Who We Are

Our Chair, Al Weed, Operations Director, Diana Abbott, and Senior Policy Associate, Tatyanna Patten, split their time between the office and telecommuting to reduce PPV's transportation footprint. The office is manned from 9 am to 5 pm most weekday hours by these three and/or our interns. Eighty percent of Public Policy Virginia's work is done by volunteers, including research, speaking, fundraising, writing and graphics. Volunteers are welcome to put in whatever hours best suit their schedules—regular, irregular, full-time, once a month, working from home or from our office, according to the task at hand.

Interns often work on specific projects and programs with specified goals. If you would like to intern with PPV, please send us a cover letter, a resume, and let us know if, after reading our website, you see a specific project that peaks your interest.

Core Staff

Diana Abbott, Co-Executive Director, began her professional career with Head Start, followed by a UVA pilot education program for the multiply handicapped and several other teaching positions. Her active volunteer work has spanned such diverse organizations as the Red Cross, the Girl Scouts, the Wildlife Center of Virginia, Advocates for a Sustainable Albemarle Population (ASAP), the Sierra Club-Piedmont Chapter, and the Emergency Food Bank. Actively involved in the Democratic Party, she has served as Free Union precinct captain for the White Hall district, the treasurer of the Ann Mallek for Supervisor campaign, and as a Candidate’s Aide and, later, Campaign Coordinator, during Al Weed’s 2004 and 2006 Congressional campaigns, respectively. Between those campaigns, she and Mr. Weed established Public Policy Virginia in 2005. She graduated from Furman University with a BA in Sociology.

Brian Becker, Project Director, graduated from Kansas State University before serving three years in the Peace Corp as a Community Forester in the country of Nepal. His time in South Asia cemented an appreciation for the interactions between a society and its natural environment. Upon returning to the United States he earned a Masters with a specialization in Agroforestry from the University of Florida. Since earning his Masters he has had six years of research in the production of short-rotation woody crops in Southeast. Brian continues his graduate studies part time working on an Interdisciplinary Ecology degree looking at woody biomass availability for bioenergy production.

Tatyanna L. Patten, Policy & Development Director, was the co-founder of Central Virginia’s premier Earth Week festival, presiding over it from 2001-2008; during that time Earth Week gained the official sponsorship of both Charlottesville City and Albemarle County, as well as many regionally-based agencies and businesses. She currently serves as President of the Board of Directors of the Rivanna Conservation Society, a watershed conservation group in the Chesapeake Bay, having served as Advocacy Chair from 2005-2008 and Vice-President from 2008-2010. In addition, she was on the Citizens’ Commission on Environmental Sustainability from 2006-2008 and was appointed to the Energy Sourcing group of the Local Climate Action Planning Process in 2009, a regional commission to develop a climate action plan. Prior to joining PPV, she worked for National Legal Research for 11 years. She is an alumna of UVa and a former member of the Int’l Webmasters Ass’n.

Albert C. Weed II, Chairman & Co-Executive Director, spends 60% of his work week with PPV, and owns and operates Mountain Cove Vineyards in Nelson County. A founder of the Virginia Wine Industry, he was involved in every significant legislative, regulatory and organizational development of this now vibrant industry’s first quarter century. Mr. Weed also founded Rural Nelson, a land preservation group in his home county, and has served as a board member, director, and trustee for numerous non-profit concerns, including Advocates for a Sustainable Albemarle Population (ASAP), a group whose mission includes preserving the rural character of Albemarle County and protecting it from sprawl development. At the request of the Governor of Virginia he serves on the Virginia Land Conservation Foundation’s Board of Trustees. Twice the Democratic candidate for the 5th Congressional District, Mr. Weed’s op-eds have been published in major publications, and he speaks frequently in all areas of the state about climate change, biomass energy, and a broad range of other public policy issues. He has a BA cum laude from Yale in Latin American Studies, a Master’s Degree in Economic Development and Political Modernization from Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School, and served a total of almost 43 years mostly in the Reserve Components, retiring from Army Special Operations as a Command Sergeant Major.

Interns

Tina Davidson is currently a 4th year student in Government at the University of Virginia. Throughout the last few years, she has discovered a passion for public policy with particular interest in the health and environmental sectors. After taking a class that focused on the environment and class structures within the United States, she noticed how the implementation of a policy had different affects on both the well-being of individuals and their surrounding environments. By interning with PPV, she hopes to establish a firmer grasp on what types of changes can be made within the environment to better the future for both its inhabitants and the nation’s surroundings. Her post-graduation goals are to work for either an environmental or public health non-profit organization, then return to graduate school to obtain a Masters in Public Administration and Public Policy.

Allison Rose is a fourth year student at the University of Virginia, where she is majoring in Government and minoring in Sociology. She is from Mechanicsville, Virginia. Her interests include politics and public service, which she has pursued by volunteering with her local state representative, Delegate Chris Peace, as well as Virginia Organizing in Charlottesville. She was a founder and leader of the Young Democrats in her high school and has also been involved with the University Democrats at UVA. Allison is the Charlottesville Alumnae Association Chair of Alpha Delta Pi, and she is a member of the honor fraternity, Sigma Alpha Lambda. During the summer, she has managed a pool in her hometown and most recently the pool at the Spring Creek Golf Community in Gordonsville, Virginia. Following graduation, Allison hopefully plans to attend graduate school in the Washington, D.C. area to pursue a degree in public policy.

Volunteer Staff

Kelly McCoy, Research Associate, is a third year student at the University of Virginia studying foreign affairs and Middle Eastern studies. Additionally, she plans on applying to UVA’s Batten School of Public Policy this coming January. Born in Arlington, Virginia, Kelly’s interests in politics, law, environmental sustainability and public policy stem back several years. In 2009, she interned with Senator Robert Casey (R-PA) in his Washington, DC office on Capitol Hill. Additionally, in 2010 and 2011, Kelly also worked with Doherty, Cella, Keane & Associates, LLP, a Social Security Disability Benefits firm. This past summer Kelly served as an Orientation Leader, helping course enroll and advise incoming first years and transfer students to the grounds of the University of Virginia. Currently, Kelly serves as a Depute Editor with UVA’s Foreign Affairs Journal. She also sits on the executive boards of the Alpha Chi Omega sorority, Building Tomorrow, a philanthropic group that raises money to build schools in Uganda, and UVA’s Student Council. Upon graduating from the University of Virginia, Kelly hopes to return to the Washington, DC area to pursue work either within the government or through a related public policy firm.

Milt Moore, Researcher, is a retired Air Force fighter pilot with 26 years of services. He has a BS degree in Militaroy Science from the University of Maryland and two MA degrees from Louisiana Tech University in Guidance & Counseling and Human Relations & Supervision. He served on the Charlottesville Albemarle Regional Transportation Committee (CHART) for two years. He has resided in Charlottesville for 20 years.

Sam Schaffer, Research Associate, is a fourth-year foreign affairs major at the University of Virginia. Spending a summer in Turkey, he researched international organizations and the effect they can have on environmental policy. In addition to doing public relations work for Public Policy Virginia, he volunteers for the Charlottesville branch of Legal Aid and is a production assistant at NBC-29. He plans to pursue a law degree upon graduating. When not at school, he resides in his native Richmond, Virginia.

Donald C. (Don) Wells, Senior Researcher, is an astronomer (Ph.D., Astronomy, Texas, 1972) who retired from the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Charlottesville, in 2004, after a 40-year career as a telescope control, instrumentation & data analysis software system designer. Mr. Wells became concerned about petroleum depletion at the time of the oil embargoes in the 1970s, and studied the subject during subsequent decades. When it became obvious that global warming implied that we must move away from fossil fuels, he concluded that biofuels must be a key component of our future post-Peak-Oil strategy. In particular, the NRDC’s Growing Energy report (Dec 2004) convinced him of the potential for biofuels in the USA. Mr. Wells is a member of the Stewardship of Creation committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia, of the Charlottesville Peak Oil group, and of the Virginia Biomass Energy Group. He has spoken to various groups on Peak Oil in recent years. In February/March 2008, Don taught a course for UVA-OLLI(JILL) with the title Peak Oil, Biofuels and Sustainability.

Policy Advisory Council

Nathan Currier, Climate Change & Methane Specialist, has presented to about 1,000 people about climate change and is devoted to the cause of increasing public understanding of climate science. He has been a member of Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project since 2007. Currier, an advocate of James Lovelock’s Gaia theory, recently contributed a chapter on Gaia, co-authored with NASA scientist Paul D. Lowman, to the book Chimeras and Consciousness (MIT Press, 2011). He also convened a panel on Gaia Theory at Lincoln Center in 2004, headed by Tyler Volk (Director of Environmental Studies, New York University) and had a presentation at the International conference on Gaia Theory in Washington, D.C. in 2006. Currier’s climate change talks have taken him to UNICEF headquarters at the United Nations, Columbia University and New York University, among many others. Here in Virginia, he has presented on climate change at UVA, Virginia Tech and the University of Richmond.

Currier is also a classical composer, and has received such awards as the Rome Prize, Guggenheim and the American Academy of Arts & Letters Academy Award, given for lifetime achievement in composition. His music is published by Theodore Presser Co., recorded on Chandos, New World Records, and Crystal, and has been commissioned by such organizations as the Berlin Philharmonic. He has served on the faculties of Juilliard and the University of Virginia. Currier’s largest musical work, Gaian Variations, is an evening length oratorio about Gaia Theory, premiered on Earth Day 2004 at Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, with the Brooklyn Philharmonic.

William F. Hall, Energy Policy Advisor, is a visiting/adjunct professor recently appointed to Halsey Professor Chair at the University of Virginia’s School of Engineering and Applied Science. Specifically focused on the business minor, Prof. Hall’s program is offered to 3rd and 4th year engineering students and highlights strategic planning, organizational design, and new product development life cycle. Prior to joining UVa, Prof. Hall provided technical and organizational consulting services to electric utilities. His long career in power generation includes many in the upper management levels of Duke Energy, based in Charlotte, NC. He is a professional engineer and holds a BS from the University of Virginia.

Michel A. (Mitch) King, Energy Policy Advisor, is President of Old Mill Power Company, a Virginia-licensed provider of retail electricity that specializes in selling electricity and Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) from the sun, the wind, geothermal, hyrdopower, and biomass conversions. Mr. King served in various staff and management positions in high tech industries, including 14½ years in the U.S. Air Force in various R&D positions. After leaving the service in 1990, he studied for a Ph. D. and then served as an Adjunct Professor of Engineering at the University of Virginia. Since founding Old Mill in 1996, his focus has been on promoting the increased use of renewable energy throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. To that end, he has successfully lobbied Virginia’s government for legislation and regulations favorable to the renewable energy industry, contributed to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s Small Generator Interconnection Working Group consensus paper, and contributed to defining requirements for the Generator Attribute Tracking System (GATS) that tracks renewable energy certificates throughout the mid-Atlantic PJM transmission control area. Mr. King is an active participant in stakeholder meetings, regulatory proceedings, and legislative hearings that shape Virginia’s energy-related public policies.

Board of Directors

H. Lane Kneedler is a partner at the Richmond law firm Reed Smith. He has been the Chief Deputy Attorney General of Virginia, and was responsible for the Attorney General’s legislative program. He graduated from the University of Virginia Law School in 1969 and was a full professor and Associate Dean there. He is currently a visiting lecturer in law at the University. He has been a member of the Virginia Code Commission, the Virginia Crime Commission, and the Virginia Criminal Sentencing Commission. From 1982 until 1994, he was the gubernatorial appointee to the National Conference of Commission on Uniform State Laws, and chaired the conference’s committee that drafted the Revised Uniform Partnership Act. Mr. Kneedler lobbies regularly with the Virginia General Assembly.

Mark B. Logan is the former Chairman and CEO of VISX, Inc., the inventor and world leader of the laser vision correction procedure known as LASIK. He retired in 2001. He is currently Chairman of Board of VIVUS, Inc. a publicly traded biotechnology firm. He is a director of Eyegenix, Inc., serves on the Investment Committee of Tall Oaks Capital LLP, the board of University of Virginia Heart and Vascular Center, is a director of Public Policy Virginia, and a trustee of Southern Environmental Law Center.

Lucia Phinney is a Distinguished Lecturer at the University of Virginia School of Architecture. Her research and studio teaching are directed towards the rescue of the natural world through both representation and presentation, revealing rather than erasing the potential for natural systems to effectively engage and inform the places we make. Ms. Phinney’s recent work has been published in the following books and magazines: House Beautiful; Elle Décor; Storage, by Sally Clark; Architects House Themselves, by Michael Webb; and Eighteen Houses, W. Jude LeBlanc, ed. She has also served on the Building Committee and Board of Trustees for the Charlottesville Waldorf School and the Planning Committee for the village of Batesville, Virginia. She holds a B.A. from New College, and both M.Arch and M.L.A. from The University of Virginia.

W. McIlwaine (Mac) Thompson, Jr., is Of Counsel to Woods Rogers. Mac practices corporate law representing companies in diverse fields including biotechnology, high-tech, publishing, and oil and gas exploration. He serves on the boards of a number of privately-held companies and is on the Investment Committee of Tall Oaks Capital, L.P., a venture capital partnership based in Charlottesville. He is a member of the Advisory Board of the Heart Center at the University of Virginia School of Medicine and General Counsel to, and the immediate Past Chairman of, the Board of Directors of UVA’s Curry School of Education Foundation. He has been an elder at First Presbyterian Church in Charlottesville, Moderator of the Presbytery of the James and a member of the Board of Trustees of Union Theological Seminary in Richmond. He was also Chairman of the Charlottesville Committee on Foreign Relations and the Ash Lawn-Highland Opera Festival where he continues to serve as director. Past Secretary of the Yale class of 1969, he graduated from Yale College in 1969 and the University of Virginia School of Law in 1972.