Akane Nishimura, Ph.D., is an ecologist who serves as Program Associate, Impact Assessment for the Governors’ Climate and Forests Task Force at the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at UCLA. Akane conducted her dissertation research in Central Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo) on succession, fire cycles, and climate change in highly degraded tropical forests dominated by invasive grasses and ferns. She is passionate about tropical forest conservation and working with Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) and other marginalized groups. Prior to joining the GCF Task Force, Akane has worked as a biology consultant, small business owner, university lecturer, and environmental chemist/scientist. She has volunteered for many nonprofits, including as a GIS Project Coordinator for the Orangutan Foundation International and as a Tutor Coordinator for School on Wheels. She is currently serving as Board President of Friends of the Silverado Children’s Center. Akane received a B.A. in Environmental Chemistry from UCSD and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from UCLA.

Linnan is a Climate Change and Methane Policy Fellow at CLEE. Her work focuses on cross sector methane emissions reduction at the local, state, national, and international level, with the intent to move solutions to policy and scale. Linnan came to CLEE from the Environmental Defense Fund’s (EDF) Global Methane team, where she led the research and analytics in Asia-Pacific region to advance oil and gas methane policy and best practices through collaborations and engagements with international institutions and key agencies. Prior to the methane world, Linnan led the EDF State Climate team’s work to advance climate policies in Michigan and cross-cutting research and analytics to rapidly cut U.S. state-level greenhouse gas emissions, deliver air quality and other benefits to communities, and ensure a just clean energy transition. While at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Linnan supported the development of U.S. federal energy efficiency standards. Linnan also worked at the Energy Division of the California Public Utilities Commission on proceedings and regulations related to resource adequacy, energy procurement and transportation electrification. Globally, she has spent time in Germany and China on international development projects related to energy access, climate finance and water sanitation.

Kimberly Clausing holds the Eric M. Zolt Chair in Tax Law and Policy at the UCLA School of Law. Professor Clausing is also a nonresident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. During the first part of the Biden Administration, Clausing was the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Tax Analysis in the US Department of the Treasury, serving as the lead economist in the Office of Tax Policy.

Travis Ritchie is a Climate and Energy Research Fellow at CLEE. He specializes in electric utility rates and regulation. His research focuses on electricity affordability in the context of climate change impacts and California’s renewable energy transition. Prior to joining CLEE, Travis worked as an attorney on utility regulation and energy policy, primarily with the Sierra Club’s Environmental Law Program. He represented clients in public utility commission and other regulatory proceedings throughout the Western United States. J.D. and M.P.P., UCLA (2008) B.A. History and B.S. Biology, UC San Diego (2002)

Elias van Emmerick(he/him) is the 2025-2027 Emmett Frankel Fellow in Environmental Law and Policy at UCLA School of Law, where his work will focus on energy law and policy. van Emmerick received his B.A. from Pomona College and his J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School.