Our Team

Stephanie Hayes Richards, MBA, MPA

Managing Principal

Stephanie Hayes Richards, MBA, MPAStephanie Hayes Richards, managing principal of Gnarly Tree Sustainability Institute, holds an MPA in Environmental Policy Analysis and Nonprofit Management from the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University (2000) and an MBA in Marketing from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University (2007). She also holds a BA in Government from Campbell University in Buies Creek, North Carolina. In addition, she completed her Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) sustainability reporting certification in 2014.

Ms. Richards has a wealth of experience in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors in project management, program development, policy analysis, stakeholder engagement, strategic management, communications, and business process improvements. She looks forward to helping extend and strengthen the capabilities of your organization’s sustainability team.
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Emily Giovanni, MPA, MSES

Principal Consultant

Emily GiovanniEmily Giovanni is a Principal Consultant with GTSI, with extensive expertise and experience in cost-benefit analyses of environmental policies and regulations, policy design and analysis, and economic modeling. She earned two Masters degrees from Indiana University’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs in 2010, including a Masters of Science in Environmental Science and a Masters of Public Affairs, with a focus on environmental economics.

Before joining Gnarly Tree Sustainability Institute in 2019, she worked as an economist and scientist supporting the development of state and national environmental regulations. In that capacity, Emily managed a diverse portfolio of projects, including development of a regression-based tool to quantify and monetize damages from oil spills from pipelines and rail cars, design of a unique industry survey instrument that substantially reduced data import, processing, and analysis burdens, and cost-benefit analyses of many environmental policy instruments that affected dozens of industries and resulted in a wide variety of direct and indirect benefits. Additionally, Emily has partnered with GTSI on a project to quantify and monetize the potential human health co-benefits of reduced greenhouse gases from the mobile sector in Costa Rica, and has authored scholarly papers on carbon capture and storage and international offset programs.
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Kenneth Richards, PhD, JD

Principal Associate

Kenneth Richards, PhD, JDKenneth Richards holds a PhD in Public Policy from the Wharton School and a JD from the Law School, University of Pennsylvania. He holds an MSCE in Urban and Regional Planning and a BSCE in Environmental Engineering from Northwestern University, and a BA in Botany and Chemistry from Duke University.

He currently serves as professor at the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, affiliated professor at the Maurer School of Law, and affiliated faculty of the Vincent and Elinor Ostrom Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis. He served as a visiting professor at the National University of Singapore as the Musim Mas Chair in Sustainability at the NUS Business School from 2012 to 2014. He also has significant European experience, having served as a visiting fellow at Oxford University’s James Martin 21st Century School and Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment and as co-director of the School of Public and Environmental Affairs’ IU at Oxford Program.

Dr. Richards has served as an economist at the Council of Economic Advisers, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service, and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. He also served as national energy planner for the Cook Islands from 1984 to 1986 through the U.S. Peace Corps.

His research interests include sustainability management, climate change policy and environmental policy implementation. He has taught courses in sustainability management, environmental economics, cost-benefit analysis, law and public policy, applied math, climate change science and policy, public management and administration, and public management economics.
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Anees Azzouni, MBA

Senior Associate, Energy Efficiency and Policy

Anees Azzouni, MBAAnees is an experienced veteran of energy policy, energy economics, regulatory economics, energy planning and reform, demand/supply energy forecasting, energy efficiency and renewables, energy engineering, and climate change. He has three decades of experience providing energy efficiency consulting services to facilities, industries, and every level of jurisdiction from cities to nations.

As the President of Azzouni & Associates, Anees has completed dozens of projects in the energy efficiency field, including analysis and recommendations on local needs for access to electricity, energy, and water; technology, fuel, and renewable energy resources available; and economic development and employment impacts. He has conducted projects to identify energy conservation measures at the facility, city, and industry levels, advised on the economics and regulation of energy generation, transmission, and backup systems on a national level, developed comprehensive corporation-wide energy efficiency analyses and plans, and conducted dozens of surveys, benchmarking exercises, and energy efficiency evaluations.

After earning a Master of Business Administration and a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics from Indiana University, Anees has provided energy efficiency consulting in the United States and Saudi Arabia.

Research Associate

David Bell, PhD

Senior Associate, Organizational Accountability and Leadership

David is a leading expert in accountability and leadership involving public organizations; entrepreneurship, investments, assistance, and capital flow in developing countries; organizational effectiveness evaluation; multi-stakeholder program evaluation; nonprofit management; organizational leadership; and cross-sector collaboration. His work involves examining and assisting organizations in successful change initiatives, with a focus on defining and assessing performance. Integral to David’s research is a focus on accountability and the challenges of organizational and leadership ethics.

At Indiana University’s O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, David is currently teaching courses on management and leadership, resource management, collaborations and networks, and social entrepreneurship. His evaluation work includes a multi-year Department of Justice funded program in a Savannah, Georgia police department that enhances collaboration to assess an arrest diversion program involving people with behavioral issues (e.g., opioid abuse) and their families. Additional research experience includes extensive case study and interview work to explain the relationship of organizational behavior and capital flow volatility in a multi-year donor microfinance initiative in West Africa, as well as providing oversight to qualitative research in the Evaluation Unit of BRAC-Sierra Leone. Prior to joining the faculty of the O’Neill School, David spent 30 years in leadership roles at various nonprofits, and as a research supervisor in the banking industry, where he eventually rose to executive status. This service involved close involvement in both internal and external assessments and strategic planning.

Larry DeBoer, PhD

Senior Associate, State and Local Tax Policy

Larry DeBoer is a renowned expert on state and local public policy, especially issues in Indiana property taxation.  He is currently a professor emeritus of Agricultural Economics at Purdue University, where he spent 36 years as a professor before retiring in 2021.

Before joining the Purdue faculty, Larry earned his PhD at Syracuse University and taught economics at Ball State University. He was the 2009 recipient of Purdue’s Hovde Award for service to the rural people of Indiana.  In 2015 he received the Murphy Award, Purdue’s highest award for undergraduate teaching, and in 2020 he received the Agricultural and Applied Economic Association’s Distinguished Teaching Award for Undergraduate Education.

Larry continues to share his expertise through consulting with research and policy organizations, a monthly column about Indiana and national economic topics called Capital Comments, and the occasional presentation.

Denvil Duncan, PhD

Senior Associate, Tax Policy

Denvil Duncan, PhDDenvil is an economist whose primary research focuses on the causes and consequences of tax evasion and the political acceptability of road user fees. His research on tax evasion has explored the impact of the opportunities for tax evasion on income inequality, labor supply, risk taking behavior, and tax incidence. He has also written on the subjects of shadow economic activity, tax morale, and tax competition, with his work published in top journals such as the European Economic Review, the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, the National Tax Journal, and International Tax and Public Finance.

Another branch of Denvil’s research explores the political acceptability of using road mileage user-fees to finance road construction, repair, and maintenance. He applied his knowledge of transportation policy to collaborate with GTSI on a proposed design of an emissions levy for Costa Rica.

Denvil earned his PhD at Georgia State University after completing a Master of Science and a Bachelor of Science at the University of the West Indies, Mona.

Charles Feinstein, MA

Senior Associate, Energy and Environmental Economics

Charles Feinstein, MACharles is an expert in energy and environmental economics, renewable energy, and climate change mitigation, with over 40 years of experience in the field of international development. Building on his service as a recognized energy expert with the World Bank, his work is focused on the energy, development, and environmental nexus. He has co-authored several seminal World Bank reports and strategy documents pertaining to energy, economic development, and climate change mitigation strategies, including a study that now provides the foundation for the incorporation of carbon shadow pricing in energy project economic analysis at the World Bank.

Charles retired from the World Bank in 2016 as the Director of the Energy and Extractives Global Practice; in this role, he was responsible for the operations and management of the Bank’s combined energy, mining, and oil and gas investment, analytical, and advisory portfolio. Other positions over his career at World Bank included Sector Manager for Energy and Water for the East Asia and the Pacific Region; Sustainable Development Leader for Timor-Leste, Papua New Guinea, and the Pacific Islands; Sector Manager for Energy in the Europe and Central Asia Region; Sector Leader and Lead Energy Specialist in the Latin America and the Caribbean Region; Team Leader for Climate Change in the Environmental Department; and Energy Specialist and Energy Economist in the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program.

Charles earned his Master of Arts in Resource Economics from the University of Hawaii at Manoa and his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering/Computer Science from the University of California at Los Angeles. He also earned a Certificate in Energy Project and Policy Analysis from the East West Center and completed the World Bank/HBS Executive Development Program at Harvard Business School.

Robert Fischman, JD/MS

Senior Associate, Environmental Law and Policy

Robert is a distinguished environmental law scholar whose research explores the intersection between law and conservation implementation. This unique combination has yielded publications in high-impact, peer-reviewed scientific journals as well as law reviews. He is a co-author of the leading casebook on public land and resources law, and his book on management of the National Wildlife Refuge System has become the standard reference in the field. Other areas of particular expertise include public land management, endangered species recovery, federalism, adaptive conservation, climate change, and environmental impact analysis.

Robert currently teaches courses on a variety of environmental law topics (including Public Natural Resources Law and Environmental Law) at Indiana University’s Maurer School of Law, in addition leading capstone seminars and teaching Biodiversity Conservation Policy at the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs. Prior to joining the Law School faculty in 1992, he taught at the University of Wyoming College of Law and served as staff attorney at the Environmental Law Institute in Washington, D.C. He has taught as a visiting professor at Vermont Law School and the Lewis and Clark School of Law and spent a year as a senior research scholar at Yale Law School. He is a founding board member of the Conservation Law Center, Inc., which operates the Law School’s conservation law clinic.

Robert obtained his JD from the University of Michigan as well as a Masters of Science. He also holds a Bachelors Degree in Geological and Geophysical Studies from Princeton University.

Jane Koh, PhD, MEng

Senior Associate, Nature-based Carbon Crediting

Jane is a forestry and energy sector expert with extensive industry and academic research experience into the political ecology of forest carbon crediting in Malaysia. Most recently, her PhD research focused on policies and legislation, discourse of the federal and state governments, and perspectives of the business sector and local communities around forest carbon crediting in the state of Sarawak. She also holds a Master of Engineering degree from Imperial College, London.

In her current role, Jane is leading the formulation of a Malaysia company’s environmental, social, and governance (ESG) roadmap. Prior to this endeavor, she spent 16 years in various roles at Shell Malaysia, including as the program manager in charge of evaluating investment opportunities for forest carbon credit projects in Malaysia She worked closely with the country’s REDD+ Unit and various state agencies and organized joint workstreams to study technical, social, and operational aspects of potential VCS projects.

Jane is also experienced in writing industry standards and protocols. She was the Director of Standards for Printed Wiring Board at IPC – Association Connecting Electronics Industries in United States. She oversaw the development of technical standards for the printed circuit board manufacturing industry and managed  technical working groups consisting of representatives from corporations, academia, and military.

Josef Leitmann, PhD

Senior Associate, Disaster Risk Management, Resilience Planning, and the Environment

Josef LeitmannJoe is a development professional with a global perspective and more than 35 years of experience in disaster risk management, climate and natural disaster resilience, urban planning, and natural resource management. Throughout his career with the World Bank, he led teams focused on energy systems, environmental management and urban development, including REDD+ initiatives, forest sector management, and biodiversity conservation.  Over the past 15 years, he mobilized over $1 billion and managed World Bank programs to aid countries in recovery from natural disasters, including the tsunami in Indonesia and the earthquake in Haiti.  His work to integrate disaster relief and environmental management is designed to help cities and nations achieve great resilience in the face of environmental, economic, and demographic change.  He has published widely in the fields of urban and environmental planning, disaster management, and urban resilience.

Joe retired from the World Bank in 2019 as Lead Disaster Risk Management Specialist where he was responsible for all aspects of program development related to the nexus of risk management, fragility/conflict/violence, humanitarian assistance, and climate change.  Among his professional assignments, he was responsible for the Urban Management Programme, the Rain Forest Pilot Program, the Multi Donor Fund for Aceh and Nias, the Haiti Reconstruction Fund, and the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery’s resilient recovery and urban resilience teams.  He is currently working to develop a system-wide research and instruction program in Resilience and Humanitarian Assistance at the University of California and is advising the United Nations on post-COVID recovery. 

Joe earned his PhD in City and Regional Planning at the College of Environmental Design, University of California, Berkeley and his Master of Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School.  His undergraduate degrees are in development studies and political science at the University of California, Berkeley.  In addition to English, he is fluent in French and Portuguese and is conversant in Bahasa Indonesia, Spanish, Turkish, and Maori. 

Mark Levin, MPA

Senior Associate, Local Government Management

Mark Levin, MPAMark is a clinical associate professor at Indiana University’s O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs with extensive professional experience in local government management and teaching experience in public management and government budgeting. He was the city administrator of Maryland Heights, Missouri, from 1985 to 2015, and is an active member and Credentialed Manager of the International City/County Management Association (ICMA). He has received many awards for his record of public service, including the Lifetime Public Service Award from the East-West Gateway Council of Governments, ICMA’s 40 Year Service Award, and ICMA’s Professional Award for Career Development.

In addition to his teaching and research at the O’Neill School, Mark has taught courses on governmental budgeting at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, Northern Illinois University, Southern Illinois University, St. Louis University, and Washington University in St. Louis and has published articles on local government, community relations, and teaching.

Mark earned his Bachelor Degree in Education from Miami University in Ohio and his Master of Public Administration from Kent State University, where he concentrated in urban studies. He also attended a program for senior executives in state and local government at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Antung (Anthony) Liu, PhD

Senior Associate, Climate Change Policy

Antung (Anthony) Liu, PhDAnthony is an assistant professor at Indiana University’s O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, with research interests focused on climate change policy and the environment in developing countries. Some of his most recent work addresses carbon taxes and the unique properties that could make them attractive components of modern tax system. For example, he collaborated with GTSI on the World Bank Carbon Tax Guide and recently conducted a related World Bank project to review and assess economic benefits and co-benefits associated with carbon tax revenues, with a particular focus on factors most relevant to developing countries.

Anthony has also held positions as a visiting assistant professor of economics at the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business in China, a fellow at Resources for the Future in Washington, D.C., senior research fellow for the Environment for Development Initiative, a fellow at the Shanghai Academy of Development, a Research Analyst for The Brookings Institution, and an analyst for Charles Rivers Associates. He earned his PhD in economics from the University of California, San Diego. He also holds a Master of Economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara and a Bachelor Degree in Economics from Stanford University.

Becky MacKnight, MSES

Senior Associate, Geoscience and Water Resources

Becky MacKnight is a geoscientist with a wide variety of experience in environmental consulting, resource management, and research. Her career emphasis includes studies of coastal systems, climate change adaptation planning, environmental permitting, natural resource management, water quality and wetlands, and environmental assessments. She specializes in technical writing and editing and enjoys the translation of scientific information for non-scientists.  Becky has worked as a consultant on a variety of projects for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) related to water quality regulations and on projects for the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA) pertaining to watershed planning.

Becky is currently an independent environmental consultant and has previously worked for both small, boutique environmental consulting companies and large, multinational firms.  She has also been on the Resource Management Team at the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, and she has worked in several scientific roles with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).  In addition, Becky spent two years conducting outreach and curriculum enrichment for the science department of an independent high school. 

Becky holds a Master of Science in Earth Science from the University of California at Santa Cruz.  During her time in graduate school, she took on several research opportunities, which included conducting an assessment of sediment and nutrient impacts on a coral reef flat off the south coast of Molokai, Hawaii and serving as a scientific crew member aboard the R/V Melville to study drowned coral reef platforms and tectonics of the Huon Gulf in Papua New Guinea. She also earned a Bachelor of Arts in Geology from Amherst College, where she completed an honors thesis on the geochemistry and tectonics of the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica. 

Izlawanie (Mimi) Muhammad, PhD

Senior Associate, Carbon Taxes and Accounting

Mimi is an Associate Professor and the Director of the Islamic Finance and Wealth Management Institute, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM), where she teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students on the Malaysian tax system. Her overall research interests are tax administration, the Islamic tax system, and environmental taxes, with a particular emphasis on carbon taxes in developing countries.

Mimi’s extensive research into the potential role of a carbon tax in Malaysia has led to key insights on issues such as the factors influencing political acceptability and institutional considerations in relevant ministries. She has published several papers in indexed journals, and has presented in international conferences held in Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Maldives, Australia, Indonesia, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. In 2021, she was a visiting researcher at the Bartlett School of Environment, Energy and Resources, University College London (UCL) where she worked with Professor Paul Ekins in developing a Malaysian carbon tax policy.

Mimi obtained her Bachelor of Accountancy from the University of Malaya, Master of Accounting from Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), and Ph.D. in Taxation from the University of New South Wales, Australia. She is a Member of the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (ACCA), a Chartered Accountant of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA), and a Fellow Member of the Malaysian Tax Institute of Malaysia (CTIM).

Corinne Preston, MFA

Senior Associate, Graphic Design

Corinne Preston, MFA Corinne is an experienced graphic designer and an instructor at Indiana University’s O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs. ­She earned her Master of Fine Arts in Graphic Design from Indiana University as well as a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design from Montserrat College of Art.

Corinne is Founder and CEO of Jade Design Incorporated. Jade Design provides nonprofit organizations with the opportunity to obtain design needs to advance their social impact goals. She also founded CPdesigns in Bloomington in 2008 and serves as the firm’s President. In addition, her professional experience includes work as a graphic designer for Indiana University, Columbia University in the City of New York, flash designer and writer for Impact 210, design coordinator for Montserrat Art Gallery, and graphic designer for Lipman Hearne in Chicago.

Daniel Preston, MALD

Expert, International Affairs

Daniel Preston, MALDDan is a is a Clinical Associate Professor at the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University. His area of expertise is international development finance, and he maintains high-level advisory relationships with the OECD, United Nations, World Economic Forum, Center for Global Development, and African Center for Economic Transformation with recent publications such as The Stretch Fund: Bridging the Gap in the Development Finance Architecture, Making Blended Finance Work for the Sustainable Development Goals, and Blended Finance. He also serves the university in undergraduate curriculum, honors programming, strategic planning, and study abroad. 

Prior to joining the O’Neill School, Dan worked in the private sector where he held investment banking positions with Citigroup specializing in economic advisory, debt management, and capital raising for sovereign governments in Europe, Africa, and Asia and securitization programs for corporations primarily in Latin America, the Caribbean, and Japan. Earlier, he worked as a management consultant for Booz Allen Hamilton, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Information Resources on strategic issues for Fortune 500 companies, technology start-ups, and the U.S. Defense Department. Dan earned a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy from The Fletcher School at Tufts University and a Bachelor of Business Administration from The Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.

Justin Ross, PhD

Senior Associate, Public Finance Economics

Justin Ross, PhDJustin is a public finance economist specializing in state and local tax policy. His primary research interests include property tax-related issues such as assessment and zoning. His published works explore local governments’ use and access to the property tax by examining how it affects the politics, fiscal capacity, land use regulation, and community decisions. His articles have appeared in the top public finance, economics, and public administration journals including: National Tax Journal, Land Economics, Journal of Environmental Economics & Management, Public Finance Review, Public Budgeting & Finance, Journal of Public Administration Research & Theory, Contemporary Economic Policy, Public Finance & Management, and the Journal of Real Estate and Finance Economics

Justin has been teaching courses in public revenue theory, public managerial economics, and benefit-cost analysis at Indiana University’s O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs since 2008 and is a two-time recipient of IU’s Trustees Teaching award. He has collaborated with GTSI on several projects, including the World Bank Carbon Tax Guide and the design of an emissions levy for Costa Rica.

Justin earned his PhD in economics from West Virginia University after receiving his Bachelor of Science from Wright State University.

John Rupp, MS

Senior Associate, Geology and Energy Systems

John Rupp, MSJohn has enjoyed a long career at the interface of geological and energy systems.  He has extensive experience in geological carbon capture and storage, fossil fuel exploration and utilization, renewable energy development and deployment, and transmission/ distribution systems. He has been engaged in regional, national and international assessments of carbon storage capacities and constraints, alternative uses of fossil energy resources, including in-situ coal gasification, supporting state regulatory bodies with energy systems appraisals and management strategies, working with industry to find transformative solutions to energy challenges. 

John is a clinical associate professor at Indiana University’s O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, where his teaching is focused on energy systems and experiential learning. His research lies in geological sequestration, unconventional oil and gas development and public perceptions of energy development. John began his career in the mineral exploration world serving as a research assistant for the U.S. Bureau of Mines and then a mineral exploration geologist with Salisbury & Dietz Co. in Spokane, Washington. He transitioned to energy and working as an assistant geologist for Consolidated Resources of America in Cincinnati, Ohio, then as a production geologist for Exxon Co. USA in Midland, Texas. He came to Indiana working on energy in the Midwest as a senior research scientist at the Indiana Geological Survey. At Indiana University, he has managed a number of energy resource research projects and taught geology and energy related courses both within the Department of Geological Sciences and at the O’Neill School.  

John earned his Master of Science in Geology from Eastern Washington University and his Bachelor of Science in Geology from the University of Cincinnati. 

Gabriel Smith, MPA, MSES

Senior Associate, International Environmental Policy

Gabriel is an environmental scientist with experience in international diplomacy and relationship-building around climate change and environmental policies, particularly in the Caribbean and Latin American countries. In a previous GTSI project to support the government of Costa Rica in analyzing a potential emissions levy, Gabriel utilized the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s MOVES model to estimate the levy’s likely impacts on emissions from vehicles, customizing the model for application within Costa Rica, developing a users’ manual for the software, and organizing and delivering a two-day workshop on its use and implications for Costa Rican government officials and academics.

Gabriel has worked as a biodiversity and agriculture advisor in Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic for the German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ), as a Consultant for the World Bank’s Partnership for Market Readiness analyzing the Costa Rican government’s fiscal policies alignment with the transport sector within the framework of the National Decarbonization Plan, as a Climate Change and Agriculture Specialist for the Executive Secretariat of the Central American Agricultural Council (part of the Central American Integration System or SICA), and as a Regional Environmental Specialist for the Department of State’s Regional Environmental Hub for Central America and the Caribbean.

Gabriel completed his MPA and Master of Science in Environmental Science degrees from the Indiana University O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs in 2017 with concentrations in Environmental Policy and Natural Resource Management and Policy Analysis. Gabriel also holds a BS in agricultural engineering from EARTH University in San José, Costa Rica.

Adam Copp, MPA

Associate Analyst

Adam graduated from Indiana University in 2021 with a Bachelor of Arts with majors in both Economics and Political Science and completed his Masters of Public Affairs at the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs with a concentration in Policy Analysis in 2023. His studies in this concentration have given him experience in various analytical techniques and methods, including benefit-cost and regression analysis. He has years of experience in teaching economics and conducting research in the field, having worked as a tutor in economics courses of all levels at Indiana University and as a Graduate Teaching Assistant in environmental economics and policy. Additionally, he has proficiency in statistical research methods, especially coding in R.

Adam has always been motivated by the issue of income inequality. His future goals include research in how income can affect environmental issues and work in minimizing the economic impact on business who pursue environmental initiatives. At GTSI, he is conducting research on economic impact analyses and carbon offset markets.

Bria Burke

Research Associate

Bria graduated with a Bachelor of Environmental Management from Indiana University’s O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs in May 2022. Previously, she worked with Oiko Habitats as a Habitat Steward Intern, where she conducted flora and fauna inventories across two different habitat types to provide the company with a layout for how to proceed with future natural resource restoration projects. Bria has also been working as a Sustainable Gardening Assistant since July 2021 where she assists with a variety of gardening installations and researching gardening topics, including on native plants and bonsai gardens.

After completing her undergraduate degree, Bria will continue her education at the O’Neill School. She intends to pursue a Master of Public Affairs with a concentration in Environmental Policy and Natural Resource Management and a Master of Environmental Sustainability with a concentration in Sustainable Natural Resource Conservation and Management. At GTSI, Bria is supporting initiatives around corporate sustainability.

Sita Primadevi

Research Associate

Sita completed her Urban and Regional Planning undergraduate studies at the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) in Indonesia. Currently, she is pursuing a Master of Public Affairs degree at Indiana University’s O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, specializing in climate and energy financing. Her previous experience includes working at ITB’s Climate Change Center, where she contributed to the Strengthening National Climate Policy Implementation and Climate Finance project. She studied how innovative international climate finance mechanisms can drive transformative change toward low-carbon development. Additionally, Sita worked as a consultant at the World Resources Institute (WRI) Indonesia, where she developed an integrated framework using systems thinking approach to examine the interconnectedness of development planning, financing, licensing, economic growth, environment, and regional revenue. She also conducted research and assisted the Provincial Government of West Papua, Indonesia in establishing a regional trust fund for sustainability.

Her passion for climate justice and sustainable financing practices drives Sita to create a meaningful impact in these critical areas. Her career aspirations revolve around conducting impactful research to discover pioneering financing solutions that can support sustainable development in Global South countries. At GTSI, Sita is supporting projects to develop capacity building materials around carbon pricing and the design and analysis of national-level carbon offsets systems.