As the director of projects for the Africa, Islands, and Southeast Asia Program, Christopher manages the Islands project management staff and a portfolio of 144 MW of renewable energy and energy efficiency projects across the Caribbean region.
Christopher has over 15 years of experience as an environmental professional and project manager with practice in a variety of multi-disciplinary energy and infrastructure projects. He brings a wealth of environmental, renewable energy, and project management experience to his current role.
Before joining Rocky Mountain Institute, Christopher was the chief operating officer at Alpha Energy, a renewable energy development company in Annapolis, Maryland. At Alpha Energy, Christopher was responsible for the company’s feasibility studies and project implementation for commercial and utility scale wind and solar installations. He regularly managed multimillion dollar projects both domestically and internationally.
Christopher also has previous experience as an environmental planner for new and reclaimed commercial site development, as well as a program analyst and team leader with the U.S Environmental Protection Agency. At the EPA, Christopher provided operations support and technical assistance for environmental emergencies nationwide. He was instrumental to operations during EPA’s high profile responses, including Sept. 11th, the Columbia shuttle, and the Hurricane Katrina disaster.
Christopher has written and testified on several provisions for Maryland’s current renewable energy laws, including interconnection, aggregate net-metering, and Maryland’s recently enacted offshore wind energy policy.
Education: M.Sc., Environmental Science & Policy, Johns Hopkins University
B.Sc., Coastal and Environmental Planning, East Carolina University
“I am inspired by the dedication and passion of my colleagues and our island partners in the acceleration of energy transition.”
One of the key recommendations of this report is to ensure inclusive multi-stakeholder collaboration. This entails communicating clear market signals to suppliers and upstream equipment providers and coordinating closely among practitioners and installers.
In 1976, RMI co-founder Amory Lovins wrote “Energy Strategy: The Road Not Taken?”, which outlined his proposal for a “soft energy pathway” for global security. In an era defined by large centralized electricity generation—primarily powered by coal and nuclear energy in the United States—where power was transmitted hundreds of miles…
The last three years have seen major hurricanes wreak havoc on island nations. Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Maria, and Dorian caused catastrophic damage to homes, infrastructure, and economies throughout the Caribbean basin. At the same time, the use of solar photovoltaic (PV) power is increasing on Caribbean islands—helping reduce costs and…
In the first part of this two-part series (available here), we explored how the 2017 hurricane season left thousands of homes, businesses, and critical services across the Caribbean in the dark for extended periods of time, and how little benefit backup generators bring to the region’s electrical systems. We…
Do people really care about electricity? Or do they just care about all the services electricity provides? The 2017 hurricane season in the Caribbean and the United States was so destructive that entire communities spent weeks—and in some instances months—living without the services that rely on electricity to keep their…
The 2017 hurricane season was one of the most active in history. Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria brought widespread destruction throughout the Caribbean. In addition to the emotional toll these severe storms had on people in the region, the disruption of critical infrastructure left many communities without basic services…
Last week, Hurricane Irma ripped through the Caribbean with devastating fury. Its 185-mph winds smashed buildings, downed trees and power lines, overturned trucks, and tossed boats ashore like toys. Its storm surges turned streets into raging rivers and flooded whole communities. Irma, the strongest Category 5 hurricane on record in…