Workshops

2010 Presenter Biographies

Bob Berkebile
Any list of accomplished, influential environmentalists includes Bob Berkebile. Highly regarded by his peers and recipient of numerous awards, Bob is a principal of BNIM Architects in Kansas City. By combining his design and leadership skills, Bob consistently creates new, integrated approaches to restore social, economic and environmental vitality in communities. He is a board member of the U.S. Green Building Council, Bridging The Gap, the Nature Conservancy and the Center for Global Community and has been a juror and/or guest lecturer at universities from Harvard to Rice to Cambridge University, United Kingdom. As one of the nation's leading authorities in the field of sustainable design, Bob has conducted sustainable design workshops for the National Park Service, the U.S. Department of Energy, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the Canadian Provincial Architects. Bob is a pioneer in restorative design with the goal of integrating social, environmental and economic vitality. His sustainable design and planning projects range from redeveloping plans for the former naval base in Charleston, S.C. to restoring towns along the Mississippi River severely damaged by natural disasters, including New Orleans. He is a 2009 recipient of a prestigious Heinz Award and the host of the MARC Sustainable Communities Leadership  Academy.

Eban Goodstein, Phd
Eban Goodstein, Ph.D. is the  Director of the  Bard Center for Environmental Policy and  Director, The Naitonal Teach-In. Eban received  his B.A., Williams College; Ph.D., University of Michigan. Prior to Directing the Bard Center for Environmental Policy, he had a 20-year career as a Professor of Economics at Lewis & Clark and Skidmore Colleges. From 2006-2009, Goodstein led the National teach-In on Global Warming Solutions, coordinating educational events at over 2500 colleges, universities, high schools and other institutions across the country. Goodstein is the author of a college textbook, Economics and the Environment, (John Wiley and Sons: 2007) now in its fifth edition, as well as The Trade-off Myth: Fact and Fiction about Jobs and the Environment. (Island Press: 1999). His most recent book is Fighting for Love in the Century of Extinction: How Passion and Politics Can Stop Global Warming (University Press of New England: 2007). Articles by Goodstein have appeared in among other outlets, The Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Land Economics, Ecological Economics, and Environmental Management. His research has been featured in The New York Times, Scientific American, Time, Chemical and Engineering News, The Economist, USA Today, and The Chronicle of Higher Education. He serves on the editorial board of Sustainability: The Journal of Record, and Environment, Workplace and Employment, is on the Steering Committee of Economics for Equity & the Environment, and is a Member Scholar at the Center for Progressive Reform. Eban recently attended and reported from the Internatinal Conference on Climate Change at Copenhagen.

The Better World Handbook Authors

Ellis Jones, Ross Haenfler, and Brett Johnson are the co-authors of The Better World Handbook (New Society Publishers, 2007)--(winner of Spirituality & Health's Best Book of the Year Award, under the category of Hope). The Better World Handbook is the definitive guide to creating a more just, compassionate and sustainable world with your daily actions. The book summarizes the main challenges that we as a global community face in the 21st century and proposes "The Seven Foundations of a Better World;" including viable paths to their implementation, and shares examples of what thousands of people around the world are already doing to make a better world. The intuitive organization of the book allows you to implement your values into all areas of your life: money, shopping, food, home, work, friends and family, community, spirituality and religion, media, politics, transportation, travel and organizations. The first edition of the book inspired the creation of The Better World Handbook Festival in Vancouver, BC.

Ross Haenfler earned his Ph.D. from the University of Colorado (2003) and is now an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Mississippi. His interests revolve around how people pursue social change in their daily lives. He is the author of Straight Edge: Clean Living Youth, Hardcore Punk, and Social Change (Rutgers), a clean-living youth movement. Ross also authored Goths, Gamers, and Grrrls: Deviance and Youth Subcultures (Oxford). His current projects include studies of lifestyle movements such as voluntary simplicity, virginity pledgers and “cyberjock” masculinity in online video games. He has led workshops on masculinities and feminism, transformative teaching, and social change in daily life, and appeared in the documentary Edge: Perspectives on a Drug Free Culture and the National Geographic channel’s Inside Straight Edge. An award-winning teacher, Ross’ courses include social movements, youth subcultures, men and masculinities, and political sociology. He has led service learning projects in Guatemala and Costa Rica and in his spare time enjoys backpacking in places such as Peru, Iceland and Alaska. Ross lives in Oxford, Mississippi with his partner, Jennifer, and new daughter, River.

Brett Johnson, PhD is a sociology professor at Luther College where he teaches courses in environmental studies, social movements, peace and conflict studies, and political economy. His current research focuses on the U.S. voluntary simplicity movement and other "lifestyle movements." Brett is also an advisor to CampusKiva - a national campus-based organization advocating the spread of microlending as a tool to combat global poverty. His activism focuses on issues of fair trade, microlending, global labor rights and simple living. He lives in Decorah, Iowa with his wife, Jen, and their children, Ben and Katie, where he likes to play guitar and build igloos.

Since receiving his doctoral degree in sociology from the University of Colorado, Boulder, Ellis Jones, PhD has focused all of his energies on bridging the gap between academics, activists and the average citizen. A scholar of social responsibility, global citizenship and everyday activism, he continues to teach and give presentations across the country on how to turn lofty ideals into practical actions. His other works include the bestselling The Better World Shopping Guide (2nd Edition released October 2008), the only comprehensive guide to socially and environmentally responsible shopping that rates companies on a scale from A to F. Dr. Jones has given inspiring yet practical presentations to a wide variety of audiences including a number of colleges and universities, sustainability symposiums, and global citizenship summits. He has been interviewed for radio and television both in the US and Canada, and was featured in the documentary film, 50 Ways To Save The Planet. He has lived, studied, and worked in many parts of Europe, Asia, and Central America. He currently teaches in the department of sociology and anthropology at the College of the Holy Cross and the Social Transformation concentration at Saybrook Graduate School. He is currently working on his third book, The Social Responsibility Movement: Global Transformation In Everyday Life.

 

Mark G. Becker

Associate Director for Geospatial Applications, CEISIN, Earth Institute Columbia University; and
Visiting Faculty, Bard Center for Environmental Policy

B.A., William Paterson University; M.A., Hunter College. Mr. Becker is the Associate Director of the Geospatial Applications Division for the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) of Columbia University's Earth Institute. In this role he is responsible for the development of geographic information systems (GIS) applications for education, disaster mitigation, and public health research and overseeing project budgets and managing CIESIN's staff of GIS and remote-sensing specialists. Past projects include an online education course in environmental sustainability, development of an online mapping application for monitoring and evaluating AIDS clinics in Africa, GIS assistance to Bogazici University in Turkey for earthquake mitigation, and GIS activities for Metropolitan East Coast Climate Assessment. Mr. Becker also holds an appointment as adjunct professor at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and is an authorized ESRI instructor conducting GIS training seminars for students and professors throughout the New York metropolitan area. Since 2000, Mr. Becker has served as a Trustee on the Meadowlands Conservation Trust. He is the founder of NorthStar Mapping, a GIS and global positioning systems consulting group assisting local government and educators and Co-Director since 1988 of Bergen SWAN, a community-based watershed association.

 

Daniel Berthold

Professor of Philosophy, Bard College

B.A., M.A., Johns Hopkins University; Ph.D., Yale University. Teaches environmental ethics and technological applications of the Human Genome Project, including a focus on the ecological consequences of genetically modified agricultural crops. Areas of specialization include 19th-century Continental philosophy, existentialism, phenomenology, and environmental ethics. Author of two books on the German idealist philosopher Hegel, essays in the Dictionary of Existentialism, and numerous articles and reviews. Scholarship on environmental ethics and the philosophy of ecology includes articles on Marxist ecology, 19th-century ecological thought, Aldo Leopold, and bioregionalism. Environmentally related public lectures include talks on the animal rights movement, bioregional politics, ecofeminism, and social ecology.

 

Sanjaya DeSilva

Assistant Professor of Economics, Bard College

B.A., Macalester College; M.A., M.Phil., Ph.D., Yale University. Honors and awards include Sasakawa Young Leaders Fellowship, Ford Foundation research grants, and Yale University fellowships. Postdoctoral research, Economic Growth Center, Yale University (2000-01). Publications include Yale University Economic Growth Center discussion papers "Skills, Partnerships and Tenancy in Sri Lankan Rice Farms" and "Supervision and Transaction Costs: Evidence from Rice Farms in Bicol, the Philippines." Specialization in economics of development, applied microeconomics, and international economics.

 

Gidon Eshel

Bard Center Fellow in Environmental Studies

B.A., Haifa University, Israel; M.A., M.Phil., Ph.D., Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University. Specializes in oceanography, climatology, geophysics. Senior Fellow, Center for Environmental Science and Argonne National Laboratory (2002–07); principal investigator, Center for Integrating Statistical and Environmental Science, University of Chicago (2001–03); assistant scientist, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (1998–99). Assistant professor, University of Chicago (1999–07). Author, Geophysical Data Analysis (Princeton University Press, 2008). Faculty, Bard College at Simon's Rock: The Early College (2008– ). (2008– ) Bard Center Fellow.

 

Stuart E. G. Findlay

Scientist, Institute of Ecosystem Studies

B.A., University of Virginia; M.S., University of South Carolina; Ph. D., University of Georgia. Scientist, Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, New York. Articles in scientific journals including Ecological Applications, Estuaries, New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, and Limnology and Oceanography. Served on advisory panels and committees, including Hudson River Estuary Management Advisory Committee, New Jersey Sea Grant Science Advisory Committee and Proposal Review Panel, Estuarine Research Federation, Hudson River Museum, and Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee of the USEPA. Current research focuses on microbial ecology of subsurface stream sediments, functional assessment of wetlands, and the Hudson River ecosystem. Research interests include land-use effects on water quality; contribution of dissolved organic carbon to aquatic microbial food webs; the relationship between community structure and gradients of microbial function; the effects of human-induced changes in tidal marsh vegetation on nutrient retention and other wetland functions; and the contribution of submersed aquatic vegetation to organic matter and oxygen budgets of the Hudson River.

Phone: 845-758-7085
E-mail: jofrench@bard.edu

Josephine French

Program Administrator and Assistant to the Director, Responsible for Office Management, Student Affairs, Budget and Curriculum Support

 

Naomi Roslyn Galtz

Ph.D., Sociology, University of Michigan; J.D., Pace Law School, Environmental Law. Sociological research interests include: the social logics of consuming less; the commodification of simplicity in contemporary U.S. culture; and consumption, social class, and dachas (summer homes) in Russia from the late Imperial period to the present. Roz has authored or co-authored chapters in the Annual Review of Sociology and the edited collection, Living Through Soviet Russia, as well as book reviews and research reports.

Phone: 845-758-7845
E-mail: phillips@bard.edu

Jennifer G. Phillips

Assistant Professor
Bard Center for Environmental Policy

B.S., Hunter College; M.S., Ph.D. in Soil, Crop, and Atmosphere Science, Cornell University. International Research Institute for Climate Prediction, Columbia University. Previous to joining BCEP, she was a researcher at the International Research Institute for Climate Prediction, Columbia University, and NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies. Expertise in the impact of climate change and variability on farming systems, communication and perception of climate information for farm management, and sustainable farming systems. After eight years of research in eastern and southern Africa, she worked with farmers in eastern New York State on climate risk management, adaptation to climate change, and sustainability in the face of extreme climate events. Current interests include pasture-based livestock systems, carbon storage and management in agroecosystems, and rhizosphere processes. Articles in Agricultural Systems, Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, Climatology, and International Journal of Climatology; and several book chapters.

 

Caroline Ramaley

Academic Support Associate, Bard Center for Environmental Policy

B.A., summa cum laude, Middlebury College; Ph.D., University of Virginia. Teaches graduate students to write clearly, persuasively, and reflectively for academic and lay readers. Taught basic and advanced composition, Shakespeare, and 18th- and 19th-century British literature at University of Virginia. Former assistant to the director of the UVA Science and Engineering Libraries. Currently also affiliated with Bard's Master of Arts in Teaching Program.

Phone: 845-758-7321
E-mail: ranville@bard.edu

Mara A. Ranville

Assistant Professor
Bard Center for Environmental Policy

B.A., Macalester College (cum laude); Ph.D., University of California, Santa Cruz. Research interests focus on the biogeochemical cycling of contaminants in the environment, and include examining industrial emissions to the atmosphere and aquatic systems, the policy implications of crossborder transport of pollution, and environmental problems associated with economic geology. Recent fieldwork includes participation in a UNESCO-sponsored contaminant survey of the North Pacific Ocean, annual water-quality cruises in San Francisco Bay, and investigations of acid mine drainage in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Governmental experience includes work with the U.S. Geological Survey and Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Five years of teaching and mentoring at the University of California, Santa Cruz in the environmental toxicology and earth science departments. Articles in Applied Geochemistry, G-cubed (Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems), and Marine Chemistry. Member, American Geophysical Union and Northern California Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. Member, BCEP Graduate Committee.

Phone: 845.758.7869
E-mail: segarra@bard.edu

Monique Segarra

Visiting Faculty
Bard Center for Environmental Policy

B.A., Brandeis University; M.I.A., School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University; Ph.D., Columbia University. Areas of interest include politics of sustainable development, participatory environmental management, international environmental regimes, transboundary citizen networks, and policy analysis. Current research focuses on the role of international organizations in shaping domestic environmental policy in Latin America. Completing a yearlong project examining several cases of transnational policy making in Ecuador including a World Bank/Global Environment Facility project to promote a new system of participatory management in the Biodiversity and Protected Areas Program (SNAP); the struggle by local communities and their transnational allies to prevent mining in the midst of a cloud-forest preserve; and the mobilization of a national indigenous movement around "ethno-environmentalism." In addition to research and teaching, she has worked with a range of international development and research institutions including the World Bank, the United Nations Development Program, and the Council on Foreign Relations and the Social Science Research Council. Member, BCEP Graduate Committee.

Phone: 845-758-7386
E-mail: sethi@bard.edu

Gautam Sethi

Assistant Professor
Bard Center for Environmental Policy

B.A., University of Delhi; M.A., Delhi School of Economics; M. Phil., Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, master's thesis on the conflicts between utilitarianism and libertarianism; Fellow, University of Texas, Austin; Ph. D., University of California, Berkeley (Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award). Research interests include natural resources and environmental economics, applied microeconomics, game theory, philosophy of economics, and history of economic thought. Worked in India on energy-economy-environment linkages and associated policy issues. Doctoral work focused on fishery management under uncertainty. Designed and taught a Rethinking Economics course at the University of California, Berkeley. Author, working papers of climate change policy impacts at Redefining Progress, San Francisco, and a companion volume to Jeffrey Perloff's Microeconomics; article in the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management. Presented research talks at academic institutions (Binghamton University, University of California-Santa Barbara), research institutes (Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, Tata Energy Research Institute, India), policy forums (OECD workshop, Oaxaca, Mexico), and numerous professional society meetings. Currently working on issues related to wind energy, payments for ecosystem services, sustainable livelihoods, and education policy. Member, BCEP Graduate Committee.

 

Elizabeth Smith

Visiting associate professor of theater, Bard College

Voice and speech consultant for film, television, regional theater, Broadway, and Off-Broadway productions, including As You Like It, Road to Moscow, Henry IV, Engaged, Sight Unseen, and, at Glimmerglass Opera Company, Death in Venice, Patience, and Mines of Sulphur. Trains students in the art of public speaking and the development of an effective, cogent public speaking persona. Has taught at Yale School of Drama, Vassar College, Juilliard School, Fordham University, National Theater Institute, Gaiety School of Acting (Dublin, Ireland), Moscow Art Theatre School, and Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (London). Recipient, John Houseman Award (1996).

 

Eleanor J. Sterling

Director, Center for Biodiversity and Conservation, American Museum of Natural History;
Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology, Columbia University; and
Visiting Faculty, Bard Center for Environmental Policy

B.A., Yale College; Ph.D., Yale University. Director, Center for Biodiversity and Conservation, American Museum of Natural History. Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology, Columbia University. Developed the Network of Conservation Educators and Practitioners, targeting conservation biology educators in developing countries, including Bolivia, Vietnam, Mexico, and Madagascar. Member, board of governors, Society for Conservation Biology. Member, board of directors and Management Committee, Center for Environmental Research and Conservation. Fieldwork includes studying distribution patterns of biodiversity in tropical regions as well as sea turtle feeding ecology in the central Pacific. Considered world authority on the aye-aye, a nocturnal lemur found only in Madagascar. Author, Vietnam: A Natural History (Yale University Press, 2006).

 

Victor M. Tafur

Senior Attorney, Riverkeeper;
Adjunct Faculty, Pace Law School; and
Visiting Faculty, Bard Center for Environmental Policy
Bard Center for Environmental Policy

J.D., Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (Bogota, Colombia); LL.M. and S.J.D. in Environmental Law, Pace University. Adjunct professor of energy, natural resources, and climate change law at Pace Law School, and former staff attorney for the Pace Law School's Energy Project. Currently senior attorney, and formerly staff attorney, for Riverkeeper. Previously served as deputy director of the Program for Alternative Development for the presidency of Colombia, and in private practice. Admitted to the bar of New York State and Colombia. Contributing editor to a recent book by the IUCN Academy of Environmental Law, through Cambridge University Press. Articles in the Pace Environmental Law Review and Environmental Law Reporter.

Phone: 845-758-7071
E-mail: mwilliam@bard.edu

Molly Williams

Admissions Coordinator — Responsible for Admissions, Marketing and Program Recruitment

B.S., Smith College; M.S., Environmental Policy, Bard College. Current interests include local environmental initiatives, land use planning and biodiversity conservation.

 

Susan Winchell-Sweeney

Course Tutor, Tools For Analysis — Geographic Information Systems(provides instructional support for professor Mark G. Becker and BCEP students)

An archaeologist by education and training, Winchell-Sweeney's area of expertise is the application of geospatial technologies in archaeological research and cartography. She has over a decade of experience providing GIS analysis, GPS and cartographic services for archaeological projects and has worked for private individuals, non-profit organizations, New York State and the federal government.

Winchell-Sweeney is currently a technician in the Department of Anthropology at the New York State Museum.

Andy Huckaba - Andy is a seasoned professional with extensive leadership experience in the areas of corporate, technical and marketing strategy development, management facilitation, process re-engineering, web development and deployment and the application of social media. He possesses a unique blend of public sector, private sector and entrepreneurial disciplines.
Since 2003, Andy has served as a city councilmember in Lenexa, Kansas. In this capacity he has helped Lenexa become an area leader in municipal finance, infrastructure, public services, citizen satisfaction and the “Rain To Recreation” program. He also serves as the vice-chair of the Information Technology and Communications Committee for the National League of Cities.
He has chaired several boards in the area, including the Lenexa Chamber of Commerce, Theatre In The Park and Lakeview Village.
Andy has been trained through the Kansas Leadership Center through his participation in the Civic Leadership Lab and the APCLD-2 Faculty Development program.

Harvey Stone
Harvey Stone, Ph.D. is the President of Open Circle Innovations (OCI). Harvey has nearly 25 years experience consulting with Adobe, Apple, Barclay's Bank, Bausch and Lomb, Cray, IBM, Nortel, Sony, Sun, Visa and many other companies. OCI consultants are located in the US, Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America. They have held business, scientific or engineering capacities within DuPont, JP Morgan, McKinsey, Nestle, Hewlett Packard, ICI/Akzo Nobel and many other industry leaders. Several OCI consultants are six-sigma black belts and specialists in performance-based innovative strategies, Kaizen Blitz, Balanced Scorecard and other business methodologies.
Harvey was formerly the co-founder and Managing Director of the GoodBye Chain Group (GCG), a company specializing in product-oriented environmental compliance solutions. Initially focused on turning corporate waste streams into revenue streams, GCG evolved into one of the most respected firms in regard to reducing risk and generating opportunities from customer and legislatively-driven compliance requirements. Harvey is a Certified Zero Emissions Research & Initiatives (ZERI) trainer and was responsible for implementing the first ZERI Certification Trainings in the US. He iscurrently completing his first fictional novel incorporating climate change into an international espionage thriller.

Katharine "Joni" Teter
Joni Teter has 27 years experience in the fields of environmental law and policy, integrated environmental management, urban growth and land use. Her work has included remediation negotiations in large mining sites and property redevelopment projects, wetlands enforcement and environmental impact assessments. During the 1990's she worked with government agencies and businesses to better integrate technical, environmental, scientific and legal considerations in business planning and implementation (including work with the US National Park Service and the Malaysia Department of Environment). Joni coordinated EPA Region 8's Team during the construction and move into EPA's LEED Gold Regional headquarters in Denver, Colorado. She currently serves as Regional Coordinator for Green Build Education and Environmental Management Systems at Region 8. Joni also teaches part time at the University of Colorado College of Architecture and Planning and most recently at Colorado State University She recently returned from a six month Fulbright Grant exploring sustainable tourism in Egypt. In 2007 Joni and her husband Matt built a great new energy-efficient home in Boulder, Colorado that incorporates sustainable design and construction practices

Jeff Hohensee
Jeff Hohensee, Vice President, Natural Capitalism Solurtions, is a change management expert who has been working in business, education and sustainability for over twenty-five years. He started his career in corporate finance working for Barclays American Business Credit and Fuji Bank subsidiary Heller Financial. He specialized in time and motion studies, department reorganizations, cash management, financial analysis and negotiations. Jeff left the private sector to teach. He worked as a public school teacher and as an adjunct faculty at Citrus College. He served as a consultant, advisor and program developer for numerous organizations including: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, California Department of Education, CalEPA, California Integrated Waste Management Board, California Air Resources Board, California Energy Commission, California Department of Forestry, California Water Resources Control Board, Los Angeles County Board of Education, Los Angeles Unified School District, Los Angeles County Department of Public Works, City of Los Angeles Watershed Protection Division, Council of Environmental Educators, Youth Service California, the YMCA and the national, regional and local Boy Scouts of America. Jeff then worked as the Program Director and Education Director at TreePeople where he pioneered work on education, community building and social marketing that touched the lives of millions of people. Jeff frequently advises on environmental sustainability, community building and business development and has extensive experience in curriculum development, program evaluation, civic engagement, project management, business planning, strategic planning, focus groups, organizational development and change management.

Jeff has facilitated change management in academic institutions, business, nonprofits and government agencies to internally evaluate effectiveness, bring on board new initiatives, undertake and implement strategic planning and organizational development, instigate strategic partnership development and overcome barriers to innovation.

He is an inspiring speaker whose interviews and presentations include print media, television, DVD movie featurette, universities, professional associations, business, government agencies and community groups. He has keynoted such conferences as California Youth Service, Lake Tahoe Environmental Education Consortium annual meeting and the U.S. EPA Community Leadership Conference.

Gailmarie Kimmel
I enjoy re-imagining the economy, bringing over 30 years of service and experience as a community and environmental educator to the effort. A 4th-generation Coloradoan and former Peace Corps Volunteer (Thailand 78-80), my formal education includes: B.A. Biology (Colorado State), M. Ed. Adult Education (UC-Berkeley) and M.A. Spirituality (Holy Names Colleges, Oakland). I co-authored the 2006 book, 147 Tips for Teaching Sustainability, and have produced the 2007 CD of original songs, Soul at Play. Co-directing a non-profit and educating about the natural intelligence of circles, webs and systems is keeping me busy. I currently seve my community as Co-director of BeLocal northern Colorado, a 501(c )(3) organization dedicated to a Living Economy: locally-sustainable and globally-fair.

Will Toor
Will Toor was elected to the Board of County Commissioners of Boulder County in 2004, and was re-elected to serve a second 4-year term in 2008.

Will is a recognized community leader for his work and dedication to Sustainability. Under his leadership, the County has adopted two resolutions on sustainability and Zero Waste, and is developing numerous programs and policies designed to reduce energy waste and transition to more renewable energy sources.
Will spearheaded the effort to create and adopt a countywide Sustainable Energy Plan for Boulder County that sets recommendations for concrete actions to take in order to reduce the County's "carbon footprint. Will represents Boulder County on the Denver Regional Council of Governments (which he chaired in 2005). He is also founding member of the U.S. 36 Mayors' and Commissioners' Coalition, and is actively involved in efforts to get funding for alternative transit options for U.S. 36 including commuter rail, bus rapid transit, and a bikeway.

At the state level, Will was recently appointed by Governor Bill Ritter to serve on the Transportation Finance and Implementation Panel, and he has served on the state SP1 Transit Committee. He frequently works with congressional members and national leaders to bring about more sustainable, efficient modes of transportation for Colorado.

Prior to being elected County Commissioner, Will served on the Boulder City Council and was elected Mayor from 2001-2005. He graduated from Carnegie-Mellon University with a B.S. in physics in 1978 and moved to Boulder in 1980 where he worked as a truck driver, mechanic and yard foreman for Eco-Cycle from 1981 to1984 and 1986 to 1987. He attended graduate school in Chicago, receiving his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Chicago in 1992.

WIll served as the director of the CU Environmental Center from 1992 to January 2005. During his tenure, the center received national recognition, including a 2001 green Power Leadership award from the US Department of Energy for initiating the nation's largest university green power program. He is co-author of the books "Finding A New Way: Campus Transportation for the Twenty-First Century," and "Transportation for Sustainable Campus Communities."