Panelist Biographies

Over the last twelve years, he has moved up through the ranks at City Hall serving in various capacities for the City’s Chief Executive. As an Operations Analyst and Assistant Chief of Staff to Mayor Bill White, he launched the City’s performance management program and facilitated major cross-departmental initiatives. Under Mayor Annise Parker, he led the City’s Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ) program, overseeing nearly $140 million each year in economic development projects throughout the City.  Most recently, he served as the Director of the Performance Improvement Division, an internal consulting team tasked with business process improvements, performance management, and strategic planning.

 

Jesse is a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and a User Experience (UX) expert with a dogged passion to improve the city and enhance the lives of Houstonians. He received his Master of Business Administration from the University of Houston and his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and International Studies from the University of St. Thomas. In his free time, he enjoys running and spending time with his wife, Gloria and their two sons.

 

With 13 years of communications and public policy experience, Lara is the Chief of Staff of the Administration and Regulatory Affairs Department and the Chief Sustainability Officer for the City of Houston. In addition to leading the Mayor’s Sustainability Office, Lara is the public face of ARA in the media as well as before City Council, industry stakeholders, and customers.

Prior to joining the City of Houston, Lara was a member of Hill+Knowlton Strategies’ Houston office, providing strategic counsel in sustainability and social responsibility issues for a broad range of clients across the energy sector. Lara worked in Washington, DC and served as Communications Director for the Chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, Vice Chairman of the House Transportation Committee, and Vice Chairman of the Sustainable Energy and Environment Caucus, as well as for congressional campaigns in Colorado, West Virginia, and Texas. She also produced a web-based reality show for CNN and served as a Government & Marketing Consultant for SXSW Interactive in Austin. 

Lara attended the University of Texas in Austin where she graduated magna cum laude with degrees in History, Ancient History & Classical Civilizations, and Government. In 2013, she earned an MBA in Energy Finance and Public Affairs from the University of Texas at Austin’s McCombs School of Business, where she co-founded the UT Energy Savings Fund.

 

Katharine Hayhoe is a climate scientist, a professor in the  Department of Political Science and director of the Climate Science Center at Texas Tech University, part of the Department of Interior’s South-Central Climate Science Center. Her research currently focuses on establishing a scientific basis for assessing the regional to local-scale impacts of climate change on human systems and the natural environment. To this end, she analyzes observations, compares future scenarios, evaluates global and regional climate models, builds and assesses statistical down scaling models, and constantly strives to develop better ways of translating climate projections into information relevant to agriculture, ecosystems, energy, infrastructure, public health, and water resources.

Katharine is also the founder and CEO of ATMOS Research which bridges the gap between scientists and stakeholders to provide relevant, state-of-the-art information on how climate change will affect our lives to a broad range of non-profit, industry and government clients. It works with a broad range of organizations, from Austin Water to Boston Logan Airport, to assess the potential impacts of climate change on their infrastructure and future planning.

Click here to learn more about Katharine Hayhoe.

Grant Hughes is an environmental scientist from the Washington, DC area. He currently works as a Sustainability Specialist with Jacobs Engineering, in the promotion of sustainable design and green building certification. His academic experience includes a bachelor’s of science degree in Environmental Science and Technology from the University of Maryland and Master’s coursework in Environmental Planning and Management with Johns Hopkins University. Mr. Hughes’ professional experience includes work in environmental impact assessment, federal environmental justice project implementation, stormwater management and construction, and Montessori education. 

Scott Janoe is the firm-wide chair of Baker Botts’ Environmental Department. He advises energy, mining, and manufacturing clients on environmental, health, safety, and transportation matters. Mr. Janoe’s clients turn to him for the full suite of environmental issues ranging from permitting and compliance counseling to litigation, enforcement defense, and crisis management. Over the years, he has developed particular experience in regulatory compliance issues arising from oil and gas exploration and production. Mr. Janoe has assisted energy clients on environmental matters from California to New Jersey, North Dakota to offshore Gulf of Mexico and many points in between.

 

Click here to learn more about Scott Janoe.

 

Dr. Kremer obtained his PhD in physical chemistry from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City Utah and his BS in Chemistry from the University of Texas at Austin. As Senior Technology Advisor at Baker Hughes, he was involved in many areas including handling of hydrocarbons form hydraulic fracturing operations, processing various feed stocks in refineries including biomass based feed stocks, carbon capture and storage, and reducing hazards handling hydrogen sulfide.  He worked on evaluating new technologies, particularly from small stat up companies.

 

Marie Miglin is an engineer with experience in the energy industry.  She worked on nuclear power, on petroleum and hydrogen fuels, and is currently a consultant.  Marie joined CCL in 2015 out of concern for the impact of climate change on third world countries.  She realized during hurricane Harvey that it is clearly a local issue as well.  She has led the Katy Chapter of CCL for the past three years and especially enjoys working with students.

John W. Nielsen-Gammon is a Regents Professor in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Texas A&M University, and serves as the Texas State Climatologist. He holds a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He joined the faculty at Texas A&M University in 1991 and was appointed Texas State Climatologist by then-Governor George W. Bush in 2000. He is a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society. Dr. Nielsen-Gammon’s research involves such topics as jet streams, heavy rain, sea breezes, air pollution, data assimilation, climate data quality, and drought monitoring and forecasting. He teaches courses in weather analysis, weather forecasting, atmospheric dynamics, climatology, and climate change.

Dubbed the "Alice Waters of the Third Coast," Texas-reared chef Monica Pope has been revolutionizing Houston's culinary scene since she debuted her first restaurant in 1992. As a high school student, she dreamed of “opening a restaurant and changing the way Houston eats.” Pope shares her passion for connecting local farmers and us, the co-producers, by hosting interactive cooking classes and Pop Ups in a Field or any beautiful place. Pope has enjoyed national recognition in the form of a James Beard Award nomination and a spot competing on the 2010 second season of Top Chef Masters on Bravo. She is still the only female Texas chef to be named a Top Ten Best New Chef by Food & Wine magazine thanks to her food philosophy, "eat where your food lives".

 

Click here to read more about Monica Pope.