Staff

Sarah Cashman is the Director of Life Cycle Services at Franklin Associates, A Division of ERG and an ERG Vice President. She has more than 13 years of experience at ERG managing projects to assess the life cycle environmental impacts of processes and products for public sector clients, industry associations, and private companies. She has served as the technical lead for more than 60 comprehensive life cycle models, including comparative studies for a variety of packaging technologies. She develops intuitive screening levels tools in Excel, openLCA, and web-based formats for clients to run ad hoc assessments of product life cycles. Sarah joined Franklin Associates after completing her master's degree in sustainable systems with a focus on industrial ecology at the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources and Environment. She specializes in the LCA software SimaPro and openLCA as well as application of impact assessment methodologies. Her other expertise includes primary data collection, construction of life cycle inventory databases and models, development of presentations for non-technical audiences, and preparation of LCA reports. Through her work, she has gained a strong technical knowledge of consumer packaging systems, current and emerging water treatment technologies, chemical manufacturing, energy resources and technologies, building products, and agricultural operations. Sarah serves on the American Center for Life Cycle Assessment (ACLCA) Advisory Board and the ACLCA-SETAC (Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry) North American LCA Interest Group Steering Committee and is a co-chair of the ACLCA-SETAC working group on indirect emissions accounting.
Shanika Amarakoon is a Senior Environmental Engineer with 20 years of experience leading LCA projects related to renewable energy technologies for federal and state agencies. Specifically, she has led LCA studies of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and next generation photovoltaic cells. As part of these studies she led the collection of life cycle inventory data, modeling (using openLCA and other applications), and analysis and presentation of results. Her studies have been published and presented at the American Center for Life Cycle Assessment, U.S. EPA, and Department of Energy Argonne National Laboratory. In addition to LCA, she has led studies related to climate change impacts, water resources, sustainability, and program evaluation. Ms. Amarakoon holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Bucknell University and a Master of Engineering Management from the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College.
Sam Arden is a Senior Environmental Engineer with over 10 years of experience in water resources, ecological engineering and urban water management fields. He has worked in consulting, academia and as an EPA contractor, and brings a balanced perspective to the projects he works on. Sam came to Franklin Associates, A Division of ERG shortly after completing his PhD in Environmental Engineering Sciences at the University of Florida's Center for Environmental Policy, where he worked collaboratively with EPA and ERG staff to evaluate more integrative approaches to urban water management using a suite of methods including Emergy, LCA and Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment. Prior to his doctoral work, Sam worked as an environmental consultant on a range of water resource projects including small and large-scale wetland restorations, stormwater management plans and environmental site design.
Andrew Beck is an Environmental Sustainability and LCA Analyst who joined Franklin Associates, A Division of ERG after two years of assisting FEMA, via the RAND Corporation, with environmental and historic preservation as well as post-disaster recovery policy. Andrew earned an M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering with a concentration in Sustainability and Green Design and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering, both from the University of Pittsburgh. During his M.S. fellowship he served as a key researcher on a multi-university team to evaluate the technical efficiency, life cycle environmental performance, and economic viability of emerging biofuel and bio-based chemical co-production systems. At ERG Andrew contributes to a wide array of LCA-related efforts, including open-source EPA tools which support the Federal LCA Commons and EPA's US Environmentally-Extended Input-Output (USEEIO) model.
Emelyn Chiang, Environmental Sustainability and LCA Analyst, joined Franklin Associates after receiving an M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Tufts University and a B.A. in Engineering and Environmental Science & Policy from Smith College. Emelyn's capstone project quantified the environmental and financial impact of replacing beef and dairy products with environmentally conscious alternatives. Emelyn also interned at Carbon180, where she conducted extensive research on carbon capture and storage pathways and became well versed in engineering techniques used to remove and sequester carbon from the atmosphere. She also served as a diversity & bias research analysis intern for LEGO's Women's Brick Initiative. Emelyn brings expertise in digital media, including serving as a communications & organizational intern at Community Action Works. At Franklin Associates, Emelyn is supporting life cycle projects including assessments of the environmental impacts of food waste disposal and plastic recycling technologies.
Ashley Edelen is an Environmental Sustainability and LCA Analyst with a Master of Engineering from the Technical University of Trier, Environmental Campus Birkenfeld, and a Master of Science from the Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University. She also holds a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering from the University of Oklahoma. Prior to joining Franklin Associates, A Division of ERG, she worked extensively with LCA data quality management and data management, including working to develop standard formatting for US federally developed datasets as a Fellow at U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. She also has experience conducting wastewater management and renewable energy grid stabilization research for the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany.
Andrew Henderson is a forward-thinking Senior Environmental Engineer with over 11 years of experience in systems thinking, cross-disciplinary work and communication, fate and transport modeling, and application of LCA to large systems. Andrew has worked in both academia (University of Texas School of Public Health) and in government (US Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Research and Development). Andrew has worked with clients ranging from US agricultural groups to the US Department of Defense to international metal associations. He has served on two task forces for the United Nations Environment Programme - Society for Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (UNEP-SETAC) Life Cycle Initiative effort to harmonize LCIA methods: as a member of the Cross-Cutting Issues task force and as a Co-chair of the Acidification/Eutrophication task force. Some of his current research interests include bringing spatially and temporally-resolved, multimedia fate and transport data into LCA; application of ecosystem service models in novel settings; and developing global models for sector-based occupational health. Andrew holds Ph.D. and Master's degrees in Environmental Engineering from the University of Michigan and University of Texas, respectively, and a B.A. in Physics from Williams College.
Melissa Huff is a Senior Project Manager and life cycle analyst specializing in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) Database projects. Hired and mentored by Bill Franklin, she has watched the LCA field mature and transform and finds it inspiring to be working in such a dynamic and significant field. During her 30 plus years of LCA experience, she has conducted LCI and LCA studies for Asian, European and North American clients, and served as project manager on dozens of public and private LCI/LCA projects. She has authored and presented numerous publications providing insight on her projects over the years. She also manages Franklin Associates' data within the U.S. LCI database. Melissa enjoys interacting with clients, providing the LCA scientific analysis required to meet their goals.
Liz Lanphear joined Franklin Associates, A Division of ERG, as a Sustainability and LCA Analyst. Most recently, Liz served as a Guest Researcher with the Ex Ante LCA group at Leiden University in the Netherlands. At Leiden, she built a tool to better model waste demand in LCA to improve circular economy considerations and constructed a database of sustainability policies in the EU, working with Brightway 2 in Python. Outside of her research, she supported GIS and Material Flow Analysis Master's courses as a Teaching Assistant. Prior to her time at Leiden University, she worked as a Data Analyst at WCG Clinical Services where she gained experience with large datasets, building ad hoc analyses, and presenting complex information in an accessible way. Liz holds a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Certification and received her B.A. in Math and Biology from Swarthmore College. At Franklin Associates, Liz is supporting life cycle and environmental justice projects.
Anne Marie Molen is a Senior Scientist supporting a variety of LCA and LCI projects as well as projects focused on waste characterization. She has a background in analytical chemistry and previously worked for MRIGlobal (formerly Midwest Research Institute) as a chemist. At MRI, she led method development efforts for preliminary analysis of PCB's and Dioxins. Following her work at MRI, Anne Marie served as a technical advisor for a large clinical reference laboratory focusing on molecular biology and pathology specialty testing. She has experience with Franklin Associates' private and public LCI databases. Her primary responsibilities include research, data collection, modeling, and technical report writing.
Ben Morelli is a Senior Environmental Sustainability and LCA Analyst with over 5 years of experience conducting LCA studies. Ben joined Franklin Associates, A Division of ERG after completing his master's degree in environmental management and industrial ecology at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. He works fluently in both SimaPro and openLCA software packages, with experience in LCA methods development, inventory construction, impact assessment and report writing. He has performed environmental analyses across many sectors including consumer products, residential construction, cookstoves and petroleum refining. Ben specializes in assessment of the water and wastewater sectors including anaerobic co-digestion, nutrient removal and recovery, and non-potable reuse. He received his undergraduate degree in ecological engineering from Oregon State University, where he studied water resource engineering.
Jake Namovich is an Environmental Sustainability and LCA Analyst at Franklin Associates, A Division of ERG. Jake completed his M.S. in Environment & Sustainability with a focus in Sustainable Systems; Environmental Policy & Planning; and Environmental Justice at the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS). There he was employed at the SEAS Center for Sustainable Systems where he helped lead an effort to footprint Scope 3 Purchased Goods and Services greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for the university. At SEAS he established skills in LCA methods and life cycle inventory (LCI) development; process and input-output footprinting; system modeling and simulation; and impact assessment. Concurrently, Jake worked in corporate sustainability consulting to promote sustainable materials management practices with clients, often through the lens of LCA. Since beginning work at ERG, Jake has contributed to LCI development; state GHG inventory tools; the United States Environmentally-Extended Input-Output Models; EPA circular economy programs; and curation of the U.S. LCI database.
Beverly Sauer is a Senior Project Manager and Life Cycle Analyst with over 30 years of experience conducting and managing LCAs for a wide range of clients. She works closely with clients to design cost-effective analyses that will provide them with the information they need to meet their objectives. She particularly enjoys evaluating innovative materials and product designs and developing interactive tools that clients can use to evaluate a wide variety of scenarios for design, use, and end-of-life management of their products. Bev has served on the advisory committee for the U.S. LCI Database and the advisory council of the American Center for Life Cycle Assessment (ACLCA) and has authored chapters in two textbooks on LCA.
Shelly Schneider is a Senior Project Manager and environmental scientist in solid waste management with over 20 years of experience in the field. Shelly has extensive experience in analysis of waste management alternatives and in waste characterization. Her clients have ranged from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to state, regional, and local government agencies.
Andrea Schnitzer is a Senior Environmental Scientist with more than 15 years of experience working across energy, water, and waste programs for public and private sector clients. Ms. Schnitzer focuses on sustainable materials management and has supported clients interested in waste characterization and flow assessments, including EPA and their annual Facts and Figures publication assessing national municipal solid waste generation and management in the US. She has conducted research and developed tools related to end-of-life management for World Wildlife Fund, NYSERDA, and EPA. She has also supported the EPA Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery for many years, including for development of the National Recycling Strategy and response to congressional mandates to assess strategies for plastic waste minimization. Ms. Schnitzer holds a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Vassar College and a Master of Environmental Management from Duke University's Nicholas School of the Environment.
Paige Weiler is an Environmental Sustainability and LCA Analyst. She joined Franklin Associates after completing a B.S. in Environmental Economics and Management from the University of Georgia where she is currently finishing an M.S. in Agricultural and Applied Economics. Her graduate research and thesis focused on conducting LCAs of agricultural commodities and developing circular economy approaches to reduce the environmental impact as well as the economic costs of such goods. Paige earned an undergraduate minor in environmental law and worked as a legal assistant prior to joining Franklin Associates. She holds M.S. certificates in Agricultural Data Science and Sustainable Food Systems, which she utilized while interning as an agricultural economics data analyst. At Franklin Associates, Paige supports life cycle projects through research, data collection, modeling, and building reports. She specializes in supporting LCA projects at Franklin Associates focused on agricultural systems.
Emily Wexler is an Environmental Sustainability and LCA Analyst. Emily joined Franklin Associates upon graduating from Boston University with her undergraduate degree in Earth and Environmental Sciences and master's degree in Remote Sensing and Geospatial Sciences. Prior to Franklin and Associates, Emily interned with the Born Global foundation as a sustainability intern on the Life Cycle Assessment team, where she assisted in the development of LCAs for projects at Born Global. She also contributed to ongoing research through Boston University's Center for Remote Sensing and possesses a strong background in geographic information systems and its applications to sustainability initiatives. As an analyst, Emily supports projects through contributing to life cycle inventories and conducting LCA research on innovative materials.
Ben Young is a Senior Life Cycle Analyst specializing in developing life cycle inventories for energy systems and performing input-output life cycle assessment. He has created custom Excel-based tools to understand LCA results and perform scenario analyses for diverse sectors including petrochemicals, agriculture and biofuels, petroleum systems, and waste. He is also an expert on the openLCA software and has delivered tailored trainings to clients and public webinars. While supporting a number of federal agencies, his work has contributed to the Federal LCA Commons. Ben earned a B.S. in biology from Davidson College and a Master of Environmental Management from the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University.