BERC’s staff and board embody a wide range of relevant professional experience and expertise, including biomass fuel systems, environmental policy and management, forestry, and project and program management.

Brenda Quiroz Maday, Executive Director

Brenda Quiroz Maday became BERC's executive director in June of 2011. With more than a decade of experience in the environmental and renewable energy communities, she has managed programs to promote renewable energy investment and increase sustainable economic development through both domestic and international partnerships among technical, business, and governmental stakeholders. Quiroz Maday supported the US Trade and Development Agency, by conducting market and financial assessments for seven projects seeking to increase trade in renewable technologies between the US and Mexico, Colombia, El Salvador, and Guatemala. Technology included agricultural non-food based biomass, landfill gas recovery, solar photovoltaic, concentrated thermal solar, and wind. Quiroz Maday has a master’s in Business Administration from Georgetown University in Washington DC, a bachelor of science in Industrial Chemical Engineering from the National Polytechnic Institute in Mexico City, and a certificate in environmental management from Germany.  She holds dual citizenship in Mexico and the United States and is fluent in Spanish and English.

Andrea L. Colnes, Policy and Development Director

Andi Colnes has spent much of her career working on natural resource public policy and coalition building throughout New England and elsewhere in the country, where she has held a variety of positions focused on large-scale land conservation, sustainable forestry, and energy issues across the Northeast. Her background in energy issues began with her work on Vermont's first Comprehensive Energy Plan under Governor Madeleine Kunin, and more recently working closely with BERC and partners in launching and implementing the Northern Forest Biomass Energy Initiative. Colnes was founding executive director of the Northern Forest Alliance, policy director of the Northern Forest Center, and deputy director of the Vermont Natural Resources Council. She co-founded Americans for Our Heritage and Recreation and the Eastern Forest Partnership and helped launch the National Rural Assembly. Immediately prior to joining BERC in February of 2009, Colnes served as the policy leadership director for the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire, where she worked with nonprofit leaders throughout northern New England. Colnes has a master’s in Wildlife Conservation from the University of Maine and a BA in Political Science from Williams College.

Hillary Emick, Program Assistant

Hillary Emick performs data collection and analysis, site assessments, and research for projects, programs and policy initiatives. She joined BERC in 2005, committed to thinking globally and acting locally to impact climate change. Emick holds bachelor’s degrees in Integrated Environmental Science and Political Science from Johnson State College, Johnson, Vermont.

Sarah Galbraith, Operations Manager

Sarah Galbraith has been working in the renewable energy field for eight years. In 2011, she became BERC’s operations manager, developing and implementing processes that ensure the smooth and efficient delivery of BERC’s products and services. Prior to this, she served as project assistant then assistant program manager with BERC, completing more than 40 feasibility studies and fuel supply assessments. Before joining BERC in 2005, Galbraith worked with the Institute for Sustainable Energy to benchmark energy efficiency in schools and develop energy curriculum. She holds a BS in Biology and Environmental Earth Science from Eastern Connecticut State University.

Anthony Mennona, Office and Finance Director

As BERC’s office and finance director, Anthony Mennona works with the executive director and staff in the financial management of the organization in such areas as fiscal planning, project finances, budget oversight, and federal grant reporting.  Additionally, he oversees the general management of the office, including human resources.  Previous to joining BERC in July of 2009, Mennona was the controller at the Central Vermont Community Land Trust, an affordable housing organization.  He holds a BS in Business Management from the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey.

Pamela A. Porter, Midwest Office Director

Pamela Porter is Midwest office director in Madison, Wisconsin, where she leads BERC's efforts in the lake states region. She is co-author of Heating with Biomass: A Feasibility Study of Wisconsin Schools Heated with Wood and Growing Wisconsin Energy: A Native Grass Pellet Bio-Heat Roadmap for Wisconsin. Before joining BERC, she served as senior advisor to Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk and to Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle. Prior to that she served as executive director for Clean Wisconsin, a statewide environmental organization and as product development manager for Agrecol Corporation, the Midwest’s largest producer of native plants and seeds. Porter holds a BS in Agriculture and an MS in Agronomy from the University of Wisconsin, where she studied the use of switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) as a forage.

Adam Sherman, Program Director

Adam Sherman leads BERC’s biomass fuel supply department. His work focuses on assessing, developing, and strengthening the biomass fuel supply chain. He has conducted numerous feasibility studies that quantify and characterize the biomass resources and markets within various geographic areas. His responsibilities include assessing regional biomass resources, analyzing the feasibility of pellet mill and wood fuel processing operations, and developing new strategies to increase the sustainability of biomass fuels and ensuring fuel quality and sources. In addition, Sherman frequently works with the rest of the BERC technical staff on energy projects. Before joining BERC in 2004, he was general manager at Intervale Compost Products in Burlington, Vermont for 10 years, where he transformed the small recycling project into a thriving composting business. He holds a BA in Environmental Studies from the University of Vermont.

Gretchen Stern, Education Coordinator

Gretchen Stern is BERC’s education coordinator, responsible for planning and coordinating educational program activities, including: scheduling, organizing, and planning conferences and events; developing study tours to biomass facilities for enhanced understanding of these systems; and supporting the publication of all educational materials. Additionally, she is responsible for staff development, teambuilding, and event coordination and performs administrative functions as necessary. Stern comes to BERC with diverse administrative and managerial experience in educational and business settings, previously serving as the director of education at a Sylvan Learning Center in North Carolina and as an administrative assistant and tax associate for a Vermont CPA firm. Stern holds a BA from the University of Vermont, where she studied Psychology and Environmental Studies.  She joined BERC in 2010.

Cindy Wyckoff, Communications Director