Robert Bordner founded Energy Market Innovations as a means of combining his entrepreneurial passion with his interests in long-term sustainable energy futures and his talent for conducting innovative and insightful strategic research. An economist by training, Rob’s interest in energy efficiency and renewable energy dates back to the early 1980’s. Shortly after transplanting himself in Boston, a college friend referred him to a job with a pioneering wind energy upstart that built the first wind farm in New England (Tom later went on to found PowerLight Corporation). Today, he draws upon his uniquely broad perspective of the energy and utility industry – including technical, economic, market and organizational dimensions – and his 18 years of consulting experience, to guide clients in new directions and challenge conventional thinking related to energy markets. Important influences include Kenneth Boulding and Michael Meade.

Outside of work, Rob spends time with his family, is actively involved with youth in his community, enjoys skiing and backpacking, drives a biodiesel vehicle, and is actively working to reduce his ecological footprint to the size of one off-shore capable sailboat.

Rob holds a B.A. in Economics from Pomona College in Claremont, California, and completed graduate studies for an M.S. in Energy Management & Policy from the University of Pennsylvania.

Jennifer Holmes is Director of Market Research and Evaluation with EMI. Over the past decade she has been involved in several facets of the utility industry, including impact evaluations, market effects studies, market research, process evaluations, program planning, and strategic planning. She brings to EMI her strong background in program evaluation research, gained primarily through consulting for utilities in both California and Wisconsin. She has a keen interest in providing utility clients with valuable research and actionable recommendations to improve their existing energy efficiency portfolios, create cost effective new programs, and to develop positive collaborative relationships with key stakeholders.

Jennifer’s office is located in Santa Cruz, California. Outside of work, Jennifer’s passions are spending time with her family, raising her two daughters, and enjoying the beautiful outdoors of California’s central coast.

Jennifer holds an M.S. in Mineral Economics and a B.S. in Economics with a business minor, both from the Pennsylvania State University.

Donna Whitsett is a Senior Project Analyst at EMI with a strong research background in social psychology, and is interested in the role of social influence on environmentally sound behaviors such as energy efficiency. She is also interested in social marketing strategies, which are used to promote behaviors that are beneficial for individuals and their communities. Donna has a wide range of experience in research methodology and data analysis. While working as a Research Assistant at a think tank in Houston, Texas, she worked with interview and survey data, focusing on drug abuse and related public health issues. Her research at the University of Washington focused on refining new methods for predicting behavior, specifically, the provision of social support. At EMI, Dr. Whitsett recently completed the quantitative analysis of survey data for the California Statewide Non-Residential Audit Program. She is currently assisting with a strategic planning effort for a utility in the Northwest and is working on the process evaluation for Pacific Gas & Electric’s High Technology Program.

Donna grew up in Texas, where she developed neither a noticeable accent nor a love of barbecue. She enjoys camping and hiking throughout the Pacific Northwest, and highly recommends everyone at least drive past Lake Crescent, on the Olympic Peninsula. At one time or another, she has been involved in various artsy endeavors, including photography, painting, and fiber arts.

Donna holds a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Houston, and a Ph.D. in Social/Personality Psychology from the University of Washington, Seattle.

Ellen Steiner is Director of Market Research and Evaluation at EMI. Coming to EMI after 10 years at Sun Microsystems, Ellen joins the team with significant experience in market research, strategic planning and analysis, business process optimization, program management, knowledge management, human capital management and training design. In addition, over the past 8 years, Ellen has taught graduate level research methods and statistics courses previously at the University of Denver and currently online at Jones International University. Ellen strongly believes in utilizing a pragmatic systems thinking approach to consulting that yields actionable business insights that are customized to the client's needs.

Ellen's office is located in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Outside of work, Ellen loves spending time with her family, catching her son's antics in scrapbooks, trying new recipes, and traveling to warm places.

Ellen has a Ph.D. in Quantitative Research Methods and a Master's in Higher Education Administration from the University of Denver And a B.S. in Human Development and Family Studies from the University of Delaware.

David Van Holde is Director of EMI’s practice in energy management strategy, providing guidance to large organizations developing and implementing effective energy management practices.  In this role David brings clients broad and deep practical expertise in efficiency technologies and applications, distributed energy resources, utility business and energy policy.

Prior to EMI, David held various technical and policy positions in both the public and private sector. Most recently, he was the Energy Manager for King County’s Department of Natural Resources and Parks, responsible for development and oversight of the county’s energy policy and practice. During his tenure there, he served on the Leadership Group of the National Action Plan for Energy Efficiency (NAPEE) developing and promoting national energy efficiency policies.  Earlier positions included managing Seattle City Light’s major accounts office and a position as Director of E Source’s Distributed Energy Service, managing research internationally on distributed generation technologies, markets and programs. David built his energy efficiency expertise over many years providing energy engineering technical consulting and DSM program design services at City Light and Oregon State University.

In his personal time, David loves to sail, ski, hike, grow apples for cider, and participate in Vashon Island's community. He is Treasurer for Vashon Household, Vashon's non-profit affordable housing provider.

David holds a BSME from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn NY, and an MSME from Oregon State University, both in mechanical engineering, with emphasis in energy conversion systems, energy efficiency and energy policy. David is a registered Professional Engineer in Oregon and Certified Energy Manager (CEM).

Todd Malinick is a Survey Research Manager with EMI. He comes to EMI with over 15 years of experience conducting a wide array of quantitative and qualitative research. His expertise covers the areas of study design; survey design and implementation; quantitative and qualitative analysis; face-to-face interviewing; and the design and implementation of focus groups.

Outside of work Todd enjoys the magnificent outdoors of the Pacific Northwest and can often be found fly fishing his favorite local rivers or backpacking and exploring remote places with his wife. Todd also enjoys woodworking and has been trying to replace all the crumbling Ikea furniture in his home with handmade pieces.

Todd holds a PhD. in Sociology from the University of British Columbia, where he specialized in research methodology and environmental sociology. He also holds an M.S. in Forestry Economics from the University of Washington, and a B.A. in Business Economics from the University of Illinois-Chicago.

Kara Crohn is a Survey Research Manager with EMI. She comes to EMI with 14 years of research and client management experience in wide range of settings including statewide energy efficiency programs, Fortune 500 companies, community-based organizations, and academic outreach programs. Kara brings extensive knowledge of program evaluation theory, qualitative and mixed-methods research designs, evaluation capacity building approaches, training design and training evaluation.

Kara also helps organize events for the American Evaluation Association's Environmental Program Evaluation Topical Interest Group and the Association of Energy Service Professional's Market Research, Evaluation, and Greenhouse Gas Topic Committee.

Kara's office is in Riverside, California. (She tries not to taunt her Seattle colleagues about the gorgeous weather in Riverside too often.) Outside of work, Kara loves going hiking with her family, having backyard adventures with her boys, figuring out how to repair the backyard after those adventures are over, and sneaking off to yoga class to maintain the balance, strength, and flexibility needed to keep up with her adventurers.

Kara holds a Ph.D. in Education with an emphasis in program evaluation from the University of California at Los Angeles, and a B.A. in Sociology from Hamilton College.

Jess Chandler is a Senior Project Analyst with EMI. Jess has a passion for sustainability and better decision-making. Her work has focused on local sustainable development and policies that encourage energy efficiency, clean energy technologies, and conservation behaviors. She has experience in research design, mining and agglomerating huge datasets, conducting statistical analysis, building forecasting models, and giving short answers.

When not playing with data, Jess can usually be found chasing after her two boys, digging in her garden (and lamenting the lack of sunlight), running, or reading something by Tolkien (her favorite is "Leaf by Niggle"). A transplant to the Pacific Northwest, she has successfully adopted the local hobbies of beer and coffee snobbery.

Jess holds a PhD in Energy Policy from Georgia Tech, where she also earned a Master's of Science in Nuclear and Radiological Engineering and a Master's in Public Policy.

Hannah Carmalt is a Senior Project Analyst with EMI. She previously worked in New York City for Seamus Henchy and Associates, a project management firm, and completed her graduate work in sustainable community development and sustainable behavior. She sees efficiency as an important element of sustainability and hopes to create a stronger link between utility efficiency efforts and the developing sustainability political context. At EMI, Hannah has worked on a number of diverse evaluation and planning projects for utilities in Washington and California. She is currently working on a multi-year assessment of the California Statewide Emerging Technologies Program.

Hannah likes to travel to experience different cultures and habitats and has lived in Australia and Ireland. While in Seattle, she volunteers with the American Lung Association, providing indoor air quality assessments to Seattle residents. She also enjoys Washington’s public lands and tries to spend her weekends hiking, kayaking, or skiing. Her long-term career goal, inspired after a 6-week wilderness experience during high school, is to help make sustainable behavior easy for the general public (outdoor education does have an impact!).

Hannah holds a B.A. in Environmental Studies and Sociology from Tulane University, and a Master’s Degree in City and Regional Planning from the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University.

Arthur (AJ) Howard is a Senior Project Analyst at EMI, and has been passionate about renewable energy and efficiency ever since building a solar car in high school out of foam board, circular reflectors and coat hangers. Getting a little more ambitious in college, AJ led 30 students in the conversion of a Chevy Suburban into a hybrid electric vehicle for a student competition. AJ has also worked at a small start-up selling do-it-yourself house kits, and as a technical consultant to EPA’s ENERGY STAR program, with a focus on consumer electronics and IT equipment. Always yearning for more experiences and information, AJ is also an avid traveler, taking six months to travel Asia and Oceania, primarily in China where he practiced his rudimentary Chinese, before landing in Seattle. AJ brings a variety of technical knowledge and passion to the EMI team and is focusing on increasing utility awareness for efficiency opportunities in IT equipment and data centers.

When not at work, AJ enjoys mingling with the Scandinavians in his neighborhood of Ballard, playing soccer, watching soccer, talking about soccer, rock climbing and finding any other excuse he can to be outside.

AJ holds a B.S. from the Sibley School of Mechanical Engineering at Cornell University.

Eric Gertsman is a Project Manager at EMI, working primarily in EMI’s Strategy and Planning group. He brings valuable experience in organizational assessment, business process optimization, quantitative modeling, research, content generation, and project management. With a balanced analytical, strategic, and implementational business background, Eric also possesses the ability to translate complex data into actionable business plans and has insights into market dynamics and service/product offerings that help make organizations successful. Eric joins the team with a diverse background in the technology and energy sectors, where his work has involved clean tech areas such as energy efficiency, next-generation biofuels, biomass, solar, cogeneration, corporate sustainability, waste management, and green product marketing.

Eric has lived in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Washington DC, and New York City before landing in Seattle. He enjoys a number of outside-of-work activities, including traveling, playing sports, strumming the guitar, wine, photography, backpacking, scuba diving, playing with his dog, and so much more.

Eric earned a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business and a Bachelors of Arts from UCLA.

Jeremy Kraft is a Project Manager working in EMI's Market Research and Evaluation group. Jeremy has worked in the field of survey research for over ten years, where he specializes in energy efficiency evaluation and survey research design. Prior to working with EMI, Jeremy worked with both a large environmental engineering firm and an academic research facility at the University of Wisconsin. He has conducted evaluations of programs throughout the country including programs in Wisconsin, California, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Colorado, and Michigan. With his mix of experience in the fields of energy efficiency and research methodology, he uses robust and comprehensive research design to provide valuable insights to his clients.

Jeremy is based in Madison, Wisconsin, where he has lived for over ten years. Having spent his formative years in the northern part of the state, he has a fondness for a Friday fish frys, fresh cheese curds, and shoveling snow. These days, he spends his time wandering the Farmer's Market in Madison with his family and trying to wrangle the garden in his backyard.

Jeremy holds a B.S. in Sociology with a Concentration on Analysis and Research from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Lisa Perry is a Project Analyst working in EMI’s Market Research and Evaluation area. She brings expertise in both economic theory and research methods, with a focus on evaluating how behavioral responses shape the effectiveness of policies and programs.  Her academic background includes applying advanced econometrics, including differences-in-differences regressions, instrumental variables regressions and regression discontinuity, to numerous datasets.

Lisa is originally of Michigan, with a 2-year stint in Washington. D.C., so she still gets overly excited when the mountains peak out from the clouds. After four years in Seattle, she still loves exploring the Pacific Northwest's many wonders, from hiking and camping to year-round farmers' markets and micro-breweries. She also loves travelling, playing tennis, growing vegetables in her backyard and experimenting with new ways to cook those vegetables.

Lisa holds a Masters of Arts in Economics from the University of Washington and is currently working towards her PhD in Economics.

Zach Baron is the Special Projects Manager at EMI, helping manage our rapid growth by driving internal development projects and facilitating communication between operations, management, and consulting staff. His external consulting work focuses on helping clients increase customer engagement with smart grid program offerings.

Zach came to EMI after graduating from Pomona College, where his economic research focused on understanding the impact of natural resource development in lower-income countries. He also led wilderness trips, performed in a Viking-rock band, and studied in Ecuador. This experience allowed him to work with a micro-finance bank in Quito, and later lead a summer abroad trip to Barcelona.

When he's not at work, Zach is slowly filling his Capitol Hill apartment with musical instruments and steadily exploring the muddier parts of the San Juan Islands and the North Cascades.

Zach holds a B.A. in Economics from Pomona College.

Stephen Parry is a Project Analyst at EMI. Stephen believes strongly in taking a holistic approach when it comes to energy problems and loves navigating his way through interconnected webs of data to get at the bigger picture.

Stephen joined the EMI team after graduating from Pomona College, where he ran short distances on the track team and served as a roving drummer-for-hire for various bands. In his spare time, Stephen focused much of his academic research on exploring the ways in which plug-in electric vehicles will reshape drivers' relationships with their cars, their energy usage, and their electric utility.

Originally from Northwest Ohio, Stephen is still in awe that his new city can satiate his love for sailing, snowboarding, good food, and good beer without even trying.

Stephen holds a B.A. in Environmental Analysis from Pomona College.

Daniel Molvik is a Project Analyst at EMI, focusing on program and process evaluations.  His expertise includes focus group design and facilitation, in-depth interviewing, and qualitative research analysis. 

Prior to EMI, his professional experience included work at Puget Sound Energy as an Operations Analyst and Starbucks Coffee Company as a Research Analyst. While at the University of Washington, his academic research focused on the viability of small-scale wind power as a supplemental energy source.

Outside of work, Daniel loves to spend time with his fiancé Trina, new daughter Ariana and golden retriever Tanner. In addition, he enjoys great food, collecting wine and drives a Smart car as a daily commuter vehicle. When the sun comes out though, he loves nothing more than getting out on his Harley-Davidson.

Daniel holds a Master's Degree in Policy Studies and a B.A. in Policy, Ethics, and Human Behavior from the University of Washington. He also holds a Master's in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from Seattle Pacific University, where he is currently pursuing a PhD

Nate Wilairat is a Project Analyst at EMI. He enjoys taking a liberal arts approach to energy issues, synthesizing qualitative and quantitative analysis and finding one to always inform the other.  

A graduate of Pomona College, his academic research included smart grid cost-effectiveness and barriers to implementation of the California Renewables Portfolio Standard. Outside of the classroom, he served on the student senate, wrote for the college newspaper, captained his intramural softball team to a championship, and worked for the Sustainability Integration Office.

Nate grew up in Berkeley, CA and has lived for short stints in Japan, Minnesota, Crater Lake, and Paris. Seattle offers an outlet for many of his interests – identifying wild flora and fauna, playing his cherry burst Les Paul, watching hometown baseball teams lose, and reading contemporary literature on those few rainy days.

Nate has a B.A. in Environmental Analysis from Pomona College.

Brandy Brown is an Associate Consultant with EMI. She comes to EMI with expertise in program development, evaluation, research design, and methodology. Prior to joining EMI, she worked as Lead Evaluator for a multi-year, multi-million dollar, federally funded System of Care evaluation where she artfully collaborated with stakeholder organizations to improve formative evaluation processes, informed data driven decisions, and spearheaded federal compliance and reporting activities.  

Brandy's office is located in her hometown of Kalamazoo, Michigan. Outside of work Brandy enjoys developing her persona as a food snob, tinkering with technology, and playing outside in the variable Michigan weather with her family.

Brandy holds a MPA from American University and is completing a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Evaluation at Western Michigan University.

FranÇois Justice-Durham is a Project Analyst with EMI. He comes to EMI three years into his undergrad experience at Boston's Northeastern University, through the school's cooperative education program. The program allows students to enrich their academics with professional experience through extended internships. He is currently working on his B.S. in Physics.

He knows the future of energy technology is here right now and is very excited to be working in the field at this critical and expansive time. With long-running interests in breaking energy and lighting technologies, François is totally fascinated by nanotechnology-based advances in solar cell efficiency and is a big fan of current LED lighting use and future breakthroughs in Organic LEDs for illuminating the world. He also hopes to grow more familiar with energy economics and real world data analysis to expand the limits of his academic background.

Much of François' spare time is spent wandering Seattle's beautiful neighborhoods, checking out cool coffee shops, parks and architecture. He says he is obsessively fascinated with the wonder of this city. He's an avid music fan (as well as amateur guitarist) and is really excited to see some of his favorite bands play shows this fall, as well as check out more local Seattle acts.

François is pursuing a B.S. in Physics at Northeastern University.

Jake Lyonfields is a Project Analyst Intern with EMI. He has a passion for energy and environmental issues – specifically, he is fascinated by the intersections of strategic planning, process improvement, evaluation, and sustainability.

During the school year Jake enjoys participating in community environmental activities and is the current Executive Adviser of Sustainability for Washington University's Student Union Executive Council. He is an active member of Emerson Unitarian Universalist Chapel and loves to swing dance, cook, read, and bike.

An Eagle Scout, Jake is a native of St. Louis, Missouri and has spent most of his life in the Midwest. However, he had the opportunity to live in Washington, D.C. while working for the Environmental Protection Agency and is now eager and excited to explore life on the West Coast

Jake is pursuing a B.S. in Systems Science and Engineering and a B.A. in Spanish at Washington University in St. Louis.

Chelsey Erway is a Research Assistant at EMI. She loves finding connections between things that might appear unrelated and likes to think about concepts and ideas from multiple angles. She brings to EMI her passion for research and analysis and an interest in economics and energy issues. .

Chelsey joined EMI after graduating from Washington University in St. Louis and will begin working on her Ph.D. in economics at the University of Washington in September 2011. An unapologetic food and coffee snob, Chelsey also enjoys cooking, bread baking, ballroom dancing, curling up with a good book, exploring Seattle, and staring at sailboats and mountains.

Chelsey holds a B.A. in Economics and Mathematics from Washington University in St. Louis.

Cliff Warner is EMI's System Administrator. Coming to EMI from the software/information technology industry, Cliff worked for Aldus Corporation, Adobe Systems and then Alaska Airlines, developing business analyst and technical service management skills while working for these companies beginning with 'A.' Cliff is an English major sidetracked from his interest in literature by the impact of computers on how we communicate in the 21st century. He provides administrative and project management support for EMI, looking for ways to improve our internal work systems and office environment. Cliff brings a unique mixture of technical knowledge and communication and people skills to the EMI team.

Outside of work, Cliff’s passions include spending time with family, skiing, golf and making custom golf clubs and homemade wine. Recent favorite books include: The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig, Roanoke: Solving the Mystery of the Lost Colony by Lee Miller and The Beatles: the Biography by Bob Spitz.

Cliff holds a B.A. in English from Western Washington University.

Leslie Stark is Executive Assistant to the president and CEO at EMI. Leslie comes to EMI from Starbucks, where she supported the legal operations and business management and strategy team. In addition to administrative support, Leslie's background includes twelve years of experience in professional services marketing for the A/E/C industry. 

A Northwest native, Leslie is originally from Bellingham, Washington. In her spare time, she keeps busy with creative pursuits, including motion graphics design, animation, and performing classical music. She also enjoys traveling and spending time outdoors with her two dogs.

Leslie holds a B.A. in Social Sciences from Washington State University, and A.A. in Animation and Graphics from Bellevue College.

Greg Lewis is EMI's Accounting Administrator, handling a wealth of bookkeeping, accounts payable and account management and administrative functions.

Greg brings a wealth of diverse experience to EMI, spanning more than ten years with emphasis in areas such as information technology, curriculum development and training, accounting information systems, and human resource development. Rounding out his diverse skill set, Greg recently proclaimed himself a certified IKEA workstation installation technician. With the depth and breadth of his experience, Greg prefers the title “Factotum”. Specifically at EMI, Greg is responsible for most of the accounting functions, monthly reporting and invoicing for management decisions.

In his spare time, Greg usually enjoys all that the Pacific Northwest has to offer outdoors, but currently spends most of it rebuilding Epilogue, a David Pedrick designed sloop with which he plans to combine his love of sailing with his background in group facilitation and psychology and provide experiential sailing trips for groups in the Puget Sound waters and beyond.

Greg holds a B.A. in Urban Planning, Geography and Geology from Virginia Tech and an M.A. in Counseling Psychology from The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology in Seattle, WA.