Executive Coordinator for Rio+ 20 Mr. Brice Lalonde was appointed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations as Executive Coordinator for Rio+ 20 in 1 January 2011. Prior to this, he served as French Ambassador for climate change negotiations of France, French Minister for the Environment, Chairman of the Round Table for Sustainable Development at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and Senior Adviser for the Environment to the French Government. In addition, he held the position of Director of the Paris office of the Institute for a European Environment Policy. Mr. Lalonde graduated from the Sorbonne University with a degree in classics and law
Carl Hausmann
Managing Director, Global Government and Corporate Affairs, Bunge Limited Mr. Hausmann is Managing Director, Global Government and Corporate Affairs for Bunge Limited. He coordinates Bunge’s government affairs, corporate sustainability and community relations on a global level. Previously, he was CEO of Bunge North America, CEO of Bunge Europe and CEO of Cereol S.A. before its acquisition by Bunge in 2002. He started his agribusiness career at Continental Grain, where he served in leadership roles in North America, South America, Africa and Europe. Mr. Hausmann is a past president of Fediol, the European association of oilseed crushers. He received a B.S. in business from Boston College and an M.B.A. from the INSEAD.
Robert Hill
Adjunct Professor in Sustainability, United States Studies Centre, University of Sydney In 1981 Hill entered the Australian Senate as a Senator for South Australia and served in the Senate until 2006. From 1990 to 1996 he was Leader of the Opposition in the Senate. From 1996 to 2006 he was Leader of the Government in the Senate. In 1996 Hill was additionally appointed Minister for the Environment and served in that role until 2002. In 2002 he was appointed Minister for Defence and served until 2006. Hill resigned from the Senate in 2006 and was appointed Permanent Representative and Ambassador for Australia to the United Nations in New York and served until 2009. Returning to Australia in 2009, Hill established the Dow Sustainability Program at the United States Studies Centre of which he is Convenor. An important part of the Dow program is its City of the Future project. Hill is also Co-Director of the new Alliance 21 program at the Centre. Hill was the inaugural Chair of Low Carbon Australia Ltd, an Australian government company investing in energy efficiency financial services in the built environment. He is the designated Chair of a new Cooperative Research Centre based at the University of New south Wales, Low Carbon Communities, which will lead research in this field over the next 7years. He is a Counsellor of Dragoman Pty Ltd, a Melbourne based company, advising on international political risk. Hill is Chancellor of the University of Adelaide, President of the United Nations Association of Australia, a member of the Board of the Institute for Global Change at the University of Queensland, a member of the Asia Pacific Board of The Nature Conservancy, an Australian Governor of WWF and a Fellow of The Australian Institute for International Affairs. Hill was educated at the University of Adelaide and the University of London in Law and International relations.
Steve Cohen
Executive Director of Columbia University’s Earth Institute and a Professor in the Practice of Public Affairs at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs Steven Cohen is the Executive Director of Columbia University’s Earth Institute and a Professor in the Practice of Public Affairs at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. He is also Director of the Master of Public Administration Program in Environmental Science and Policy at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and the Director of the Masters of Science in Sustainability Management at Columbia University’s School of Continuing Education. From 2002 to 2006, he directed education programs at the Earth Institute. From 1998 to 2001, Cohen was Vice Dean of Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs. From 1985 to 1998, he was the Director of Columbia's Graduate Program in Public Policy and Administration. From 1987-1998, Cohen was Associate Dean for Faculty and Curriculum at SIPA.
Dr. Cohen served as a policy analyst in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from 1977 through 1978 and 1980-81, and as consultant to the agency from 1981 through 1991, from 1994 to 1996 and from 2005 to 2010. From 1979-1980 he was an Assistant Professor of Political Science at West Virginia University and from1981-1987 he was an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Columbia University. From 1990-94, Cohen served on the Board of the Pew Faculty Fellowship in International Affairs; he has also served on the Executive Committee and Committee on Accreditation and Peer Review of the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration. From 2001 to 2004, he served on the United States Environmental Protection Agency's Advisory Council on Environmental Policy and Technology. He serves on the Board of Directors of Homes for the Homeless.
Cohen is the author of Sustainability Management (2011),Understanding Environmental Policy (2006) and The Effective Public Manager (1988) as well qw numerous articles on public management innovation, sustainability management, politics and environmental management. Cohen was born in Orange, New Jersey, raised in Brooklyn, New York and now resides in New York City. He and his wife, Donna Fishman, have two wonderful daughters, Gabriella and Ariel.
Glenn Denning
Professor of Professional Practice at the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs, and Director of the Center for Globalization and Sustainable Development at Columbia’s Earth Institute
With more than 25 years of field experience in Asia and Africa, Denning is an authority on international agriculture and food security. He teaches at Columbia and advises governments and international organizations.
Denning joined the Earth Institute in 2004 as Senior Research Scholar and Associate Director of the Tropical Agriculture and Environment Program. He helped establish The MDG Centre, East and Southern Africa in Nairobi, Kenya, and served as its Director for 5 years. Denning provided leadership to the Centre's agenda in agriculture and rural development and its support to the African Green Revolution. He previously held senior management positions in the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines and the World Agroforestry Centre in Kenya.
Diana Glassman
Head of Environmental Affairs, TD Bank In her role, Diana is working with the bank’s senior executives to look across the business with an environmental lens to identify opportunities to expand TD’s environmental commitment. Opportunities could include employee and community activities, operations, real estate and product offerings.
A businesswoman with two decades of experience in strategy consulting and the financial services industry, Diana believes the environment is an integral component of a bank’s ability to provide great service and maintain financial strength. Diana’s experience in environmental strategy consulting has illustrated her passion and dedication to the field. An entrepreneur, Diana led a strategy consulting firm from 2005 to 2011 which provided holistic environmental advice to private equity, corporate and government organizations. Previously, Diana was the Head of the Americas at Credit Suisse’s Environmental Business Group and a Director at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Glassman’s environmental efforts continue outside of the workplace, as she sits on the board of the World Policy Institute, where she was the lead author of The Water-Energy Nexus: Adding Water to the Energy Agenda. A thought leader, she is a frequent speaker and commentator on environmental issues.
Diana holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Yale. She also earned concurrent Master of Business Administration and Master of Public Administration (International Political and Environmental Development) degrees from Harvard University.
Allison Archambault
President, EarthSpark International Serving as EarthSpark's President, Allison oversees all aspects of the organization's day-to-day operations and management. Allison is also a founding principal of Fresh Generation, LLC, a consulting firm working with companies, non-profits, and governments toward widespread and efficient adoption of sustainable energy solutions. Prior to her work with EarthSpark and Fresh Generation, Allison served as Business Liaison Director for 3TIER, leveraging 3TIER’s resource forecasting and mapping to expand renewable energy siting and integration insights around the world. Allison also led the renewable energy partners program for GridPoint, a leading clean tech company in the smart grid space. She has a background in US grid-tied residential solar and residential demand management and in rural solar
Elizabeth Shope
Advocate, International Program, Natural Resources Defense Council Elizabeth Shope is an Advocate in the International Program at the Natural Resources Defense Council. At NRDC, she manages the global safe drinkingwater project, and works on fighting tar sands oil and dirty fuels. Her work onwater, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) is largely focused on advocacy for U.S. legislation and policies that will help improve global access to water and sanitation, and on the intersection between WASH and environmental conservation.
Ellen Morris
Director of the International Energy Management and Policy track and the Sustainable Energy Policy track at the School of International and Public Affairs
Ellen Morris is the President and Founder of Sustainable Energy Solutions a professional services company that promotes the increased use and deployment of clean energy technologies and services as a means to support economic development and reduce poverty in developing countries. The focus is on energy access and links to development; end-user finance for modern energy; gender and energy; productive uses for energy to support economic development; and enabling environments for project development and investment in clean energy. Ellen is also the Director of the academic programs on International Energy Management and Policy and Sustainable Energy Policy at the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs, where she teaches and advises graduate students. In 2008, she founded and directed an organization called Arc Finance, where she led the development and launch of the field programs and operations to promote and expand access to end-user finance for modern energy. Since 1996, Dr. Morris has been a senior consultant for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on sustainable energy, where her work focuses on technical and programmatic support for countries seeking to advance energy as a means to reduce poverty. She has previously worked for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in the Washington, DC office. Ellen is a member of numerous organizations including the Board of Directors of Empowered by Light, an organization focused on lighting solutions for schools in Zambia; the Board of Directors of Arc Finance; the United Nations Foundation Energy Access Practitioner Network, United Nations Development Programme’s External Advisory Group; the Advisory Board of Earthspark International, a solar non-profit organization operating in Haiti; and the Advisory Board of Simpa Networks, a social enterprise developing consumer financing options for clean energy. Ellen has a Ph.D. in Geological Oceanography and began her career working as an Exploration Geophysicist in the oil and gas sector.
Nijhad Jamal
Portfolio Manager, Acumen Fund
Nijhad Jamal is a Portfolio Manager based in New York where he focuses primarily on the cleantech and water sectors. He also supports Acumen Fund’s Capital Markets/Investment Fund work. Nijhad has a background in corporate finance, investing and social enterprise and has lived and worked in the United States, Europe, Africa and Asia. He began his career at UBS Investment Bank in their Consumer Products and Retail Group and later left to help launch the boutique advisory and private equity firm, Centerview Partners, where he worked on private equity investments and mergers and acquisitions across a range of sectors and geographies. Nijhad has also spent time working and volunteering in East Africa and Central Asia in the fields of microfinance and social enterprise.
Nijhad holds a BS from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Cheryl Palm
Senior Research Scientist in the Tropical Agriculture and Rural Environment Program of the Earth Institute
Cheryl A. Palm is a Senior Research Scientist in the Tropical Agriculture and Rural Environment Program of the Earth Institute at Columbia University where she is also the Science Director of the Millennium Villages Project. A tropical ecologist focusing on land use change, Dr. Palm received her Ph.D. in soil science from North Carolina State University after completing her bachelor's and master's degrees in zoology at the University of California, Davis. She served as Principal Research Scientist of the Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Program in Nairobi, Kenya from 1991-2001. She has served on the faculties of North Carolina State University, Colorado State University and spent a year as visiting scientist at the University of California, Berkeley. She was elected a Fellow of the American Society of Agronomists in 2005 and is currently the chair of the International Nitrogen Initiative (INI).
Dr. Palm’s research focuses on land use change, degradation and rehabilitation, and ecosystem services in tropical landscapes. She led a major effort quantifying carbon stocks, losses and net greenhouse gas emissions following slash and burn and alternative land use systems in the humid tropics in the Brazilian and Peruvian Amazon, Indonesia and the Congo Basin. She has spent much of the past 15 years investigating nutrient dynamics in farming systems of Africa, including options for land rehabilitation. Most recent work includes the Millennium Villages Project, an integrated approach to achieving the Millennium Development Goals in rural Sub-Saharan Africa. The approach combines evidence based interventions and community based participation. The team is currently working with the Millennium Villages sites developing carbon offset projects for carbon sequestration in degraded landscapes that will provide additional ecosystem services and benefit local communities.
Shama Perveen
Associate Research Scientist, Columbia Water Center Research Areas: Integrated water resources management and policy; GIS modeling; vulnerability at multiple geographic scales; global change and impact; industrial ecology and sustainable development.
Gary H. Toenniessen
Managing Director Gary H. Toenniessen joined the Rockefeller Foundation in 1971. As Managing Director, he leads the strategic direction for the Foundation’s initiatives in agricultural development. He has also served as the Assistant Director for the Natural and Environmental Sciences Division, Assistant Director, Associate Director and Deputy Director for Agricultural Sciences and Director, Food Security. In 2006 he served as Founding President (on an interim basis) of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, a joint project of the Rockefeller Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Mr. Toenniessen has written and edited numerous papers and books on biotechnology, agriculture and international food issues, many co-authored with other Foundation officers. He continues to develop ideas and theories on how the world’s growing population could and should be fed and how agricultural development could be a more effective engine for economic growth. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a recipient of the Adolph E. Gude Jr. Award of the American Society of Plant Biology.
Mr. Toenniessen has a bachelor of science degree in mathematics from the State University of New York at Buffalo, and a Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Vijay Modi
Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Columbia University
Prof. Vijay Modi is leading the Earth Institute’s efforts that cut across energy, rural infrastructure and development. He led the UN Millennium Project (MP) effort on the role of energy and energy services in reaching the Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s). Currently, he is focused on three projects: leading the infrastructure team for the Millennium Villages Project (10 countries, 14 sites across sub-Saharan Africa); developing planning and decision-support tools for infrastructure; and looking at the food-energy-water nexus in Indian agriculture.
Modi’s areas of expertise are energy sources and conversion, heat/mass transfer and fluid mechanics. In addition to the projects above, he leads projects in: energy technologies for sustainable development; energy infrastructure, design & planning; solar energy; energy, food & water nexus; technology & intervention; adoption, diffusion and impact assessment. His primary geographic regions are India and Africa. Modi also works on projects in water (with fellow Earth Institute Faculty Member, Professor Upmanu Lall), urban infrastructure and energy consumption (through the IGERT program led by Professor Trish Culligan), optics of concentrated solar energy, and software systems for m-Health with lab colleague Matt Berg. He has authored or co-authored numerous journal papers, and served as the principal or co-principal of a number of research grants from government and industry.
When: Wednesday April 25, Registration: 12:00pm Summit: 1:00pm - 6:00pm
Where: Columbia University Low Memorial Library 435 West 116th Street, New York, NY 10027