Staff

Staff, Consultants, Fellows and Interns

John Ackerly, President

President John oversees the group's policies and programs and partnerships with other stakeholders in the residential renewable energy and energy efficiency community. He has 25 years of experience in advocacy and non-profit management with the International Campaign for Tibet, Public Citizen and the Center for Constitutional Rights. He earned a BA from Dartmouth College and a JD at the Washington College of Law and practiced civil rights law with a firm in Mississippi. John serves on several boards of directors, including the Biomass Thermal Energy Council and the Advisory Board of the Maryland Clean Energy Center. He is a certified by the National Fireplace Institute as a pellet stove technician. He lives in Maryland and heats his home with 2 cords of very dry wood.

Darian Dyer, Energy Policy Analyst

Darian joined AGH in January 2023 as an energy policy analyst, focusing on equity issues in residential wood heating and electrification in our current energy transition. She majored in Environmental Studies at Hendrix College in Arkansas and completed her Masters of Science in Environmental Governance from the University of Freiburg in Germany in 2022. Her thesis examined judicial power in U.S. climate litigation. She has experience working with state government in Arkansas and with Seaside Sustainability, working on environmental education curriculum, Extended Producer Responsibility schemes, and an updated “bottle bill” in Massachusetts. At AGH, she combines her southern rural experience to advocate for energy justice in electrification, weatherization and wood heat regulations. Despite her travels and education abroad, she calls Arkansas home.

Murali Krist, IT Technical Support

Murali Krist handles IT issues and is building out the website, producing e-newletters and troubleshooting. He has finished his Master's Degree in Information Technology from University of Northern Virginia, VA. He has extensive experience in web applications and software development.

Pam Porter, Grants Manager

Pam serves as Grants Manager for the new AGH’s Firewood Bank program. She has more than 30 years of experience spearheading state, regional and national policy environmental initiatives and has managed 31 grant-funded projects and programs. Previously she served as Policy Advisor for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and as Midwest Director for the Biomass Energy Resource Center. She is founder of P Squared Group, a natural climate solutions consultancy. Pam earned a master’s degree in Agronomy from the University of Wisconsin Madison, on the management of switchgrass, a native perennial grass. She heats her Madison, WI home with wood.

Former Staff, Research Fellows and Interns

The Alliance for Green Heat's main strength is its man and woman power. We have been blessed by many talented and dedicated young people. Many thanks to all former Staff, Research Fellows and Interns - Lilith Guzman, Caroline Solomon, Anita Alexander, Tatiana Butler, Trevor Gionet, Tom de Haan, Amanda Hren, Maria Jensen, Elizabeth Klusinske, Keith Krosinsky, Claire Lucy, Caitlin Madera, Gabriella McConnel, Philip Mallari, Diana Peng, Hannah Platt, Nilanjana Saha, Bhavna Sakhrani, Ivana Sirovica, Lauren Sobecki, Louis Spitzer, Jordan Townsend, Ada Undieh!