Our Biomass Energy Leadership Team

Members of the BERC leadership team have national reputations in the sustainable development and use of woody biomass and other biomass resources for thermal energy, electricity generation, and liquid biofuels. This talented team will leverage BERC’s national leadership in community-scale biomass district energy, institutional wood heating, and sustainable management of biomass resources—and will be led by the following executives, senior managers, and program staff:

Erin Carroll, Consulting Division Director & Professional Engineer
Biomass energy and CHP engineering experience

Erin Carroll joined VEIC in 2011, bringing with her more than 25 years of professional and engineering experience in the design, construction, startup, and low-cost project sourcing for power generation, industrial manufacturing, and institutional facilities. These projects included the evaluation of power generation and use of waste streams (heat and water) to improve the overall efficiency and operability of systems and processes. Erin has facilitated procurement strategies, demand plans, cost estimates, materials management, budgeting, scheduling, and contract negotiations for complex capital projects in the biomass energy, combined heat and power (CHP), cogeneration, gas, coal, and nuclear power industries. Among other positions, Erin previously served as Director of Engineering at Northern Power Systems, where she was responsible for technical performance of sustainable energy and CHP projects. In addition, she worked for Parsons Engineering and Bath Iron Works, where she served as Design Engineer. Prior to joining VEIC, Erin served as Managing Director at PowerAdvocate, where she was responsible for managing utility client engagements with a focus on supply chain effectiveness through procurement strategic plans and procedure validation. Erin is widely recognized for her engineering and technical expertise, analytic skills, project costing, and project management experience. Erin received an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Union College and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute. She has an M.B.A. from Walden University and is a registered Professional Engineer.

Scudder Parker, Director of Policy
BERC Founder and Board President

With more than 25 years of experience in the development and implementation of sustainable energy and energy efficiency policies and programs, Scudder Parker led the founding and development of BERC from its inception and served on the Board of Directors and as Board President for many years. Scudder joined the Consulting Division at VEIC in 2008 and has served as Director of VEIC Consulting since 2010. Scudder also had a lead role in developing the concept that led to Efficiency Vermont (the first statewide energy efficiency utility in the nation). Previously, Scudder served as Director of the Energy Efficiency Division of the Vermont Department of Public Service for 13 years, was a four-term State Senator, and was a gubernatorial candidate. Scudder has led multiple consulting projects that resulted in policy, regulatory, and infrastructure changes that have achieved aggressive sustainable energy and efficiency savings targets. He develops plans for launching new or improved sustainable energy and energy efficiency delivery mechanisms; leads negotiations between utilities and stakeholders on energy goals, budgets, program designs, and integration of efficiency and sustainable energy initiatives; and testifies in state policy and regulatory proceedings.

Christine Donovan, Managing Consultant & BERC Team Leader
Former President of C.T. Donovan Associates, Inc. providing biomass energy services nationwide

Christine Donovan joined VEIC in late 2008 as a Managing Consultant and senior member of VEIC’s Consulting Division. Previously, she was President of C.T. Donovan Associates, Inc. (CTD), a renewable energy consulting firm founded in 1986 that specialized in biomass applications for thermal energy, electricity generation, and liquid biofuels. CTD gained a national reputation for: (1) its expertise in conducting comprehensive biomass feedstock supply assessments for wood-fired power plants and cellulosic ethanol facilities throughout the eastern U.S.; (2) advancing sustainable biomass energy policies and regulations through the leadership and management of complex, multi-state stakeholder engagement processes; and (3) seminal work identifying opportunities for utilizing various sources of clean wood waste for fuel. Christine served as Technical Consultant to the Biomass Energy Resource Center for the two-year Northern Forest Biomass Energy Initiative led by BERC, the Northern Forest Center, and the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire. In addition, she designed, organized, and led the two-day Biomass Energy District Heating Roundtable convened by BERC, and served as Technical Consultant on many other BERC projects. CTD’s clients included the: U.S. Department of Energy; USDA Forest Service; National Renewable Energy Laboratory; Coalition of Northeastern Governors Policy Research Center, Inc.; Great Lakes Regional Biomass Energy Program; New York State Energy Research and Development Authority; numerous state energy offices, electric utilities, and power plant developers; ABN AMRO International Bank; and Bank of Tokyo. Christine was selected by the Electric Power Research Institute and National Audubon Society to serve on the prestigious National Biofuels Roundtable; was a Founding Board Member of the Renewable Energy 4 Policy Project based in Washington, D.C; was appointed by President Clinton to serve on his national Climate Change Task Force; and is past Chair of the Board of Directors of the American Solar Energy Society, Northeast Sustainable Energy Association, and Maine Solar Energy Association (among others). Christine has led many large, multidisciplinary teams of experts in biomass, solar, wind, hydro, and energy efficiency, and is widely recognized for her strong team leadership, stakeholder engagement, project management, and communication skills.

Adam Sherman, Consultant
Former BERC Program Director

Adam Sherman has more than 18 years of experience in the biomass energy industry, and directed BERC’s technology and biomass fuel supply activities before joining VEIC in 2012. Adam’s work focusses on assessing energy project feasibility and on assessing, developing, and strengthening the biomass fuel supply chain. Adam has conducted dozens of feasibility studies for single-facility heating, campus CHP, and biomass district heating projects across North America. He has written many state- and regional-level biomass resource assessments, and has completed resource assessments for specific projects quantifying and characterizing the biomass resources and markets within various geographic areas. During his time at BERC, Adam conducted site visits to nearly 100 successful biomass energy systems throughout North America and Europe, and published multiple case studies and reports describing the systems and keys to successful installations at other facilities. Before joining BERC in 2004, Sherman was general manager at the Intervale Compost Products Company in Burlington, Vermont, where he increased the scale of that organization from a small recycling project into a well-established and successful composting business. Sherman is proficient in German.

Juliette Juillerat
Biomass energy resource assessment experience and forest ecology background

With a special interest in biomass energy, Juliette Juillerat applies her biomass energy and forest ecology expertise to her work in calculating the technical and economic potential of biomass energy. She also provides support to the Vermont statewide renewable energy incentive by reviewing and assessing the potential for expanding Efficiency Vermont’s biomass energy incentive. In addition, as part of her recent Master’s degree in Science, Juliette performed comprehensive measurements and calculations of carbon storage in all components of forests managed for timber (e.g., living trees, undergrowth, snags, down woody material, litter / duff, and soil). The study was conducted according to the USDA Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) tool. She also modeled and mapped carbon storage in Vermont’s forest soils at the state level. Juliette currently serves on her Town’s Conservation Commission and is writing the management plan for the Town forest, with a focus on forest management for sustainability and wildlife habitat. Prior to joining VEIC, Juliette worked as a wildlife biologist specializing on avian species of forests. She is fluent in French and English and has a working knowledge of Spanish and German.