Eden Brukman, LEED AP, Research Director, Portland OR

An architect and sustainable building advisor, Eden has focused her professional career on incorporating socially and environmentally responsible strategies into design and construction. Since 2004, her work expanded to also include research and implementation of sustainable policies, particularly related to building certification using the LEED rating system and the selection of appropriate building materials. Eden received a bachelor’s degree in architecture from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Master’s degree in Illustration from the Edinburgh College of Art in Scotland. In joining Cascadia, Eden is looking forward to connecting with other enthusiasts, both at her formal workplace and in the extended community.

Thor Peterson, LEED AP, Research Director, Seattle WA

Thor joins Cascadia after a nearly eight-year stint with the City of Seattle, where he specialized in residential green building, Seattle Public Utilities and subsequently at the Department of Planning and Development's City Green Building program. While at Seattle Public Utilities, Thor developed, wrote and produced the Green Home Remodel Guide series, a resource for homeowners that aims to leverage the remodel process to effect positive environmental change. The guides have subsequently been adapted by Washington Department of Ecology, the Chicago Center for Green Technology, and others. Thor's capacity at the City of Seattle also included offering technical assistance to architects, builders and developers, conducting green building workshops and series, and coordinating with municipal and regional governments and nonprofits.

Thor holds a Master of Public Administration from the University of Washington, with an emphasis on environmental policy and environmental health issues. He believes we can address our environmental and social challenges related to the built environment only through collaboration, integration, and systems thinking, and is eager to apply this approach at Cascadia.

Bob Potter, LEED AP, Assistant Director of Operations, Portland OR

Bob joined Cascadia in January 2007.  Originally from the East Coast, Bob graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2004 with a B.A. in Philosophy and Environmental Studies, and relocated to Portland shortly thereafter.  A few stints in AmeriCorps brought Bob to The Rebuilding Center, a non-profit community reuse center where he was involved in project management and volunteer coordination.  From there Bob migrated to Cascadia where he works on the operational and technology side of things.  He enjoys anything Mac, cycling, and getting lost in the Pacific NW.

Becky Schaffer, LEED AP, Alaska Director, Anchorage

This is an exciting time for Alaska, which merged with Cascadia earlier this year!  Since 2004, a hearty group of Alaskans have worked tirelessly to teach sustainability on the last frontier.   Becky joins Cascadia as the first home-based position serving AK, with a lot of ground, literally, to cover.  Concurrently with staffing the Cascadia AK office,  Becky retains a position as an intern architect at McCool, Carlson and Green, a design firm in Anchorage.  Becky has been a LEED consulting architect at HDR, Alaska, where she sheparded two large military projects through the LEED certification process.   Becky was also the Sustainable Design and Development Coordinator for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Alaska District, where in 2004 through 2007, she was an early implementor of LEED for Corps construction in Alaska.  Becky's most recent projects involve working with federal, state, and local officials and NGOs to generate ideas for sustainable community design needed for the relocation of many native Alaskan villages devastated by coastal erosion.   Becky has a Master's degree in Architecture from the University of Oregon in 2003.  She has been an active Alaska branch member since the chapter’s early days in 2004 and is part of current team effort to pass a LEED building ordinance with the Anchorage Mayor's Sustainable Building Initiative.

In June 2007, Jenny came to Cascadia with a variegated professional past that has been shaped by her passion for travel and for the environment. After graduating from the University of Virginia with a Bachelors degree in German Language and Literature, Jenny’s career sprouted as a communications intern at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, a Washington, DC-based transatlantic relations institute. From there, she journeyed to the tiny Caribbean island of St. Lucia, where she served for two years in the Peace Corps as a community development volunteer. She then migrated from that cruise ship destination to another – Skagway, Alaska – where she was the operations coordinator for a river rafting company. Since landing in Portland and prior to joining Cascadia, she did communications and development work at Sustainable Northwest and wrote website content for the Western Invasives Network. Aside from coordinating Cascadia’s Oregon programs, she writes a sustainable lifestyle column for Ecometro.com. She finds herself endlessly amazed and amused by the beauty and culture, respectively, of the Pacific Northwest and is happy to be working towards preserving both.

Brandon Smith, LEED AP,  COO, Portland OR

After joining the Cascadia in February of 2004, Brandon helped organize the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo and build Cascadia’s organizational capacity. He is currently responsible for managing the organization’s accounting, technology, human resources,  and corporate fundraising program.  He also leads Cascadia’s Green Building Value Initiative. Prior to joining Cascadia, Brandon worked as an Export Consultant on projects in Spain and China.  He graduated from the University of Florida with a Master’s Degree in International Business and has lived and studied in France and Mexico.

Katie Spataro, LEED AP, Research Director, Seattle WA

Katie Spataro joins Cascadia as a part-time research director helping to identify and address code barriers to green buildings. Katie brings over nine years experience working in the building industry as a construction project manager and engineer, program manager, and green building consultant. For 5 years she worked with King County’s GreenTools program providing technical assistance to permit applicants and developing programs, policies, and incentives to support more sustainable development practices in the county. Katie holds a degree in Construction Engineering and Management from Purdue University and is excited to be a part of Cascadia’s leadership to transform the way we design, build, and interact with our built environment.