• Nicolas Abstoss
• Justin Adams
• Hanns Anders
• Jason Angel
• Christina Bosch
• Hunt Briggs
• Kathryn Buckner
• Gregory Buzzell
• Luis Calderon
• Charlotte Coultrap-Bagg
• Paul Davis
• Mark Ellis
• Laura Frey

• Michael Gitig
• Bryan Hogle
• Lisa Ingmarsson
• Taka Isshiki
• Bharath Iyengar
• Aaron Jones
• Sean Killian
• Samuel Lines
• Alexander Linkow
• Jamie Mikkelsen
• Katherine O'Hare
• John O'Shea
• Eva Owens
• Arthur Peterson

• Eric Rosenthal
• Alanya Schofield
• Sarah Shapiro
• Rebecca Silver
• Nathan Springer
• Martin Suchy
• Tina Tam
• Jeremy Taub
• Amrita Vijay Kumar
• Jennifer Wein
• David Weinglass
• Nicolas Wetzler
• Niels Zellers

Justin’s focus in the Erb Program is on Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Enterprise. He’s interested in exploring the analogies between energy and the Internet. He wants to find ways to apply Web 2.0 concepts and technologies to distributed, renewable energy in order to speed the adoption of renewable sources of energy. He has a background in Internet startups, television news and telecommunications consulting. He recognized the desperate need to put the human economy on a sustainable ecological foundation while exploring 35 countries on 4 continents in between the time he spent teaching English in South Korea. He holds a bachelors degree in Political Science from Vassar College.

Hanns is entering the Erb program with a focus on strategy, finance, and cleantech entrepreneurship.  Prior to Michigan, he spent three years with Calim Private Equity, a small venture capital/private equity firm based in Aspen, CO.  As an assistant portfolio manager and financial analyst, he assisted in the close and distribution of over $100 million in follow-on investment for a diverse portfolio of companies including firms in the biotechnology, aviation, software, cleantech, food and beverage, and natural resource industries.  He spent the summer working in business development for Environmental Operating Solutions, a water treatment technology startup based on Cape Cod, and hopes to gain more experience growing small companies in the energy or water sectors.  Hanns is also a Frankel Commercialization Fund Cleantech Fellow.  He holds a B.A. from the Wayne Calloway School of Business at Wake Forest University.

Tina's interests include corporate environmental strategy, with an emphasis on water and carbon management. She interned as a Climate Fellow at Nestle Waters North America/Poland Spring Bottling after her first year at Michigan. Her projects there focused on quantifying the environmental benefits of fuel efficiency projects for the company's truck fleet, and conducting pilot life cycle assessments for products at each of three Maine factories. Prior to attending the University of Michigan, Tina advised Federal agencies on environmental projects for three years as a consultant at Industrial Economics Inc. in Cambridge, MA. There she developed economic analyses of Endangered Species Act proposed rulemakings, and contributed to the EPA's Climate Change Science Program report on potential ecological impacts of sea-level rise on mid-Atlantic coastlines. Tina worked for a year as an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer with the Urban Ecology Institute, implementing ecological field studies as a component of the science curriculum in Boston high school classes. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in environmental studies from Oberlin College.

Hunt’s interests include strategy, operations, sustainable community development, life-cycle management and entrepreneurial opportunities for biotechnology and natural products. At the Erb Institute, he is focusing on industrial ecology, systems planning, and the role of corporate environmental strategy for the achievement of sustainable product development. Prior to his arrival at the University of Michigan, Hunt taught physical and natural sciences at an academy in Asheville, NC, developing curricula around principles of ecology and environmental stewardship. He is currently a Climate Corps Fellow with the Environmental Defense Fund, working within the commercial and hospitality divisions at Biltmore Farms to develop energy efficiency strategies. He graduated from Montreat College with a BS in Environmental Studies, and received a Masters in Entrepreneurship from Western Carolina University.

Kathryn is an environmental lawyer interested in exploring the role of the law in advancing environmental sustainability, both in legal institutions and in corporate legal departments.  Prior to joining the Erb Institute, Kathryn was a practicing attorney specializing in helping business and municipal clients understand and manage environmental risk by developing proactive strategies for facing environmental challenges and opportunities.   Kathryn previously served as judicial clerk to a federal district judge in Chicago, an associate in a prominent Chicago law firm, and an Adjunct Professor of Environmental Law at Wayne State University School of Law.  Kathryn holds a BS in Organizational Behavior and a JD cum laude from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she served as Administrative Editor of the University of Illinois Law Review.

Luis Calderon is a 2nd year dual degree MBA/MS Erb student with concentrations in Finance, Entrepreneurship and Sustainability. Prior to Michigan, Luis worked for over 9 years with consulting and startup companies. He is currently a team leader for the Wolverine Venture Fund, co-president of the Entrepreneur & Venture Club and an Investor’s Circle Venture Fellow. He is also a founding member of Audiallo, a semiconductor technology startup. During his first year as a student, Luis spearheaded the creation of the Social Venture Fund at the Ross School of Business, the nation’s first socially focused student-run venture fund. Last summer, Luis worked as an analyst for Early Stage Partners, a premier venture capital firm in the Mid-West. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia with a focus in Electrical and Biomedical Engineering.

Charlotte is interested in corporate environmental strategy as well as public-private partnerships for sustainability. Before graduate school, Charlotte was an Associate with ICF International and provided support related to the phaseout of ozone depleting substances and the economic and technical feasibility, as well as the health impacts, of substitutes for ozone depleting substances for clients such as EPA's Stratospheric Protection Division, European Commission Directorate-General Environment, United Nations Environment Programme, and the World Bank. Charlotte also helped develop and support several voluntary partnerships related to mitigating emissions of ozone depleting substances and greenhouse gases for EPA's Stratospheric Protection Division and Climate Change Division. She received an A.B. in Environmental Studies from Dartmouth College.

Paul is interested in corporate environmental responsibility, renewable energy, and eco-entrepreneurship. Over the last ten years, Paul has actively worked to explore the world of sustainability from a variety of industries and perspectives. For four years, Paul was a Smart Growth Planner for the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) where he worked to curb urban sprawl and reduce regional vehicular emissions through the implementation of public transit and smart growth development projects. Inspired to explore international efforts geared towards achieving environmental and social sustainability, Paul left SANDAG to work in Bolivia as an environmental educator, in Chile in park administration, and in Mexico in ecotourism development. Prior to returning to school, Paul worked in sustainable agriculture for an organic farming operation in California. Paul graduated from the University of California, San Diego in Environmental Science and Policy.

Mark is interested in leveraging corporate environmental strategy and public-private partnership to accelerate the development and use of novel, cost-effective greentech in the alternative energy and high-performance building sectors. As a consultant for Energetics Incorporated, Mark provided strategic planning, program management, and technical communications support to U.S. Department of Energy and other clients in the areas of energy efficiency, energy reliability, and technology delivery. While at Energetics, he also helped institute a company-wide greening initiative. Mark graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Maryland with a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science and Policy. In his free time, Mark enjoys swimming, snowboarding, cycling, and discovering new music.

Laura is motivated to work in sustainable international development, especially in areas of Latin America where communities live in biodiverse and fragile ecosystems. Specifically, Laura intends to use her expertise in sustainable systems, entrepreneurship, and finance to approach community development in a sustainable way to strengthen local organizations, create social and environmental enterprises, and address issues of health and education. For the last four years, Laura has been working at Danta Corcovado Lodge, an eco-lodge in the Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica, where she has been an integral part of its development and management.  She also sits on the board of two local non profits, Women of Osa (WOO) and the Asociación de Emprendedorespara el DesarrolloResponsable (ASEDER), which promote responsible entrepreneurship, community and environmental awareness. Laura graduated from Lake Forest College and earned a BA in Physics and Spanish.

Bryan is interested in sustainable business and social enterprise, particularly how environmentally-focused, social businesses can improve quality of life in developing countries.  Prior to attending the University of Michigan, he spent five years as an officer in the U.S. Navy, serving as the Communications Officer on USS Mahan based in Norfolk, VA and the Reactor Electrical division officer on USS Ronald Reagan based in San Diego, CA.  After leaving the Navy he had the opportunity to do a summer internship with Credivision, a microcredit institution in Cusco, Peru.  He graduated with Bachelor of Science degrees in Chemical Engineering and Mathematics from Michigan State University.

Lisa has an overarching career goal of affecting meaningful changes in lifestyle choices and behaviors to promote the health of people and the planet. Specifically, she would like to help organizations implement and promote environmentally sustainable products and services through marketing, communications, and product development. Most recently, Lisa served in a marketing capacity with the Boston-based engineering, science and planning firm BSC Group. She also managed the development of new marketing tools for CLF Ventures, the consulting arm of The Conservation Law Foundation. After earning a B.S. in Environmental Policy and Behavior from the University of Michigan, Lisa provided regulatory program support to federal clients at ICF Consulting in Washington, DC, and played a key role in the development of Arlington County, VA’s 20-year solid waste management plan.

Taka is specializing in renewable energy power generation, policy, and business development. He has over eleven years of experience in the solar cell industry working as a material science engineer, researcher, and market strategist. Since joining the Erb program, Taka has worked with Pratt & Whitney Power Systems, formerly UTC Power, developing a market entry strategy for their PureCycle geothermal power generation unit, served as the Program Director for the 2009 Ross Net Impact Forum Conference, and collaborated with the Ypsilanti based Clean Energy Coalition to develop an actionable solar plan for the Ann Arbor community. Taka holds a B.S. from the University of California, Los Angeles in Chemical Engineering.

Bharath is interested in energy and cleantech systems, energy policy and finance. His interests are in Private Equity, Venture Capital, the structure of energy M&A deals and especially in the technology and policy risk profiles associated with renewable and alternative energy projects.
Before arriving at the University of Michigan, Bharath worked as a structural engineer in Raleigh, North Carolina and led efforts to educate the community on renewable energy options in Chapel Hill, NC and advised the Chapel Hill Town Council on transportation policy.
Bharath has a MS in Computational Mechanics from Duke University and a BE in Structural Engineering from VJTI, Mumbai, India.

Sean’s studies focus on renewable energy, water management, and green transportation solutions for the developing world. In particular, he is interested using venture capital and private investment to scale start-ups focused on the developing world and to support local entrepreneurs with triple-bottom line approaches to economic development. Before enrolling at the University of Michigan, Sean worked for Chemonics International, an international economic development firm based in Washington, D.C. While at Chemonics, Sean managed communications and media relations, and advised U.S. government project staff in Indonesia, Peru, the Philippines, and Zambia. Prior to his immersion in foreign aid, Sean worked as a journalist in Europe, first for CNN in Berlin and then as managing editor of a newspaper in Vienna. He holds an M.A. in international relations from the University of Bath, England, and a B.A. in journalism and political science from Miami University, Ohio. Sean is an avid snowboarder, fluent German speaker, and published photographer.

Sam is interested in large-scale renewable energy projects and national energy policy.  Prior to attending Michigan, Sam worked for three years as a legal assistant at Davis Polk & Wardwell in NYC in the Mergers & Acquisitions Division.  At DPW, he helped draft contracts and manage logistics for public and private transactions across various industries.  He also worked for an outsourcing consulting firm in Shanghai called Creative Resources.  Sam received his B.A. from Middlebury College in Vermont; he majored in East Asian Studies with a focus in Chinese language and Political Science.  In his free time he enjoys skiing, golf, tennis, baseball and playing music.

Katherine is interested in corporate sustainability strategies, communications and organizational behavior. She intends to work with companies to help align their business objectives with sustainability goals, as well as promote environmentally sustainable consumer behavior. Her concentration at the School of Natural Resources is in “Behavior, Environment and Communication,” focusing on how individuals and organizations think, what motivates them and how to effectively communicate with them. Prior to Michigan, Katherine was a Communications Analyst at an advertising firm in New York City, and developed campaign strategies for national clients. Katherine holds a BA in Economics with a minor in International Relations from Colgate University.

Trip is concentrating on venture finance, dynamic strategy, dynamics, and entrepreneurship, with an interest in clean technology business development in emerging markets. He comes to Michigan from San Salvador, El Salvador, where he lived for three years and was the co-founder of Ensenada Partners, a firm dedicated to cross-sector project development and advisory services promoting “green” development clusters centered around eco-tourism and renewable energy. Before that, Trip worked for The Nature Conservancy in the Guatemala City office, where he managed business development, social enterprise, and conservation finance strategy. He also has prior experience in financial services e-commerce, having worked in a range of business areas as an initial member of Clareon Corporation, a VC funded, corporate treasury management tech start-up (now part of Bank of America). Trip graduated from Bates College in 2000 with a dual major in Economics and Environmental Science and Policy.

Eva Owens joins the Erb Institute with an aspiration to work in general management and corporate strategy in the area of emissions mitigation and energy. She's also interested in the role public policy can play in stimulating growth in sustainable energy solutions. Eva has spent the last seven years working in the non-profit sector primarily in policy development, fundraising, and legislative advocacy at the state and local level as the Executive Director of the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition and, more recently, as the Director of Development for the Austin Humane Society. She graduated from Oberlin College with a Bachelor of Arts in Religion and a minor in African American Studies. In her free time, she enjoys playing sports and keeping up with national politics.

Arthur's work is in environmental education and social responsibility at the individual, community, and corporate levels.  His work at SNRE with the Behavior, Education, and Communication program will be focused on the perception and place of environmental issues in society and on developing successful environmental strategies.  His work at Ross will be focused on sustainable business models and small business management.   Prior to joining the Erb program, Arthur started an agriculture education program in Tanzania, worked with the city of Cambridge on its climate change plan, and was a research analyst at KLD, a socially responsible investing research firm.  Arthur graduated from Dartmouth College where he focused on environmental studies and public policy.

Alanya received a B.A. from Yale University and worked in green building and sustainable development prior to enrolling at the University of Michigan. Alanya is focusing on renewable energy, finance, and corporate strategy. As part of the business school curriculum, Alanya undertook a 7-week business development project for Energy Conversion Devices/UNI-SOLAR identifying new potential product applications and developing business case analyses for the most promising applications. For her 2009 summer internship with SRG Global, an automotive trim supplier, Alanya identified renewable energy products that are a strategic fit for the company’s engineering and manufacturing capabilities. Additionally, Alanya is currently working part-time for Vortex Hydro Energy, a hydro-kinetic generator startup, doing market entry and business development strategy. In her free time, Alanya enjoys road biking, reading, and baking.

Sarah is focusing her studies on corporate environmental sustainability, with a particular focus on climate change adaptation. Prior to attending Michigan, she worked for ICF International in Washington, DC, in their Climate Change Services group. At ICF, Sarah provided support to EPA and other private and public sector clients on climate change adaptation, and greenhouse gas accounting and mitigation. She received her Bachelor of Science in Earth and Atmospheric Studies from Cornell University's Engineering School. This past summer, Sarah worked at Cisco Systems as a Climate Corps Fellow focusing on energy efficiency opportunities in large data labs.

Rebecca is focused on the intersection between product design and development, business and sustainability.  Before entering the Erb Institute, Rebecca was a practicing product and graphic designer in New York City, and also an editor and columnist for Treehugger.com and PlanetGreen.com.  Rebecca is best known for her work in advancing the growing eco-design industry, as the Founder and Chair of the design organization, o2nyc, Executive Producer of the pre-eminent international eco-design exhibition, HauteGREEN, and Lead Producer of the acclaimed Greener Gadgets Conference.  Rebecca’s work has been featured in publications and journals such as BusinessWeek, Forbes, The London Observer (Guardian UK), The New York Times, Good Magazine and Metropolis Magazine. Rebecca earned her BFA in Industrial Design from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2003. 

Nathan specializes in strategic planning and stakeholder facilitation on sustainability, development, and transportation projects. Before enrolling at the University of Michigan he managed Latino community relations for transportation projects in Los Angeles with Lee Andrews Group, Inc. Prior to that, Nathan helped found non-profit organization Amigos de los Rios that revitalized underserved Southern California communities through environmental projects. His articles on planning and Latino environmentalism appear in Planning Magazine and Earth Island Journal and he has given conference presentations on urban sustainability and multi-cultural stakeholder engagement. As a Peace Corps Volunteer in Paraguay, he organized citizen-based projects to improve the local environment and promote conservation of a nearby national park. He is a Senior Fellow with the Environmental Leadership Program and holds a Bachelors degree in environmental science from Willamette University in Salem, OR.

Tina is interested in social entrepreneurial models that focus on environmentally sustainable international development. Prior to returning to school Tina was a Content Publishing Manager at Microsoft, where she also co-founded an internal group to promote environmental awareness and influence company policies. Since joining the Erb program, Tina has interned at two social entrepreneurial organizations. In Ashoka, she managed a collaborative platform and performed industry analysis for a social fund to bring low-cost solar to the developing world. At the Institute at the Golden Gate, an incubator for social impact innovations, she conducted market analysis and financial modeling to deliver the organization’s first publishable business plan. Tina holds a B.S. in Cognitive Science with a Computing Specialization from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Jeremy Taub comes to Erb with interests in sustainable urban real estate development, marketing and organizational strategy, especially as it relates to the senior housing market. Jeremy worked for UJA-Federation of New York where he worked with a grants portfolio of over 100 New York area non-profits including summer camps, community centers and small grass roots organizations. He assessed the impact of this portfolio while providing strategic consulting services to non-profit executives and boards.  Jeremy also coordinated an effort to bring sustainable practices to this wide range of agencies. Previously, Jeremy worked as the sole program officer at an independent foundation where he funded a number of education, arts and senior service organizations in both New York City and in Israel.  Jeremy began his career with Americorps as a City Year Boston Corps Member. He received a BA in history with honors in 2001 from the University of Chicago.

Amrita wants to work on sustainability issues at the cross-section of business, economic development and the environment. Her long term goal is to build a social business to mitigate impacts of climate change by harnessing the potential of free enterprise and entrepreneurial creativity in the developing world. Her interests span sustainable tourism and enterprise, deforestation, bottom of the pyramid strategies, the carbon markets and corporate sustainability implementations.
Prior to Erb, Amrita interned with an environmental carbon consultancy in Bali. She researched deforestation, biodiversity and developed the business case for a carbon forestry project. She has also worked for 5 years with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Singapore specializing in internal controls and risk management consulting. She introduced the business case for sustainability consulting in Singapore and spear-headed the firm's internal environmental efforts. Amrita holds a Bachelor's degree in Business from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.