EEM Master’s graduate Shuqi Dong is working in the World Bank. She recently coordinated a webinar on “Engaging the Private Sector on Biodiversity in Emissions Reduction” that took place in November 2020. The session covered information on biodiversity, climate finance, nature-based solutions and the role of private sector actors, and was hosted by the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility of the World Bank, which is a $1.3 billion trust fund working on reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.
EEM Master of Science graduate Jose Ramon Gomez is working in the Inter-American Development Bank. Jose recently was appointed to a position as the head of an IDB bank in Costa Roca, supervising more than 250 employees.
EEMI Director of Climate Change Dr. Rachael Jonassen recently completed a 13-month assignment with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), leading a team of 44 specialists designing a low carbon plan for the city of Xiangtan, China. Dr. Jonassen was responsible for documenting the carbon reduction impacts of the project throughout the 25-year lifetime of the loan, and her work has been cited by the ADB as a “best practice” and “model project for low carbon development.” Eight GW graduate students were involved in this project.
EEM Master’s graduate Kisa Mfalila, the Lead Environment & Climate Specialist for the Asia & Pacific Regions of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, has been heavily involved in the development of the Ex-Ante Carbon-Balance Tool developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. The new tool helps to estimate the impact of agriculture and forestry development projects on the carbon-balance. Most of Multilateral Development Banks and International Financial Institutions have adopted the tool. Kisa says that the IFAD uses the Ex-ACT tool for all investments where her office anticipates significant greenhouse gas emissions, particularly in agriculture projects that include livestock and forestry. The estimates assist project teams in prioritizing activities with high benefits in reducing GHG emissions and economic returns. More information can be seen about the Ex-Ante Carbon Balance Tool at http://www.fao.org/tc/exact/ex-act-home/en
Recent EEM Master of science graduate Yidong Chen presently is working for China Tianying Inc., a leading environmental service provider in China and Spain. China Tianying is an international environmental management corporation covering the entire industrial chain of solid waste management and providing comprehensive urban services for major cities and international businesses all over the world. More information about the company can be seen at https://www.ctyi.com.cn/en/about.html.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office recently issued U.S. Patent No. 10,440,535 to EEM Associate Professor Dr. Ekundayo Shittu and his former student Connor Roberts for “System and Method for Asset-Agnostic Wireless Monitoring and Predictive Maintenance of Deployed Assets.” Their invention monitors medical equipment and provides alerts and recommendations for medical equipment management. This device can improve patient care and decrease the number of deaths by reducing medical device failures.
Abdul Moiz Sohail a former Fulbright Scholar in the EEM program, and now an EEM Master of Science graduate, currently is working in Lahore, Pakistan, with the Provincial government of Punjab. Moiz’s position is Senior Research Analyst – Environment in the Urban Unit with the Punjab Provincial Government.
EEMI Energy Director Scott Sklar (https://eemi.seas.gwu.edu/scott-sklar) published an article entitled “Seven Transformational Trends in Clean Energy: A Cause for Optimism in the Fall 2020 Issue of Solar Today. In the article, Prof. Sklar explains how major current trends in the global marketplace are driving how we use energy, communicate, interface, and transport ourselves. The article can be seen on page 8 at the following link: Seven Transformational Trends in Clean Energy.
Forbes magazine quoted EEM professor Dr. John Helveston in the July 25 article “This Is A Big Reason Electric Cars Still Aren’t Popular With Americans: Study.” Prof. Helveston also was interviewed by the Associated press for a piece on “China’s emissions drop amid coronavirus outbreak.” The piece can be seen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfTwx6n0Pk4.
Dr. Laura Verduzco, an EEM Ph.D. graduate, is working as a California Carbon Compliance Engineer for Chevron. In her position, Laura oversees compliance with the greenhouse gas mandatory reporting rule in California. She also is in charge of developing and implementing the strategy for compliance with cap and trade in California and helps with lifecycle analysis projects to reduce Chevron’s carbon intensity under the low carbon fuels standard. Periodically, she also represents the oil and gas industry in Mexico to update fuel specifications in the country.
EEMI Visiting Scholar Dr. Gürkan Kumbaroğlu conducted an e-mobility webinar on the topic “E-Mobility Future in Europe” in late summer through AVERE, the European Association for eMobility. The conference drew hundreds of mobility, energy, and sustainability experts from across the globe to listen to speakers and network with industry professionals on how to collectively drive the future of electric mobility forward in Europe and around the world. Founded in 1978, AVERE is forum that allows a European network of members—from academic researchers to NGOs and car manufacturers—to exchange knowledge, experience, and ideas. The objective of AVERE is to create a strong electric mobility industry, clean and healthy cities, and to free modern society from dependence on fossil fuels.
EEM Master’s graduate Hao Zhang recently moved to China to accept a position with the Bank of China International in Shanghai. Hao reports that his investment banking activities, although they mostly have to do with financial matters, make contributions to the preservation of our common environment.
EEM Professors Dr. Ekundayo Shittu and Dr. Jonathan Deason, along with Dr. Gurkan Kumbaroğlu and Cansu Canaz, published the article “Profitable Decarbonization through E-Mobility,” in the per-reviewed journal Energies, in August 2020. The paper evaluates the impact of electric vehicle deployment on electricity generation and CO2 emissions to showcase their interdependence, particularly the reduction in the marginal cost of emissions through electric-bus transportation. Dr. Kumbaroğlu, from the Industrial Engineering Department at Bogaziçi University, was a Fulbright scholar for seven months at the Environmental and Energy Management Institute.
Dr. Yusuf Almalki, a Ph.D. graduate of the EEM program, presently is working with the University of Bahrain in the Department of Civil Engineering where he is teaching courses on project management, operation research and construction management.
EEM Energy Director Scott Sklar published an article in Solar Today entitled “Resilient Infrastructure COVID-19: Climate Change, Geologic Changes, Old Equipment, Human Error, Squirrels and Raccoons.” The article can be seen by clicking Resilient Infrastructure COVID-19