Advisors
Edward L. Morse, PhD
Dr. Morse is currently the Global Head of Commodities Research at Citigroup in New York. From 1969 to 1975, he taught at the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University. From 1979 to 1981, Morse served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Energy Policy. From 2006 to 2008, he was chief energy economist at Lehman Brothers, where he argued the oil price rises of 2007 and 2008 were an unsustainable bubble. He is the author of numerous books and scholarly articles on international relations and energy topics.
Dr. Morse is Chairman of the New York Energy Forum and serves on a number of academic advisory boards, including those of the energy programs at Columbia University and Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and of the Oxford Energy Policy Club, as well as a member of the editorial committee of The Geopolitics of Energy and of the journal Oil. Morse is the author of a number of books and dozens of articles on energy, economics and international affairs. Dr. Morse holds a PhD from Princeton University.
Dr. Stephen A. Hammer
Stephen A. Hammer is Director of the Urban Energy Program at Columbia University’s Center for Energy, Marine Transportation and Public Policy (CEMTPP). Dr. Hammer is also the co-founder and Administrator of the Urban Climate Change Research Network (UCCRN), an international consortium of academic researchers focused on the analysis of climate change as it relates to cities. In addition to his research and administrative responsibilities, Dr. Hammer teaches Urban Energy Systems and Policy and oversees the Urban Energy workshop at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA). Dr. Hammer lectures internationally on environmental and energy issues and has published articles and opinion pieces in the New York Times, the New York Daily News, and several other international publications.
Dr. Hammer currently serves as a technical advisor to the Blue Ribbon Commission on Sustainability of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), and is an appointee to Mayor Bloomberg’s Energy Policy Task Force. Dr. Hammer also collaborates with the Joint US-China Cooperation on Clean Energy (JUCCCE), serving as the principal architect of the urban energy policy training curriculum for mayors from throughout China. Dr. Hammer serves on the board of directors of the Riverdale Nature Preservancy in the Bronx, and previously served as Chair of the Bronx Solid Waste Advisory Board, and the New York City Recycling Advisory Board. Dr. Hammer received his PhD degree from the London School of Economics, an MPP from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and a BS in environmental policy analysis and planning from the University of California, Davis. Prior to joining Columbia, Dr. Hammer taught at the Milano Graduate School of Urban and Public Affairs and the Pratt Institute, both in New York City.
Alice LeBlanc
Alice LeBlanc is currently the Director of Environmental and Economic Consulting. She is trained as an economist and has worked for the past 20 years to promote market mechanisms as tools for environmental protection and sustainable development.
Until recently, she headed the Office of Environment and Climate Change in the Corporate Affairs Department of American International Group (AIG), where she designed and implemented AIG’s global corporate climate change strategy. Her responsibilities included assisting business units in development of insurance, investments, financial and consulting products that help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and support the carbon market. She directed internal and external communications; advocacy for “cap and trade” legislation; work with non-profit organizations; collaborative research on climate change risk and adaptation; and initiatives to engage employees and reduce the environmental impacts of AIG’s internal operations.
Her prior work includes:
- Senior Vice President, Chicago Climate Exchange: design, research and marketing.
- Independent consultant on climate change issues to USEPA, Government of Australia, World Bank, UNCTAD, the Commission for Environmental Cooperation and the US and Canadian private sectors.
- Senior Economist, Environmental Defense Fund where she participated in establishing regulations for the U.S. acid rain trading program, and in research and advocacy globally for greenhouse gas emissions trading.
- International (Country Risk) Economist in the banking sector and Strategic Planner in the oil and gas industry.
Ms. LeBlanc has presented extensively on topics related to climate change and emissions trading throughout the US, including Congressional testimony, and globally. She holds a B.A. in Mathematics from Smith College and a M.S. in Economics from the University of Houston. She is a member of the Society of Woman Geographers, the Women’s Foreign Policy Group, the New York City Panel on Climate Change, and the Board of Advisors to the Appalachian Mountain Club.
