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Alumni Biographies (1995 - 2000)

Class of 2000

John Cunningham
Co-founder and Partner
Innoventures LLC

Innoventures is a product and business development firm dedicated to bridging the gap between research and business to quickly bring beneficial products and services to market. Innoventures flagship businesses include Arbor Insulation - a spray foam insulation installer for residential and commercial construction, and Rapid BioSense - an early stage biosensor technology for bacteria & viruses. John worked formerly as a Senior Technology Licensing Specialist with the University of Michigan's Technology Transfer Office.

Rob Frederick
Vice President, Corporate Sustainability
Brown-Forman Corporation

Rob is leading corporate sustainability efforts at Brown-Forman Corporation, one of the largest American-owned companies in the wine and spirits business. In this role, Rob leads the company's efforts to set transformational environmental and social goals, engage with stakeholders, become more transparent, and further the business case for more sustainable operations. He previously served as Manager for Corporate Responsibility at the Ford Motor Company, where he helped to develop and implement the company's corporate citizenship strategy.

Lewis Garvin
Management Consultant

Lewis works with medium sized companies, advising on IT decisions and setting up database applications. Previously, he was a Strategic Environmental Consultant in the Life Cycle Management group of Battelle Memorial Institute, based in Columbus, Ohio. Lewis joined the Life Cycle Management group in 2000. He led research efforts that used economic theory to characterize various stakeholder priorities for sustainable development and will address how business sustainability can be improved through public policy, stakeholder engagement, and business innovation.

Natalie Henry
Global Product Manager, Industrial Systems - Light
Ingersoll-Rand

Natalie is currently responsible for driving IR's global strategy for Reciprocating Compressor and Air Treatment Technologies. After graduating from MIT in 1992 with a BS in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering, she worked for five years in General Electric's Aircraft Engines Division in Lynn, MA. During that time, she provided technical and managerial support for commercial and military engine programs. She was also a member of the Environmental, Health and Safety Team, which focused on educating the work force in order to promote healthy and safe practices in the workplace. While at the University of Michigan, Natalie pursued her interests in Finance, Organizational Change Management and Natural Resource Policy. She has had two internships with Ingersoll-Rand Company. During the summer of 1998 she developed a strategic plan for the Rotary Drill Division in Texas that helped to better align the order fulfillment process for spare parts with the needs of the customer. The summer of 1999, she worked at corporate headquarters in New Jersey in the Environmental, Safety and Health Department. As part of this experience, she developed Chemical Management Program Guidelines that have been integrated into the company's new Environmental Management System.

Kathleen Judd
Senior Research Scientist
Batelle/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Kathleen Judd is a Senior Research Scientist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), operated by Battelle for the U.S. Department of Energy. Much of Kathleen's work at PNNL involves technology strategy development and assessment in public and private research organizations, with a focus on the energy and environmental sectors. She has been a lead contributor to a multi-year study for the US Department of Energy to evaluate the market, technical, and economic viability of PEM fuel cells in various pre-automotive applications. Kathleen has supported technology commercialization and public-private collaboration efforts for technologies developed by the US EPA, and conducted a review of returns on PNNL’s own major R&D investments. In addition to technology strategy work, Kathleen has managed several large, multi-institutional projects to support sustainable resource management, including leading a NASA-funded effort to establish an integrated platform for data, ecosystem models and decision support tools for coastal resource managers in the Gulf of Mexico. Prior to joining Battelle, Kathleen worked for Conservation International, where she worked with micro-enterprises in Latin America to develop and distribute sustainably harvested non-timber forest products to international markets.

Tim Reed
Conservation Audit Manager
The Nature Conservancy

Tim is Conservation Audit Manager at The Nature Conservancy. Formerly, he was a Senior Consultant at Deloitte Consulting. Tim graduated from the University of Chicago's History, Philosophy, and Social Science of Science Program with a concentration in Evolutionary Biology. His thesis focused on environmental ethics and their biological basis. Between 1984 and 1992, Tim was a field biologist on numerous birds and primate research projects, including extended periods in the Brazilian Amazon, the Everglades, and Kenya. Prior to graduate school, Tim worked as a Business Analyst for Deloitte Consulting, assisting Fortune 500 companies through business process re-engineering. During the summer of 1997, Tim interned at the Environmental Defense Fund's Alliance for Environmental Innovation group in New York City, consulting to a wood-recycling enterprise. In 1998, he assisted small business development and honed his non-profit management skills in South Africa as a Fellow in the Business School's African Business Development Corps (ABDC). In 1999, Tim interned in the Africa Environment group of the World Bank, analyzing financial and institutional structure of protected area authorities with the aim of improving the performance of these public agencies through the application of private sector tools and techniques.

Class of 1999

Rob Glancy
Founder & Vice President
RateCapital Inc.

Rob is founder and Vice President of Rate Capital, a mortgage brokerage company based in Atlanta.

Heather Lair
Office of Sustainability, Project Manager
University of Maryland

Heather is a project manager in the University of Maryland's Office of Sustainability. The office provides leadership in coordinating, promoting, and tracking sustainability initiatives across the College Park campus. Heather is working to help the University implement its commitment to the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, by developing a strategic plan for reaching carbon neutrality by 2050. Prior to Maryland, Heather worked for 8 years as a facilitator at the Meridian Institute, working with diverse stakeholders on public policy issues including biofuels, chemicals management, food security, and sustainable forestry.

While at the University of Michigan she was the recipient of an EPA "STAR" (Science to Achieve Results) Fellowship, one of 100 environmentally focused graduate students nationwide to receive this honor. Heather’s Master's Project focused on designing a project planning guide to assist The Nature Conservancy, electric utility partners, and developing country governments in the development and implementation of forestry-based carbon sequestration projects. She interned with Battelle Memorial Institute's Life Cycle Management Group and Monsanto's Sustainable Development Business Sector. Prior to attending Michigan, Heather worked as an information dissemination specialist for the US Agency for International Development's Environmental Education and Communication (GreenCOM) Project and served as a US Peace Corps volunteer in Honduras in environmental education and rural development. She is fluent in Spanish and has traveled extensively in Latin America.

In addition to her MBA/MS from the Erb Institute at the University of Michigan, Heather holds a Bachelor of Philosophy from Miami University in Interdisciplinary Studies.

Ryan Waddington
Director
ZBI Ventures

Ryan is a Director at ZBI Ventures, the private equity arm of Ziff Brothers Investments, LLC (ZBI). ZBI is a multi-billion dollar private investment firm that manages the assets of the Ziff family, formerly of Ziff-Davis publishing. ZBI Ventures invests in energy assets and technology companies with a primary focus on unconventional oil and gas, biofuels, solar and other carbon-favored energy sources. Before joining ZBI, Ryan was Director of Venture Services for NextEnergy, a non-profit corporation founded to advance the alternative energy technology industry in the State of Michigan . There he developed and managed Michigan's only business accelerator program and seed fund focused exclusively on alternative and clean energy technologies. Prior to joining NextEnergy, Ryan spent over six years at DTE Energy Company (NYSE: DTE) where he identified, evaluated and managed clean energy technology investments in DTE Energy's $100 million corporate venture capital fund (DTE Energy Ventures), as well as managed several advanced energy technology demonstration projects. Ryan has also worked as an environmental engineer, and co-founded a start-up company, GetOutdoors.com.
Ryan earned a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Michigan and an M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Wisconsin. He also earned an MBA from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, where he participated in the Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise.
Ryan currently serves on the Board of ZBI Ventures' portfolio company Advent Solar and the External Advisory Board for the Erb Institute. Ryan has lectured and taught courses on energy and energy technology at the University of Michigan.

Class of 1998

Brian Brenton
President
Brenton Consulting

Brian is the President of Brenton Consulting. He was formerly a Senior Manager in Deloitte Consulting's technology strategy practice, where he focused on large-scale manufacturing clients. At Deloitte, he worked with a wide range of corporate clients to assist in the development of technology strategies based on the latest industry trends and market conditions. Much of Brian's work has focused on designing and building enterprise architecture solutions to support web access to legacy data through the use of commercially available middleware.

Kevin Greiner
President and CEO
Gas South, LLC

Kevin Greiner is President and CEO of Gas South, one of Georgia's largest natural gas suppliers. Gas South serves over 215,000 residential, business, and governmental customers in Georgia's deregulated natural gas market, and has annual revenues of approximately $250 million. He has served as the company's CEO since its inception in 2006.

Before joining Gas South, Kevin was the Director of Marketing for Southern Company Gas. From 2002 - 2004, he was General Manager at Southern Company Energy Solutions, responsible for the division's energy asset management and energy information services business lines.

From 1998 - 2002, Kevin worked in various sales & marketing roles at Enron Energy Services, where he originated and structured energy outsourcing contracts for large commercial and industrial customers, and also helped launch a power marketing business focused on mid-sized retail customers. He spent two years in Frankfurt, Germany helping to build Enron's retail energy businesses in Europe, and is a fluent German speaker.

Kevin currently serves on the board of the Erb Institute, where he also co-taught a course on the energy industry in Winter 2003. He also holds a BA from Wesleyan University. Kevin currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, and on the Board of Advisors of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce.

Claudia Harner
Program Officer, Commercialization & Corporate Partnerships
Program for Appropriate Technology in Health

Claudia is a program officer at the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH) in Seattle, Washington. PATH is an international, non-profit, nongovernmental organization dedicated to improving the health of women and children. PATH identifies, develops, and applies appropriate and innovative solutions to public health problems, particularly in low-resource settings. Founded in 1977, PATH has managed over 950 projects in 100 countries. In all its activities, PATH collaborates with public- and private-sector partners, including community groups, nongovernmental organizations, commercial enterprises, ministries of health, and international agencies. PATH's headquarters are located in Seattle. Additional offices are located in Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Philippines, Thailand, Ukraine, Vietnam, and Washington, D.C. Claudia's major responsibilities are business planning, marketing, and commercialization. Her primary areas of focus are the Ultra Rice(tm) team and the Health Technologies team, where she conducts market research; identifies public- and private sector partners; implements strategies to transfer technology in developing countries; negotiates licensing and technology transfer agreements; and manages intellectual property issues. Current assignments take her to Brazil, India, and Indonesia on a regular basis.

Chuck Hornbrook
Senior Manager, Customer and Solar Generation
Pacific Gas & Electric

Chuck is the Senior Manager for Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s Customer and Solar Generation group. His organization manages the California Solar Initiative as well as the Self Generation Incentive Program focusing on fuel cells and small wind. Before joining the customer generation group, Chuck was part of the Sustainable Communities program at PG&E focusing on working with communities to reduce their carbon footprint through energy efficiency and renewable generation. Prior to PG&E, Chuck was the World Wide Director for Support Services at Electronics For Imaging, a technology company primarily focused on providing software and hardware solutions for the printing industry. While at EFI, Chuck worked in areas of operations, finance, M&A, marketing and change management. During his time at EFI, Chuck had the opportunity outside of work to consult for the California Wilderness Coalition through a NetImpact Pro Bono consulting project, work full time for 8 weeks on the John Kerry for President Campaign in Seattle Washington and volunteer in providing disaster response services in Java, Indonesia (2006) and Mississippi (2005).

Elizabeth Maclin
Eastern Conservation Director
Trout Unlimited

Elizabeth leads TU’s eastern conservation efforts, working from Georgia to Maine to protect, reconnect, and restore habitat for eastern brook trout. Prior to joining TU, she spent eight years at American Rivers developing and implementing the organization’s dam removal and river restoration programs. Elizabeth received a B.A. in biology from Colby College in 1993 and an M.B.A. and M.S. in natural resource policy from the University of Michigan in 1998. She grew up in northern Virginia, but spent as much time as possible hiking, fishing, and skiing on her grandparents’ farm in western Massachusetts

Todd Ongaro
Free Lance Web Designer

Robyn Roberts
Independent Consultant

Robyn is working in Atlanta, Georgia as a consultant on environmental business initiatives. She is currently working on developing sustainability programs for the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, and recently worked for Sterling Planet, a leading marketer of renewable energy certificates. After graduating from U-M, Robyn worked at Enron Corporation in the water and global finance divisions in Houston, TX, and Frankfurt, Germany. She left Enron to be a full-time Mom. As a dual degree MBA/MS student, Robyn interned at Herman Miller and Winslow Management. Her research Opus is entitled “Community-based Strategies for Protecting Fleming Creek,” published in April 1997 and co-authored by 1997 Erb graduate Thomas Savage. Prior to returning to graduate school, Robyn worked for four years at the Natural Resources Defense Council in Washington D.C. on clean water legislation and advocacy. She holds a B.A. in Political Thought from the University of Virginia.

Dan Skeeters
Director of Business Development
Hinkle Contracting Corporation

Dan is the director of Business Development in the Asphalt division of Hinkle Contracting Corporation in Paris, KY. Hinkle Contracting specializes in asphalt paving, concrete paving and construction, grade and drain applications, road and bridge construction, quarry (limestone) mining and processing, railway construction, airport runway, apron and taxiway construction, build and design projects, waterway and port construction, block, masonry and environmental applications. Hinkle employs over 850 people and is currently pre-qualified in 9 states and approved by various government agencies.

Originally from Radcliff, Kentucky, Dan is a 1991 graduate of Vanderbilt University and the Erb Institute’s dual degree MBA/ MS program at the University of Michigan. Dan has over ten years of real estate industry experience and was the former Director of Investment Services for the Harry K. Moore Company in Louisville, KY and president of Sperry Van Ness Skeeters & Associates, a real estate investment services company based in Kentucky.

Class of 1997

Jeff Bernicke
Vice President, Business Development
DTE Biomass Energy, Inc.

Jeff is vice president of business development, DTE Biomass Energy, Inc. He is responsible for all business development and acquisition activities, including joint development and financial analysis and has more than 15 years experience in business development and finance in the energy, clean technology, and manufacturing sectors. Prior to DTE Biomass Energy, Jeff worked at DTE Energy Resources in the Growth Strategies and Mergers & Acquisitions group supporting non-regulated strategy development and acquisition activities. Prior to joining DTE Energy, he led the business development activities of the Cleantech Venture Network where he worked with early stage energy and technology companies to obtain venture-backed financing. Jeff's experience also includes strategy and finance consulting with Marakon Associates in energy, manufacturing, and clean technology. He was formerly Senior Associate for Growth Strategies and M & A at DTE Energy Resources. In 2000-2001, Jeff worked for the Energy and Environmental Capital Network helping clean technology companies obtain Venture Capital Financing. Unfortunately, the economy in 2001 dampened their efforts, and Jeff moved into a strategy and M&A position with DTE Energy Resources which includes many of the non-regulated businesses of DTE Energy.

William Burnidge
Grasslands Project Director, Colorado Field Office
The Nature Conservancy, Colorado

William formerly managed the Sustainable Conservation Program for the United States Business Council for Sustainable Development. His primary work was to improve Agriculture Department programs to create incentives for landowners to afforest flood-prone croplands in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley and to leverage private investment in afforestation. This project was designed to afforest 70,000 acres in the Mississippi Delta region and provide a range of environmental benefits, increase timber supplies, and improve the regional economy. Sustainable forestry certification and carbon/nutrient sequestration are also long-range project objectives.

Jennifer Layke
Deputy Director, Climate, Energy Program
World Resources Institute

Jennifer Layke has been at WRI leading business and climate change initiatives since 1997. Ms. Layke founded The Green Power Market Development Group, a partnership with twelve major U.S. businesses including Alcoa, General Motors and DuPont (www.thegreenpowergroup.org) with a collective goal of developing 1000 MW of cost-competitive, new green power in the US by 2010. In 2003, Ms. Layke launched Climate Northeast, (www.climatenortheast.org) a corporate partnership that builds strategies for companies to thrive in a carbon-constrained economy and she is co-author of A Climate of Innovation: Northeast Business Action to Reduce Greenhouse Gases. In 2005 Ms. Layke's work began linking business action to climate with policy activities and in that capacity became deputy director of the climate and energy program at WRI. She has represented WRI in the Chicago Climate Exchange as well as in numerous NGO and business partnerships. She has also authored three reports evaluating international MBA programs on their inclusion of social and environmental issues in management training.

Ms. Layke’s international experience includes consulting at the World Bank and at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on technology transfer under the Montreal Protocol. She earned an A.B. in Asian Studies and Political Science from Pitzer College in Claremont, CA., a M.S. in Natural Resource Policy and an MBA from the University of Michigan. In 1990, she was awarded a Watson Fellowship for sociology research in Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan.

Jeff McDaniel
Director, Business Development
Velocys Inc.

Leads the technology commercialization activities for Velocys. These responsibilities include market evaluations, financial modeling, and partnership negotiations.

Led formation of $30+ million investment program between Velocys and Fortune 50 firm to launch joint venture company.

Previously, worked for Battelle Memorial Institute in management consulting and technology commercialization roles. Established $500K of joint development programs with the State of Ohio for bio-based materials.

Completed manufacturing supervisor, marketing representative and account manager assignments while working seven years for General Electric. Educational background includes a MBA with high distinction and MS of Environmental Studies from the University of Michigan, and a BS of Chemical Engineering cum laude from Texas A&M University.

Mark Milstein
Director, Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise
Cornell University

Mark Milstein was formerly a Lecturer of Strategy, Innovation, and Sustainable Global Enterprise at the Johnson School of Management at Cornell. His research focused on different aspects of how and why firms generate new business growth opportunities by meeting unmet market needs, including private sector approaches to poverty alleviation. His writing has appeared in the Academy of Management Executive, Sloan Management Review, and Value as well as in various edited books. He is an award-winning author of several popular teaching cases. Milstein has taught strategy, innovation, and sustainable enterprise to undergraduates, MBAs, and executives in the United States, Latin America and Asia. He consults with a number of multi-national firms, small and medium-sized enterprises, and NGOs on strategy, organizational change, and innovation. Mark works with both the Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise and Entrepreneurship@Cornell.

Previously, Mark helped establish the Center for Sustainable Enterprise (CSE) at the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was director of research and adjunct assistant professor. He earned his PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Thomas Savage
Project Manager
Science Applications International Corp.

Network Appliances provides data management and content delivery solutions that enable you to build a network infrastructure without limits. Thomas is a product marketing manager for a content delivery appliance that enables the delivery of Web content such as web pages, multimedia and services like language translation. He is responsible for developing and delivering the positioning and messaging for content delivery appliance. Thomas is also responsible for developing segmentation and sales strategies for the product and enabling the sales force to effectively penetrate these markets.

John Watson
Founder, Aventouras
Consultant, Evergreen Consulting Associates

watson

After working as a consultant for environmental organizations, universities, and educational technology companies for several years, in 2005 John founded Aventouras, a company dedicated to socially responsible active travel in Latin America. Aventouras offers trips to Peru, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama, Belize, Ecuador, and Galapagos; and all trips combine active travel and remote destinations. The company works with sustainable travel and environmental organizations in numerous ways, from offsetting carbon emissions on its trips to offering discounted trips as fundraisers for conservation groups. John started Aventouras after a diverse career that included running a consulting company (Evergreen Consulting Associates), conducting Business Development for eCollege, editing an endangered species journal, teaching environmental education, and working as a fisheries biologist. He holds a BA in Biology from Middlebury College, and a Masters in Natural Resources and MBA from the University of Michigan. He was previously on the board of Colorado Wild, a statewide environmental organization working on public lands issues in the Colorado high country.

Class of 1996

Catie Blackler
HSE Manager
Eastman Kodak Company

Catie is the Manager of HSE Strategy and Communications at Kodak in Rochester, NY. In this position Catie is responsible for internal and external HSE communications, the development of the company's sustainability program and HSE strategic planning. Prior to this position, Catie was the Manager of WW Product Life Cycle Assessment. She led a team to develop a database-driven, product assessment process based on Life Cycle Assessment, Design for Environment and Lean principles to support rapid commercialization timelines. She was formerly the HSE Manager for the Digital & Applied Imaging business unit and the Manager of Customer Service Operations for Kodak Environmental Services (KES), which assisted imaging businesses and enthusiast to reduce their environmental impact.

Carl Ferguson
Manager, Marketing and Development
Land Information Access Association

Carl oversees all marketing and program development activities for the Land Information Access Association - a technology-oriented non-profit organization dedicated to helping people shape sustainable communities. Prior to working for Land Information Access Association, Carl was the Marketing and Business Planning Leader at Plastipak Packaging, Inc., Recycling Plant in Dundee, MI. The position included internal sales, purchasing new recycling equipment, community education (plastic recycling), information technology.

Greg Gamble
Executive Director
Desert Foothills Land Trust

Greg is Executive Director for the Desert Foothills Land Trust and was formerly the Northeast Colorado Program Manager for the Nature Conservancy in Fort Collins. The Phantom Canyon Preserve is a gem within this spectacular region of Colorado known as the Laramie Foothills. This is one of the last great Front Range landscapes. Although it is still largely unfragmented, 35-acre homesites have begun to dot the area. Alarmed by this trend, ranchers and other landowners have joined with The Nature Conservancy to explore conservation strategies that meet both economic and conservation needs. As in the Yampa River Valley, one of the Conservancy's goals here will be to help improve the economic picture for landowners who want to keep their lands and estates intact.

Paul Hardy
Director, Conservation Training and Partnerships, Northeast and Carribean
The Nature Conservancy

Paul is the Director of The Nature Conservancy's Conservation Partnership Program. He is based at the Conservancy's global headquarters in Arlington, VA. Paul is responsible for institutionalizing a partnership and alliance-building model throughout TNC so that the Conservancy's relationships with other NGOs, academic institutions, government agencies, private sector companies, etc. are set up to deliver results and managed professionally. Previously Paul was Director of Conservation for TNC's Caribbean Programs. He provided institutional strengthening services in such topics as strategic planning and developing a Board of Directors to partners in The Bahamas, Belize, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and the US Virgin Islands. He began working with TNC immediately after graduating from UM as the Upper San Pedro Program Manager based along the Arizona/New Mexico border.

Carey Jones
Principal
Gower Design Group, LLC

Carey provides consulting services to the biofuels industry. Projects include due diligence for start-up of algae-to-biofuel farms in Southern California and the Texas gulf coast. DD issues include taxes, zoning, environmental assessments, permitting and insurance. Relationship management with regulatory agencies is a significant component of his work while trying to build this nascent industry.

Jonathan Koch
Managing Director (New York)
US Renewables Group

Jonathan is a Managing Director and co-founder of the Firm, and is based in New York. Prior to joining USRG, Mr. Koch was COO for Visible Path, a Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers funded application service provider. He was the founder and CEO of Sundial, a leader in provisioning utility services online. Sundial was acquired by Essential.com, an early entrant into retail power marketing and telecommunications, and later sold to InPhonic (NASDAQ: INPC). Prior to founding Sundial, Mr. Koch was a Business Development Manager at General Electric Power Systems (“GEPS”). Prior to GEPS, Mr. Koch spent more than five years with Booz, Allen & Hamilton consulting on large M&A transactions in the energy and life sciences sectors and advising the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA“) on policy issues in the Superfund, Clean Air and Drinking Water divisions. Mr. Koch holds a joint MBA and MS in Resource Policy from the University of Michigan and a BA from Tufts University.

Cynthia Manson
Senior Associate, Environmental Policy Group
Industrial Economics

Cynthia focuses on the analysis of costs and environmental and human health risks associated with environmental regulations, the financial analysis of firms and individuals that are the subject of environmental enforcement actions, and the development of economics-based environmental policy tools.

Cherie McDermott
Real Estate Agent

Currently a real estate agent, Cherie formerly worked for Energy Innovation Group, LLC (EIG), which pairs new and innovative technologies with rebates and creative financing to maximize energy savings opportunities. EIC guides cities, associations, management companies and building owners in developing and executing innovative energy saving programs. Previously, Cherie founded and was the President of cravingHome. cravingHome was an internet-based retail export company catering to private American and English-speaking citizens living abroad. It specialized in non-perishable foods and health and beauty care items.

Class of 1995

Laura Rubin
Executive Director
Huron River Watershed Council

The Huron River Watershed Council, along with the member governments and hundreds of individual and business members and volunteers, inspires attitudes, behaviors, and economies that protect, rehabilitate, and sustain the Huron River System. The Huron River is located in SE Michigan and flows to Lake Erie. It is the only river in southeast Michigan designated a country-scenic natural river. HRWC was established in 1965 under Michigan's Local River Management Act and is the first and oldest Watershed Council in Michigan. HRWC services include hands-on citizen education, technical assistance in policy development and river protection projects. HRWC is a not-for-profit organization under section 501c(3) of the federal tax code and is a member of the Environmental Fund for Michigan. HRWC maintains an extensive library of over 1,000 titles covering water resource topics such as the Great Lakes, land use, groundwater, environmental education activities, conservation easements, and wetlands. They also have videos for use in the classroom, home, or civic organization. As Executive Director, Laura is the spokesperson for HRWC, directs policy, and conducts fundraising.

	© 2009 Frederick A. and Barbara M. Erb Institute