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
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
Julia Cavalier
Data Infrastructure Engineer
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
Shadi Eskaf
Research Director
Shadi Eskaf joined the Environmental Finance Center at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill in 2004 and has worked on environmental finance projects in local, state, and national settings. Shadi leads teams conducting applied … 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, and works on a variety of EFC projects. Elsemarie completed … Continued
Christian Lutz
Project Manager
Christian Lutz has been with the EFC since 2019 and is currently a Project Manager. He researches utility rates data and visualizes them in the EFC’s Finance and Rates Dashboards. Christian also researches and teaches … Continued
Evan Kirk
Acting Senior Project Director
Evan Kirk joined the Environmental Finance Center at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill in 2016. Evan is currently Acting Senior Project Director. He manages statewide water, wastewater, and stormwater rates surveys in multiple … Continued
Stephen Lapp
Acting Project Director
Stephen Lapp graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in May 2018. He majored in Environmental Studies, with a minor in Urban Studies and Planning. As an undergraduate, Stephen interned with UNC’s … Continued
Omid Barr
Project Director
Omid Barr graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in May 2021 with a Master’s Degree in Public Health. During his time in the program he concentrated in Environmental Health Solutions and … Continued
Garrett Basnight
Research Assistant
Garrett Basnight is a recent graduate of Environmental Studies at UNC working on research and outreach assistance at the EFC. He will be managing EFC social media accounts and providing graphic design and hands on … Continued
Evan Liebgott
Research Assistant
Evan graduated from UNC in May 2021 with majors in economics and philosophy and a Spanish minor. He worked at the EFC as a student for two years before joining the full-time staff and currently … Continued