About Us
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We are a 501(c)(3) public charity that provides academic scholarships to students in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Alaska pursuing advanced studies in renewable energy. Study areas may include biomass, geothermal, wind, solar etc., as well as related areas such as public policy and other social sciences.
Board of Directors
David Reingold
President
Pearl Dixon
Secretary
Dave Reingold has a bachelors from Dartmouth College and a PhD from the University of Oregon. He taught organic chemistry at Haverford, Middlebury, Lewis & Clark, and Juniata Colleges, and recently retired to Portland. He has served as a national officer in the Council on Undergraduate Research and as a local officer in three different sections of the American Chemical Society. Dave's website.
Pearl is a transactional attorney at Stoel Rives LLP focusing on mergers and acquisitions and financing for clients in the renewable energy industry. She has experience representing sponsors and investors in the acquisition and development of solar and wind projects. Before moving to Oregon, Pearl lived in Arizona, where did her undergraduate studies in geography and attended law school. Pearl now calls Portland home and enjoys running in Forest Park and playing tennis in her spare time.
Rob Morton
Treasurer
Bryce Yonker
Rob Morton co-founded Cascade Energy in 1993. Since that time, he has served on Cascade’s board and leadership team with the vision of making industry energy efficient. His role has encompassed engineering, program design, energy management, and company strategy. Before entering energy efficiency, he worked for Lockheed where he focused on spacecraft thermal analysis. Rob has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Stanford University and lives in Portland, Oregon.
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As the executive director & CEO for Grid Forward Bryce leads strategic development, industry engagement, programs and operations. He was a founder and original board member of the organization dating back to 2009. He is also the principal for EnerTec Development, a energy and tech consultancy and is an advisor to energy growth companies. Bryce previously served as the senior director of business development & strategy for Clean Edge, a leading clean tech market research and advisory firm and VP of membership for Technology Association of Oregon. He holds a bachelor degree in business administration from Pepperdine University and an international MBA from IE in Spain. In his spare time, Bryce enjoys spending time with his wife and two children, and being in the NW outdoors especially with a fly-rod in hand.
Jeff Morris
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Nancy Hirsh
Jeff Morris joined Schneider Electric North America in 2019 and is Senior Director of State Government Relations. Prior to that, Jeff worked in cleantech commercialization through his own business, Energy Horizon Corporation, as Director of Northwest Energy Technology Collaborative, and 23 years as a Washington State Representative. He recently completed six years as a USDOE OE Electricity Advisor and is an Associate member of the Gridwise Architect Council. While a legislator, he was named one of the most Tech Savvy Legislators in the United States by Governing Magazine, was Chair or Leader in several legislative associations and his public/private energy policy work recognized by the Canadian Government. Morris co-founded the Northwest Energy Angels now called Element 8 in 2005 and created the Legislative Energy Horizon Institute that has trained over 300 state and local policymakers in Energy 101.
Mel Clark
Nancy Hirsh has 40 years of energy policy, regulatory, and advocacy experience in the Northwest region and at the federal level. Most recently, she was Executive Director for the NW Energy Coalition. Since 2015, Nancy directed the Coalition’s efforts to enhance investments in energy efficiency, renewable resources, and low-income energy services through work with utilities, commissioners, regulators, and legislators. From 1996 through 2014, she served as the Coalition’s policy director. She serves on the Centralia Coal Transition Board, on the Advisory Board for the Institute for Energy Studies at Western Washington University, and has recently joined the Renewable Energy Scholarship Foundation Board. Before moving to Seattle, Nancy spent twelve years in Washington, DC working on national energy policy issues for the Environmental Action Foundation and the National Wildlife Federation. She lives in Seattle with her family. When not advocating clean energy solutions, she is an avid backpacker and hiker.
Bob Rowe
Mel Clark leads CleanTech Alliance, the largest clean technology industry association in the United States, headquartered in the Pacific Northwest. The Alliance connects over 1,000 member organizations across business, research, and government to accelerate innovation, commercialization, and workforce development in the clean economy. Its mission is to champion a thriving clean energy future through education, advocacy, and collaboration.
With more than 25 years of experience in nonprofit leadership, Mel is known for building strategic partnerships and advancing inclusive climate solutions. She serves on the Board of the Tech Alliance, E8 Angels, and advisory boards focused on energy innovation, regional collaboration, and workforce equity.
Bob Rowe served as CEO of NorthWestern Energy from August 2008 until retiring in January 2023.
Bob is a Venture Partner with The Westly Group; a Senior Advisor to Guggenheim Partners; an independent director at Technosylva; an independent director at Resource Innovations; and Trail Boss of The Western Transmission Consortium, among other activities.
Bob chairs the American Gas Foundation Board; is a member of the EEI Global Executive Leadership Network; and a Senior Fellow at the University of Florida Public Utility Research Center. Bob serves on several non-profit boards, including Yellowstone Forever (the non-profit partner of Yellowstone National Park); the University of Montana Foundation Board of Trustees; Jack Creek Preserve; and the Lewis & Clark College Board of Trustees.
Earlier in his career Bob was a Montana Public Service Commissioner and President of the National Association of Regulated Utility Commissioners. Before that he was a public interest attorney, where among other things he worked on early Integrated Resource Planning proposals, energy efficiency as a resource, and low- and moderate-income programs.
Bob has a BA from Lewis & Clark College and a JD from the University of Oregon. He has attended several professional development programs, including the Harvard Kennedy School and the University of Chicago Booth School.
Bob lives in Big Sky Country.
Marc Rappaport, Founder
Marc Rappaport has been involved in renewable energy for over forty years. He served as the founding president and a charter member of the Oregon Solar Energy Association in 1971. In 1972, he invented the geothermal-solar hybrid system, for which he was later awarded the basic patent. During the same period, Marc engineered and developed the business plan for what is now Biomass One, L.P. He served as a founder, general partner and managing partner of this 30 mW biomass plant in Medford, Oregon which has been in commercial operation for the past 26 years. He holds the honor of being the only American asked to present at the Sustainability of the Planet conference in Stockholm, Sweden.
Applications Manager
David Smith
David is a marketer, creative director and writer focused on advancing the clean energy economy. He is currently the marketing director for Grid Forward, a member-driven industry association promoting and accelerating electric grid modernization in the western U.S. and Canada. As SmithWrites, David consults on branding, messaging and marketing for emerging companies pursuing clean and equitable energy. In his rare spare time, he tinkers with building joy around EVs at evpoetry.com.
Webmaster and Social Media Manager
Atticus Jones
Atticus hails from Portland, Oregon and currently lives in Boston, where he brings a bi-coastal perspective on environmental issues. Witnessing the increasingly severe wildfire seasons and forest degradation in the pacific northwest spurred in Atticus a deep concern for the environmental impact of climate change. In college, he worked as a field manager for the nonprofit Environment Oregon, supporting fundraising efforts to protect federally conserved parks and forests. Atticus studied mathematics at Hamilton College, with an additional focus in physics and government, which influenced his views about environmental challenges from both analytical and policy perspectives. He remains engaged with climate and environmental issues through continued learning, conversations, and community involvement, with an interest in renewable energy as part of broader climate solutions. Outside of work, he enjoys squash, hiking, and traveling.
Former Board Members
Sandra Foltz
Richard Jaskiel
Tom Ranken
Deborah Smith
Leah Parks
Michelle Yockelson
Erica Valli
Selection Committee
Alissa Bleem
Alissa holds engineering degrees from Montana State University and the University of Washington, and she has over a decade of research experience developing bio-based, sustainable alternatives to industrial chemicals. She currently leads waste valorization projects as a scientist at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the only federal laboratory dedicated to research, development, commercialization, and deployment of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies. She is passionate about finding biological solutions to energy problems, and she is excited to help provide opportunities for a new generation of young researchers.
Dave Danner
Dave Danner is the former Chair of the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission, retiring in 2025 after 12 years. He previously served as the agency’s executive director and secretary. As Commission Chair, Danner regulated the rates and services of the state’s investor-owned electric and natural gas utilities, oversaw pipeline and rail safety regulation, and oversaw utility implementation of the landmark Clean Energy Transformation Act, which mandates that all Washington electric utilities must remove coal from their portfolios by 2026 and be 100 percent carbon free by 2045. Before joining the Commission, he served as energy policy advisor to Washington Governor Gary Locke and as a member of the state’s Environmental Hearings Boards. From 2019 to 2023, Danner served as Chair of the International Confederation of Energy Regulators, elected by regulators from more than130 countries. He is a former member of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, and served on a number of executive or advisory bodies of energy-related non-profit organizations.
Danner holds a B.A. from Columbia University, an M.A. in communications from the University of Washington, and a law degree from George Washington University.
Mike Grainey
Mike Grainey was Director of the Oregon Department of Energy between 2002 and 2009, and led the State’s efforts to become one of the leading states in energy efficiency, sustainability, and renewable energy. He was Renewable Energy Advisor of the Oregon Business Development Department from 2009- 2014 where he promoted clean technology jobs and recruited renewable energy manufacturers. He is currently Principal of Michael W. Grainey Consulting, working on clean energy project finance and development, sustainability, energy policy and climate change.
Jeff Hammarlund
Jeff Hammarlund is an adjunct associate professor and senior research fellow at Portland State University. He has served as an advisor to Presidents, Senators, and other national leaders on the smart grid and renewable energy, and played a major role in creating and securing federal funding for the Pacific Northwest Center of Excellence for Clean Energy. Previous positions include serving as a senior policy analyst and manager at a major Northwest utility trade association (Public Power Council), professional staff member with the US Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources (where he had lead staff responsibility for renewable energy issues), policy analyst at the US Department of Energy, senior manager and policy advisor at Southern California Edison, and senior manager at several major energy consulting firms.
David Lockard
David Lockard received his Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Wisconsin Solar Energy Laboratory. He worked at the Alaska Energy Authority for 28 years in a wide variety of roles. These included managing the Alaska solar, geothermal, wave and tidal energy, energy efficiency, and bulk fuel programs. He managed the design and construction of energy projects in more than 30 remote Alaska villages, including diesel powerhouses, bulk fuel tank farms, hydroelectric projects, and heat recovery systems. The last five years of his career he managed the largest transmission line in Alaska.
Auriane Koster
Auriane earned a BS in Environmental Science and Management and a BS in Applied Mathematics from the University of Rhode Island in 2008 and her PhD in Sustainability from Arizona State University in 2013. She spent two years teaching at ASU's Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College before returning to teach at her alma mater, the School of Sustainability. Concurrently, she worked as a Sustainability Manager for Fusebox, implementing sustainability strategies in school districts. In 2023, she became the first Regional Sustainability Stakeholder Lead for STMicroelectronics, and then, in April 2024, she joined Micron as the Boise Site Sustainability Senior Manager. Outside of work, she enjoys hiking, skiing, indoor cycling, travel (having visited 5/7 continents), and studying wine.
Karma Sawyer
Dr. Karma Sawyer is the Director of the Electricity Infrastructure and Buildings Division at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. She is responsible for vision and strategy to tackle the nation’s most important energy efficiency, clean energy, and electricity infrastructure challenges. The Division consists of about 450 staff members across a range of engineering and policy disciplines and provides innovative and actionable solutions to Department of Energy and Department of Defense clients. Dr. Sawyer earned a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley and is a member of the 2024-2026 cohort of the New Voices in Science, Engineering and Medicine at the National Academies. She lives in Washington DC with her husband and two children and is a proud advocate for disability rights.
Tracie Tran
Tracie is an engineer working in industrial energy efficiency at Cascade Energy out of their Portland, Oregon office. She has been in a project engineering role studying capital and O&M energy efficiency projects for BPA and Pacific Power customers and has also served as an Account Manager for Energy Trust of Oregon’s Custom Industrial program. Tracie has a BS in Chemical Engineering from Oregon State University and participated in the Industrial Assessment Center during her time at OSU.
Ali Trueworthy
Ali has been working and studying in the marine renewable energy field for nearly a decade. She earned her PhD in Mechanical Engineering and her Masters of Arts in Environmental Arts and Humanities from Oregon State University. Her work focuses on local scale, community-driven design of energy systems.
Carl Wamser
Carl Wamser is Professor Emeritus of Chemistry at Portland State University. He holds an Sc.B. degree from Brown University and a Ph.D. from Caltech, and he served on the faculty at California State University, Fullerton, as well as PSU. His research focused on solar energy conversion, in particular using porphyrins and related chlorophyll analogs to control energy transfer and electron transfer processes, a strategy sometimes called artificial photosynthesis. He has engaged hundreds of students in research, from high school students and teachers to graduate students and postdocs. He is passionate about providing the next generation the resources, inspiration, and a sense of urgency towards solving global issues, most especially the twin crises of climate change and social justice.
Thank you to our donors
Special Donors
Bill Phillips
Nobel Prize (Physics)
1997
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Jennifer Doudna
Nobel Prize (Chemistry)
2022
Fraser Stoddart
Nobel Prize (Chemistry)
2016
Ira Helfand
Nobel Peace Prize
1985, 2017
Roald Hoffman
Nobel Prize (Chemistry)
1981
​​Tom Beale and Laura Nash
Bob and Wendy Bergman
Harry Billings
Karen Callahan and Jeremy Resnick
Carey Campbell and Dick Jaskiel
Bernie and Rosemary Carlsen
Bruce Coen and Cheré Dastugue Coen
Dana Coen and Victoria Loveland
Jim and Linda Collins
Nancy and Chris Crean
Tom and Celine Gihring
Mike Grainey​
Loyal Donors (5 years or more)
Jeff Hammarlund and Barb Ruben​Jeff Jones and Donna Wax
Andrew and Shelby Kardas
John Kuriyan
Jo Landefeld and J R Richardson
Peg Lindorfer and Ron Taylor
​Joel Meyer
Sara and Josef Michl
Nancy Mills ​
Rob and Margaret Morton
Scott Muller​
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Nan Newell
Christine Packard and Scott Yeager
Arthur Palmer ​
Mark and Ruthie Reingold​
Michael Richardson and Susan Barlow​
Neil Stevens
Fraser Stoddart​
Ernie Trujillo ​
Nancy Vincent​
Carl and Nancie Wamser
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