The Speakers

PJ (Padmaja) Iyer is a lecturer in the Environmental Studies Department at San José State University and enjoys inspiring students in the Introduction to Environmental Issues course. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from UC Davis and an MBA from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Prior to coming to SJSU, she spent time working on various environmental projects with Beyond Gardens Cooperative, the City of Cupertino, the City of San José, and Silicon Valley Energy Watch where she worked with 16 community-based organizations on energy efficiency and conservation programs. Professor Iyer brings a unique perspective to the environmental world since she spent 8 years working in the computer software industry as a product manager. Her research interests include climate justice, the circular economy, and the impacts of renewable energy production on communities, biodiversity, and natural resources.

Melissa is the Chief Scientist at Aclima, a Public Benefit Corporation that pioneered an entirely new way to measure air pollution and greenhouse gases block by block at the resolution needed to target emissions reductions and protect human health. At Aclima, Melissa led research in partnership with academic, government, non-profit and industry scientists that showed that air pollution can vary by 5-8x from one block to the next. Melissa’s career has focused on the transport and fate of pollutants in the environment. Melissa has always been interested in how different environments influence exposure to highly dynamic pollutants. This variability underscores the need for ubiquitous hyperlocal environmental monitoring that she and the team at Aclima have pioneered. Prior to joining Aclima in 2013, Melissa was a scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, where she directed atmospheric and environmental processes research. She received her PhD at the California Institute of Technology with an emphasis on aerosol science and a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Texas Tech University.

Aria is an Earth System Science PhD candidate at Stanford. She studies how climate change and widespread soil contamination threaten rice production. The goal of her research is to determine feasible and effective management practices to protect the future of rice. She is currently focused on a strategy that involves draining rice fields periodically during the growing season. This introduces oxygen and shifts the microbial activity and geochemistry of the soil, which has several benefits. She graduated from Westmont college in 2016 and spent a year conducting water management research in the Netherlands as a Fulbright Fellow, which included computer modeling of groundwater and fieldwork in Bangladesh.

Jared has extensive experience directing and organizing issue specific campaigns. He has worked on issues ranging from stopping the routine use of antibiotics on factory farms to lobbying state legislators for campaign finance reform. Most recently, Jared developed & managed All In Energy’s first canvassing & phone outreach programs, partnering with local municipalities such as the City of Cambridge (MA) and the Codman Square Neighborhood Development Corporation to help underserved residents access the state’s major energy efficiency program, MassSave. Originally from the D.C. Metro Area, Jared is an alumni of Penn State University, where he received a Bachelor’s Degree in Energy Engineering.

Kathleen Smiley Hughes is the Senior Division Manager of Customer Engagement for Silicon Valley Power (SVP). Kathleen has a diverse depth of experience from her 20 years with the electric utility, focusing on key accounts, large industrial customers, economic development, legislative and regulatory policy, renewable procurement and compliance. Kathleen leads an integral team implementing multiple customer projects and programs designed to educate and transform how the community uses and understands energy. Major projects and programs include energy efficiency, transportation electrification, building electrification, distributed energy resource integration and, of course, customer engagement activities. Kathleen has been the lead for SVP’s Integrated Resource Plan and developing and implementing SVP’s Electric Vehicle Communities Blueprint.

Arielle supports utility customer account management, marketing, communications and energy programs at Silicon Valley Power, the City of Santa Clara’s municipal electric utility. With a people first philosophy, she is passionate about developing an inclusive smarter energy ecosystem that leverages nontraditional thinking and technological innovation to build programs around utility customer needs. In her current role, she develops strategic partnerships with key business customers as their strategic energy adviser and implements programs that help them meet their decarbonization and sustainability goals.

Kaushik Tota is a senior at Saint Francis High School and a Sunnyvale resident. Since elementary school, he has been passionate about the climate crisis, and has leveraged scientific innovation, community engagement, and policy advocacy to promote environmentalism amongst his peers and his community. Kaushik has worked on a variety of sustainability-related science projects, ranging from novel energy production technology to artificial intelligence-powered trash sorting algorithms. He is the founder of the Climate Youth Ambassador Program, an organization dedicated to raising awareness about the significance of climate change and equipping individuals with the resources and knowledge to lead sustainable lifestyles. He is also the president of the Youth Public Policy Institute and the co-lead of the Sunnyvale Youth Climate Action Team, both of which engage in environmental policy advocacy campaigns from the local to state level. Kaushik hopes to continue his work in the sustainability space to lay the groundwork for a green future in California, the United States, and globally.

Zoe is the Energy Services Lead at Silicon Valley Clean Energy, where she supports all customer segments primarily through new electric vehicle program implementation. She is the key contact for Silicon Valley Transportation Electrification Clearinghouse. Zoe has over a decade of experience leading regional decarbonization and resiliency initiatives. She served as Sustainability Manager for the County of Santa Clara, as Associate Director of the Los Angeles Regional Collaborative for Climate Action and Sustainability, and helped to launch the California Center for Sustainable Communities at UCLA. Zoe has a Master’s Degree in Urban Planning from UCLA where she focused on regional approached to climate action. She also earned a Leadership in Sustainability from UCLA’s Anderson School of Management.

Vanessa is a Community Outreach Fellow at Silicon Valley Clean Energy where she supports outreach and youth-focused programs, including the SVCE Education Fund and EmPower Silicon Valley Youth Short-Film Competition. Prior to joining the SVCE team, Vanessa worked with the City of Cupertino’s Sustainability Division to implement their Climate Action Plan and conduct outreach to residents, businesses, and schools. She received a B.S. in Environmental Science from Santa Clara University.

Lani Lee Ho is a Senior Environmental Planner at the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA). She is responsible for evaluating environmental impacts of proposed projects pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and managing initiatives to promote environmental sustainability. Lani earned a Bachelor of Arts in Comparative Literature and a Bachelor of Science in Conservation and Resource Studies from the University of California, Berkeley. She obtained her J.D. degree from Santa Clara University, School of Law and is a member of the California Bar. She is co-chair and founder of the Environmental Law Society at the Santa Clara County Bar Association. Her volunteer work is focused on advancing the rights of women and girls and protecting the environment for future generations.

Aditya is a senior at The Harker School and has been researching fires for two years. His work involves a scientific investigation of wildfire propagation and using computational means to forecast wildfire spread. He has also researched the Native American and Australian Indigenous use of fire in their respective cultures.

Michelle Templeton is the City of Santa Clara's sustainability manager. Michelle Templeton has worked in the field of sustainability, climate action, and audience driven community engagement for 20 years. Her career began with the development of a national model for grassroots community engagement and partnership strategies in conservation and sustainability for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Michelle then worked at the local government level for 14 years where she developed community-based environmental engagement programs and worked to bring voices traditionally not involved in conservation and climate policy to the table. Michelle also co-authored an Urban Greening Plan and a Climate Action Plan and her current role with the City of Santa Clara builds upon her career, weaving policy, planning, and community partnerships to meet specific and critically important climate and sustainability targets while continuing to incorporate environmental justice in the process.

Jamie Minden is a senior at St. Francis High School and a co-founder and hub coordinator of Silicon Valley Sunrise (formerly known as Silicon Valley Youth Climate Strikes). She is also a Teen Conservation Leader at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, a member of Congresswoman Eshoo’s Student Advisory Board on Climate Change, is the President of the Saint Francis Environmental Club, and is co-president of the Saint Francis Queer Student Union. She has worked on a variety of causes, successfully advocating for environmental changes in public transit, reach codes, and sustainability funding in local City Councils, and working with local politicians on environmental and social justice policy. In her free time she enjoys watching stand-up comedy and kayaking.