About Us Topics

Leadership Team

Jim Murphy, Executive Director/CEO
Jim leads Ecology Action as Executive Director/CEO, overseeing the implementation and delivery of all of the organization's programs. Prior to his appointment as Executive Director/CEO, Jim served as Vice President of Energy, a role in which he grew the Ecology Action’s energy division to more than $50 million managed under contract in 2011. Before joining Ecology Action, Jim spent more than 20 years marketing, managing and developing strategic growth products and services for public and private organizations. Jim also has experience providing management consulting services to energy efficiency, renewable energy and green building businesses. He holds a B.S. in Vertebrate Zoology from the University of California at Berkeley, and a M.S. in Computer Simulation from California State University Chico.

Energy

Mahlon Aldridge, Vice President, Strategic Development

Mahlon currently leads the organization’s strategic development of sustainability initiatives with a focus on energy and climate. From its inception in 2001 until 2009, Mahlon led Ecology Action’s energy practice, guiding it through start-up and early rapid growth stages. Since 1989 Mahlon has specialized in designing and deploying programs that assist businesses in upgrading processes and systems to improve environmental performance. This has included work in the the sectors of agriculture, energy, pest management and dry cleaning. Mahlon has also led Ecology Action's program development work for foundations, public agencies and private sector. This included consulting with the Salt Lake City Olympic Organizing Committee on the adoption of their Zero Waste platform for the 2002 Winter Games. Prior to working with Ecology Action, Mahlon designed and established multiple community-based initiatives focusing on ocean protection and solid waste reduction. He holds a B.A. in Environmental Policy and Planning from the University of California at Santa Cruz, 1989.

Brian Kimball, Director of Program Development

Brian Kimball is the Director of Program Development at Ecology Action. In his time with Ecology Action, Brian has managed the successful design, launch and delivery of numerous energy-efficiency programs including CasinoGreen, LodgingSavers and RightLights. Under Brian’s management, these programs have installed retrofits delivering more than 300 gigawatt-hours of savings for their customers. Brian also oversees the engineering and technical services provided by Ecology Action’s Energy Group. Brian is a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer, has a BA degree in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley, and studies law at Santa Clara University.

Kyrrha Sevco, Director of Energy Programs, Energy Group

Kyrrha has been with Ecology Action since November 2005. Currently she is responsible for overseeing the successful delivery of all of the Energy programs and operations including training, contractor/supplier/partner management, QA/QC compliance and reporting. Prior to working with the Energy team, she co-managed the Pollution Prevention/Zero Waste division, helping to develop and maintain systems for tracking programs and supporting team members to achieve both their personal and organizational objectives. Kyrrha holds a B.S. degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing from San Jose State University, 1999.

Bonnie Low, Senior Program Director, Marketing Education and Outreach (ME&O), Energy Group

Bonnie currently leads Ecology Action's development operations team and serves as Senior Director of Energy Marketing Education and Outreach (ME&O). Bonnie joined Ecology Action in April, 2011, as a Regional Program Manager on the Energy Upgrade California program, responsible for programming and managing subcontractor delivery resources in the North Coast and Capital regions. In September, 2011, she was promoted to Senior Program Manager, responsible for Energy Upgrade California program delivery in four of six regions of the statewide program, including managing subcontractor teams in Mendocino, Sacramento and San Diego. Since then, Bonnie has led Ecology Action's development team, focusing on development operations, proposal response, and client engagement. Bonnie is managing the growth and strategic development of Ecology Action's energy Marketing, Education and Outreach division and serves as a member of Ecology Action's Executive Team. Bonnie brings more than eighteen year's experience in local government to Ecology Action and she developed a sustainability consulting firm, Greenleaf Project Management, serving clients in the public, non-profit and private sectors. Bonnie and her husband Chris operate H and H Farms in Cottonwood, California, along with their three boys. The family farm specializes in sustainable agriculture and raises heritage breed livestock, heirloom fruits and vegetables and pasture-raised eggs.

Chaitanya Sharma, Director of Engineering, Energy Group

Chaitanya Sharma joined Ecology Action in September 2011. Chaitanya has over 4 years of experience in energy efficiency with a focus on retro-commissioning (RCx). Chaitanya started his career as a commissioning authority (CxA) and did retro-commissioning (RCx), monitoring based commissioning (MBCx) and new building commissioning projects. Subsequently, he moved into energy efficiency and worked with clients within several sectors including hospitality, healthcare, commercial offices, university campuses and data centers.

Chaitanya holds a B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee, 2006 and a M.S. in Mechanical Engineering (Thermosciences) from the Stanford University, 2008. Chaitanya is a Licensed Professional Mechanical Engineer registered in the state of California (PE), a LEED Accredited Professional (LEED AP BD+C) and a Certified Energy Manager (CEM).

Outside of work Chaitanya enjoys playing and following all sorts of sports and is slowly becoming a fan of American sports - Basketball, Baseball and Football (which of course meant soccer to him back when he was in India)!

Transportation

Piet Canin, Vice President, Transportation Group

Piet oversees Ecology Action’s sustainable transportation programs, which emphasize healthy, money saving, and environmentally friendly means of travel. Piet has helped implement several innovative programs at Ecology Action, including the Boltage school based incentive program and Cabrillo Zero Interest Bike Loan. Working in collaboration with a variety of stakeholders Piet has also helped develop the Go Green project at Cabrillo College, Santa Cruz county-wide Safe Routes to School effort, and a tri-county Bike Week promotional campaign.

In 2004, Piet was named a United Way Community Hero for his years of service to improve cycling conditions for all residents. Piet is a member of the Community Traffic Safety Coalition, Local Organizing Committee for the Santa Cruz Stage of the 2009 Amgen Tour of CA, Santa Cruz Bicycle Industry Coalition, and Friends of the Rail Trail (FORT). Piet is an avid cyclist and continues to enjoy the outdoor beauty and recreational opportunities in Santa Cruz County. Piet manages development, staff, quality control, and partnerships for the Transportation Division, bringing a life long passion and enthusiasm for bicycling to EA’s many transportation programs.

Pollution Prevention / Zero Waste

Kirsten Liske, Vice President, Pollution Prevention/Zero Waste Group

Kirsten currently leads the Pollution Prevention and Zero Waste Division at Ecology Action, work which is fueled by a strong commitment to bring different segments of the community together to improve our quality of life. In this role she develops strategic initiatives and programs with division staff and teams with Kyrrha Sevco to manage the division in achieving high employee satisfaction and project accomplishment.

Since graduating from the University of California at Santa Cruz Environmental Studies (Honors) in 1991 she has succeed in developing strategic programs with broad stakeholder engagement in the public, private and non-profit sectors to reach resource conservation and pollution prevention goals. As a result of her efforts and service, she was awarded a legislative resolution from the California State Assembly commending her significant and vital contribution to the state's household hazardous waste programs.

Marketing

Joel Kauffman, Vice President of Marketing and Customer Engagement

Joel Kauffman is a proven entrepreneur, with success ranging from selling wild mushrooms to Chez Panisse to landing major deals with Fortune 500 companies. He is currently leading the Marketing Department at Ecology Action. Joel comes to Ecology Action with almost a decade of executive marketing and sales experience in the solar industry, serving as the VP of Marketing and Business Development at Real Good Solar and also as the Vice President and co-founder of Independent Energy Systems. Joel also serves on the Board of Directors for the Solar Living Institute. Joel has been working with customers for over 20 years in both sales and marketing. Joel served on the Leadership Committee of the U.S. Green Building Council for the Monterey Bay, volunteers at Ride a Wave and is an active advocate and speaker about energy and solar. He is passionate about reducing our fossil fuel based energy use, is crazy about his wife and new baby, a bike commuter, traveler and loves all things outside.

General Services

Chuck Tremper, Vice President and General Counsel

Chuck Tremper brings a wide range of experience and expertise to his work at Ecology Action. While living in Washington, DC, he founded the Nonprofit Risk Management Center and helped to launch the AmeriCorps national service program. He has also been a professor with a joint appointment in Law and Psychology, served as Chief Information Officer for an association and for a think tank, held administrative, marketing, and technical positions for software companies, provided management consulting services, and conducted a variety of policy research and evaluation projects. He is the author of three books, including As the Oceans Rise: Meeting the Challenges of Global Warming. Chuck earned his BA, law degree, and PhD from UCLA.

Evan Parker, Finance Director

Evan joined the staff of Ecology Action of Santa Cruz in January 2000. Prior to this, working for a certified public accountant, he conducted field audit work of non-profit corporations. In 1983 he served as the Managing Director for George Coates Performance Works in San Francisco where he developed his expertise in non-profit accounting. From 1984 to 1998, he was the business manager and lighting designer for a dance company located Santa Cruz. He serves as a consultant to various arts organizations in Santa Cruz advising them as to sound accounting practices and actively maintains the books for others.

Arch Mott, Information Services Director

Throughout most of his career Arch has been involved in the development of software related to alternative energy and resource conservation, including a 9-year stint at the National Renewable Energy Lab (known at the time as the Solar Energy Research Institute) in Golden, Colorado, two years with a local Solar Energy contractor, and ongoing involvement with the California Landscape Contractors Association’s Water Management Certification Program. Arch Mott leads Ecology Action’s Information Services team, providing technical direction for the company, managing provision of Information Technology support, leading web application development efforts, and acting as the focal point of EA’s Information Security efforts. Outside of his work with Ecology Action, Arch’s other recent activities have focused on web-based programs to provide energy monitoring and water conservation services. In his spare time Arch is a docent at Año Nuevo State Reserve and conducts classroom programs in local elementary schools for the Field Trip Foundation, and is on the board of the Overlook Estate Foundation.