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The New England Carbon Challenge is driven by a dedicated crew of New Hampshire residents who firmly believe that climate stabilization requires changes from all of us: as residents, homeowners, consumers, and citizens. We also believe these changes will not degrade the quality of our lives and can, in fact, enhance it. We are living proof!
Denise Blaha and Julia Dundorf, Co-Founders and Co-Directors
Julia is a member of the Carbon Coalition Steering Committee and Local Energy Committees Advisory Group, a founding member of Barrington Energy Task Force and a founding member of the Rockingham/Strafford Energy Committee Alliance. Growing up off the grid in Colebrook, NH and now the mother of three small children, Julia has an unparalled enthusiasm for talking to people about climate change and the need for sustainable living practices.
Denise Blaha is a research associate at the Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space at the University of New Hampshire and is involved in a number of educational initiatives. 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. Denise was the first project coordinator of UNH Cooperative Extension's Energy Answers program and is now a member of the Energy Answers team. Denise served on the Residential, Commercial, and Industrial Working Group to the Task Force of the New Hampshire Climate Action Plan and is on the Advisory Committee of NH Public Television's Planet Granite. A local political activist, Denise has helped elect education proponents to her town's school board. And in a different race, she once held the national record for the slowest time ever taken to finish the Texas Half Marathon. Amazingly, that record no longer stands. Julia and Denise founded the Carbon Challenge in October 2006 (more on story here) to encourage New Hampshire residents to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
Garry Dow, Community Outreach Coordinator Garry Dow joined Clean Air-Cool Planet in October 2009. He brings to the organization a deep and varied background in environmental journalism, education, marketing and community outreach. Prior to his arrival at CA-CP, Garry worked as a field naturalist for the MA Department of Conservation and Recreation on Plum Island, MA where he researched significant scientific and cultural information and communicated it to the visiting public in a variety of formats daily. Prior to this experience, Garry worked as a marketing assistant for Allyn & Bacon Publishers in Boston and as a contributing environmental writer for The Bristol Phoenix in Bristol, RI. He holds a Master of Arts degree in environmental education from the University of New Hampshire and a Bachelor of Arts degree in environmental journalism from Roger Williams University. Working with Julia Dundorf, Garry acts as the principal liaison between the New England Carbon Challenge and residents and organizations across NH, seekig to reduce their energy consumption. Away from his desk and out in the world, Garry enjoys playing folk music, cooking for his beautiful fiancé, and taking the occasional long distance trek - often through distant lands, always in search of good people. So far none has proven quite so good as home.
Brett Pasinella, Energy and Environment Analyst Brett is the Program Coordinator for UNH's Office of Sustainability's Biodiversity Education Initiative and Climate Education Initiative. In this role, he assists with the organization and implementation of initiative curricula, research, projects, and events related to the issues of biodiversity, ecological and public health, conservation, climate change, energy, and other related issues. Brett holds master's degrees in geography and energy & environmental analysis from Boston University and a bachelor's degree from Clark University with a double major in physics and environmental science & policy.
Our Steering Committee: Dr. David Bartlett Dr. David Bartlett has been Associate Director of the Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space (EOS) at the University of New Hampshire since 1989. EOS' more than 275 faculty, staff, and student researchers in space and Earth sciences are supported by over $32 million per year of grant and contract awards from federal agencies, state government, industry, and foundations. For ten years Dr. Bartlett was a research scientist at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Langley Research Center, conducting studies of the environment using sensors on Earth-orbiting satellites. His research interests are in chemical interactions of vegetation with the atmosphere, causes and effects of global-scale climate change, and management of coastal resources. He has published extensively on the use of aerial and orbital sensors for measurement of important environmental parameters. Dr. Bartlett is the founding Director of the New Hampshire Space Grant Consortium, a NASA-supported educational and public information collaboration of New Hampshire Universities, Colleges, and science organizations. In addition to the Steering Committee for the NH Carbon Challenge, Dr. Bartlett serves on the Policy Advisory Committee of the New Hampshire Sea Grant Program, the University of New Hampshire 's Central Budget Committee, and the Board of the National Alliance of Space Grant Directors. Janet Chamberlin Sara Cleaves Sara M. Cleaves, OS's associate director since 2006, first joined OS as its Biodiversity Education Initiative and Climate Education Initiative Program Coordinator in 2005. Sara works with administrators, faculty, staff, students, and outside partners in integrating sustainability throughout UNH's curriculum, operations, research, and engagement efforts. Along with planning, implementing, and managing OS's communications and outreach efforts, Sara oversees OS budgeting and staff management and participates in strategic planning and program evaluation for its four initiatives and for the office as a whole. Sara's past work includes teaching, outreach, and research with the UNH Masters of Arts in Environmental Education Program, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Transportation, the U.S. National Park Service, the Smithsonian Institution, and the New England Aquarium. A member of the North American Association for Environmental Education and the Society of Human Ecology, Sara has a master's degree in environmental economics and policy from the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences at Duke University and a bachelor's degree in English from Dartmouth College. Her interests include environmental psychology, motivation for engagement in sustainable behaviors, transformative learning, and effective outreach, communication, and education on sustainability. Outside of work, Sara enjoys living sustainably with her husband, Stephan Cleaves, a software designer and engineer for Mac OS X and principal of Yellow Camp Software, and their kitty, Wesley, and spending time with her family and friends. Dr. Charlie French Charlie French is an Extension Associate Professor with the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension's Community Development program. He works with communities, organizations and state/Federal agencies to engage the public in decision-making and planning processes around issues such as land use, recreation and economic development. He also provides municipalities with technical assistance and training in community-economic analysis, conflict resolution, and public meeting facilitation. Prior to coming to UNH, Charlie worked for the University of Illinois Cooperative Extension. Also, from 1994 to 1997, he served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in rural Panama, where he taught sustainable agriculture to subsistence farmers and school-age youth. He has a BA in Geography from Dartmouth College and a MA in Geography and Regional Planning from Western Illinois University. He is currently wrapping up his Doctoral degree in the Natural Resources and Earth Systems Sciences Program at the University of New Hampshire. Cheryl King Fischer 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, civic engagement, democracy and social justice. In the eleven years since its creation, the Fund has made grants of $2.2 million to over 825 grassroots groups throughout the region. Cheryl served a two-year term on Montpelier's City Council and helped launch and now chairs the Montpelier Energy Team, a group of citizens advocating that Montpelier become the most sustainable state capital in America. She has served on many non-profit boards, did a stint at the Vermont Land Trust, and worked for state government in water resources with a focus on groundwater. Cheryl's has worked extensively in both the public and non-profit sectors. Cheryl holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology from Hollins College, a Master of Science Degree in Resource Economics from the University of Vermont and a Master's level certificate in Medical Technology from St. Francis Hospital in Hartford, Connecticut. Cheryl loves to garden, cook, read non-fiction about global issues and social change, be involved in her community, and live as sustainably as possible, buying locally, going to farmers' markets, and being a member of a CSA (community supported agricultural project). She and her husband, Monty Fischer, also a career environmentalist, live in Montpelier, have two grown children, and retreat to their camp in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom when ever possible where they find great inspiration in their totally primitive, off-the-grid "wooden tent," the surrounding fields and forestland that nature shares with them and asks that they help protect and enjoy. Clara Kustra Patrick Miller, MPH Patrick is the former Executive Director of The Jordan Institute where he worked on school and other community construction projects that promote sustainable materials selection and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. He now serves as a Research Associate Professor at the New Hampshire Institute for Health Policy and Practice. He is currently working on both information technology and policy projects, developing environmental health research projects, and is teaching in the Masters of Public Health program. Patrick has a Masters of Public Health with a focus on Ecology from the University of New Hampshire. He joined the Institute in September 2006. He and his family live in an active and passive solar home in Campton, NH. Dr. Annette Schloss Chris Skoglund Chris Skoglund is an Energy and Transportation Analyst for the NH Department of Environmental Services (DES). Over the course of 2008, he served as the staff coordinator for Governor Lynch's Climate Change Policy Task Force, which was charged with developing greenhouse gas reduction targets for the New Hampshire and a Climate Action Plan to achieve those goals. In addition to this work, Chris represents DES during transportation planning, working with the DOT and the Seacoast MPOs. Prior to working at DES, Chris was actively engaged in efforts that targeted reductions in greenhouse gas reductions through community-based behavior change campaigns as well as innovative building design projects. Chris also served as the NH Carbon Challenge Program Manager in its early formative years, providing essential guidance on the framework, community building, and programmatic vision of the Carbon Challenge. Before attending UNH graduate school, he was engaged in education for almost a decade as a naturalist at outdoor environmental schools on both coasts and in traditional classroom settings with middle and high school students. Roger Stephenson, APR Roger is Clean Air-Cool Planet's Deputy Director of External Affairs and as part of his work at CA-CP is also the project director for the Carbon Coalition. Roger has over 15 years of experience providing public relations counsel and expertise to corporate management, government agencies and non-profit executives. As Interior representative to the White House Council on Environmental Quality from 1995-1999, he managed overall program and policy development for President Clinton's American Heritage River initiative. Before serving in the Clinton administrations he was National Field Director for the League of Conservation Voters and later executive director of the LCV Education Fund at which time he managed the Florida Global Warming Education Project. Wood Turner Wood Turner is the project director of Climate Counts, a non-profit initiative spearheaded by Stonyfield Farm that scores companies annually on their commitment to addressing climate change in meaningful, measurable ways. Wood has led a range of public and private brand-building and community-based social marketing efforts, among them Flexcar, Intel, the Seattle Monorail Project, the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency, and King County (WA) Metro. As senior account strategist with a Seattle advertising and strategic communications agency, he consulted the Seattle Mayor's Green Ribbon Commission on Climate Protection, an extension of the city's leadership on the US Mayors Climate Protection Agreement. Wood was integral to the team that developed Urban Ecology's "Blueprint for a Sustainable Bay Area," a leading-edge vision presenting actionable ways for non-activists to live with purpose. He also built an e-magazine teaching international audiences about constructive innovations by businesses, organizations, and individuals. In the governmental arena, he worked on a Washington DC-based industry environmental task force on recycling and solid waste policy. He has practiced as an environmental planner, leading a range of public and private land use initiatives in Washington and California. Wood holds a bachelor's degree in English from Duke University and a master's degree in urban and environmental planning from the University of Washington . He sat on the board of the Washington Toxics Coalition, which spearheaded that state's groundbreaking toxic toys legislation. He also participates in the transportation and land use working group of the New Hampshire governor's Climate Change Task Force. He is the father of three and just completed the first Climate Ride from New York to Washington DC , a 320-mile, 100-cyclist journey to raise awareness for the need for meaningful public policy on climate change and renewable energy. Dr. Cameron Wake Rev. Dr. Mary Westfall
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environmental organization in Durham, NH where she was responsible for developing, implementing and overseeing a financial development program. Julia also jointly founded and directed Yankee Barnraising, Inc., a grass-roots nonprofit dedicated to helping communities identify and manage their own opportunities for shared responsibility. She has had several years of experience with both small business ownership and nonprofit board work
