Staff
Multidisciplinary Team
The multidisciplinary team of staff and students offer experience and expertise across a diverse range of areas. We are formally trained as public administrators, engineers, planners, attorneys, finance/business specialists, economists, policy specialists, information and data scientists, environmental scientists, and more.
Staff
Erin Riggs
Executive Director
Erin Riggs is the Executive Director of the EFC and conducts applied research surrounding legal, policy, and accounting framework that influences environmental finance issues around the country. She graduated from the University of Florida’s Levin … Continued
Christy Ihlo
Deputy Director
Christy Ihlo joined the EFC as the Deputy Director in 2021, overseeing the daily operations of the Center. She brings a diverse background including program management, monitoring and evaluation, technical report writing, spatial analysis, and … Continued
Julia Cavalier
Research Director
Julia Cavalier joined the Environmental Finance Center in 2018. Prior to joining the EFC, Julia had 15 years of experience in the water sector and 13 of those years spent with the Public Water Supply … Continued
Tom Roberts
Senior Business Analyst
Tom Roberts is the Senior Business Analyst for the EFC at UNC. Tom has an Associate in Applied Sciences in Civil Engineering Technology from Delaware Technical and Community College and a Bachelor of Science in … Continued
Evan Kirk
Project Director
Evan Kirk joined the Environmental Finance Center at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill in 2016. Evan is a Project Director. He manages statewide water, wastewater, and stormwater rates surveys in multiple states and … Continued
Elsemarie Mullins
Project Director
Elsemarie Mullins joined the EFC in the spring of 2020 as a Project Director. She provides trainings and technical assistance for water and wastewater providers, conducts applied research on affordability, paying for nutrient management, the … Continued
Anna Patterson
Project Director
Anna Patterson Joined the EFC as a Project Director in June 2022. She is focusing her work on helping communities and water utilities improve their environmental health and financial resilience. She brings experience in stormwater … Continued
Hope Thomson
Project Director
Hope Thomson joined the EFC as a project director in April 2022. She focuses on providing technical assistance to utilities, as well as researching barriers and solutions to increasing water service connections in underserved areas. … Continued
Andrew Waters
Project Director
Andrew Waters comes to the Environmental Finance Center as a project director after working in the nonprofit land conservation field for fifteen years. An undergraduate at UNC Chapel Hill, Andrew received an MBA from UNC … Continued
Ahmed Rachid El-Khattabi
Research Specialist
Ahmed Rachid El-Khattabi is an applied economist and urban planner with methods expertise in policy-oriented quantitative research and data management. El-Khattabi holds a Ph.D. in City and Regional Planning from the University of North Carolina … Continued
Kathryn Obenshain
Research Assistant
Kathryn Obenshain joined the EFC staff in July 2022. Kathryn graduated from UNC Chapel Hill in May 2022 with degrees in Environmental Studies and German Literature and Culture. As a student, she worked at the … Continued