People
Staff
Dr. David Solan was appointed as Director of the Energy Policy Institute and an Associate Director of the Center for Advanced Energy Studies in July 2009. He is on the faculty in the Department of Public Policy & Administration at Boise State University, and he is a member of the Board of Directors for the Idaho Strategic Energy Alliance.
Prior to his arrival in Idaho, Dr. Solan worked on energy policy in the nation's capital. He served as a Senior Policy Advisor at the US Environmental Protection Agency, reporting directly to the Deputy Administrator and the head of the Office of Research and Development on energy and management issues. He served as an energy policy analyst and investigator on the chief oversight committee in the US House of Representatives. His experience also includes tenure as a Legislative Director for a Member of Congress serving on committees for resources, science, and transportation policy.He received his PhD and MA from the University of Delaware, and he has a BA from Drew University.
David Koehler has over 10 years of management experience in the
private sector. In his current capacity at EPI, he serves as the
Assistant Director, managing proposal and team development for Institute projects.David holds a Master's degree from Boise State University (2009) in
Public Administration, with an emphasis in Environmental and Natural
Resource Policy and Administration. He also received both a Graduate
Certificate in Community & Regional Planning (2008) and a Bachelor's
degree in Political Science (2006) from Boise State University.
While pursuing his graduate studies, David was involved in the
academic honors organizations Gamma Beta Phi and Pi Alpha Alpha.Dr. Yao Yin joined the Energy Policy Institute in March 2012 as a Research Assistant Professor. Prior to coming to the EPI, she worked as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
She received a Ph.D in Environmental Science (2011), a Master of Public Policy in Environmental Policy (2009), and a Master of Science in Molecular Cellular Biology (2007) from Oregon State University. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences from Shandong University, which is located in her hometown in China.
Her main research interests include, but are not limited to, comparative renewable energy policy analyses, Geographic Information System (GIS) analyses for energy siting, and socioeconomic analyses of renewable energy development for local communities.Lisa Wennstrom has been with the Energy Policy Institute since 2008.
She started with EPI as a research analyst and now manages events
for the organization. Lisa is currently preparing a regional energy
policy conference to be held in August 2012.Lisa's projects with EPI have included supporting a study on
homeowners' associations and efforts to limit renewable distributed
generation, and creating a database cataloging renewable energy sites
in Idaho. Prior to joining EPI, Lisa served as a research assistant
for the Boise State Public Policy Center, conducting policy analysis
and co-authoring two articles.Lisa earned a Master's Degree in Public Administration (2010) and a
Bachelor's Degree in Political Science with a special emphasis in
American Public Policy (2007) from Boise State University. Lisa served
as the President of the MPA Association in 2009, as well as the
President of Pi Alpha Alpha, Boise State University Chapter.Shannon rejoined the Energy Policy Institute team in November 2011 as the Business Manager, providing fiscal and grants management, as well as office administration.
Shannon received her BA, English from Boise State (2004) and is in process of completing her MPA, Government Management with Keller Graduate School of Management (April 2012).
