2022 GC3 Virtual Roundtable - Speakers

MODERATOR

JIM JONES

PRINCIPAL AT JJONESENVIRONMENTAL & FORMER ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR OF THE OFFICE OF CHEMICAL SAFETY AND POLLUTION PREVENTION AT EPA

Currently Jim is President of JJonesEnvironmental, a consulting firm that provides strategic advice to clients on issues related to chemical safety. Jim was Executive Vice President of Strategic Alliances & Industry Relations at the Household and Commercial Products Association from July 2017 until January 2020. In that capacity he focused on expanding and strengthening the association’s relationships with industry, NGOs, retailers and all levels of government, while also increasing sustainability efforts in the consumer, industrial and institutional specialty chemicals industry. Jim held various management positions focused on chemicals, toxics, and pesticides during his 30- year career at EPA. As the Assistant Administrator of the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, he was responsible for implementing the nation’s pesticide, toxic substances, and pollution prevention laws. Jim earned an M.A. in Economics from the University of California at Santa Barbara and a B.A. in Economics from the University of Maryland.

PRESENTER

MELANIE BUSER

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH FOR THE WHITE HOUSE OFFICE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY POLICY (OSTP) CLIMATE AND ENVIRONMENT TEAM

Melanie Buser is the Assistant Director of Environmental Health for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Climate and Environment Team. In her role at OSTP, she is serving as the OSTP lead for the NSTC Sustainable Chemistry strategy team (SCST) at OSTP. Additionally, she serves on R&D projects related to contaminants of emerging concern and per- and poly-fluoroalkyls as the OSTP co-chair on the Joint Subcommittee on Environment, Innovation, and Public Health (JEEP). Melanie recently joined OSTP from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). In her nearly ten years with ATSDR, she served as an environmental health scientist and toxicologist developing risk assessments for a wide range of environmental contaminants. She is a graduate of the University of Georgia (B.S. and B.A.) and Emory University (MPH), and she is a Doctoral Candidate in Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Georgia State University. 

PRESENTER

DAVID BERKOWITZ

DIVISION DIRECTOR, DIVISION OF CHEMISTRY AT NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION

David B. Berkowitz is the Director of the Division of Chemistry at the National Science Foundation, where he oversees a staff of 40 and an annual budget of approximately $250 M dedicated to funding fundamental science in chemistry that bears on many other disciplines and that is directed at training the next generation of scientists.  Berkowitz is also Willa Cather Professor of Chemistry at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where he leads an active research group engaged in science at the chemistry/biology interface.  He is a AAAS Fellow (2015), a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Fellow (2008) and an Alfred P. Sloan Fellow (1997). In 2018, Berkowitz chaired the international Gordon Research Conference on Biocatalysis. Berkowitz currently serves on the Chemical Sciences Roundtable at the National Academy of Sciences.

David Berkowitz studied at the University of Chicago (B.S.-Phi Beta Kappa), Harvard/ETH-Zürich (Ph.D.) and Yale (PD). His honoraria include Visiting Professorships at the the Université de Paris (2016), the Max Planck Institute (Dortmund, Germany, 2006) and the Université de Rouen (Normandy, France, 2005). He has delivered keynote lectures at the National Medicinal Chemistry Symposium (Nashville, 2018), the EMBO Conference on Enzyme Mechanisms (2014, Manchester, UK), the World Congress on Catalytic Asymmetric Synthesis (2010, Beijing, China) and Sanofi’s Visions in Chemistry Symposium (2009).

PRESENTER

FELICIA LUCCI

TECHNOLOGY MANAGER IN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING OFFICE AT DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (DOE)

Felicia Lucci is a Technology Manager in Advanced Manufacturing Office at the Department of Energy. She currently manages R&D projects related to chemicals manufacturing. Her portfolio focuses on industrial decarbonization of the chemicals and petroleum refining sectors, sustainable chemistry, and dynamic catalysts science. As a PhD chemist, she has technical and policy expertise in optimizing energy for manufacturing while reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Through her work with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, U.S. Senate, and Departments of Energy and State, she has experience across the energy-environmental paradigm from energy rich North Dakota to environmentally progressive California.

PRESENTER

ROBIN NISSAN

PROGRAM MANAGER, SERDP/ESTCP AT OFFICE OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF DEFENSE

Robin completed a Ph.D. in chemistry at the Pennsylvania State University and began a 30 year career at the Naval Air Warfare Center, China Lake, CA as an analytical chemist, and ultimately as the director of the Research Department at China Lake. He joined the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP) and the Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP) in 2013 and is the program manager for the Weapons Systems and Platforms program area where he manages research, development and demonstration projects related to corrosion mitigation, energetic materials, alternatives to per and poly fluorinated alkyl substances, amongst other topics.

MODERATOR

JOEL TICKNER

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AT GC3

Dr. Joel Tickner is a Professor of Public Health  at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. He is founder and Executive Director of the Green Chemistry & Commerce Council (GC3); Executive Director of the Association for the Advancement of Alternatives Assessment (A4), a new professional association; and Co-Director of the Massachusetts Toxics Use Reduction Institute (TURI).  He is a leading expert on application of green chemistry and alternatives assessment in science and policy. He has served on a number of EPA and National Academy of Sciences advisory committees and advises government agencies around the world. He holds a Masters of Science degree in Environmental Studies from the University of Montana and a Doctor of Science Degree from the Department of Work Environment at University of Massachusetts Lowell. 

PRESENTER

JAMES EWELL

SENIOR MANAGER, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AT SCIVERA

James has a long interest in the topic of recycling of waste plastics. As Associate Director of Sustainable Chemistry for Anthesis N. America, James managed the environmental and human health assessment for Closed Loop Partners Center for the Circular Economy due diligence investigation of ten advanced recycling technologies. As Senior Director of GreenBlue’s Sustainable Materials program, James was responsible for managing the development and practical implementation of its sustainable materials management framework. James had oversight for all of GreenBlue’s tools, particularly CleanGredients and the development of Material IQ. While at GreenBlue, James also published his research about advanced recycling of polyester textile waste.

James has over 20 years of experience helping industry and the non-profit sector create more effective methods of managing chemicals in supply chains and designing products and systems that foster an economy based on the safe and circular flows of all materials. He is now with Scivera, a company that offers a software as service solution to help companies assess, monitor, and more effectively manage the chemicals they are using to make their products.

PRESENTER

CHRISTIAN HAESSLER

GLOBAL PROGRAM LEAD CIRCULAR ECONOMY AT COVESTRO

Dr. Christian Haessler has been Head of the Circular Economy Program at materials producer Covestro in Leverkusen since May 2020.

He started his career at Bayer Group in Krefeld, Germany in 1994, leading a photovoltaics R&D laboratory. Later he took on various positions at Bayer MaterialScience, the predecessor company of Covestro, overseeing product management, business development and strategy within the Polycarbonates Business Unit in Germany and China. He then became responsible for R&D, marketing and sales of the Functional Films business in the Asia Pacific region based in Singapore. In 2013 Haessler returned to China as Head of Innovation for Covestro in Asia Pacific, also heading the regional polymer research and development center (PRDC) in Shanghai. Back in Germany, he took over the global function as Head of Sustainability in June 2018.

Haessler was born in 1964 in Stuttgart, Germany. He studied physics at the University of Erlangen, Germany where he earned his Ph.D. degree with a thesis on photovoltaics and semiconductors. He is married with three children.

PRESENTER

PAULA LUU

PROJECT DIRECTOR AT CLOSED LOOP PARTNERS

Paula is a Project Director at the Center for the Circular Economy – Closed Loop Partners’ innovation center that leverages research and pre-competitive collaborations to support the transition to the circular economy. Her work focuses on evaluating new technologies and markets to drive investment towards solutions that are both safe and circular and to accelerate their commercialization.

Paula has worked across sectors and along the supply chain in various operations and marketing roles. She began her career in water policy and later launched a startup that upcycled textile waste and employed women coming home from prison. Before joining Closed Loop Partners, she worked in operations and sourcing roles for brands including Nike, Amazon, and Starbucks.

Paula received her B.A. in Consumer Behavior from Cal Berkeley and her MBA and MS from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business and School for Environment and Sustainability.

PRESENTER

MARTIN MULVIHILL

MANAGING PARTNER AND CO-FOUNDER AT SAFER MADE

Martin Mulvihill founded and ran the Berkeley Center for Green Chemistry and is a well-respected name in the green chemistry community. He has worked with many Fortune 500 companies to help them replace hazardous chemicals with safer alternatives. Martin has a PhD in Chemistry from UC Berkeley and has done post-doctoral work at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab.

PRESENTER

SHELLEY PORTER

DIRECTOR OF CIRCULAR TECHNOLOGIES WITHIN CORPORATE INNOVATION AT EASTMAN

As Director of Circular Technologies within Corporate Innovation at Eastman, Shelley Porter is responsible for leading Eastman’s chemical recycling technology platform, working to provide multiple circular solutions for plastic wastes that are difficult to recycle today.  Her team is also working on building feedstock channels for those technologies.

Porter has been at Eastman since 1999, serving in various roles across the Technology organization. Her background is in analytical chemistry and she spent her first eight years with the company as a bench chemist before moving into leadership roles, including assignments in Technical Service, Corporate Analytical, and Corporate Innovation.

She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemistry from Virginia Tech.

MODERATOR

ALEXANDRA MCPHERSON

CONSULTING PROGRAM MANAGER AT IEHN

Alexandra McPherson, Consulting Program Manager for IEHN, has been leading IEHN since January 1, 2018, succeeding founder and Executive Director Dr. Richard Liroff upon his retirement. Alexandra co-founded CPA in the U.S. in 2001, where she served as Managing Director for its first decade. Alexandra served on the national advisory board of EPEAT (Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool) and has published on chemicals management in the electronics sector. She currently serves also as Principal of Niagara Share, a multi-stakeholder initiative promoting sustainable economic development in the Buffalo/Niagara region of upstate New York.

PRESENTER

CONSTANTINA BICHTA

ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF ESG RESEARCH AT BOSTON COMMON ASSET MANAGEMENT

Constantina manages the ESG research process and collaborates with the portfolio construction teams. She is responsible for benchmarking international and domestic companies against sustainability issues and for developing thematic ESG Sector Reports. Constantina also engages portfolio companies to help them formulate strategic approaches to sustainability and monitor program implementation. Prior to joining the firm, Constantina worked as a Consultant in the UK, advising corporate and public sector clientson Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) issues. She was also an adjunct-professor at the Northeastern University. Constantina serves on the Steering Committee of the Chemical Footprint Project, a multi-stakeholder initiative for measuring corporate progress to safer chemicals. Constantina holds a Master’s in Social Research and a PhD in Management from the University of Bath, UK.

DISCUSSANT

ADRIAN HOROTAN

GENERAL PARTNER AT SAFER MADE

Adrian is a general partner at Safer Made, a venture capital fund that invests in companies that bring to market products that are safer for people and the natural world. Before starting Safer Made, Adrian made venture investments with Elm Street Ventures, Connecticut Innovations, and Launch Capital. Adrian also worked in corporate finance and banking. Adrian holds a master’s degree in environmental management from Yale, and an MBA from INSEAD.

PRESENTER

EUGENIE MATHIEU

SENIOR ESG ANALYST & EARTH PILLAR LEAD AT AVIVA INVESTORS

Eugenie is Senior ESG Analyst on the Natural Capital Transition Fund, and Earth Pillar Lead. She is responsible for research and engagement on natural capital issues including deforestation, the circular economy and sustainable agriculture.

Eugenie was part of Greenpeace International’s Forests team, where she worked on deforestation driven by palm oil, pulp & paper, cattle and soy. Previously, she spent fourteen years as a sustainability consultant advising major international companies, including FTSE100s, on their social, ethical, and environmental strategies and performance. Prior to consulting, Eugenie worked with EIRIS on the creation of FTSE4Good in 2001, following an MSc in Business and Environment at Imperial College, London. She started her career as a strategy consultant with Bain & Company in London and Johannesburg, following a degree in Geography at Oxford University where she specialised in the history of climate change.

PRESENTER

LETITIA WEBSTER

MANAGING DIRECTOR, CHIEF SUSTAINABILITY OFFICER, ASSET MANAGEMENT DIVISION AT GOLDMAN SACHS

Letitia is a managing director in the Sustainable Investment Group and chief sustainability officer for the Asset Management Division. She serves on the Asset Management Division Sustainability Council. Letitia joined Goldman Sachs as a managing director in 2020. Prior to joining the firm, Letitia was chief sustainability officer and partner at Mission Driven Capital Partners (MDCP), a private equity firm that invests in sustainable products and solutions to accelerate corporate sustainability efforts. Prior to MDCP, she served as global vice president of sustainability and head of purpose for the VF Corporation, the Fortune 500 parent company of brands, including The North Face, Timberland, and Vans. She created the VF Made for Change Sustainability Strategy and led the effort to create and integrate a first ever, enterprise-wide purpose.

Earlier in her career, Letitia spent twelve years at The North Face as senior director of marketing, where she focused on strategic marketing, sustainability, and outdoor participation. She began her career at Sheep Mountain Alliance, a grassroots citizen organization dedicated to preserving the natural environment in Southwest Colorado. Letitia serves as a director on the Impact Nano LLC board and Tres Mesas Wind Farm. Letitia earned a BA from Bowling Green State University and an MBA from Pinchot University.