Team
Chris Rose is the founder and Executive Director of REAP. He has worked as a fundraiser for various non-profit public interest groups around the United States, receiving his law degree from the University of Oregon with a Certificate in Environmental and Natural Resources Law along the way. For 12 years, his private practice in Alaska included representation of Native Alaskans from Northwest Arctic villages and the mediation of a variety of disputes around the state. He has been very active in local community affairs and has served on various statewide boards, including the Renewable Energy Grant Fund Advisory Committee.
From 2004 to 2008 he wrote a monthly opinion column for the Anchorage Daily News. He enjoys traveling, gardening and exploring Alaska.
As REAP’s Deputy Director, Greg provides comprehensive administrative support to all facets of the organization. He works in a variety of financial support roles within REAP, such as grant tracking, bookkeeping, payroll, audit support, and program budget preparation. Greg also supports REAP’s general fundraising by coordinating with volunteers, memberships, event and outreach support, and donor tracking. Greg also works closely with the REAP Board of Directors.
Prior to joining REAP in 2019, Greg explored his outdoor recreation passions while advancing a career in nonprofit management and education. As the Program Director for the World Class Kiteboard Academy, Greg provided college preparatory education to some of the world’s most talented youth kiteboarders while offering unique cultural experiences, character building opportunities, and high-level coaching. Greg also led a small nonprofit in the Columbia River Gorge promoting windsurfing, river access, and an engaged water sports community. Greg moved to Anchorage in 2016 with his Kodiak raised partner and is excited to power Alaska’s clean energy future.
Colleen has been with REAP since 2016, implementing the AK EnergySmart and Wind for Schools curriculum in K-12 classrooms and leading teacher trainings around energy education. Colleen grew up on a small farm outside Wasilla where her parents, also science teachers, instilled a lifelong love of science. This passion motivated Colleen to continue her work with REAP in helping educators across the state of Alaska inspire students about energy with lessons and activities in the classroom.
Colleen lives near Wasilla now, with her partner, her partner’s daughter, their three dogs, and her two horses. In her spare time, she lets her Australian Shepherds run her through agility courses, her horses carry her through backcountry trails, and often joins her friends and family on other outdoor adventures.
Antony is REAP’s Director of Economic and Regulatory Analysis. He came to Alaska in 2000 after receiving his PhD from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, with a focus in natural resource economics. He has been conducting economic and policy analysis of Alaska energy issues ever since.
Antony has worked in government as Staff Economist at the Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA), as Commercial Analyst and also Petroleum Investment Manager at the Division of Oil and Gas in the Department of Natural Resources, and most recently as Commissioner at the RCA. He spent several years at the Alaska Center for Energy and Power, at UAA, and was Director of Policy and Programs at the former Anchorage Municipal Light and Power.
Antony enjoys roaming in the backcountry, long distance running, nordic skiing, traveling, and cooking for friends and family.
Donovan Russoniello
Outreach Director
drussoniello@realaska.org
Donovan forwards REAP’s mission by developing and expanding its organizational membership, fundraising programs, and grant proposals along with managing REAP’s external communications.
He has extensive experience in Alaskan politics and community organizing with organizations including Sunrise Movement, The Climate Reality Project, and most recently as a Campaign Manager at Ship Creek Group. Concurrent with his campaign work, Donovan also conducted policy research for the Fairbanks Climate Action Coalition and assisted REAP’s Public Policy Committee in drafting its Renewable Portfolio Standard framework.
After graduating from the University of Notre Dame in 2016 with a BA in Finance and Applied Mathematics, Donovan worked as an Economic Consultant for Charles River Associates in Chicago. Donovan is incredibly passionate about REAP’s clean energy education and advocacy efforts, and he is deeply grateful for the opportunity to utilize his skills and lived experiences in furthering that work.
Clay is a STEM Educator and the Regional Energy Catalyst for the Sustainable Southeast Partnership (SSP). Since 2018, he has been executing REAP’s education and outreach efforts in Southeast Alaska while working as part of the greater SSP effort.
Clay grew up in Juneau’s schools and returned to join the Juneau-Douglas High School science faculty, where he nurtured his passion for place-based learning methods in the marine, physical and biological sciences from 1984-2014. Before joining REAP, Clay also worked as a curriculum consultant, writer, and as a board member for the nature education organization, Discovery Southeast.
Clay’s a family man who loves time with his kin, most of whom live in Alaska. His alter ego is a session drummer, snowboarder, mountain biker and amateur heavy equipment operator.
Tyler Katzmar
STEM Educator
tkatzmar@realaska.org
Tyler moved to Alaska in 2009 to attend college at Alaska Pacific University in Anchorage. He obtained his B.S. in Marine Biology in 2013 and continued onto a Master’s in Outdoor and Environmental Education program. He was introduced to environmental education in 2011 where he instructed for an outdoor-based wilderness education camp for Alaska Native youth in Homer. During his five summers in Homer, Tyler created and taught various natural history curricula focused on the marine sciences and salmon life cycle, while also facilitating wilderness sea kayaking and hiking expeditions. Since then, Tyler has lead many wilderness experiences for youth and adults in Alaska and Arizona while seizing every teachable moment to embed natural history into the experience. Tyler thrives in experiential, place-based education opportunities and feels right at home in the school or outdoor classroom.
In his free time, Tyler enjoys gardening, backcountry and Nordic skiing, playing ice hockey, sea kayaking, and plucking berries alongside his wife and dog.
Jenny Starrs
PROGRAM Manager
jstarrs@realaska.org
Jenny is the Program Manager for REAP’s Alaska Network for Energy Education and Employment. She works to identify and bridge the gaps in the state’s energy literacy and training landscape and increase the visibility of renewable energy career pathways across Alaska. Her work focuses on connecting stakeholders in the energy sector and facilitating collaboration and knowledge sharing throughout the ANEEE network.
Jenny has a background in video journalism, writing, and education technology. She moved to Anchorage in 2021, and is passionate about accelerating the state’s renewable energy use. She loves baking bread and exploring Alaska by foot, bike, and ski.
Jacob Powell
utility Training coordinator
jpowell@realaska.org
As REAP’s Utility Training Coordinator, Jacob supports the People In Power (PIP) program. They develop tools for workforce assessment and training, and are building relationships with rural utilities to provide regular, community-specific training programs to improve utility operations and management. Jacob is passionate about Alaska’s bright future, and believes in our ability to serve as a world model for healthy communities, clean energy, and ecological stewardship.
Before joining REAP, they worked as a hardware engineer for The Launch Company in Anchorage, specializing in launch site logistics and aerospace fluid transfer hardware. While completing a BS in Mechanical Engineering at UAA, Jacob was a Peer Health Educator, working with UAA’s Health Promotion Team to train students, staff and faculty around the state in pro-social bystander intervention.
Jacob also serves on the board of Bike Anchorage, working to improve access to safe and joyful biking in the city. When not at work, they can be found roaming around Anchorage on a fleet of steel bikes, nordic ice skating (Portage Lake is not frozen yet), or dropping knees on tele skis.
Haleigh Reed
Microgrid Project Manager
hreed@realaska.org
Haleigh assists rural communities in developing place-based plans for reliable, renewable energy systems through the Energy Transitions Initiative Partnership Project (ETIPP). She is passionate about supporting communities in championing their own energy futures by building capacity in project coordination, community engagement, and technical assistance.
Haleigh moved to Dena’ina lands in 2021 to work with Launch Alaska as their Climate Technology Fellow through the Alaska Fellows Program. Since then she’s spent her time listening and learning as much as she can from local leaders, industry experts, colleagues, advocates, and friends to help her understand Alaska and its people as best she can. From building a coalition that envisions Alaska’s economic future to working at a startup remediatiang PFAS contamination, she focuses on asking the right questions to the right people in order to identify and deploy effective solutions.
Outside of work you can find her anywhere there is live music, peak views, or good coffee (ideally all 3!).
Sarah Brey
Operations Manager
sbrey@realaska.org
Sarah comes to REAP via a career of exploring the nexus of culture and the more-than-human world. From fishing boats to air taxis to the tundra, she has studied how to live gracefully in the Far North under the tutelage of countless of Alaska’s diverse residents. These experiences have also honed her ability to organize people and logistics in dynamic environments, creatively problem-solve sticky questions, listen for new perspectives and unexpected wisdoms, and stay calm when the weather just won’t lift. As REAP’s Operations Manager, she leverages these skills to help keep things running smoothly by creating cohesion across programs, providing administrative support, and contributing to the long-term strategic planning of the organization.
Raised in the Great Plains, she appreciates the daily drama of weather and light, a practice she absorbed from a long lineage of people who watch the sky. She loves playing with words, weaving her presence with the Land’s, and letting her mind be quiet.
Beks Rumley
STEM Educator
brumley@realaska.org
Beks is passionate about natural resource management and conservation, and loves making climate and energy education accessible through hands-on learning. With almost five years of experience in the nonprofit world, she builds programs that truly engage and support her local community both educationally and recreationally. As a member of a conservation board, Beks advocates for sustainable practices and has the joy of planning community conservation events that enhance the quality of life for those around her. She’s all about building a more sustainable future for everyone.
If her office availability is listed as “busy” she is most likely skiing.
Savannah Crichton
MicroGrid Project Manager
scrichton@realaska.org
Savannah supports rural communities in Alaska as they create sustainable community energy systems through the Energy Transitions Initiative Partnership Project (ETIPP). She’s excited to prioritize energy sovereignty in her work at REAP, drawing from her experience in community-led design and renewable energy research.
Throughout her career, Savannah has directed user research initiatives, crafted online and print media, developed tools to achieve food liberation, and worked with community partners to further goals of social justice. Before joining REAP, Savannah worked on the education, storytelling, and agrivoltaics research teams at the Alaska Center for Energy and Power, honing her commitment to community-centered work.
Originally from Arizona, Savannah cultivated a lasting love for mountains and extreme weather. She always makes time to garden, forage, create zines, block print, hike, cook and eat!
Emma Hamilton
Energy Storyteller Fellow
ehamilton@realaska.org
Deeply curious about energy systems and passionate about storytelling as a tool for education and connection, Emma is excited to join REAP as their Energy Storyteller Fellow through the Alaska Fellows Program. She recently earned her undergraduate degrees in English (Creative Writing) and Environmental Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. As part of her studies, Emma met with people involved in energy systems and conservation in Montana while traveling 700 miles by bicycle across the state, which fueled her interests in clean energy and place-based learning. Emma looks forward to learning more about Alaska’s energy ecosystem during her fellowship by collaborating with REAP staff and partners to tell their compelling stories related to REAP’s clean energy efforts in Alaska.
Emma loves spending her free time outside. Her favorite outdoor activities are nordic skiing, cycling, canoeing, and swimming in cool water. When she needs to hunker down inside, she enjoys painting, learning the guitar, and visible mending clothes.
Board of Directors
Business Constituency
Arctic Energy, Inc.
Greg Porter, President
Coffman Engineers
Lee Bolling, Senior Engineer
Cook Inlet Region, Inc.
Daniel Jensen, Director, Business Development and Asset Management (Treasurer)
Ethan Tyler, Senior Director, External Affairs (Alternate)
ORPC
Brian Murkowski, Consultant
STG, Inc.
Dave Myers, Director of Business Development
Phillip Pletnikoff, Project Engineer
Alaska Renewables, LLC
Faith Tyson, Community Engagement & Accountability Manager
Non-Profit/Educational Institution/Local Government Constituency
Alaska Center for Energy and Power
Jeremy Kasper, Director
Chris Pike, Research Engineer (Alternate)
The Alaska Center
Jenny-Marie Stryker, Political Director
Alex Petkanas, Climate & Clean Energy Program Manager (Alternate)
Institute of the North
Ian Laing, Executive Director (Chair)
Launch Alaska
Frances Ball, Operations and Outreach Director
Penny Gage, Managing Director (Alternate)
Northwest Arctic Borough
Ingemar Mathiasson, Energy Manager
Tanana Chiefs Conference
Dave Pelunis-Messier, Infrastructure Director
Utility Constituency
Alaska Village Electric Cooperative
Bill Stamm, CEO
Kotzebue Electric Association
Pierre Lonewolf, Board Secretary
Matanuska Electric Association
Julie Estey, Chief Strategy Officer (Secretary)
Ed Jenkin, Chief Energy Transformation Officer (Alternate)
Individual At-Large Constituency
John Davies
John Hargesheimer
Tim Hinterberger
Dr. Steve Konkel
Jim Nordlund
Scott Waterman (Vice Chair)
Executive Committee
Ian Laing (Chair)
Lee Bolling
Scott Waterman
Frances Ball
Daniel Jensen
John Davies
Julie Estey
Jim Nordlund (ex officio)
Public Policy Committee
John Davies (Chair)
Julie Estey
Erin McKittrick
Ian Laing
Lee Bolling
Dr. Steve Konkel
Scott Waterman
Frances Ball
Bill Stamm
Daniel Jensen
Jim Nordlund
Jenny-Marie Stryker
Finance Committee
Frances Ball (Chair)
Scott Waterman
I have a great deal of respect for the people at REAP. They have been tenacious advocates for maximizing the potential for renewable energy in Alaska.