The Green Initiative Fund

Project Leader: Becca Jones

Becca Jones is a fourth year graduate student in Materials Science and Engineering focusing on new materials for high efficiency solar cells. She has been active in environmental sustainability efforts on campus, including co-founding Students for a Greener Berkeley in January 2004. This past semester Becca co-developed and helped teach a graduate course entitled Photovoltaic Materials that drew over 40 students interested in solar energy. Becca received her M.S. from UC Berkeley in December 2005 and her B.S.E. from Princeton University in June 2002.

Other Team Member(s) Info:

Sam Arons grew up in Berkeley, CA, and earned his BA from Williams College in 2004. After spending a year teaching math at an American school in Casablanca, Morocco, Sam returned to the Bay Area to begin graduate study in the Energy & Resources Group at UC Berkeley. As his interests tended towards energy and environmental policy, he immersed himself in campus sustainability efforts, being elected co-chair of the Chancellor's Advisory Committee on Sustainability and serving on the TGIF steering committee. Sam hopes that in passing the TGIF fee referendum, the student body at Cal will demonstrate its commitment to sustainability and a clean energy future.

Rachel Barge is a third year Conservation and Resource Studies major, focusing on sustainable agriculture and environmental policy. As the ASUC Director of Sustainability, Rachel has developed a 40-student internship program entitled the "ASUC Sustainability Team", which is tackling projects ranging from TGIF to converting the campus fleet to biodiesel to getting sustainable, locally grown food served in the dining halls. Rachel enjoys playing for the Cal Women's Ultimate Frisbee Team, backpacking, riding her bike, being a vegetarian, and spending time with friends in her co-op.

Gabriel Elsner is CalPIRG's Campus Climate Challenge Organizer here at UC Berkeley. Originally from Los Angeles, he understands the detrimental effects of pollution and climate change. His experience growing up on the congested freeways of LA motivated him to take action. Along with 400 schools across the nation, he is working to make the UC System 100% renewable energy and believes UC Berkeley should be an example, as in the past, for others to follow. He looks forward to The Green Initiative Fund Campaign and great projects using TGIF in the future.

Patrick Ford is a third year Conservation Resource Studies major focusing on environmental education and Sustainable agriculture. In the past, he began the ASUC sustainability program, sat on the Chancellor's Advisory Committee on Sustainability, facilitated a student initiated and run class titled "education for sustainable living," co-founded and co-coordinated UC Berkeley's environmental coalition, contributed to a campus-wide assessment of sustainability indicators on campus, and developed a web page designed to engage students who are active or interested in UCB's environmental movement. Currently, he is organizing efforts to enhance support for faculty, courses, and research engaged with sustainable agriculture; he is also planning a retreat for the leadership of a student-run class which teaches organic gardening. Patrick sits on the board of directors of the University Students Cooperative Association--a multimillion dollar organization dedicated to providing quality, low-cost housing to students. He is also very interested in the guitar, painting, drawing, capoeira (brazilian martial arts), and most important: being outside whenever possible.

Born in Hamilton, Ontario, Gabe Harley's appreciation for the natural world evolved largely through camping trips with his family in the wilderness of Northern Ontario. While in high school in 1993, he moved with his family from Canada to California and later earned his undergraduate degree at UC Berkeley. Now a graduate student at Cal, Gabe has pursued his passion for the environment through co-founding Students for a Greener Berkeley, and is the current Chair of the Environmental Sustainability Committee of the Graduate Assembly. Gabe is working towards his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering by researching new materials in alternative energy (fuel cells). "TGIF is an excellent opportunity for Cal students to make a strong and lasting statement about our attitude towards our responsibilities on this planet."

Jane Park grew up in Palos Verdes Estates, CA, and is now a second-year Development Studies major at Cal. Increasing environmental sustainability is a major goal of her term as Senator of the Associated Students of the University of California (ASUC) and she is eager to achieve that goal with TGIF as a proponent of the referendum in the ASUC.

Claudia Pingatore grew up in Van Nuys, California, and went to multiple schools before transferring to UC Berkeley. She is now a senior in Environmental Sciences. She also participates in undergraduate research in physical geography and is the vice-president of Students for a Greener Berkeley.

John Stanley is a master's student in the Energy and Resources Group at UC Berkeley. Prior to graduate school, John worked for 18 months at the Rocky Mountain Institute as an intern in their consulting practice, helping to show businesses how they can both reduce energy use and increase profits. John holds a BS in physics from North Carolina State University.

Morgan Wallace grew up in Salt Lake City, went to public and private schools and lived an active lifestyle exploring the outdoors. He Received an International Baccalaureate Diploma in 2006 in high school where he played volleyball on the school's championship team. He has done extensive volunteer work for the Utah Aids Foundation, become nearly fluent in Spanish and created his own student political association to further political thought at the high school level. He is now a Freshman at the University of California, Berkeley and studies political science and chemistry.