energy efficiency.
Upon graduation from Harvard College in 1970, Mr. Henry became co-founder and president of the Habitat Institute of the Environment until 1975. He next joined the technical staff at the Massachusetts Audubon Society and was a member of the New England Energy Congress. Under his directorship from 1979 to 1984, the Lake Waramaug Task Force in Connecticut installed the first hypolimnetic withdrawal system in North America to restore that highly eutrophic lake. He was the president of the Audubon Society of New Hampshire from 1987 to 1995. From 1996 to 2004, Mr. Henry's private consulting work also involved sheep contract grazing at a commercial scale to manage invasive and exotic vegetation.
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Susan Thorne, AIA and LEED AP - Susan Thorne is a Program Manager and Trainer with The Jordan Institute, providing Consulting services for High Performance Buildings and LEED Project Certification, as well as Training in High Performance Buildings and LEED.
A licensed Architect with an enduring interest in Sustainability, Susan brings to her work many years of experience with a variety of building types, clients and design/construction teams. In her previous independent practice of architecture, with a Green builder, and in the UNH Campus Planning Office, Susan’s focus has been facilitating team communications and coordination, stakeholder education, project programming and documentation. At the Jordan Institute, Susan helps clients identify and realize their Energy Efficiency and Sustainability goals.
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Steven Whitman is a planner with Jeffrey H. Taylor and Associates of Concord, New Hampshire and has worked on planning issues at the state, local and regional level in New Hampshire. Mr. Whitman is also an adjunct faculty member at Plymouth State University where he teaches courses at the graduate and undergraduate level in environmental planning, community planning, and sustainability. During the past three years Mr. Whitman has been teaching field study courses in sustainability, permaculture, and ecovillage design in Iceland, Scotland, Sweden, Australia, and India. Mr. Whitman lives in Plymouth, NH and participates in a wide range of grassroots efforts that promote sustainability.
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Julie LaBranche was employed for seven years as a Natural Resources Planner for the Maryland Department of the Environment and Department of Natural Resources, where she participated in the Chesapeake Bay Program as chair of the climate change workgroup. Currently, Julie is a Senior Planner with the Rockingham Planning Commission in southeast NH. Her work in the region includes assisting Local Energy Committees to complete energy inventories and develop long range plans to achieve energy conservation and emissions reductions in their communities. She holds a B.S. in Geological Sciences from Salem State College, MA and a M.S. in Earth Sciences-Geology from Montana State University, Bozeman.
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Clay Mitchell, PHD - As a partner with MG Planning, Dr. Mitchell has worked with local governments in New England for the last 12 years. He holds a Doctorate in Natural Resources and Environmental Science from the University of New Hampshire and is a graduate of Vermont Law School with a JD and a Masters in Environmental Law. Dr. Mitchell’s primary focus is environmental law and energy project development. He participates at the local and state level developing projects and policies that contribute to economic sustainability and secure energy resources for clients in the public and private sectors. He has provided planning services to several communities in the region.
In addition to many other volunteer activities, Dr. Mitchell is the President of the Board of Directors of the New Hampshire Sustainable Energy Association, and the Chair of the Northeast Combined Heat and Power Initiative Board of Directors and is a member of the New Hampshire Carbon Coalition Local Energy Committee Advisory Group.
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Jim O’Brien is the Executive Director of the Granite State Conservation Voters (GSCV), an organization that protects New Hampshire’s environment by making it a top priority for elected officials. GSCV works to elect individuals to the statehouse who will vote to protect New Hampshire’s natural resources, and works with policy makers and the public on finding solutions to New Hampshire energy and environmental challenges. Recently, Jim was appointed by Governor Lynch to serve on the Climate Change Task Force to create a state action plan to address energy and climate issues. Jim has over a decade of political and campaign experience, serving in leadership positions for local, state and national campaigns for candidates in both parties. In addition to his work in politics, Jim has helped raise money for several community based organizations, including over $2 million for a new Red Cross headquarters and training center in Concord, New Hampshire. In 2007, Jim was named one of the 40 leaders in New Hampshire under the age of forty by the Manchester Union Leader. He is a Steering Committee member of the New Hampshire Carbon Coalition, an organization that advocates for responsible energy policies. Jim is the current Chair of Leadership Greater Concord, a year-long interactive program of the Concord Chamber of Commerce that provides leaders in the Concord area with a better understanding of the city, its economy and and its culture. In 2008, Jim was elected Selectman in the Town of Hopkinton where he lives with his wife and three young boys.
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Paul Leveille manages the High-Performance Buildings program for the Jordan Institute. www.thejordaninstitute.org The Jordan Institutes’ mission is “to help communities enhance the health of people and the environment in ways that make economic sense.” There he is working with interested parties to integrate ecological design, energy-efficiency, pollution prevention, indoor environmental quality, and community character in site and building design, construction, and operation and maintenance. He is providing consulting services on several LEED www.usgbc.org projects in the state.
Paul is the past Director of Facilities for the Society for the Protection of NH Forests, NH's oldest and largest conservation organization. Among facilities he oversaw was the award-winning Conservation Center - a showcase of passive solar design. Leveille oversaw lighting upgrades, installation of the largest utility inter-tie solar electric system in NH and a central woodchip-fired heating system at the center. He oversaw the addition of an 11,400 sf state-of-the-art wing incorporating a super-insulated air tight envelope, daylighting, local materials, composting toilets, full greywater recycling system, non-toxic materials and more. The project was New England’s first LEED certified building and earned a Gold rating.
Paul chairs the Environmental Guild whose mission is "to collaborate individual sustainable design resources into a collective force that can bring about appropriate change." The Guild is the "Committee on the Environment" of the NH chapter of the American Institute of Architects. He has two degrees in Engineering and in the process of building a passive-solar, super-insulated home, expected to be the first LEED certified home in NH.
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Steve Russell is the Fleet Superintendent for the City of Keene, New Hampshire. If it rolls in the City of Keene, Steve is responsible for keeping it rolling. The vehicles of police, fire, rescue, public works, water, wastewater, and the recycling center are all part of the City Fleet. The City Fleet has been using biodiesel for over seven years and has been recognized nationally for its use.
The city’s use of biodiesel has been noted in several national publications. The Sept. 2003 New York Times Magazine, the Sept. 2004 Clean Cities News, and the Dec. 2006 Fleet Executive have all documented the positive impact biodiesel has had for the city environment. Steve has been managing fleets for over 18 years. Prior to managing Keene’s Municipal Fleet, Steve managed a corporate fleet with over 1,000 vehicles at all ends of the United States.
Steve is on the board of directors for the New England Chapter of the National Association of Fleet Administrators. He is also the chairman of the fuel and technology committee of the National Fleet Managers Association. He serves on the board of the New Hampshire Granite State Clean Cities organization. A graduate of Springfield College, Steve holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Community Leadership and Development.
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Harry L. Young - Before retiring to Jaffrey, NH in 2001, Harry worked as a Director of Operations, Hospital Support Services in Georgia, New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania,Virginia and Washington, D.C. After becoming interested in energy conservation, he petitioned the Town Selectmen to form the Jaffrey Energy Committee and developed and chaired the committee in 2007. In prioritizing energy conservation issues, he proposed a committee to study the street lights in Jaffrey. In 2008, the Jaffrey Street Light Committee was formed with Harry as chair. The committee developed guiding principles, established goals and surveyed and mapped the town street lights. They made a proposal to the town Selectmen to remove or reduce the wattage of the street lights. On June 8, 2009, the Jaffrey Selectmen approved the removal of 72 street lights along with reducing the wattage of the remaining 150 street lights in the town. When not checking out street light illumination, Harry enjoys kayaking and birding and restoring their 1779 farm house.
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Irene Garvey is a professional neutral facilitator for consensus building processes, strategic planning initiatives, project and process development, and difficult conversations. She specializes in facilitating processes relating to environmental, energy, land use, natural resources, planning, and policy issues. Her strong ability to facilitate multi-party conversations and foster collaborative decision making comes from 8 years of facilitation work and training. Irene also has a developed a deep understanding of technical issues from 17 years working as an environmental professional.
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Laura Richardson is the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Coordinator for the State Energy Programs (SEP) at the New Hampshire Office of Energy and Planning. She is coordinating eleven of the State Energy Programs under ARRA. She was also the Project Director for StayWarmNH, an expanded weatherization and winterization program. She and her husband Gil started Empowered Homes, LLC in 2007, doing deep-energy residential retrofit work, and Empowered Answers, LLC for consulting and energy audits. In 2003, she co-founded the NH Sustainable Energy Association. She has lived off-grid in a low-energy home since 2001.
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Peter Riviere has been the Executive Director of Coos Economic Development Corp. since 2000. CEDC is one of 10 Regional Economic Development Corporations established in the state to serve as conduits for Community Development Block Grants, establish regional revolving loan funds and assist with job creation, business start-ups and expansion.
Prior to his late-life stint in Economic Development Peter was a journalist covering mostly Coos County for regionally significant weekly and daily newspapers.
He moved to New Hampshire’s North Country in the early 70s from an urban commune in Portsmouth begun by socially active UNH students, grads and friends. He was fortunate to be on the cusp of the baby boomer generation and all its attendant excesses and experiences. He attended the original Woodstock. His hearing remains excellent. His memory? Nneeah!
In his present role his agency partnered with North Country Council, the regional planning commission, to convene the creation of the Coos Economic Action Plan, a blueprint to diversify and revive the regional economy devastated by the closure of two paper mills and a pulp mill contributing $200million to the county’s GDP and employing 2,000 (directly and indirectly)
As a result Timber and Energy sector study groups recommended a focus on timber resource sustainability and higher energy efficiency and expansion of Local Energy Committees. As such Peter’s agency has been convening sessions looking for the most sustainable energy solutions using timber as the energy resource.
District combined heating/power [CHP] (small, community based heating and power units fired by wood pellet/chips) offers one of the most sustainable and community-friendly systems available though challenging to conventional paradigms of bigger is better, centralized power generation and distribution.
Though subject to endless debate, Peter believes that in energy, bigger isn’t better. Better is better.
He is married and has two children, is active in the community serving on Police Athletic League, hockey and Little League coach, school board member, and is an active skier, hockey player and golfer (when time permits).
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Charlie Niebling is General Manager for Procurement and Sales with New England Wood Pellet LLC, the largest manufacturer of wood pellet fuel in the northeastern US. In addition to sales and wood procurement, Mr. Niebling oversees government and public affairs.
Prior to taking this position in January, 2006, Mr. Niebling was for nine years vice president for policy and land management with the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests. He has also been a private consultant, executive director of a forestry trade association, and a biologist with the USDA Forest Service.
Mr. Niebling holds forestry degrees from the University of Vermont (BS) and the Pennsylvania State University (MS). Mr. Niebling is a licensed professional forester and a 1996 graduate of Leadership New Hampshire. He is chairman of the board of the Biomass Thermal Energy Council in Washington DC.
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Jack Ruderman is Director of the Sustainable Energy Division at the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission. He is responsible for management of the state’s Renewable Energy Fund and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Fund, both created in recent years to advance New Hampshire’s sustainable energy goals. He also serves as co-chair of the state’s Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Energy Board. Prior to joining the PUC, he served as the Deputy Director of the New Hampshire Office of Energy and Planning. In that capacity he guided the design and implementation of a wide range of federally-funded energy efficiency and renewable energy programs, helped prepare New Hampshire’s first-ever comprehensive energy plan, and spearheaded development of the state’s 25 x ’25 renewable energy plan and a study on measures to increase the use of renewable thermal energy. Prior to joining OEP, Jack was a trial attorney with the New Hampshire Public Defender. He holds a B.A. in political science from Tufts University and a J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law.
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Roger W. Stephenson is Executive Vice President for Programs at Clean Air-Cool Planet. Roger has over 20 years of experience providing public relations expertise and counsel to corporate management, government agencies and non-profit executives regarding internal communications, stakeholder relations, coalition building, strategic public campaigns, grassroots organizing, branding and fundraising strategies. Roger is an accredited member (APR) of the Public Relations Society of America.
Roger joined CA-CP in 2006 to prepare a global warming education campaign in New Hampshire ahead of the 2008 presidential primary. Prior to a successful 5-year stint as an independent public relations practitioner, Roger was a public relations counselor in the public relations and management consulting firm Jackson, Jackson and Wagner. From 1995 through 1999 he served as Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Interior and served in the White House Council on Environmental Quality to help manage overall program and policy development for President Clinton’s American Heritage River Initiative. Before serving in the Clinton administrations Roger was National Field Director for the League of Conservation Voters and later executive director of the LCV Education Fund.
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