Richard Heinberg, Core Faculty, New College

Richard Heinberg is the award-winning author of seven books including The Party's Over: Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial Societies; Powerdown: Options and Actions for a Post-Carbon World; and The Oil Depletion Protocol: A Plan to Avert Oil Wars, Terrorism, and Economic Collapse.

He is a journalist, educator, lecturer, and a Core Faculty member of New College of California, where he teaches a program on "Culture, Ecology and Sustainable Community." His monthly MuseLetter has been published since 1992 and his essays and articles have appeared widely and in many languages. He was featured prominently in the documentary film "The End of Suburbia," he has been quoted in Time Magazine, and his work has been discussed in articles syndicated by Reuters and the Associated Press. Since 2002, he has given over two hundred lectures on oil depletion to a wide variety of audiences -- from insurance executives to peace activists, from local and national elected officials to Jesuit volunteers. He and his wife Janet Barocco live in Santa Rosa, Calif., in an energy-efficient home. He is also an avid amateur violinist.

Ellen Bicheler, Powerdown Project Coordinator

Ellen joins Post Carbon Institute as Powerdown Project Coordinator. She will be based at and working with Richard Heinberg and New College, Santa Rosa, California. Ellen has lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for 30 years, but grew up in New York, receiving a Bachelor's degree in English in 1975 at State University College of New York at Brockport. A lifetime activist, Ellen has experience in freelance writing, non-profit work and sustainability education in local schools.