NEP Initiative--Participant Bios

CBI Staff Participants

Lawrence E. Susskind, NEP Initiative Project Co-Director
Larry Susskind is President of the Consensus Building Institute; Ford Professor of Urban and Environmental Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; co-founder and currently Vice-Chair for Instruction at the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School; and Co-Director of the MIT-Harvard Public Disputes Program. Professor Susskind is one of the nation's leading facilitators of public policy consensus building, with twenty five years of experience helping to resolve complex multi-party, multi-issue disputes in the United States as well as in ten other countries. In the field of energy and environment, his work includes leadership of the design, assessment and facilitation process for the National Energy Consensus Experiment (1989–90); facilitation of a radioactive waste management consensus building process in Maine (1989–92); facilitation of parallel informal negotiation on the Framework Convention on Climate Change (1995–98); advising and training Canadian government agencies, corporations and First Nations on resolving oil and gas pipeline disputes (1998–present). Professor Susskind has authored , co-authored and edited fifteen books including Breaking the Impasse (Basic Books, 1986); Environmental Diplomacy (Oxford, 1995); Dealing With An Angry Public (Free Press, 1996); The Consensus Building Handbook (Sage, 1999); and Negotiating on Behalf of Others (Sage, 1999). He holds a PhD in Urban Planning from MIT and a BA in English Literature and Sociology from Columbia University.

David Fairman, Assessor/Facilitator and NEP Initiative Project Manager
David Fairman is Vice President at the Consensus Building Institute and Associate Director of the MIT-Harvard Public Disputes Program. He is an experienced assessor, facilitator and manager of public policy consensus building projects, and a senior mediator on the dispute resolution rosters of the US Environmental Protection Agency and the US Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution. His energy-and environment-related work includes co-management of the National Energy Consensus Experiment (1989–90); facilitation of a state-level nuclear waste management consensus building process in Maine (1989–91); research, assessment and co-facilitation of parallel informal negotiation on the Framework Convention on Climate Change (1995–97); and facilitation support for the Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnership (2000). In addition to his work as a facilitator, Dr. Fairman trains public, private and non-profit executives in negotiation and consensus building; researches and writes on the use of negotiation and consensus building in public policy arenas; and co-directs CBI's Workable Peace project. He holds a PhD in Political Science from MIT and a BA in History and Literature from Harvard College.

William Moomaw, Assessor/Facilitator
Bill Moomaw is Professor and director of the International Environment and Resource Policy at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University. He is also a member of the Consensus Building Institute Board of Directors and a CBI Senior Consultant. He has worked as a policy scientist and technology assessment professional in a number of policy contexts. When he worked for the US Senate, he addressed ozone depletion legislation and energy R&D authorizations in the wake of the first oil shocks. As the first Director of the Climate Program at the World Resources Institute, he worked with Congressional staff, federal agency professionals, corporations, NGOs and foreign governments to explore climate related energy strategies and policies. Professor Moomaw was a lead author for three industrial energy use studies for the IPCC in 1996. He co-chaired the "Technological and Economic Potential of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction for the 2001 IPCC Mitigation Report. He also chaired the two-year international component of the Dutch government's long-term energy and climate study released in summer 2001, and numerous additional studies for international agencies. He has facilitated meetings of industrial and developing country diplomats addressing climate change and energy use, and has consulted to numerous energy and automobile companies on environmental dimensions of their activities. He holds a PhD in physical chemistry from MIT.

Jonathan Raab, Assessor/Facilitator
Jonathan Raab is President of Raab Associates. Dr. Raab is an experienced mediator, facilitator, consultant, and trainer. He is also a senior consultant with the Consensus Building Institute, Inc. (CBI) in Cambridge. He is a national leader in applying consensus-building processes to energy, environmental, and regulatory issues. He is on the mediation and arbitration panels for the Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland (PJM) Power Pool, and on the dispute resolution rosters of the US Environmental Protection Agency and the US Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution. Prior to starting Raab Associates, Dr. Raab was the Assistant Director of the Electric Power Division at the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities. He authored a seminal book, Using Consensus Building to Improve Utility Regulation. He has a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Energy and Environmental Policy, and Resource Economics), an MS in Civil Engineering and an AB in Social Sciences from Stanford University. Dr. Raab has taught courses at the University of Oregon, Stanford, University of Massachusetts (Boston) and MIT.

Kelly Sims Gallagher, Assessor/Researcher
Kelly Sims Gallagher is a Research Fellow in Science, Technology, and Public Policy at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University and a PhD Candidate in International Affairs at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University. Her research focuses on energy cooperation between the United States and China. During the past year she was a teaching assistant at Tufts University and teaching fellow at Harvard University. Formerly, she was the Science Policy Director of Ozone Action in Washington, DC. She has participated in more than a dozen rounds of international negotiations on global climate change and ozone depletion and was an advisor to CNN in Kyoto and Buenos Aires for the climate negotiations. She was previously a Truman Scholar in the Office of Vice President Gore and also worked in strategic planning at the international engineering and construction firm, Fluor Daniel. She holds a Masters of Arts in Law & Diplomacy from the Fletcher School, and an AB in international affairs and environmental studies from Occidental College.

Stanley Byers, Assessor/Researcher
Stan Byers is a project consultant at the Consensus Building Institute on issues including international urban planning and foreign direct investment. His energy related work includes legislative research in Washington, DC as the Assistant to the Director of Federal Affairs for the mid-western utility CINergy Corp. (1994–95); and research at the Union of Concerned Scientists on issues of energy and climate change, including a national stakeholder survey of renewable energy research needs and trends (1996–98). Mr. Byers also has experience in national advocacy campaigns and political and media strategy. He holds a Master of Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and a BS in Ecology from Purdue University.

Cynthia Brady, Assessor/Researcher
Cynthia Brady is currently a second year graduate student at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University. She is a candidate for the Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy (MALD) degree. Her studies are focused on International Environmental Policy and International Security Studies. She holds a BA in Political Science from Denison University. Previously, she has interned with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and worked for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

RMI Staff Participants

Amory Lovins, NEP Initiative Project Co-Director
Amory Lovins, Chief Executive Officer (Research) of Rocky Mountain Institute, is a consultant and experimental physicist educated at Harvard and Oxford. He has received an Oxford MA (by virtue of being a don), six honorary doctorates, a MacArthur Fellowship, the Heinz, Lindbergh, and Right Livelihood ("Alternative Nobel"), World Technology, and Time Hero for the Planet awards, the Happold Medal, and the Nissan, Mitchell, and Onassis prizes. His work focuses on transforming the car, real estate, electricity, water, semiconductor, and several other manufacturing sectors toward advanced resource productivity. He has briefed 12 heads of state, held several visiting academic chairs, authored or co-authored 27 books (including 1999's Natural Capitalism) and hundreds of papers, and consulted for scores of industries and governments worldwide. The Wall Street Journal named Mr. Lovins one of 39 people world-wide "most likely to change the course of business in the '90s"; Newsweek has praised him as "one of the Western world's most influential energy thinkers"; and Car magazine ranked him the 22nd most powerful person in the global automotive industry.

L. Hunter Lovins
Hunter Lovins is the Chief Executive Officer (Strategy) of Rocky Mountain Institute. She holds BAs from Pitzer College (political studies and sociology), a JD from Loyola University School of Law (Los Angeles) with the Alumni Award for Outstanding Service to the School, and an honorary LHD from the University of Maine. A member of the California Bar, she helped establish and for six years was Assistant Director of the California Conservation Project (Tree People), an innovative urban forestry and environmental education group. She has co-authored nine books, including Natural Capitalism (1999), and dozens of papers. She was 1982 Henry R. Luce Visiting Professor at Dartmouth College, and has taught at several other universities. She has consulted for dozens of clients in the public and private sectors, has addressed hundreds of audiences, and appeared in numerous broadcast interviews. With colleague Amory Lovins she has shared a 2000 Time Hero for the Planet Award, 1999 Lindbergh Award, 1993 Nissan Award, and 1982 Mitchell Prize. Ms. Lovins serves on the boards of two private corporations and many public interest groups.

Thomas Feiler, NEP Initiative Project Manager
Thomas Feiler, Principal, is a leading authority on industry structure, resource planning, and competitive strategy development for the electric power, natural gas, and other regulated industries. He has conducted research and strategic studies for clients in North America, South America, Europe, Australia, and Asia on a broad range of issues, including analysis of market developments, regulatory changes, environmental policy, deregulation, privatization, and risk. He is a frequent speaker, expert witness, and author on the electric power, natural gas, and environmental industries, addressing such issues as competitive markets, strategic planning, industry trends and environmental policy analysis, market development, risk analysis, integrated resource planning, and demand-side management.

Karl Rábago
Karl Rábago, Principal, brings 10 years of nationally recognized leadership in utility regulation, renewable energy, and energy services. He has developed and led key organizations that address the vital issues in the rapidly changing electricity industry, helping to shape the national agenda in renewable energy, energy efficiency, universal service, information technologies, regulation and restructuring. He has served as DOE deputy assistant secretary for utility technologies, commissioner on the Texas Public Utility Commission, and energy program manager for the 300,000-member Environmental Defense Fund. Mr. Rábago is currently chair of the Green Power Board, an independent organization that oversees the Green-e certification program for green power products, chairman of the Jicarilla Apache Tribal Utility Authority, and a board member of the Renewable Energy Policy Project/Center for Renewable Energy and Sustainable Technologies (REPP/CREST). He is an attorney with a JD (with honors) from the University of Texas, and Master of Laws degrees from Pace University School of Law (Environmental Law) and the Judge Advocate General's School (Military Law).

Joel Swisher
Joel Swisher, Principal, Team Leader of Energy & Resources Services for RMI, has more than 20 years experience in many aspects of clean energy technology. Dr. Swisher is founder and president of E4, a firm that provided such services as analyzing utility emissions and developing emissions offset projects. Clients included corporations, utilities, European governments, the Electric Power Research Institute and financial institutions such as the World Bank. Previous to E4, he worked for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), where he created programs to assist developing countries with environmentally–sustainable energy planning. As a consultant to the Electric Power Research Institute, Dr. Swisher evaluated the potential of demand-side management technologies to reduce utilities' contribution to air pollution. He also was consulting engineer for a firm that served as an energy consultant for the New Zealand Ministry of Energy. Dr. Swisher is a Registered Professional Engineer. His 1991 PhD in Energy and Environmental Engineering is from Stanford University. His PhD dissertation introduced several key concepts in the technical analysis of carbon offsets, based on field work in Central America, evaluating energy, conservation and reforestation options. He received a Master of Science from Stanford's Mechanical Engineering Department in 1980. Dr. Swisher speaks five languages and has written over 100 professional publications.