Ted is always looking for ways to minimize his ecological footprint. Professionally, Ted is working to gain the skills necessary to turn his passion for sustainable development into action, as an entrepreneur or financing sustainable businesses.
Ted studied economics and international business at Saint Louis University’s campus in Madrid, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude and was honored as the Distinguished Student in International Business for his class. As the founder and president of the SLU Madrid Business Club, Ted focused the club’s activities on sustainability.
While working for commercial real estate multi-national Jones Lang LaSalle’s Madrid office, Ted strove to implement sustainable practices both within the firm and for its clients. He proposed and designed an Environmental Sustainability Action Plan for JLL Spain. Green Building and Environmentally Sustainable Development remain a passion for Ted: he believes that the intersection of sustainable infrastructure and sustainable attitude is where we’ll find a sustainable society.
Ted currently works for a private equity firm in Madrid, learning skills that he hopes to apply to finance Environmentally Sustainable Development in the United States and around the world.
Tracy is the CEO and Founding Partner of Technical Green - a green industry career site focused on clean tech and green research and development.
Tracy's professional experience are in the recruitment advertising and non-profit sectors and she has for many years maintained a sustainable lifestyle.
Marie Oser is a best-selling author, columnist, and host/producer of VEG TV. A vegan lifestyle expert, and environmental advocate with a focus on nutrition and its role in disease prevention, Oser specializes in creating original gourmet recipes with a solid nutritional bottom line.
Many prominent medical and nutrition professionals endorse her work, including Dr. Colin Campbell, Professor Emeritus, Cornell University and principal researcher of the groundbreaking CHINA STUDY, and Neal Barnard, M.D. founder and president of Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine in Washington, DC.
Marie is president of VEGTV, Inc., a video production company producing content for TV and new media. VEGTV streams hundreds of lifestyle videos to more than 1,000 sites globally. In her role as Director of Product Development at Smart Planet Kitchen, she has created, Marie Oser’s Lean & Green, a new line of vegan and Fair Trade Certified products. Marie has appeared on CNN, ABC, National Public Radio, QVC, WUSA, WNBC, KCAL, KOVR, Home & Garden Television (HGTV), FINE LIVING, TECH TV, and Discovery Channel.
Vegetarian since 1971; vegan since 1990, Marie left a career in TV advertising to pursue her interest in food, health, and nutrition. Born and raised in Philadelphia, PA, she studied psychology at St. Joseph’s University. Marie is a gourmet cook and organic gardener living in California, writing her 5th book and hiking every day with Travis, her Yellow Lab companion.
Cherl Petso is the Associate Editor at Disaboom.com, an online magazine for people with disabilities. Her writing expertise includes articles about the environment and sustainable living, and vegan/vegetarian issues. A vegetarian for 16 years and a recent vegan, Cherl is passionate about animal rights and issues. She enjoys writing about simple ways to lessen the impact on the Earth.
Cherl recently moved to Denver, Colorado from Bellingham, Washington. She enjoys hiking and hanging out with her puppy.
Nathanial Manning works for the Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI) as a Regional Analyst for Asia. He focuses on two programs for CCI, the Green Building Retrofit program and the Waste Management program. Nathaniel recently graduated from Brown University as an Environmental Studies Masters student, specializing in sustainable design and international carbon policy. Nat also completed a Bachelor of Arts in World Religions at Brown, focusing on the philosophy of ethics and the intersection between religion and politics. He is completing his Masters thesis on clean-technology-transfer within the UN's carbon credit mechanism (the CDM), which allows developed countries to invest in carbon mitigating technologies in developing countries with the purpose of promoting sustainable development.
Nathaniel has a long history of involvement in environmental development work ranging from waste-to-energy entrepreneurial ventures to designing sustainable homes for the Guatemalan chapter of Habitat for Humanity, to working for a tidal energy engineering firm in Singapore. Nat's passion is in how intelligent innovative solutions and technologies can be applied to create a sustainable and free world. When Nat thinks of the word "green" he does not just think of the word "environment" but how we as humans can design systems and solutions that create win-win situations.
Robert Cowin is a political consultant for environmental NGOs. His nomadic childhood reveals a world-class carpetbagger, but he masks as a Texan-New Yorker hybrid. Formerly with the National Environmental Trust (now the Pew Environment Group) in DC, he’s spent time on Capital Hill advocating for Kyoto ratification, clean air, renewable energy technology, and green energy policy.
Robert has also worked on marine conservation issues, directing the Conserve Our Ocean Legacy coalition in the Mid-Atlantic States which successfully worked to help strengthen and reauthorize the Magnuson Steven’s Act. He now happily lives in Southern California, flying back east often as he finishes his Masters in International Relations at Tufts University’s Fletcher School.
Dayanti Karunaratne is a freelance journalist based in Canada's capital city, Ottawa.
Since graduating from Carleton University's journalism program in 2006, Karunaratne has worked on the news desk at the Port Hope Evening Guide, the Ottawa Citizen, and the Molokai Times. Karunaratne's writing appears in the Ottawa Citizen, Ottawa Magazine, the Globe and Mail, and other lifestyle publications.
Heather O'Neill is the founder of Eco to the People, a green living blog.
Before founding Eco to the People, Heather O’Neill wore so many hats in the field of journalism that even the Queen Mother would envy her collection. She has worked as the managing editor of a beauty trade magazine; as a copy editor for an online tech magazine; as the associate editor of a city magazine and as a newspaper reporter and columnist, and as the senior editor at the popular online newsletter ecofabulous.
Her work has appeared in many publications, including Parenting, Alternative Medicine, Natural Solutions, Marin Magazine, Greenwich Magazine and HOME.
Heather earned a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from California College of the Arts. She lives and works in San Francisco.
What is the deal with EPA Directors being from New Jersey? Is it a prerequisite or something? We had Christie Todd Whitman (what a nightmare), and now we have Lisa Jackson. Both were former heads of the New Jersey EPA, and while I would never compare Jackson’s record to Whitman’s, it’s clear that many New Jersey environmental groups regard her as being too lenient on polluters. Having lived in and worked on environmental issues in New Jersey, let me say that when it comes to issues like climate change the State of New Jersey has its act together, but when it comes to issues like toxics, New Jersey is the poster child for ineptitude. New Jersey has way too many untreated superfund sites, and many feel not enough was done to fix the problem under Jackson’s watch.
Lisa Jackson is currently the Chief of Staff for Governor John Corzine, and has held almost every position of note in the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. Her career speaks to a lifetime of work on environmental issues, and while the State of New Jersey has made some good progress in that regard, it’s not a place where ecological sensitivity trumps industry, nor has it ever been. Perhaps you’ve heard the jokes about New Jersey’s toxic reputation. Unfortunately, I can’t say that they are unwarranted.
Jackson has on several occasions mentioned the plight of poor people who are forced to bare the brunt of dangerous health issues because they can’t afford to live in places free from environmental hazards, and yet, take a train to Newark on a windy day. Take a deep breath, and take a strong whiff, and tell me that New Jersey air quality isn’t still a huge problem for those who live there. What has she done to improve the quality of life for the people she claims to be fighting for? Why, for example, have only 22 of the 115 toxic superfund sites been cleaned up? Clearly it’s not fair to blame Jackson for all the environmental shortcomings of the State, but one cannot properly evaluate her career without also measuring New Jersey’s environmental progress considering the many prominent roles she has played in formulating New Jersey environmental policy.
She has a Masters in chemical engineering from Princeton University and her intellect is not in doubt. But why does it have to be a government insider? Why does it have to be an establishment candidate? Why not appoint a person from one of the many quality environmental non-profit organizations around the country? My point being, Jackson is far from a trailblazer for the environment, and with all the rolling back of important environmental standards during the Bush administration, the American people need a strong leader to improve things environmentally. They need an EPA director who is strong on air quality, strong on marine conservation, strong on toxic dumping; not just someone who is strong on climate change.
Climate change is by far the most important issue facing us today, and on this point, Jackson is an excellent choice. She helped pass the Global Warming Response Act, which dramatically cuts greenhouse gas emissions, and she obviously cares deeply about the issue. But I have mixed feelings about the choice of Jackson. I would like to see someone who is strong on a variety of environmental issues, and someone who has not spent their life in government trying to mediate compromise between industry and environmental non-profits. It’s time to have an advocate for environmental NGOs at the helm of the EPA. The host of environmental issues facing us today is too serious, and frankly, we’ve waited far too long.
Great post! It’s good to see some healthy debate surrounding Obama’s appointments. Frankly, I’m sick of this prolonged “honeymoon period.” We need to make sure that the new administration follows through with far-reaching policy efforts on a variety of environmental fronts. Here’s hoping that Jackson is given a strong mandate and recognizes her vital role in establishing the US as an environmental leader and example to the rest of the world.
Robert Cowin
December 18, 2008 7pm EST
Could not agree with you more Steve J. I like Obama, and am sincerely optimistic about his capacity for leadership, but everyone needs to be judged on their actions, not just their reputation. I’ll give Lisa Jackson the same opportunity, but right now, I don’t see her appointment as a victory for the environmental community.
Bill Wolfe
January 2, 2009 2pm EST
You need to look at Jackson’s record more closely.
Go to website of the group PEER (@ http://www.peer.org) and read their analysis, it coms from professionals who have worked for and with Jackson and know the inside story that rarely gets out the public and activists. (compare PEER’s analysis to those who support Jackson - focus on the facts, not the spin, and then decide who you think is more credible).
The NJ Global Warming Response Act is an empty shell - no implementation. No funding, regulations, staff, etc.
Stay current on the latest policies and progress government is making on addressing green issues. Find out what is going on off-camera and in the discussion chambers of government. Advocate your thoughts and ideas.
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Great post! It’s good to see some healthy debate surrounding Obama’s appointments. Frankly, I’m sick of this prolonged “honeymoon period.” We need to make sure that the new administration follows through with far-reaching policy efforts on a variety of environmental fronts. Here’s hoping that Jackson is given a strong mandate and recognizes her vital role in establishing the US as an environmental leader and example to the rest of the world.
Could not agree with you more Steve J. I like Obama, and am sincerely optimistic about his capacity for leadership, but everyone needs to be judged on their actions, not just their reputation. I’ll give Lisa Jackson the same opportunity, but right now, I don’t see her appointment as a victory for the environmental community.
You need to look at Jackson’s record more closely.
Go to website of the group PEER (@ http://www.peer.org) and read their analysis, it coms from professionals who have worked for and with Jackson and know the inside story that rarely gets out the public and activists. (compare PEER’s analysis to those who support Jackson - focus on the facts, not the spin, and then decide who you think is more credible).
The NJ Global Warming Response Act is an empty shell - no implementation. No funding, regulations, staff, etc.