Any University of Michigan PhD student conducting research related to global sustainable enterprise and being advised by an Erb Institute faculty member or faculty affiliate is eligible to become a member of the Erb PhD community. Requests for addition to the community should be directed to the Managing Director of the Erb Institute.
Melissa Forbes
Precandidate - Joint Ph.D. in Public Policy and Sociology
Melissa Forbes is a joint doctoral student in public policy and sociology at the Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan -
Ann Arbor. Her research interests center around institutional and organizational change, especially the effect that institutional change has
on corporate environmental behavior and environmental policy.
Rebecca studies industry drivers of green building. To move construction towards sustainability, traditional firms must adopt green building practices. Rebecca looks at these firms’ sources of information, the fragmented nature of the industry, and how we will move resource conservation forward without sacrificing the quality of inhabited spaces. As a practicing architect, she eschews reducing sustainability in architecture to mere energy efficiency. Instead, she seeks sources of vibrant design inspired for healthy human habitation. Before coming to Michigan, Rebecca completed her Master of Design Studies at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design. Prior to that, she practiced full-time as a principal at Celento Henn Architects + Designers, and taught part-time at Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Architecture, her alma mater. Rebecca seeks to share her academic research with both building industry stakeholders and parallel organizational fields.
Kevin Hill is a doctoral candidate in the School of Natural Resources and Environment. For the 15 years prior to
beginning his doctoral studies, Kevin worked at the United Nations as an advisor in international environmental policy and
formulation, and most recently as a technical advisor with the United Nations Development Programme, where he continues
to undertake short-term consultancies. At U of M, Kevin's research interests lie in the institutional sustainability of environmental
policy and programmes in developing countries. His research focuses on the development and testing of criteria and indicators of
institutional sustainability through the emergent process of adaptive collaborative management during intervention design,
development, and implementation.
Eun-Hee is a second-year doctoral student in the Ross School of Business, in the International Business/Business Economics Program.
Her research interest lies in industrial organization, international business, regulation and sustainable enterprise. Within those research areas,
she is focusing her study on how firms interact with several levels of governments. She was born and raised in South Korea. Before coming to
the U.S. as a Fulbright fellow, she worked as a researcher at Korea Electric Power Research Institute. Eun-Hee received her BS, MS degrees
from Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea, and MA degree from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University.
Nick Powers is a doctoral candidate in the Ross School of Business, in the Business Economics program. Before coming to Michigan, he spent three years at the World Resources Institute, working primarily on business education initiatives, including the BELL network and the Beyond Grey Pinstripes project. Before WRI, Nick worked at Patton Boggs LLP and was also a Peace Corps volunteer. He has a BS in Applied Economics and Management from Cornell University, has studied abroad in France and Denmark, and has worked abroad in Belgium and Senegal. His research interests include empirical analyses of firm response to environmental disclosure programs, game theoretical modeling of the effects of disclosure on firm behavior, and more broadly, and more broadly, firm response to changes in traditional and informal environmental regulation.
Ethan has wide-ranging interests in environmental sociology and social theory. He is currently formulating a research design for probable dissertation research into factors affecting the ability of metropolitan regions to develop and implement long-term growth management plans, while simultaneously conducting ethnographic research on the role of race and class in debates over incinerator and waste disposal in Detroit. His other current projects include a longitudinal study of changes in air pollution concentrations in census tracts nationwide, and an examination of the impact on the environmental movement of strengthening relationships between corporations, NGOs, and foundations. Ethan is a doctoral student in the Department of Sociology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He has an M.A. in Politics from Princeton University, and a B.A. in Issues and Texts from the University of Chicago. His ultimate ambition is to have season tickets to the Mets.
Bart is Assistant professor of the School of Management of the Los Andes University in Bogotá, Colombia, South America. As a candidate of the PhD program of Industrial Ecology of the Erasmus University in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, his research and teaching interests are focused on the greening of SMEs in developing countries. During the last ten years he has been a practitioner in the design and implementation of diffusion mechanisms for environmental management in Colombia and Mexico. From mid January till May he will be visiting the Erb Institute in order to learn and exchange experiences with faculty and students.
Nick White is a doctoral candidate in the School of Natural Resources & Environment and is focusing on environmental/public
policy decision making and conflict resolution. Nick’s interests lie at the intersect of sustainability and the challenges of implementation;
specifically the different processes of decision making, organizations that promote collaborative decision making, and issues of
institutionalization. His doctoral research is focused on understanding the development and evolution of twenty-two state offices of conflict
resolution and the resulting organizational field created by these organizations. Nick’s work experiences include: working for Michigan State
Representative Ed LaForge, serving with the U.S. Peace Corps in Niger West Africa, ecosystem restoration for Nichols Arboretum, and interning
with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In addition to his doctoral research, Nick currently serves as a mediator, facilitator, and
instructor of mediation in both academic and private sector settings.
Nathan Wilson is a first-year doctoral student at the Ross School of Business, in the International Business/Business Economics program.
Nathan was born and raised in St. Louis, MO and received a BA in history from Brown University, where his senior thesis examined the
economic and social aspects of industrial strife in Ireland. After teaching English for a year in Dalian, China, Nathan continued his studies at
the London School of Economics, earning an MS in Global Economic History. Nathan then entered the Presidential Management Fellows program,
working at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration as an Industry Economist. Nathan did his external PMF rotation at
Resources for the Future, a non-partisan economic think tank focusing on environmental and natural resources economics. Nathan’s research
interests include examining how firms assess the desirability of investing in different countries. In particular, he is interested in the role regulations
and regulatory uncertainty play in shaping these decisions.
Lekha is a first year doctoral student in the School of Natural Resources and Environment. Her research interests lie
in natural resource policy making in developing countries and the role of institutions in water resource development.
She is specifically interested in governance and implementation issues of water use and efficiency in surface irrigation
and ground water extraction in India. Prior to her studies in Michigan she worked in Prague at the Czech University
of Agriculture as a research technician for their rural and regional development program. Lekha has an MSc in
Environmental Sustainability from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland and a BA in Economics from Fergusson
College, Pune, India.
Melissa Forbes is a joint doctoral student in public policy and sociology at the Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan -
Ann Arbor. Her research interests center around institutional and organizational change, especially the effect that institutional change has
on corporate environmental behavior and environmental policy. 
Rebecca studies industry drivers of green building. To move construction towards sustainability, traditional firms must adopt green building practices. Rebecca looks at these firms’ sources of information, the fragmented nature of the industry, and how we will move resource conservation forward without sacrificing the quality of inhabited spaces. As a practicing architect, she eschews reducing sustainability in architecture to mere energy efficiency. Instead, she seeks sources of vibrant design inspired for healthy human habitation. Before coming to Michigan, Rebecca completed her Master of Design Studies at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design. Prior to that, she practiced full-time as a principal at Celento Henn Architects + Designers, and taught part-time at Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Architecture, her alma mater. Rebecca seeks to share her academic research with both building industry stakeholders and parallel organizational fields.
Eun-Hee is a second-year doctoral student in the Ross School of Business, in the International Business/Business Economics Program.
Her research interest lies in industrial organization, international business, regulation and sustainable enterprise. Within those research areas,
she is focusing her study on how firms interact with several levels of governments. She was born and raised in South Korea. Before coming to
the U.S. as a Fulbright fellow, she worked as a researcher at Korea Electric Power Research Institute. Eun-Hee received her BS, MS degrees
from Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea, and MA degree from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. 
Nick Powers is a doctoral candidate in the Ross School of Business, in the Business Economics program. Before coming to Michigan, he spent three years at the World Resources Institute, working primarily on business education initiatives, including the BELL network and the Beyond Grey Pinstripes project. Before WRI, Nick worked at Patton Boggs LLP and was also a Peace Corps volunteer. He has a BS in Applied Economics and Management from Cornell University, has studied abroad in France and Denmark, and has worked abroad in Belgium and Senegal. His research interests include empirical analyses of firm response to environmental disclosure programs, game theoretical modeling of the effects of disclosure on firm behavior, and more broadly, and more broadly, firm response to changes in traditional and informal environmental regulation.
Ethan has wide-ranging interests in environmental sociology and social theory. He is currently formulating a research design for probable dissertation research into factors affecting the ability of metropolitan regions to develop and implement long-term growth management plans, while simultaneously conducting ethnographic research on the role of race and class in debates over incinerator and waste disposal in Detroit. His other current projects include a longitudinal study of changes in air pollution concentrations in census tracts nationwide, and an examination of the impact on the environmental movement of strengthening relationships between corporations, NGOs, and foundations. Ethan is a doctoral student in the Department of Sociology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He has an M.A. in Politics from Princeton University, and a B.A. in Issues and Texts from the University of Chicago. His ultimate ambition is to have season tickets to the Mets.
Bart is Assistant professor of the School of Management of the Los Andes University in Bogotá, Colombia, South America. As a candidate of the PhD program of Industrial Ecology of the Erasmus University in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, his research and teaching interests are focused on the greening of SMEs in developing countries. During the last ten years he has been a practitioner in the design and implementation of diffusion mechanisms for environmental management in Colombia and Mexico. From mid January till May he will be visiting the Erb Institute in order to learn and exchange experiences with faculty and students.
Nick White is a doctoral candidate in the School of Natural Resources & Environment and is focusing on environmental/public
policy decision making and conflict resolution. Nick’s interests lie at the intersect of sustainability and the challenges of implementation;
specifically the different processes of decision making, organizations that promote collaborative decision making, and issues of
institutionalization. His doctoral research is focused on understanding the development and evolution of twenty-two state offices of conflict
resolution and the resulting organizational field created by these organizations. Nick’s work experiences include: working for Michigan State
Representative Ed LaForge, serving with the U.S. Peace Corps in Niger West Africa, ecosystem restoration for Nichols Arboretum, and interning
with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In addition to his doctoral research, Nick currently serves as a mediator, facilitator, and
instructor of mediation in both academic and private sector settings. 
Nathan Wilson is a first-year doctoral student at the Ross School of Business, in the International Business/Business Economics program.
Nathan was born and raised in St. Louis, MO and received a BA in history from Brown University, where his senior thesis examined the
economic and social aspects of industrial strife in Ireland. After teaching English for a year in Dalian, China, Nathan continued his studies at
the London School of Economics, earning an MS in Global Economic History. Nathan then entered the Presidential Management Fellows program,
working at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration as an Industry Economist. Nathan did his external PMF rotation at
Resources for the Future, a non-partisan economic think tank focusing on environmental and natural resources economics. Nathan’s research
interests include examining how firms assess the desirability of investing in different countries. In particular, he is interested in the role regulations
and regulatory uncertainty play in shaping these decisions. 
Lekha is a first year doctoral student in the School of Natural Resources and Environment. Her research interests lie
in natural resource policy making in developing countries and the role of institutions in water resource development.
She is specifically interested in governance and implementation issues of water use and efficiency in surface irrigation
and ground water extraction in India. Prior to her studies in Michigan she worked in Prague at the Czech University
of Agriculture as a research technician for their rural and regional development program. Lekha has an MSc in
Environmental Sustainability from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland and a BA in Economics from Fergusson
College, Pune, India. 
