Energy & Sustainability Extravaganza 2017

Claudia Meer is a Managing Director with Clark Energy and Structured Finance.  With over 20 years of complex finance and deal structuring experience, she is focused on developing on-site clean and renewable energy solutions for clients, technologically customized to the needs of the clients. Ms. Meer and her team are responsible for contract negotiations, transaction structuring, financing management, solutions development, engineering and design oversight and general project management.

Jacqueline (Jacqi) Roueché is an experienced Petroleum Engineer and CO2 Subject Matter Expert contracted to the United States Geological Survey where she provides engineering expertise for The National Assessment of Geologic Storage Resources for CO2.  In addition, Ms. Roueché serves as a member of ISO, an organization that brings experts together to develop International Standards where she has worked on carbon dioxide capture, transportation and storage standards with the goal to provide solutions to the global challenge of CO2 emissions.

Her experience as a Petroleum Engineer began in the oil and gas industry in Oklahoma as a Reservoir Engineer at where she prepared and presented reserve and economic reports to clients from Fortune 500 to small independent companies.  Ms. Roueché then dedicated almost a decade to raising her family and during this time developed an awareness of the impact of fossil fuel use on the environment. In pursuit of her commitment to science as well as the environment, she re-entered the workforce to investigate, understand and be part of the solution to this global challenge.

Marilyn Waite currently leads the energy practice at Village Capital, serves on the Board of Directors for Engineers for a Sustainable World, and is a Senior Research Fellow at Paul Hawken’s Project Drawdown. Author of Sustainability at Work: Careers that Make a Difference, she has addressed audiences worldwide on topics ranging from sustainability in careers to technologies in the energy-water nexus.

Ms. Waite founded SustainableVisit, an app and online platform, that provides users with sustainable tourism suggestions for locations worldwide. Ms. Waiteholds a Master’s Degree with distinction in Engineering for Sustainable Development from the University of Cambridge and a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering (magna cum laude) from Princeton University. Her vision is a world where sustainability values of social cohesion, environmental consciousness, intergenerational equity, and economic health drive decision-making and business practices.

Elvin Yüzügüllü serves as a Project Manager for CSRA (previously SRA Int’l, Inc. and Sentech), an Adjunct Professor at The George Washington University’s Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Department, and the Director of International Sustainability Programs at Leaders in Energy.  She is the author of Synergies for Sustainable Energy. 

Dr. Yüzügüllü brings a comprehensive, multi-faceted systems view of issues related to the way we create, consume, and manage energy. Throughout her career, she has been involved in analyses of a diverse array of clean energy technologies and issues, including techno-economic evaluations, market penetration analyses, technology deployment planning, and decision-making model development for consensus building. Dr. Yüzügüllü’s extensive experience and interactions with the federal government, national labs, and industry has provided her with detailed knowledge on critical energy issues, as well as the capability to understand and resolve concerns related to divergent stakeholders in the energy industry.   She has a Doctor of Science degree from George Washington University in Environmental and Energy Management and Bachelors and Masters degrees in Environmental Engineering.

Moderator:  Janine Finnell, Executive Director and Clean Energy Ambassador, Leaders in Energy, Board Member of Association of Energy Engineers-National Capital Chapter and National Board for Council on Women in Energy and Environmental Leadership (CWEEL).

Panelists, including sustainability directors and facility managers, will highlight energy and sustainability solutions at universities across the DC region including: American University, George Mason University, George Washington University, Northern Virginia Community College, and the University of Maryland -College Park plus Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE).

Juan Allen, Energy Conservation and Efficiency Manager, American University

Meghan Chapple, Sustainability Director and Senior Advisor on University Sustainability Initiatives, George Washington University

Robert Johnson, Director of Sustainability, Northern Virginia Community College

Audrey Stewart, Director of Sustainability, Georgetown University

Mark Stewart, Senior Project Manager, Office of Sustainability, University of Maryland-College Park

Erik L. Thompson, Vice President for Real Estate & Facilities Management, University of the District of Columbia

Moderator: Nandini Mouli, Ph.d., Founder/Principal, eSai LLC, Board of Association of Energy Engineers for Council on Women in Energy and Environmental Leadership (CWEEL)

Showcase Emcee, Robin Robinson, will serve as the facilitator.  Our presenters will kick off the discussion for our Town Hall.

Dr. Teresa Pohlman, Executive Director, Sustainability & Environmental Programs, Department of Homeland Security (DHS); Professorial Lecturer, GW Environmental and Energy Management Institute.  DHS oversees buildings for its law enforcement campuses and Border Patrol and Customs facilities (many of which are LEED Silver Certified). Dr. Pohlman will provide her insights on issues related to Tomorrow’s Campuses on national security, resiliency, and sustainability issues pertaining to facilities to help us kick off our Town Hall discussion.

Loren Bruce, Senior Planner, City of Fall Church will present a concept for “A Bold Vision for Campus Redevelopment” involving the University of Virginia and Virginia Tech.  He envisions a special “niche” for the city to attract business and commercial development around the creation of a “Center for Sustainable Research and Redevelopment.”  This audience will be one of the first in the DC Region to hear about this project.  Mr. Bruce believes that “The best way to predict the future is to create it.”

Welcoming remarks from Scott Sklar, President, the Stella Group, Ltd.; Energy Management Systems Lead Professor, GW Environmental and Energy Management Institute and Board Member, GWU Solar Institute.