Board of Directors
ASPO-USA BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Sharon Astyk, is a writer, teacher and small farmer whose work focuses on energy, environmental and agricultural concerns. Her MA and unfinished Ph.d focused on the demographic, ecological and economic effects of the Black Death on Renaissance populations, but she abandoned academia to focus on the demographic, ecological and economic affects of our collective energy and environmental crisis. She is the author of three books on peak oil, climate change, food and the process of adaptation to our new realities. She and her family also run Gleanings Farm, a small upstate NY farm that sells pastured poultry, dairy goats, medicinal herb products and herb and vegetable plants. She is an energy and environmental blogger for Scienceblogs, the high traffic all-science blogging site on the web.
Megan Quinn Bachman has written and lectured for seven years on solutions to global climate change and peaking oil production. She has organized six national conferences on peak oil and climate change, spoken before nearly 100 groups, published articles in Permaculture Activist, CommunitiesMagazine, WellBeing and Kindred and appeared in Harper’s Magazine and on MSNBC. Bachman co-wrote and co-produced the award-winning documentary film, The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil (2006),which has been translated into seven foreign languages with more than 13,000 copies sold worldwide. She received a Bachelor of Arts in Diplomacy and Foreign Affairs from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio and a Master of Science in Environmental Education from Wright State University in Dayton. She is a reporter and photographer for the weekly Yellow Springs News in Southwest Ohio, a columnist for the Ohio-based environmental newspaper EcoWatch Journal and former outreach director for the Arthur Morgan Institute for Community Solutions, a Yellow Springs nonprofit. She teaches courses on sustainable agriculture and global ecology at Antioch University Midwest.
Jim Baldauf, is a Co-founder and President of ASPO-USA and served as the lead organizer of the 2007 Houston Peak Oil Conference. Jim’s background as a life-long environmental activist and a Texas oilman prove that energy and ecology are inextricably linked. His work in corporate communications and non-profit public education led him to organize and speak at several peak oil outreach meetings prior to the founding of ASPO-USA. He works and lives with his wife Rosalind in Austin, Texas.
Arthur E. Berman is a geological consultant and a specialist in prospect and play evaluation, reserve assessment, risk evaluation, subsurface geological and geophysical interpretation, and database management. With 32 years of oil and gas industry experience, Mr. Berman spent 20 years with Amoco Production Company, and 10 years as an independent geological consultant. He is a staff contributor to The Oil Drum, contributing editor and columnist for World Oil, from 2007 to 2009, an associate editor of the AAPG, past-editor of the Houston Geological Society Bulletin (2004-2005) and past-Vice-President of the HGS (2008-2009). He has an M.S. (Geology) from the Colorado School of Mines and a B.A. (History) from Amherst College.
Jeffrey J. Brown is a licensed Professional Geoscientist. He has discovered several oil and gas fields in West Central Texas, and currently manages an exploration program searching for oil and gas fields in this region. Jeff has conducted analysis of the Peak Oil issue for several years, and has written and coauthored several articles on Peak Oil related topics, with a special emphasis on world net oil export capacity. In early 2006, he proposed a simple mathematical model for oil exporting countries called the “Export Land Model,” (ELM). In 2007, 2009 and 2010, he presented papers at the ASPO-USA annual conference, based on work that he and his frequent co-author, Samuel Foucher, have done on the top five net oil exporting countries, and most recently on Global Net Exports. Jeff is a proud graduate of Texas A&M University.
Kurt Cobb is the author of the peak-oil-themed thriller novel, Prelude, and a columnist for the Paris-based science news site Scitizen. His work has also been featured on Energy Bulletin, The Oil Drum, 321energy, Common Dreams, Le Monde Diplomatique, EV World, and many other sites. Kurt has worked as a newspaper reporter, an advertising executive and a media consultant to political campaigns. He maintains a blog called Resource Insights.
Tad Patzek is the Lois K. and Richard D. Folger Leadership Professor and Chair of the Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering Department at The University of Texas at Austin. Between 1990 and 2008, he was a Professor of Geoengineering at the University of California, Berkeley. Prior to Berkeley, he was a researcher at Shell Development, a unique research company managed for 20 years by M. King Hubbert. Tad’s research and teaching involves mathematical and numerical modeling of earth systems, and the thermodynamics and ecology of energy supply for human survival. He is also conducting research on unconventional natural gas and oil resources. Tad is a coauthor of over 200 papers and reports, and one book.
Dave Room, co-founded Bay Localize, a public benefit organization that inspires and supports Bay Area residents in building resilient communities, and coordinates the Local Clean Energy Alliance. He was instrumental in the start up of Post Carbon Institute, playing a key role in donor cultivation, the End of Suburbia screening campaign, and the local groups. He was also a frequent interview on Global Public Media. Dave’s most important identifier is Melia’s Papa. On stage, Melia’s Papa uses storytelling and solo performance theater (The Monkey Trap) to awaken and activate mainstream audiences, people of color, and youth. Dave is leading efforts to use new media and social media for social change and political advocacy. Dave coined the term “Energy Preparedness” and was on the Oil Independent Oakland by 2020 task force. He has B.S in Electrical Engineering with a Power Systems focus and a M.S. in Engineering-Economic Systems from Stanford University. Follow Dave on Twitter.
Ron Swenson, is an expert in solar and renewable energy technologies. He holds multiple technical degrees from StanfordUniversity including an MS in Mechanical Engineering. He has held numerous public service positions. View complete resume’.
