Ursula Kazarian – President and Founder

Since 2003, Ursula has worked closely with local and international organizations in the South Caucasus in both Georgia and Armenia to increase public awareness and to encourage civil discourse about urgent environmental issues pertaining to public health, human rights, and civil society strengthening projects in the water, energy, and forestry sectors. In the U.S., Ursula has several years of regulatory, legal, and compliance experience in the energy and water sectors. She holds a B.A. in International Affairs with an Environmental Resources concentration from George Washington University, a dual M.A. in International Relations and Natural Resources & Sustainable Development from American University and the United Nations University for Peace in San Jose, Costa Rica, and a dual J.D./LL.M in European Union Law from American University Washington College of Law and Universidad Carlos III in Madrid, Spain.

Serda Ozbenian – Executive Director, Washington, D.C. Office

Serda became involved with AEN shortly after its inception in 2007 and has since been serving as AEN’s Executive Director. She has worked on environmental causes in both the U.S. and internationally, including in Armenia. She has several years of experience with many aspects of environmental campaigning, from community outreach to policy. From 2006 to 2011, Serda worked as a Wildlife Research Associate for the Animal Welfare Institute in Washington, D.C. From 2009-2011, Serda participated in a campaign to conserve the endangered Saola, a species endemic to Laos and Vietnam, through the Emerging Wildlife Conservation Leaders program. In 2010, Serda travelled to Armenia with Birthright Armenia and volunteered for the Foundation for the Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets, for which she later became a Wildlife Conservation Consultant. Serda is currently pursuing her Phd in Environmental Science and Policy at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA, with a research focus on wildlife in Armenia.  Serda holds a BS in Animal Behavior and Photography from Towson University.

Kirk Wallace – Armenia Office Program Director

Kirk joined the Armenian Environmental Network (AEN) in June, 2011 as its Project Developer in Armenia. Prior to joining AEN, Kirk co-founded and directed a nationally recognized educational program known as the Partnership at Las Vegas High School (PAL Program) in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. The PAL Program is an innovative experiential work-based internship program involving high school juniors and seniors. Kirk’s responsibilities included liaising with over 100 private businesses, non-profit organizations and government institutions in developing appropriate internship experiences. Additionally, Kirk managed a team of 7 professional teachers, directed team teaching activities, created new curricula and taught a variety of high school subjects. Kirk graduated in 1989 from the University of Cincinnati with a BA in International Affairs and a BS in Secondary Education. He received his Masters in Teaching in 2001 from Grand Canyon University.

Chapters

Christine Jerian – L.A. Chapter Organizer

Christine was born in Chicago, but Los Angeles has been her home for over 20 years. She studied abroad in Oxford England and then lived in Seattle where she worked with Earth Corps on environmental restoration projects. She later returned to Los Angeles and participated in Public Allies, a leadership and service-learning program, where she served as Education Coordinator with the Los Angeles Conservation Corps Clean and Green Program.

Christine has also worked for the City of Los Angeles, Department of Neighborhood Empower, where she worked to build local leadership and empower the diverse communities of Los Angeles; the Southern California Association of Governments; Women’s Sports Foundation, acting as the California Policy Officer; and at the Campaign For College Opportunity, as outreach associate working to reform education policy in California. Most recently she served as Campaign Director for a candidate running for Los Angeles City Council.  Christine has an Executive Masters in Leadership from the University of Southern California and has a BA in Urban Studies and Planning.

Advisory Board

Henry S. Cole, Ph.D.

Dr. Cole has more than 35 years of experience as an environmental scientist, writer and leader. He has broad experience on environmental issues as a college professor, as an EPA senior scientist, and as the national Science Director of Clean Water Action. Since 1993, Dr. Cole has served as principal of Henry S. Cole & Associates, Inc. an environmental science and communications consulting firm. The firm under Dr. Cole’s leadership has focused on efforts to improve the environmental health and sustainability of communities and to promote ecologically sustainable practices and technologies in a wide range of economic sectors.

In 2002, Dr. Cole was honored as a co-recipient of the prestigious EPA’s Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award for his scientific advocacy for an arsenic-free and chromium-free outdoor wood preservative. Dr. Cole also conducts research and writing on the systemic dynamics of economic and ecological systems and their interrelationships.

Cole graduated from Rutgers University’s College of Agriculture with high honors with majors in soil science and climatology. He earned his Ph.D. in atmospheric sciences at the University of Wisconsin.

Charles Dunlap, Ph.D.

Dr. Dunlap has worked for over a decade directing international development and university programs in the sciences and conducting research in environmental geochemistry. He received a B.A. in English and a B.A. in Geology (Summa Cum Laude) from Amherst College in 1989. He received a Ph.D. in Geology/Geochemistry from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 1996, where he was a U.C. Regents Scholar and IGPP Fellow at Los Alamos National Labs.

Following post-doctoral work in the Environmental Toxicology Department at the University of California, Santa Cruz, he worked from 1999 through 2004 as Director and Assistant Professor of the Environmental Conservation and Research Center at the American University of Armenia (AUA; a U.S.-accredited graduate university affiliated with the University of California).

While at AUA Dr. Dunlap conducted and published research on lead contamination and health threats in Armenia, established the University’s Certificate Program in Environmental Science and Conservation, oversaw training for the City of Gyumri to establish a GIS lab for earthquake reconstruction planning and urban development, and served as a consultant on USAID and World Bank programs.

From 2004 to the present, Dr. Dunlap has worked at CRDF Global, where he is an Associate Program Director responsible for scientific institution capacity building, national virtual science libraries, and a professional skills program curriculum for scientists and engineers in 20 countries throughout Eurasia and Africa.

Dr. Dunlap has overseen the development of non-governmental science foundations in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Moldova and provided training and support to international foundations in Qatar and Saudi Arabia. He has also overseen the development of national virtual science libraries in Afghanistan, Armenia, Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia and provided guidance and consultation for programs in Egypt and Oman.

Dr. Dunlap taught short courses in proposal writing for graduate students at the University of Vermont and faculty at Texas Tech University. He has also taught professional skills workshops in areas in research management, technology commercialization, peer-reviewed publication, research ethics, and proposal writing for international audiences of scientists in Azerbaijan, Egypt, Georgia, Indonesia, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey.

Jason A. Sohigian

Jason A. Sohigian is Deputy Director of the Armenia Tree Project NGO. He is responsible for fundraising and communications among stakeholders including donors, the media, and the environmental community.

In addition to his leadership role at ATP, Jason is a Teaching Fellow at Harvard University for a series of courses on sustainability, corporate social responsibility, and greenhouse gas management. He was appointed as staff for Governor Deval Patrick’s Special Commission on Financing Forest Conservation in the State of Massachusetts.

He has a master’s degree in Sustainability and Environmental Management from Harvard University. His thesis on Payments for Environmental Services was motivated by the findings of UNEP’s program on The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB), and it was presented at the 17th annual conference of the International Sustainable Development Research Society at Columbia University’s Earth Institute. From 1999 to 2004, he was editor of the Armenian Weekly newspaper published by the Hairenik Association in Watertown, Massachusetts.

In September 2011 Jason presented a talk at TEDx Yerevan titled “Redefining Our Economic Systems: Could a Forest Be Worth More Than a Gold Mine?” which addressed the role of forests in a Green Economy.

Jeffrey Tufenkian

Jeffrey Tufenkian has been a professional advocate for environmental protection and other key social issues since 1985. His advocacy work has spanned the gamut of fundraising, outreach, research, writing, lobbying, candidate campaigns, and media advocacy in four US states and Armenia.

In 2002 Jeffrey had the opportunity to live in Armenia and develop a new NGO focused on forest protection and restoration. While there he was also involved in urban green space protection and co-authored Armenia’s first Western-style outdoor adventure book entitled Adventure Armenia: Hiking and Rock Climbing. Although he moved back to the US in 2008, he still continues to be connected with Armenia and environmental issues there including through the Tufenkian Foundation and AEN.

Jeffrey is currently building a restorative business based in his hometown of Portland, Oregon that aims to bring together his passion for environmental protection, positive social change, and creating a dramatically more sustainable built environment.