| Alex Funk
Entertainment Chair
540-335-3729
Also known as Funkadelic, Funk Master Flex, or Funk-a-licious, Alex is a
senior Environmental Policy and Planning student at Virginia Tech. During the day Alex can be found conducting water quality research for the university, but at night he can be found shouting 'Freebird' at a local DJ. Alex hopes that his love of music and nature will help make VA Powershift totally wicked awesome. |
| Angie De Soto
Central Planner
804-920-4039
- I grew up in Abqaiq, Saudi Arabia. We moved to the States when I was 8 and a half. I lived in Saudi because, ironically, my father is an International Petroleum Engineer and was working for Aramco, the OPEC corporation. Now im happy to tell him that I spend my time organizing to put him and his industry out of buisness because it is bad for us, our planet, and for the future! Sorry Dad.
- I have been working in the youth climate movement for the past 2 years, and plan to pursue a PhD in international sustainability planning some day.
- I started my environmental organizing back in the Spring of 2006 with an internship with Clear the Air.
- I then spent that following summer in Sacramento, CA working in their environmental canvassing office to raise support for and pass the first state-wide global warming bill.
- I then launched the Campus Climate Challenge at VT in the Fall of 2006 through the Environmental Coalition, and helped to plan the YES conference at William and Mary that Fall.
- I have been trained by The Climate Project to educate citizens on the science, effects, and solutions to global warming.
- I have also completed a legislative internship with Environment California.
- In the fall of 2007, I had the honor to sit on the steering committee of Power Shift 2007, the first ever national youth summit on climate change.
- I am the coordinator of the VT GREEN Team, Virginia Tech's Sustainability Education Team.
- I am currently doing sustainability planning with the VT Energy and Sustainability Committee's subcommittee to develop the Virginia Tech Climate Action Commitment
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| Austin Phoenix
Recruitment Coordinator
919-616-3723
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| Brandi McCoy
Training
757-817-6407
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| Bryce Carter
Recruitment Coordinator, Central Planner
703-434-9852
Bryce is a junior majoring in Humanities, Science, and Environment with a minor in Environmental Policy and Planning. After attending the Virginia statewide Youth Energy Summit (YES) in the fall of 2006, he realized that individuals could make a difference. He joined the Environment Coalition soon afterward and has since lobbied on a local, state, and national level, helped form the statewide coalition Virginia Climate Action Network (VaCAN), recruited for Power Shift 2007 conference, co-coordinated Focus the Nation at Virginia Tech, and has been investigating the impacts of coal on Wise County, Virginia. He is eager to motivate new youth into the environmental movement. |
| Carrie Ryan
804-347-3729
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| Danny Carpenter
678-592-2465
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| Elena Dulys-Nusbaum
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| Elena Dulys-Nusbaum
VT Recruitment Coordinator
703 999 7151
I am an Environmental Policy & Planning major with an interest in business, economics, and I am hopelessly addicted to politics. I am the central recruiter at Virginia Tech and am looking forward to every step of planning and carrying out this conference! |
| Evan Beloni
Web Designer and Developer
704-516-1775
Evan is a recent graduate of Virginia Tech, earning his degree in Mechanical Engineering. He hopes to put that degree to work researching and developing clean energy sources and the engineering side of sustainability.
Evan was born in Charlotte, NC to an environmentally conscious household. Though new to the youth climate movement, Evan has been very environmental his whole life. Evan also hopes to eventually polish up this bio thing. |
| Gina Sobel
Recruitment Coordinator
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| Gina Sobel
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| Hayley Shannon
Logistics
I am a Student at Virginia Tech, started off as a Psychology Major, but have become very interested in saving animals after my trip to Africa, and am now an Environmental Planning and Policy major. I am very interested in the law and am considering a masters in Public Health, kind of want to go to California, but am still unsure about that. I have the best cat ever, and am fostering a dog at the moment. I'm pretty easy going and am willing to meet new people and consider new ideas as I go through my time here at school. |
| Jackie Pontious
Central Planner
571-217-0249
Jackie first came to VT as a Pre-vet/biology major, with environmental
science and policy interests as a hobby. She decided to make the
career switch and pursue Environmental Policy and Planning, after
taking freshman Chemistry and realizing how much more interesting she
found human interactions over cellular ones.
After attending National Power Shift '07, Jackie found not only the
inspiration through trainings and speakers at the conference but also
the means to pursue these interests through the Environmental
Coalition here in Blacksburg. After coordinating Focus The Nation @ VT
back in January and helping to plan Earth Week 2008 in the Spring,
Jackie jumped on the proposed idea to host Virginia Power Shift 2008
right here on Tech's campus! She can't wait to share and raise the
level of inspiration and empowerment she got from National Power Shift
with all of Virginia's eager knowledge and skill hungry collegians! |
| Jenny Land
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| Jessica Folmar
Co-chair, Housing and Food Committee
Jessica is a senior at Virginia Tech majoring in environmental science. She has been involved with the Environmental Coalition since helping to put on the first annual Bike Challenge in the spring of 2006, and was president of the EC the following year. She has continued to be involved the campus sustainability movement, helping put on the first VT Sustainability Week and co-chairing the Housing and Food Committee for the nationwide Power Shift last fall, and working with the EC's dining hall focus group on bringing sustainable practices and food sources to our campus food system. She plans to find a job focusing on sustainable food production upon graduating in December. |
| Jessie Dodson
571-274-1115
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| Johnny Kilroy
Treehouse Safety Officer
703-984-9562
I went to a gathering, with some people, with my ears wide. That was all. I didn't even have my notebook then. Something happened. I started carrying my notebook. |
| Karl Sakas
Speakers Committee Member
434-262-2960
Karl is a sophomore at Randolph College double majoring in Environmental Studies and Economics with a minor in Chinese. After attending National Power Shift 2007, he became determined to make his college a model for sustainability. In the past year alone, Karl and other Randolph students created a student run green business, organic garden, free store, eco-floor, and bike sharing program. He looks forward to finding speakers that are just as inspiring as those at Power Shift 2007. |
| Liz Murphy
Recruitment Coordinator
540 250 5660
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| Ludovic Lemaitre
Speakers Committee Member
540-497-3202
Ludovic Lemaitre is a sophomore studying Environmental Science at Randolph College. His passion for the environment naturally rose after gradually becoming aware of the ecological/economical/social issues the world is facing because of its deplorable management. He has started numerous initiatives on his campus along with Karl Sakas, Megan Roberts, and several other students (refer to Karl's Bio). |
| Luke Pickett
540-320-6922
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| Lyndsay McKeever
sponsorship/fundraising, co-chair
571-214-8805
As I walked around the tables at Student Org night as a little freshman at JMU, an enthusiastic guy with dreds approached me and urged me to come out to one of the JMU Earth Club meetings. Marley Green was his name and his passion and involvement in the environmental activism world inspired me. I joined the JMU Earth Club. I loved it. Later in the fall I attended National Powershift, a climate conference and world I had no idea existed. Powershift sucked me in. I met Bryce Carter there too and began stalking him. Ever since Powershift, I have become increasingly involved and passionate about the environmental youth movement of our generation. I helped organize Earth Week and Festival Fest at JMU, and attended a few climate rallys, summits, and protests. I was exposed to a world of environmentally conscious students whom are awesome. I love them! Now, I am part of the planning committee for VA Powershift, which I am very excited about. I conveniently transferred to tech as well (I am a hokie!) so I can't wait to host this awesome conference! |
| Margret Hoerath
Central Planner
804.239.5506
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| marley green
703-409-6993
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| Matt Trumbo-Tual
Trainings, Co-Chair
540-552-3385
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| Megan Roberts
Megan is a rising Junior majoring in Environmental Studies at Randolph College. |
| Miranda Peterson
Media Relations Coordinator
571-426-4778
Miranda Peterson is a junior at Virginia Tech majoring in International Studies with a concentration on Environmental Affairs, which essentially means she is getting her degree in how to save the world from climate change. This past summer she worked at Earth Day Network, an Energy Action Coalition member organization, as one of Mother Nature's elves in the education department. She also spent time as a "Green Angel" with the organization Change of Atmosphere. It was her participation in VT's amazing, four semester Earth Sustainability class that made her believe that change doesn't come from above, it starts with you. She enjoys farmer's markets, riding her bike, traveling, and DJing at WUVT 90.7. |
| Peebles Squire
Chair, Budget and Sponsorship Committee
434-594-4652
This is my bio. Expect more in the future! |
| Rachel Rees
Recruitment Coordinator
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| Rachel Sarah Blanton
804-714-4483
bonafide gangsta, makin' my name |
| Steve Meicke
Recruitment Coordinator
5404700590
I'm cool |
| Aumakuakome
VA Campus Guru
814-322-6412
Tom Owens graduated in the spring of 2006 with a degree in Biochemistry from Virginia Tech and comes to Chesapeake Climate Action Network with experience working on a variety of environmental and health issues. After vagabonding in South America and wandering around the scenic mountains of Virginia until graduation, he decided to take a stab at the non-profit world and join his generation's fight to stop global warming. His focus is working on the Campus Climate Challenge campaign, the unified youth climate movement in the United States and Canada. Tom enjoys critiquing global warming skeptics, working to mobilize youth and mild glacier runoff in the Arctic spring. |
| Zach Miller
Recruitment Coordinator
757 289 8635
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