Solar Oregon Team

 

Board Executive Committee

Bob Patterson: President – Bob has been Public Works Director of the City of Pendleton, Oregon for several decades, leading projects for water supply infrastructure and energy efficiency, and overseeing 4 divisions. Bob was one of the trailblazers for solar in Pendleton as they installed their first city project on the roof of the Water Filtration facility. From there, he helped facilitate the first Solarize campaign in Pendleton, with 56 homes participating in the program. He was named a 2016 American Public Works Association (APWA) Top Ten Public Works Leader of the Year and was awarded the 2016 Energy Trust of Oregon Achievement Award.

Kelly Yearick: Past President – Kelly is a Senior Program Manager at Forth where she oversees a team and projects aimed at increasing access to electric cars. She moved to Oregon in 2015 to pursue her passion for sustainability by completing her Masters in Environmental Management at Portland State University. Kelly soon realized Oregon’s fantastic solar potential and became increasingly aware of the urgency of moving toward a carbon-free transportation sector. Kelly believes all Oregonians should have access to a clean energy future and works to pursue that goal every day.

Jonah Yearick: Treasurer – Jonah has been living in the Pacific Northwest since 2015 and is passionate about solar energy and sustainable solutions for all our energy needs.  By day, Jonah works as an actuary for The Standard, leading a team focused on Individual Disability Insurance pricing and product development.  Jonah is an advocate for solar (and a proud owner of a residential solar system) and looks forward to the great work that Solar Oregon will be doing with the local Oregon community.

Bridget Callahan: Secretary – Bridget is passionate about increasing solar access and opportunities for rural Oregon. At Sustainable Northwest, she advances community-driven clean energy programs, projects and policies across the northwest, piloting innovative models and community-finance projects for rural communities. She spent several years living and working in eastern Oregon helping rural schools save energy, developing Solarize campaigns and building a network of clean energy leaders. Bridget is a native Oregonian, attended the University of Oregon and has been working to deploy smart energy use and policy in Oregon ever since. 

Zakir Hakim: at large – Zak is owner of Eastside Solar, and has been developing solar projects nationally for nearly a decade.  From residential arrays to utility scale solar solutions, he has delivered quality solar construction services on time and in budget.  He has been awarded solar power grants from the USDA, Pacific Power, ODOE, and Portland General Electric totaling more than half a million dollars of grant funding.

Board Members

Linda Barnes: Linda is a LEED accredited professional and a licensed architect in Oregon and Arizona. She is a principal in the all women-owned architectural firm, Merryman Barnes Architects, where every design decision has energy implications. The firm tackles commercial, multi-family and single-family residential solar projects, and new and remodeled LEED certified building projects, which include energy efficient envelopes, passive design, Trombe walls, solar water heating and photovoltaics. Linda has been involved with Solar Oregon for over 20 years and has supported educational events and tours. Educated in Arizona, Linda is thankful for all the solar advocates in Oregon working diligently to demonstrate how solar works in Oregon.

Kundai Chirindo: Kundai is an Associate Professor of Rhetoric and Media Studies, Director of General Education, and Director of the Ethnic Studies program at Lewis & Clark College in Portland. Oregon. His scholarly work and teaching focus on how we communicate about the environment and climate change. These interests led him to closely examine the work of Wangari Maathai (a 2004 Nobel Peace Prize Winner for her environmental work). In 2019, Kundai was voted Vice-President elect of the Environmental Communication Division of the National Communication Association.

Jason Love: A communications, public relations and marketing professional specializing in high-tech, counting companies such as Microsoft, Verizon, Roku and FIRST Robotics among his clients, Jason has been tinkering with electronics and solar energy since elementary school. With an 8 kW solar system on his roof and an electric car in the driveway of his family’s Portland home, he daydreams about the best ways to instill solar curiosity in his neighbors, kids, and the broader community or make his home smarter.

Margaret Olson: Margaret is an Environmental Engineer with the EPA specializing in hazardous waste management and brownfields redevelopment.  As a part of this, she encourages renewable energy project development on formerly contaminated properties rather than developing on green space.  In her spare time, she enjoys volunteering for Friends of Trees and exploring the natural wonders of the Pacific NW.

John Dadoly: John recently retired from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality where he worked as a Hydrogeologist and Water Quality Specialist in the Solid Waste, Cleanup, and Water Quality Programs. After a long career in eastern Oregon, he hopes to help facilitate solar energy development in rural communities and has started with a photovoltaic system on his Pendleton home. John also enjoys hiking, skiing, and fly fishing, as well as teaching outdoor school water quality lessons to middle school children.

Knowledge Murphy: Knowledge Murphy is a consultant in the fields of renewable energy, energy efficiency, as well as a content creator, entrepreneur, and an environmental justice advocate. He is also an advocate for Black people having peace. He is the owner & CEO of Black Man, Green Plan LLC, a consulting company & multimedia brand which focuses on spreading info about renewable energy, energy efficiency, sustainability, & most importantly, environmental/climate justice to Black, and Brown people, or Original people, in a culturally relevant manner. Knowledge is currently working as the Western Solar Specialist with American Farmland Trust.

Edward Louie: Edward Louie works at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory as a Building Energy Efficiency Research Engineer. Edward loves long-time solar PV, batteries, heat pumps, energy efficiency, affordable housing, sustainable cities, and building science. Outside of work he has been working on an off-grid, PV-powered, all-electric, heat pump everything, super energy efficient tiny house on wheels which was on the 2021 Go Zero Energy Tour. Edward’s hobbies are cooking, cycling, hiking, photography, and archery. Feel free to reach out to me about all things related to building energy efficiency, safety, and resiliency.   

Jennifer Rouda: Jennifer is the founder of 7Skyline, LLC, a woman-owned consulting firm certified in Oregon and California to support utility scale solar and electric transmission development  projects in the Western US. Previously she served as a Vice President for Abengoa Transmission & Infrastructure in Phoenix, AZ. Prior to her work at Abengoa, Jennifer managed global business development and directed the national electric transmission planning practice for CH2M HILL Engineering in Oakland, CA and Portland, OR. She has also worked as a principal consultant for Ecology and Environment, Inc. on renewable energy projects and for the US Department of the Interior in Washington, DC on energy policy during the Clinton Administration.

Dedicated Volunteers

Corey Omey: Corey is an avid solar supporter, with solar on his own remodeled home.  His home is often shown on green home tours and is a model of how to incorporate energy efficiency, modern aesthetics, durability, art, light, renewable energy, and recycled, reclaimed, and re-used materials into a remodel project.   Corey also volunteers with the Northwest Earth Institute, is an active member and volunteer with GRiT, the Green Roof information Thinktank.  Corey began his professional career in 1998 as an intern with Ernest Munch Architect LLC, working as part of the team on retail, winery, and housing projects.   As his skills developed, he became project manager, then an architect in 2007, and partner in 2012, and is now Owner of EMA, LLC.  The firm specializes in owner occupied buildings, and many projects include solar in their scope.  Corey is a LEED AP, and registered architect in Oregon, Michigan, and California.

Carey Booth: Carrie is an experienced teacher and a green energy enthusiast. She first learned of Solar Oregon in 2008 when she got her first photovoltaic (PV) panels. She had been wanting solar panels since the 1970s, and she continued to add more environmental features to her home. Due to the solar projects, Carrie’s house was on a Build It Green Tour with the city in 2011, and she thoroughly enjoyed sharing these additions to her home and solar knowledge with the community. In 2019, she joined the Solar Oregon Go Zero Tour as a site host. She was inspired by the other homes on the tour and looked into getting more PV panels on her east roof slope. She added 7.3 kW as well as optimizers on the old panels and a new inverter to handle the new panels. Carrie is currently on the committee for the Go Zero Tour and also for the Green Energy Series webinars. 

Staff

Aby Jaeger: Program Manager – Aby Jaeger is originally from Southern California. She moved to Oregon six years ago originally moving to Salem in order to attend Willamette University. She moved to Portland after graduating with a BA in math and a minor in politics. She previously worked as an environmental planner at WSP USA where she worked on large scale infrastructure projects in the Portland Metro Area. She is passionate about the work being done at Solar Oregon and has enjoyed jumping in with both feet to help teach others about the intricacies of going solar.

Nicole Maticic: Program Manager – Nicole Maticic has a background in nonprofits, education, operations, and data analytics. Her teaching experience encompasses a range of topics from STEAM, urban agriculture, and fermentation to art and cooking. Optimizing processes, creating standards, and strategic planning are some of her favorite aspects of project management, and she is excited to bring these skills to the Solar Oregon Team.