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
Ahmed Rachid El-Khattabi
Associate Director
Dr. Ahmed Rachid (AR) El-Khattabi is the Associate Director of the Environmental Finance Center (EFC) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His background is in applied economics and urban planning. He earned … 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
Tenika McMillan
Project Director
Tenika McMillan joined the EFC as a Project Director in July 2022. She focuses on providing personnel management, as well as researching barriers and solutions to increasing water service connections in underserved areas. She brings … Continued
Kristen Downs
Project Director
Kristen Downs joined the UNC EFC as a Project Director in September 2022. She completed her PhD in Environmental Sciences and Engineering in the fall of 2022, with a focus on the relationships between weather … Continued
Alicea Easthope-Frazer
Project Director
Alicea Easthope-Frazer joined the EFC as a Project Director in March 2023. Alicea was most recently at The Aquaya Institute, in both program and operations roles over the years. Her career focus has been on … 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
Melanie Sanchez
Project Director
Melanie rejoined the EFC in February of 2023. She graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a B.S. in statistics & analytics and a minor in geology. She has a unique … 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
Austin Thompson
PhD Research Assistant
Austin Thompson joined the EFC at UNC in 2018 as a Project Director. In this role, she conducted applied research and provides technical assistance and training for environmental service providers. Thompson holds a BS in … Continued
Justin Nolan
Project Manager
Justin Nolan joined the EFC as a Project Manager in May 2023. He completed his Master’s degree in City and Regional Planning in the spring of that same year. He comes to the EFC after … Continued
Julia Cavalier
Database Manager
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
Emma Copenhaver
Project Analyst
Emma Copenhaver joined the EFC in December 2022. A recent UNC alum, she graduated in December 2022 with a Bachelor of Arts in English and a minor in Chemistry. As a student, she focused her … Continued
Megan Doherty
Project Analyst
Megan Doherty joined the EFC in December 2022. She graduated from UNC in June 2022 with a Bachelors of Science in Biology, and minors in Chemistry, Environmental Science, and Mandarin Chinese. As a student, she … Continued