EVELYN APONTE
Evelyn Aponte recently graduated from the College of William and Mary with a B.A. in History and Hispanic Studies. After an internship with the nonprofit organization Edu-Futuro, where she developed and delivered a Social Emotional Learning program, she is looking forward to working with faculty and students. Evelyn is actively searching for her first professional career, and in her free time you can find her doing Zumba and lifeguarding!
LIZ YE
Liz Ye (she/her) just finished her second year at the University of Vermont in Burlington, VT. She is majoring in Natural Resources with a minor in Law and Society. She loves to run, hike, and explore the outdoors. Liz loves studying species of trees as well as learning about invasive species! This summer she will be working on a sustainable farm as well as selling its organic produce at the farm stand in South Burlington, Vermont.
MEGHAN STEVENS
Meghan Stevens is a rising junior at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. She is double majoring in Biology and Environmental Studies. She also plays volleyball at school and is involved in several extracurriculars including the Student Athlete Advisory Council and the Sustainability Club. Meghan hopes to spend her life advocating for the environment and helping future generations have a chance to feel the same strong connection that she feels to the outdoors.
GREG SIMMONS
Greg Simmons is Guidehouse’s Director of Energy, Sustainability, and Infrastructure. As a recognized leader in sustainability and energy management, Greg has more than 20 years of experience meeting the complex challenges of large commercial, industrial, institutional, and governmental clients. His areas of specialization include greenhouse gas accounting, science-based target setting, climate risk mitigation, energy commodity supply, energy price risk management, carbon abatement, energy efficiency projects, onsite and offsite renewable energy, distributed energy solutions, and project finance.
Greg leads a worldwide practice focused on organizational decarbonization via the determination of existing climate impacts, the establishment of science-aligned sustainability ambitions, and the implementation of viable carbon abatement strategies. Greg’s clients include various US and international government agencies, multiple Fortune 1000 corporations, and numerous public and private organizations interested in advancing their sustainability objectives. As part of Guidehouse’s sustainability leadership team, Greg also heads Guidehouse’s programs relating to renewable energy and clean energy technologies for large end-users.
Before his role at Guidehouse, Greg held senior management positions at Siemens Building Technologies, Pepco Energy Services, and Equinor (formerly Statoil), focused on sales, account management, retail electricity, retail natural gas, energy consulting, and energy performance contracting.
Greg holds an MBA with a focus in corporate finance from the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland and a BS in Public Administration from George Mason University. Greg also received a certificate in Executive Integral Leadership from the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame.
ANDRES JIMENEZ
A long-time environmental advocate, Andrés Jimenez was tapped by Green 2.0’s Board of Directors in June 2020 to serve as its first full-time Executive Director. Andrés is a strategic thinker, a relationship-builder, and carries a deep, empathetic connection to the communities he advocates.
Most recently, Andrés served as Senior Director of Government Affairs at Citizens Climate Lobby (CCL), where he worked with both the House and Senate to help expand the voice of CCL and advocate for relevant legislation. Andrés also served as the Associate Director of Government Relations at Ocean Conservancy with a focus on creating bipartisan solutions for critical issues like ocean acidification and sustainable fisheries in the United States.
Andrés has a strong history of public service, having worked for New York City’s mayor’s office, the House Judiciary’s Immigration Subcommittee, Congresswoman Linda Sanchez, and Congressman Howard Berman. His work also includes being an active member of the GreenLatinos as well as serving on the board for the Culmore Clinic and a member of the Green Leadership Trust. Andres was appointed as Planning Commissioner for Fairfax, Virginia in 2020.
AHMED BADR
Ahmed M. Badr is a 23-year-old Iraqi-American author, poet, and social entrepreneur working at the intersection of creativity, displacement, and youth empowerment. Ahmed’s work seeks to combine poetry, archival collections, and multi-media to explore the complexities of migration, identity, and self-expression, with a focus on reframing and reclaiming the power of tragedy. He is author of While the Earth Sleeps We Travel: Stories, Poetry, and Art from Young Refugees Around the World (Andrews McMeel), featuring a foreword by actor and UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Ben Stiller.
On July 25, 2006, Ahmed’s home in Baghdad was bombed by militia troops. He and his family relocated to Syria, where they lived as refugees for over two years before receiving approval to move to the United States. As a teen, Ahmed founded Narratio, an organization and online platform that activates, supports, and highlights the creative expression of displaced young people through fellowships, workshops, publishing, and partnerships. In the summer of 2019, Narratio launched an annual storytelling Fellowship for resettled refugee youth in partnership with Syracuse University and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Over the past three years, work by the Narratio Fellows has reached over two million individuals worldwide.
Ahmed is the host of Virginia Public Media’s (VPM) Regional Murrow award-winning Resettled podcast, and the co-host of the World Bank’s #Youth4Climate Live Series. He is the former host of the UN Migration Agency’s (IOM) “A Way Home Together” podcast.
Ahmed is the storyteller behind UNPACKED: Refugee Baggage, a multi-media installation that remodels the homes of refugees inside a series of suitcases. UNPACKED is critically acclaimed and has been exhibited at UNICEF House, Harvard Divinity School, Yale University, Juilliard, Iowa State University, University of Chicago, Mississippi State University, and World Bank headquarters. In February 2020, Ahmed debuted four visual works at Educate, an exhibit featuring global emerging artists at Christie’s New York.
Ahmed has addressed the United Nations on more than ten occasions, and his work has been recognized by National Public Radio, Instagram, Buzzfeed, and Global Citizen, among others.
Ahmed received a BA in Anthropology from Wesleyan University and a Master’s in Education from Harvard University. He is the recipient of the Adrian Cheng Fellowship from Harvard Kennedy School, and the Social Innovation Fellowship Fund award from Harvard Business School. He is a National Geographic Young Explorer, and serves as one of 17 UN Young Leaders for the Sustainable Development Goals in the Office of the UN Secretary General’s Envoy on Youth. He attended the WYSE sister conference — the Washington Journalism and Media Conference — in 2014.
DR. JENNIFER SALERNO
Dr. Salerno is a marine biologist and microbial ecologist working at the intersection of science and policy. Dr. Salerno’s research interests focus on symbiotic and free-living microorganisms and the role that they play in maintaining and destabilizing organism health and ecosystem function. Recognizing the important link between human health and ecosystem health, this research is approached through the lens of seeking to advance basic science, while also developing environmental monitoring tools, practical applications, and policy guidance for environmental resource management and conservation. The Salerno Laboratory is currently working on projects pertaining to coral and fish disease, interactions between microbes and microplastics, and microbes as biological indicators of aquatic health.
Dr. Salerno also engages in science communication and interdisciplinary work at the intersection of science, policy, and diplomacy. She previously worked on coastal and ocean issues in the U.S. House of Representatives as a NOAA Sea Grant Knauss Fellow and served as an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science and Technology Policy Fellow at the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Office of Economic Policy. In this capacity she advised and coordinated U.S. policy on science and technology, energy, and oceans issues across U.S. federal agencies and in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).
NATHANIEL APONTE
Nathaniel Aponte is a junior at Christopher Newport University. He is majoring in Marketing and minoring in Graphic Design. At CNU, he is involved in the Student Marketing Association, Student Sustainability Commission, and intramural soccer. Nathaniel is looking forward to a great summer working on the Advance Team
JULIE WALKER
Julie Walker completed her PhD in Interdisciplinary Ecology from the University of Florida in 2021. Her research focuses on the ecological influence of climate mitigated range expansion of tropical mangrove trees into coastal wetlands traditionally dominated by temperature saltmarshes, as well as investigating the potential for advancement of coastal wetland management on all geopolitical scales. Prior to her graduate studies Julie worked at the Chesapeake Bay Program, where she was a part of the Stewardship goal team aimed at increasing science literacy, public access, and land protection across the bay watershed. Currently, Julie is working as Visiting Assistant Professor at her undergraduate alma mater St. Mary’s College of Maryland, where she teaches in the Biology and Environmental Studies Departments. In her spare time, Julie likes explore nature through kayaking, bike riding, or just walking her dog.
ABIGAIL LOUGHLIN
Abigail Loughlin is ecstatic to be joining WYSE for her fourth summer! She attended the program as a high school student, a Junior Faculty advisor, and is thrilled to be working as a Faculty Advisor for the second time. Abigail is an alum of George Mason University, and is currently completing her Master’s Degree in Climate Change and Anthropogenic Roles at Columbia University. When she is not in the classroom learning, she can be found teaching fellow graduate students, engaging with elementary students on sustainability topics, or reading in a nearby park. Abigail can not wait to rejoin the WYSE team in-person this year, as well as learn from fellow advisors and incoming students!
