About Us Topics
- Our Mission
- Ecology Action Staff
- Board of Directors
- Awards
- Open Job Positions
- Directions to Office
- EA’s New Green Building
- Contact Us
Board of Directors
Alan Schlenger, Board President/a>
Tammie R. Candelario
Joe Jordan
Ilse Lopes
David Pais
Jennifer Smith Grubb
Ellen Yeoman
Alan Schlenger, Board President
Alan has been a retired information technology executive from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Alan is very well positioned in the community to incorporate environmental sensibility into community decision making. He serves on the Public Works Commission for the City of Santa Cruz, the Commission on the Environment for Santa Cruz County, the Integrated Waste Management Local Task Force, and on the Board of Directors for the Santa Cruz Community Farmers Market. He is also a computer instructor for the Senior Computer Center of Santa Cruz. Alan holds a BA from City College of New York.
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Tammie Candelario is presently a Principal Consultant at BEW Engineering, and leads the group responsible for independent engineering services for Solar PV. These services support the financing of large rooftop and ground mount solar systems for developers and financers. She also has a broad base of utility experience from Pacific Gas and Electric Company, including positions in research and development, environmental, and land services. As part of her utility experience, Ms. Candelario conducted strategic planning for research areas and developed and implemented research projects in a variety of areas, including clean transportation, solar, and energy storage. Ms. Candelario was later responsible for PG&E’s environmental compliance programs, and then Director of building management and land management activities for utility. This included energy efficiency programs and land stewardship of over 150,000 acres of PG&E owned land. She later became Sr. Director, responsible for PG&E’s land permitting and environmental compliance and remediation activities.
Ms. Candelario is a Registered Professional Civil Engineer, and has an MBA in management from Golden Gate University.
Joe teaches solar and renewable energy courses at San Jose State University and Cabrillo College, and provides green-jobs training (particularly in photovoltaics, or solar electricity) for a variety of corporate and non-profit organizations around the country. Joe has been a space and atmospheric scientist at NASA Ames Research Center and the SETI Institute in Mountain View. He holds a B.A. Physics, Oberlin College and an M.S. Computer/Information Sciences, University of California at Santa Cruz. Joe served as a Public Works Commissioner for the City of Santa Cruz and as a science/math consultant on the Life Lab Science Program curriculum. He also serves as an astronomy/natural sciences teacher and hike leader for the California Academy of Sciences, the Santa Cruz City Museum, local schools, UCSC, and the Lyceum of Santa Clara Valley. Joe is an occasional contributor to the local radio series "Field Notes." Joe's passion is positioning Ecology Action for regional leadership in tapping the vast wealth inherent in our own clean, renewable energy resources (such as solar and wind) -- which he calls "sky power".
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Prior to retiring in 2008, Ms. Lopes was the director of Physical Plant at UCSC. In her role as Director she was responsible for the ongoing maintenance of the facilities including buildings and grounds as well as overall utilities management. She oversaw conservation programs including energy conservation, recycling, integrated pest management, water conservation, “green” cleaning and was instrumental in creating the office of sustainability and overseeing the first campus sustainability assessment in 2007. Before assuming the position of Director of Physical Plant in 2001 she served as Director of Health and Safety at UCSC for ten years.
Before joining UCSC she worked for Santa Cruz County Environmental Health Service as the Program Manager for the Hazardous Materials and Solid Waste programs. In this capacity she implemented the first hazardous materials ordinance for the County, worked to create the first ongoing household hazardous waste collection center and countywide 24-hour spill response program.
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With over 20 years of experience in environmental management, David brings to Ecology Action his expertise and management acumen with a focus on environmental business aspects. Currently David serves as a Environmental Health and Safety Operations Director at Seagate Technology, a worldwide leader in hard drive storage products. Concurrently, David teaches at the University of California Santa Cruz Extension. He has served his community on multiple boards and commissions including Leadership Santa Cruz County, the City of Santa Cruz Water Commission and the County of Santa Cruz Hazardous Materials Advisory Commission. David holds a M.S. in Environmental Management from University of San Francisco and a B.S. in Earth Science from University of California, Santa Cruz.
Jennifer Smith Grubb worked with colleagues to found Sustainable Silicon Valley as a non-profit, spinning it off from a California Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) project in 2004. Jennifer served as the Founding President and Executive Director, then as Chair of the Board, and continues serving as a board member today. SSV is a business, government, and non-governmental partnership whose mission is to lead the Silicon Valley community to a more sustainable future. The initial focus is to reduce energy usage from non-renewable sources by targeting a 20% reduction in regional carbon dioxide emissions. The group is now expanding its focus to include water issues. SSV was recently recognized by Cool California, received the 2007 Governor’s Environment and Economic Leadership Award and was a 2007 Climate All Stars award winner. In 2006, SSV received the US EPA Environmental Award for Outstanding Achievement.
Jennifer worked with the Los Angeles region to establish the LA Regional Collaborative for Climate Action and Sustainability, helping business, government, academic, environmental, labor and community groups build their own climate action network. She was recognized for her sustainability leadership work by the Multi-State Working Group on Environmental Performance (MSWG), and also by the Pacific Industrial Business Association. Jennifer has participated internationally with the United Nations Environmental Program Best Practices Network. Through her efforts, HRH Prince Charles and his Cambridge Business and Environment Programme now provide sustainability seminars for senior executives on the west coast of the United States. Nationally, Jennifer serves as a board member for MSWG, and locally, Jennifer serves as a board member for Ecology Action in Santa Cruz, California, where she lives with her husband and son. She received her BS degree from the University of California at Davis.
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Ellen is an environmental specialist with diverse experience in policy, planning, impact assessment, research planning and implementation. She recently retired after 31 years with PG&E. During her tenure at PG&E Ellen was involved with numerous utility environmental issues including siting of renewable energy projects, pesticide management and pollution prevention. Ellen holds a BA in Ecology from UC Berkeley and an MA from San Francisco State University in Ecology and Systematics.
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