Student and Alumni Profiles

The forestry program at Yale stresses the importance of sustainable resource management on both spatial and temporal scales. At SRF I employ this mindset as I evaluate specific resource managers and determine whether or not an investment in their activities might achieve our financial goals while meeting our ecological expectations.  - Evan Ray

Evan Ray, MF '13.  There’s a growing world of market-based forest conservation and stewardship developing and Evan Ray is right in the middle of it.  Often overlooked or taken for granted, ecosystem services such as wildlife habitat, water and nutrient cycling, scenic landscapes and other natural assets are, according the USDA Forest Service, “traditionally absent from society’s balance sheet.”

With expertise in the management of forest resources, Evan is working with Sustainable Resource Fund, LLLP (SRF), a global private equity fund of funds, to conduct an analysis of investable opportunities in timberland and ecosystem service markets—including endangered species mitigation banking, wetland restoration and other areas.
 

Duncan Cheung, MEM ’08, is a Senior Analyst at GreenOrder, where he advises companies on improving their environmental and energy performance and develops strategies to capture emerging market opportunities related to sustainability. Clients include industry leaders in chemicals and engineered plastics, agribusiness, consumer product manufacturing, equipment rental, and heavy manufacturing. Duncan’s specialty includes market assessment and projection, custom sustainable product certification systems, and corporate sustainability measurement and tracking tools.

Michael Coren, MESc ’09, is a Land-Use and Carbon Markets Specialist at Climate Focus, where he is leading the advisory practice in the agricultural sector. He specializes in climate mitigation strategies and carbon markets in the agriculture and forestry sector, with experience designing emission reduction projects, as well as financial and carbon modeling in tropical forests. At F&ES, Michael studied economics and forestry focusing on economic factors affecting global distribution of forest carbon investments, and completed an internship working for the Indonesian government on reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD) with the World Bank in Jakarta. Michael has a journalism background specializing in science and the environment, including writing and reporting for Newsweek, Globe and Mail and the Christian Science Monitor and serving as managing editor of the Phnom Penh Post in Cambodia and the science and technology producer for CNN.com in Atlanta.

Audrey Davenport, MEM/MBA ’09, is a Project Manager at Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) where she is helping lead EDF’s Green Returns Program and partnership with private equity firm, Kohlberg, Kravis and Roberts, LLC. Audrey is working to develop and roll out analytic tools and strategies to a wide range of KKR’s portfolio companies, helping them to realize new, environmentally driven business value (www.edf.org/greenreturns). She is also a faculty member at Johns Hopkins University where she teaches Strategic Management for Sustainability, a course she helped design while at Yale. Audrey earned a joint MEM/MBA degree through F&ES and Yale School of Management, completing an internship with Google’s Green Business Team and Redstone Strategy Group. Prior to Yale, she worked for The Nature Conservancy, and was a Fulbright Scholar in Malaysia. Audrey holds a BA with Honors from Stanford University.

Kori Recalde, MEM ’08, is an Environment, Health and Safety Professional at United Technologies Corporation (UTC). She is currently the project manager for the LEED certification of two UTC manufacturing facilities. Additionally, she collaborated on the expansion of UTC’s sustainability goals, focusing on greenhouse gas reduction. Before coming to F&ES, Kori was a senior consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton. She has 9 years of experience in the environmental field, with a particular interest in business and the environment. At Yale F&ES, Kori concentrated on industrial ecology, corporate social responsibility, and environmental policy. She has an undergraduate degree in Economics, and Environmental Policy and Analysis from Boston University.

Julie Witherspoon, MEM ’08, is a Sustainability Coordinator at Bio-Logical Capital, where she brings knowledge of ecosystem services and markets to Bio-Logical’s strategic decisions and investment analysis. Julie has been studying successful land management schemes and their integration with social and economic systems for the last five years. Before joining Bio-Logical Capital, she helped coordinate the predevelopment of a new community development project based on the highest current standards of green planning and development for Urban Villages, Inc. At F&ES, Julie concentrated on land use policy, economics, and law, with a particular interest in sustainable development. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies from Washington University in St. Louis.