Who we are
re:char Team: The re:char team makes up the core of our technology development and research staff.
re:char Fellows: re:char fellows support our efforts through blogging, outreach and action. Our fellows are researchers, authors and students at the forefront of the biochar and pyrolysis revolution, and are crucial for raising awareness of both our technologies and the biochar concept.
re:char Advisory Board: re:char’s advisory board is our link to the worlds of academia and industry, helping us to engage University and entrepreneurial resources as we develop our technology and concepts.
re:char Partners: re:char has partnered with several for-profit and non-profit entities to secure strategic grants and opportunities to develop the biochar concept.
- Jason Aramburu: Jason graduated from Princeton University with a degree, cum laude, in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and a certificate in Environmental Studies. He has extensive research experience in both the lab and field, having spent significant time studying and working at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in the Republic of Panama and at Princeton University’s Carbon Mitigation Initiative. Before founding re:char, Jason was a founding member of Innozone, an online expertise network. Jason was recently named a 2009 Social Innovation fellow by Pop!Tech.
View Jason Aramburu’s profile
- Rich Sun: Rich has invested in, advised, been an executive for or played other key roles in over 20 startups, including several cleantech companies. He has invested over $200 million in infrastructure and energy for a PE firm and was an investment banker with Goldman, CreditSuisse and UBS. Princeton BA, NYU MBA.
- Scott Little: Scott is an Austin-based engineer and physicist. He was previously a key engineer for Active Power (NASDAQ: ACTV), a flywheel energy storage co. Scott holds a BS in Engineering Physics from University of Texas.
- Jascha Little: Jascha serves as an associate Engineer at Applied Minds, a defense engineering think-tank. He holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from University of Texas.
- Lev Berlin: Lev comes to re:char from the financial services arm of Oliver Wyman, a consultancy. Lev brings a quantitative background to the team, with strong experience in financial modeling. Lev graduated from Princeton University with a degree in Operations Research and Financial Engineering and a certificate in finance.
- Abigail Cohen: Abigail is director of communications for re:char. She has a degree cum laude in Art History and Visual Art from Barnard College at Columbia University. She previously worked in green cause marketing for J. Ottman Consulting in New York.
- Dr. Krishna Bandaru: Dr. Bandaru is a professor of chemical engineering at IIT Kanpur, and has authored and co-authored papers on biomass gasification, biomass pyrolysis and biochar production.
- Lou Gold: Lou Gold is an author, lecturer, conservationist and blogger who still wonders: “what will I be when I grow up?” Lou remains a voice for the trees — a work that began over 20 years ago in Oregon. Today, he serves the Queen of the Forest along the path of Santo Daime. His home, Vila Fortaleza, is in Brazil, in the State of Acre. Lou has been a global advocate for sustainable development, agriculture and biochar and also blogs at http://lougold.blogspot.com/
- Ryan D. Hottle MA: Ryan is a student and researcher at Columbia University’s Climate and Society Program. He is interested in biochar and carbon-negative energy systems, and is the director of the upcoming 350 Climate Conference at Columbia University (http://http://350conference.org/). Ryan is also the founder of the Haiti Biochar Project.
- Prof. Ferruccio Pittaluga: Ferruccio Pittaluga is full professor of Thermal Machines at DIMSET, the Department of Fluid Machines, Energy Systems and Transportation of the University of Genoa. His fields of research and teaching are Combustion, Renewable Energies and Atmospheric Pollution. He is Associate Fellow AIAA, senior member ASME and ERCOFTAC. He is co-founder of SIBA, the Italian Society for Biomass Energy. He is author of more than 100 scientific papers mostly dealing withtime-depedent parallel/clustered computation of turbulent reactive flows, development and experimental characterisation of ultra-low NOx gas turbine burners and biomass/charcoal gasification processes. Nearly 10 years ago he has established DIMSET/SCL, Savona Combustion Laboratory, of which he is head.
- Dr. N. Sai Bhaskar Reddy: Dr. Reddy holds advanced degrees in geology, earth sciences, mathematics and physics from some of the top universities in India, including IIT Bombay, Kakatiya and Osmania. Dr. Reddy is the CEO of the Geoecology Energy Organization (http://www.e-geo.org), initiative to mitigate climate change in the developing world through advanced cook stoves, biochar and solar technologies.
- Courtney Nichols: Courtney is an entrepreneur and consultant specializing in developing and growing high-technology companies. Courtney was the former COO of Verified Identity Pass, Inc., also known as Fly Clear. She was also the former President of EasyLink Services (NSDQ: ESIC). Courtney is currently a board member and advisor for Dadlabs Inc., Richmond Management, Wemix and ShareImpact. She brings a wealth of business and technology experience to re:char.
- Dr. James Lovelock: Dr. Lovelock is an independent scientist, environmentalist and researcher from Devon, UK. He is famously known for developing the Gaia Theory, which purports that Earth functions as an interconnected superorganism. He has recently emerged as a strong advocate for biochar and other aggressive carbon sequestration technologies.
- Savona Combustion Laboratory: The Savona Combustion Laboratory is a research group involved in both fossil-fuel and wood-biomass combustion & gasification activities. The group has built and operated a downdraft gasifier (12 kWel) fed with rapid-growth hard-wood from its own forestation program since 2006.
- Haiti Biochar Project: The Haiti Biochar Project was started in 2009 to facilitate research, development, demonstration and deployment of sustainable biochar technologies in Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. We work with governments, universities, research scientists, health care clinics, student groups, farmers, and volunteers to facilitate the creation of livelihoods through sustainable development.
