Governance & Fellows

InterEnvironment Institute is a California nonprofit public benefit corporation and has tax-deductible status under Section 501(c)(3) and public foundation status under Section 509 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code.

The Institute’s  board is responsible for broad policies and oversight. For each of the  Institute's convening projects, it appoints a steering committee whose members represent different interests, perspectives, and geographic areas.

InterEnvironment Institute is based in Claremont, California, where it was founded in 1969. Since the early 1970s, it has been formally affiliated with Claremont Graduate University, part of the  Claremont Colleges consortium located 35 miles east of downtown Los  

Angeles.   

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Thaddeus C. (Ted) Trzyna, President, InterEnvironment Institute, Claremont, California

Michael Paparian (Secretary-Treasurer), formerly Deputy Treasurer, State of California, Sacramento, California

Arturo Gándara, Professor of Law Emeritus, University of California, Davis,  California; formerly Commissioner, California Energy Commission

Elisabeth Kersten, Senior Fellow, InterEnvironment Institute; formerly Director, Senate Office of Research, California Legislature, Sacramento, California

BOARD OF FELLOWS

Ted Trzyna,  President and Senior Fellow, is a conservationist, writer, and political  scientist. Before founding what has become InterEnvironment Institute, he was a career U.S. Foreign Service officer in Africa and at the State Department in Washington. Trzyna chaired the Commission on Environmental  Strategy and Planning of IUCN, the International Union for Conservation  of Nature, from 1990-96. He was a co-founder of the Urban Conservation Strategies Specialist Group of IUCN's World  Commission on Protected Areas, which he chaired from 2003-2024. Bio at www.trzyna.info.

Michael  Paparian, Counselor, has over 35 years' experience working on environmental policy and environmental finance issues. He has served in a variety of positions in and out of California state government, including Deputy State Treasurer, Executive Director of the California  Pollution Control Financing Authority, Special Consultant to the California Environmental Protection Agency, Board Member of the California Integrated Waste Management Board, and Sierra Club California State Director. Now retired from state service, he devotes much of his time to climate issues. He has been involved in Institute activities since the late 1980s.

Michael R. Eaton, Senior Fellow, describes himself as "a career conservationist with a passion for better understanding the dynamics of soil, plants, and society." For many years  he managed Kingbird Farms, south of Sacramento, which he owned with his wife Charity Kenyon. He has held senior positions with the Resources  Legacy Fund, The Nature Conservancy, the California Natural Resources  Agency, the California Governor's Office of Planning and Research, and  the Sierra Club. He has participated in Institute projects since the  late 1970s.  

Joseph T. Edmiston, Senior Fellow, has been Executive Director of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, a unit of the California Natural Resources Agency, since it was established in 1980. He has been involved in Institute projects since the mid-1970s. 

Elisabeth  K. Kersten, Senior Fellow, was Director of the Senate Office of  Research, California Legislature, from 1986-2004 and previously served in other senior positions in the legislative and executive branches of the California state government.  In addition to serving as a Senior Associate, she has been a member of the Institute's Board of Trustees  since 1989.

Jeffrey A. McNeely, Senior Fellow, is an international conservation consultant based in Hua Hin, Thailand. Until mid-2009, he was Chief Scientist at IUCN, where he worked since 1980.  McNeely has written or edited over 40 books and over 500 popular and  technical articles on a wide range of environmental topics, and has served on the editorial boards of numerous journals. He has advised and contributed to the Institute's IUCN-related activities since the 1980s.

Daniel  A. Mazmanian, Senior Fellow, is an Emeritus Professor of Public Policy in the Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California. He was formerly Dean of the the USC school, Dean of the  School of Natural Resources and Environment at the University of  Michigan, and a faculty member at Pomona College and Claremont Graduate University. He has been actively involved in the Institute's projects since the early 1980s.

Rick Caughman, Art Director, is an artist and graphic designer based in Ontario, California, 35 miles east of Los  Angeles. Caughman is a graduate of Art  Center College of Design. His commercial practice includes airport and public transit agencies and companies in California's food and computer industries. He is an active and well-recognized member of the art community that surrounds the university town of Claremont.

Emily Caughman, Associate Fellow, has degrees in economics and communication from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Pauline Bekkers, Associate Fellow, is based in Geneva, Switzerland, where she serves as a consultant to UN-Habitat, the United Nations Human Settlements Program. She graduated from Pomona College in Claremont, California, in environmental analysis and holds a masters in urban and regional planning from the School of Environmental Design of California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. She is from the Netherlands. 

IN MEMORIAM

Paul F. Smith, 1941-2024. A Trustee and Chair.

Lawrence W. Stewart, 1936-2016. A Trustee and Treasurer.

John Davidson, 1939-2012. A Senior Fellow.

John Zierold, 1925-2013. A Senior Fellow.

Lamont (Monty) Hempel, 1950-2019. A Senior Fellow.

NETWORK

Much of InterEnvironment Institute's work is accomplished through an informal network of friends, advisors, consultants, and cooperating organizations. Examples are given elsewhere in this website. Most of these individuals and groups have been involved in our activities for many years.