Currently Powering 1,908,211 Homes

Follow Us On...
 
 
 
 
Jump To >
Click the quick links below to go directly to the section listed.
 
With a range of backgrounds and a dedication to their work, our staff are a key component of the organization's effectiveness. We hope these short bios give you a little insight into the depth of talent at Renewable Northwest Project.

Our Staff

J. Rachel Shimshak, Executive Director

Rachel Shimshak has served as Executive Director of Renewable Northwest Project – a leading non-profit advocacy group - since its inception in 1994. Under her leadership, the organization has supported the implementation of more than 7,000 MW of wind, geothermal and solar resources in the Northwest. The region has become a national clean energy leader, attracting robust renewable industries and manufacturing clusters. With Rachel at the helm, Renewable Northwest Project has grown to include over 50 member organizations – including businesses, non-profits and academic institutions – working toward the shared mission of a clean energy future and a healthy economy, workforce and environment.

 

Rachel has a rich history of leadership in the energy field. She has been chosen by Governors to serve on numerous high-level committees, including the Comprehensive Review of the Northwest Energy System in 1996, Western Governors’ Association, and the Oregon Ten-Year Energy Action Plan Taskforce. Before launching Renewable Northwest Project, Rachel served as Policy Director for the Massachusetts Division of Energy Resources, where she worked on an array of energy issues, from natural gas and oil to conservation, renewables and emergency planning. Prior to that, she was Legislative Director for a Massachusetts consumer group and an advocate in Colorado and Washington, D.C.

 

Rachel has served on the boards of several non-profit, clean energy and educational organizations and has been recognized by an array of groups for her contributions to clean energy. She is currently Secretary of the Bonneville Environmental Foundation. She received the Green Power Leadership Award/Green Power Pioneer Award from the Environmental Protection Agency, United States Department of Energy and the Center for Resource Solutions. She was recognized as Woman of the Year by Women of Wind Energy and as a 2011 Influencer of Wind Power by Windpower Engineering. Rachel is dedicated to community involvement and served as President at Havurah Shalom Synagogue. She is a graduate of the University of Oregon and is a native Oregonian.


Amy Baird, Communications Manager

Amy joined the team at Renewable Northwest Project in January 2013. She spent the previous six years focusing on endangered species conservation. Her communications work has included global campaigns for the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and more recently regional and national work with the Save Our Wild Salmon Coalition. She graduated cum laude in 2006 with a B.A. in Global Economic Relations from the University of the Pacific. During college, she enjoyed a semester studying Spanish and marine biology in Costa Rica. A native of the Northwest, Amy enjoys delicious food, exploring the great outdoors, and a close game of cribbage.


Megan Walseth Decker, Chief Counsel

Megan manages RNP’s participation in state regulatory proceedings, and also assists with project siting issues. Before coming to RNP in 2010, Megan’s legal practice emphasized Oregon land use law and state and federal appellate litigation. Megan holds a J.D. from the University of Washington Law School and a B.A. from Stanford University. She is a native of Aberdeen and Longview, Washington.

Dina Dubson, Staff Counsel

Dina joined RNP in May 2012 as Staff Counsel. Before coming to RNP, Dina’s legal practice focused on advising utilities and independent power producers on energy issues, with an emphasis on issues related to the development and integration of wind and solar energy projects. A Florida native, Dina came to Oregon in 2005 to attend the University of Oregon School of Law, where she received her JD. She holds a B.A. in Political Science and Environmental Studies from Tufts University. Dina serves on the Boards of the Portland Chapter of Women of Wind Energy and the Oregon Area Jewish Committee.


Jeff L. Fox, Montana Policy Manager

Jeff is a native Montanan, wilderness lover, elk hunter, and backcountry skier deeply committed to clean energy solutions for Montana and the nation. He joined RNP in February of 2011 to further the organization’s on-the-ground presence in Montana. Jeff's background includes working as a wilderness ranger in Colorado and Wyoming, before moving to Washington, DC, to join The Wilderness Society. Missing the mountains, he returned home to assist in the Montana Legacy Project, a $520 million dollar conservation purchase of 320,000 acres of private timber lands threatened by development and fragmentation. Most recently,Jeff was an independent contractor working to organize business support for clean energy. He currently volunteers on the policy committee of the Montana Renewable Energy Association.

Jimmy Lindsay, Regulatory Analysis Manager

In 2011, Jimmy returned to Oregon, his native home, to support RNP as Regulatory Analysis Manager, a role that entails technical research and advocacy for responsible operation and planning of power systems. Previously, Jimmy lived in Stockholm, Sweden, where he fulfilled a Fulbright Scholarship studying renewable energy engineering at the Royal Institute of Technology. Jimmy has also worked as a NASA Space Grant fellow. A returning RNP staff member, Jimmy previously served as an intern. He holds a B.A. in physics and history from Bowdoin College and is also a sound engineer and windsurfing instructor.

Michael O'Brien, Policy Associate

Michael serves as a Policy Associate, bringing a depth of legislative and technical experience to RNP's policy team. Before coming to RNP in mid-2012, Michael served in the House of Commons advising Members of Parliament on energy and climate policy in the UK. He has published numerous reports on a variety of energy issues ranging from renewable energy systems to low carbon economies. At RNP, he will analyze renewable energy and siting policy as well as support RNP's solar policy development in the Pacific Northwest. In addition to his work with RNP, Michael is currently serving as an Expert Reviewer for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) of an Assessment Report focusing on Energy Systems. O'Brien holds a PhD and a Masters of Science from the University of Birmingham as well as a Masters of Philosophy from the Judge Business School at the University of Cambridge.


Caitlin Peel, Office Manager

Caitlin joined RNP in February of 2010. Caitlin was born and raised in Tucson, Arizona and is a graduate from Occidental College in Los Angeles, California where she received a B.A. in Urban and Environmental Policy. Prior to moving to Portland in January 2009, Caitlin worked with several community organizing groups, focusing primarily on issues around organizing the homeless on Los Angeles' Skid Row, and was the artistic director for a student-run literary magazine for three years. During college Caitlin spent some time overseas, first working in Ireland for an educational development non-profit, and then in South Africa, where she studied multiculturalism and social change.

Varner Seaman, Policy Director

Varner joined RNP’s staff in February 2013. Prior to joining RNP, he worked for EDP Renewables in government and regulatory affairs. In that capacity, he served on RNP’s Board of Directors, and has several years of renewable energy policy experience. Varner got his start in politics working on Labor issues. He served on several Boards of Directors including the Northwest and Intermountain Power Producers Coalition, the Independent Energy Producers Association, and the Interwest Energy Alliance. Additionally, Varner was the Western region caucus chair for the American Wind Energy Association State Policy Committee. Varner boasts an impressive acronym vocabulary and also enjoys racing his bicycle extremely long distances with the Portland-based Nossa Familia team.


David Wolf, Administrative Director

David joined RNP in June 2002. David is an Oregon native and has a BA from Reed College. Prior to working for RNP, David has been a natural foods merchandiser for Nature's Fresh Northwest, operated his own web design company, and managed a large-format digital print shop. In addition to his duties at RNP, David serves on the board for The Wallace Medical Concern, a nonprofit providing free medical care to low-income, uninsured people in the Portland area.

Cameron Yourkowski, Senior Policy Manager

Cameron’s work focuses on increasing access to transmission for renewable energy resources and increasing the efficiency and capability of the transmission system to integrate variable energy resources. He is active in the policy and rate setting forums at BPA, FERC, NPCC, WGA, WECC and the state legislative and regulatory bodies. Prior to coming to RNP in 2007, he worked for the Alaska State Legislature on energy and fisheries issues. Cameron holds a M.S. and B.A. in economics from Portland State University and the University of Montana, respectively.
RNP Staff Photo
June 2012
(back row, left to right) John Audley, Jeff Fox, David Wolf, Cameron Yourkowski, Erin Greeson.
(front row) Rachel Shimshak, Caitlin Peel, Dina Dubson, Megan Walseth Decker, Jimmy Lindsay.
RNP Memories

Some RNP staff and board members recently took a trip down the Salmon River in Idaho. See some photos of the trip and other great moments in our histroy.

About the RNP Board & Our Members
RNP Board Officers and Directors are the ultimate decision-making authority for RNP. The Board is composed of individuals from environmental and consumer nonprofit organizations, as well as for-profit companies working in the renewable energy sector. RNP's bylaws require that the majority of the Directors be affiliated with nonprofit advocacy organizations to ensure the organization maintains a focus on our environmental mission.
 
The list of our general member organizations shows the breadth and depth of the entire coalition. While the voting power resides with the Board, the diversity of our entire coalition is what gives RNP its strength of vision. Links to each member website, and name of their main representative to RNP, is also provided here.
This text shows the supremacy of conjucting the creativity of working in group with the same spirituality of compromising that which is called as an alternative power of freedom and happyness.icon pop quiz In case you like our work, you should adhere what we love to call as Citalopram beteks, the specific citalopram side effects Omeprazole Side Effects word named after Omeprazole logos quiz answers luxury and money.