ATI Fellows and Advisors also make up our Speakers’ Bureau. Please email us at contact@atinstitute.org to request a speaker for your organization or event.

 Fellows

Greg Walcher, Senior Fellow

ATI Senior Fellow Greg Walcher has been involved in the public policy process for 35 years.  He is an avid student of history, and a keen observer of government.

Walcher is President of the Natural Resources Group, a national consulting firm specializing in energy, water, public lands, forestry, and wildlife.  He served in the Governor’s Cabinet as head of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, and as president of the national organization of natural resources cabinet secretaries.  Leveraging a decade of Capitol Hill experience, Walcher also spent ten years as President of Club 20, a consortium of Western Colorado stakeholders, during which the group’s budget and membership tripled through activism on important regional issues.

In 2004, Walcher was the Republican nominee for Congress in the top targeted House race in America that year.  He won a five-way primary, broke previous Colorado records for congressional fund raising and organization, came within 2 points of victory, and remains a frequent and popular speaker in Colorado and around the country.

Walcher authors a regular blog called “Resources and Reality,” highlighting instances of government overreach, overkill, and “plain silliness”. He is the author of Smoking Them Out: The Theft of the Environment and How to Take it Back, slated for publication in early 2013.

George Taylor, Senior Fellow

George Taylor is the founder of Palmetto Energy Research, a non-profit devoted to educating the public about the future of energy, where his focus has been on the costs and environmental impacts of all leading choices for the generation of electricity. His reports have highlighted the indirect and infrastructure costs of each technology in addition to the more typical capital and operations costs. From his outsider’s perspective, he has given readers the tools and information they need in order to answer the most important policy questions for themselves. His most recent articles have been on the cost of fossil, fossil/wind and nuclear electricity; the cost of electricity transmission and storage; the maximum amount of intermittent electricity that the system could accommodate; the dependency of intermittent technologies on primary fossil technologies; the consequences of state-level renewable electricity mandates; and the cost of new nuclear construction in the United States. Prior to working on energy policy, he was a Silicon Valley engineer, executive and co-founder of two microprocessor design companies. He graduated from U.C. Berkeley with a Ph.D. in computer architecture.

John Droz, Jr., Senior Fellow

John received undergraduate degrees in Physics and Mathematics from Boston College, and a graduate degree in Physics from Syracuse University. He subsequently worked for GE: Aerospace Electronics (Utica, NY), Mohawk Data Sciences (Herkimer, NY), and Monolithic Memories (Cupertino, CA).

After retiring at age 34 (due to successful real estate investing) he phased into pursing a variety of community interests. This lead to a 30± year commitment as an environmental activist. During that time he was a leading individual on three NY state-wide issues (electrical energy, water extraction, and water quality).

He had a lakefront home in the Adirondacks, and has been a participating member of several environmental organizations (e.g. the Adirondack Council, Association for Protection of the Adirondacks, Residents’ Committee to Protect the Adirondacks, Sierra Club, NYS Federation of Lakes).

Two areas of interest and expertise (science and the environment) have merged with his focus on energy matters, especially wind power. John’s basic position is that we should be taking science-based measures to solve our energy and environmental issues.

In 2011 John was selected to be on the Board of Directors of the advocacy group, NC-20. He is also that organization’s scientific advisor.

 Steve Milloy, Fellow

Steve Milloy is a recognized leader in the fight against junk science with more than 20 years of experience. He is the founder and publisher of JunkScience.com, and an environmental and public health consultant. Mr. Milloy is a biostatistician and securities lawyer who has also been a registered securities principal, investment fund manager, non-profit executive, and a print/web columnist on science and business issues.

Mr. Milloy has authored the following books:

• Green Hell: How Environmentalists Plan to Control Your Life and What You Can Do to Stop Them, Regnery 2009 — an Amazon.com Top 100 seller;
• Junk Science Judo: Self-defense Against Health Scares and Scams, Cato Institute, 2001;
• Silencing Science, with co-author Michael Gough, Cato Institute, 1999 — an Amazon.com Top 100 seller;
• Science Without Sense: The Risky Business of Public Health Research, Cato Institute, 1995;
• Science-Based Risk Assessment: A Piece of the Superfund Puzzle, National Environmental Policy Institute, 1995;

Mr. Milloy has also authored over 600 articles/columns published in major newspapers/web sites, including the Wall Street Journal, Investor’s Business Daily, FoxNews.com, Financial Times, National Post (Canada), USA Today, Los Angeles Times, Washington Times, New York Post, New York Sun and other print and web outlets.

Mr. Milloy was the co-founder and managing principal of Free Enterprise Action Fund (2004-2009), the first pro-free enterprise activist mutual fund, which merged with the Congressional Effect in July 2009.

Paul Bachman, Research Fellow

Paul Bachman is the Director of Research at The Beacon Hill Institute. He holds a Master of Science in International Economics degree from Suffolk University and a Bachelor of Arts (Politics) degree from the St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia.

Todd Myers, Research Fellow

Todd Myers is the Environmental Director at the Washington Policy Center, a market-oriented think tank in Seattle. His work has been featured in many Washington newspapers, the BBC, Fox News and the Wall Street Journal. Policies based on Myers’ ideas have been proposed in Washington state, Michigan and adopted by legislators from across the nation in the American Legislative Exchange Council

A former computer programmer, Myers has a Bachelors Degree in Politics from Whitman College and a Maters Degree in Russian/International Studies from the Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington.

In 2000, Myers ran Doug Sutherland’s successful statewide campaign for Commissioner of Public Lands and served as his Communications Director until 2004, taking leave to run his successful re-election campaign. His experience combines planning and implementing public strategies for sport franchises, producing award-winning public events, managing successful statewide political campaigns, building strong grassroots coalitions, and creating innovative Internet marketing solutions. He also runs a public relations firm whose clients include the Seattle Mariners, Treehouse (a nonprofit organization improving the lives of foster children), and the Prescription Drug Assistance Foundation.

Mark Newgent, Research Fellow

Mark Newgent is a Maryland-based writer and researcher. His work has appeared in National Review Online, the Baltimore Sun, Washington Examiner, and newspapers across the country. Mark was a featured blogger for the Washington Examiner’s Local Opinion Zone Blog, blogs regularly for Red Maryland, and is a regular guest on WBAL Radio in Baltimore.

Jenna Ashley Robinson, Research Fellow

Jenna Ashley Robinson is Outreach Coordinator at the John W. Pope Center for Higher Education Policy, where she has worked since 2007. She graduated from North Carolina State University with degrees in Political Science and French, and went on to receive her Masters degree in Political Science at UNC-Chapel Hill, and is a Ph.D candidate in Political Science. Robinson is also a graduate of the Koch Associates Program sponsored by the Charles G. Koch Foundation.

She was previously the E.A. Morris Fellowship Assistant at the John Locke Foundation, where she worked since 2001. Robinson’s work has appeared in American Thinker, Human Events, Carolina Journal, the Lincoln Tribune, the Hickory Daily Record, the Gaston Gazette, the Mountain Express, and the News and Observer.

Bruce Edward Walker, Research Fellow

Bruce Edward Walker is managing editor of InfoTech & Telecom News. In this capacity, he has published essays in National Review Online, the Washington Times, the Washington Examiner, the Boston Herald, and the Detroit News’ Michigan View.

Prior to joining Heartland in 2010, Bruce worked at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy as Science Editor of the quarterly magazine MichiganScience, and as the Communications Manager for the center’s Property Rights Network. In the latter position, Walker won a Communicators Award of Distinction from the International Academy of the Visual Arts for a video he wrote, narrated, and produced called “Boardman River Dams, Episode 1: Drawdown and Devastation in Grand Traverse County”.

Walker has written speeches and produced videos for General Motors executives and has edited publications for Buick Motor Division, for which he won a Silver Quill Award from the International Association of Business Communicators; the Detroit Athletic Club; and Gale Research. He continues to write articles, essays, and cultural reviews for the Mackinac Center, Acton Institute, Russell Kirk Center’s University Bookman, Michigan View, and The American Culture. He has written more than 100 essays for the reference book series Contemporary Musicians, as well as many essays on novelists, poets, philosophers, and filmmakers for the Gale Research Literary Criticism series. Walker has interviewed filmmakers, authors, playwrights, performance artists, and musicians as entertainment editor-at-large for The Royal Oak, including books covering Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest; Adventures in Wonderland; and Edith Wharton’s The House of Mirth. He also co-authored What to Do With a Major in Education for CliffsNotes.

Todd Wynn, M.A., Research Fellow

Todd Wynn is Vice President and policy analyst with Cascade Policy Institute where he conducts climate change, energy policy research and general environmental and economic policy issues.

In that position, he has been published in newspapers across Oregon, and is regularly featured as an environmental policy expert on TV and radio stations across the state and U.S.

Mr. Wynn received his Master’s degree in International and Developmental Economics at the University of San Francisco. While studying at the University of San Francisco, Todd worked abroad in India on climate change impact research. Prior to studying at the University of San Francisco, Todd attended Virginia Military Institute and California State University, Long Beach where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Economics.

William Yeatman, MA, Research Fellow

William Yeatman is an energy policy analyst best known for his work with Competitive Enterprise Institute in Washington, D. C. He focuses on state and federal regulatory regimes for energy supply and demand. His writing on energy policy has been published in newspapers across the country, and he is a frequent guest on radio and television.

Yeatman holds a Masters degree in International Administration from the Denver Graduate School of International Studies, and a Bachelors degree in Environmental Sciences from the University of Virginia.

Yeatman was a Peace Corps volunteer in the Kyrgyz Republic, where he taught entrepreneurship and small business management to rural women. Before that, he ran a homeless shelter in Denver, Colorado.

Media & Investigative Fellows

Kathy Hoekstra, Media & Investigative Fellow

Kathy Hoekstra is a Communications Specialist with the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. She assists in the Center’s media outreach and does reporting for the Center’s Michigan Transparency Project. Prior to joining the Mackinac Center staff, Hoekstra spent nearly fifteen years in broadcast journalism.

She was an award-winning news anchor and reporter for radio stations in Port Huron and Saginaw, working for more than a decade in local television news in the state. In addition to her reporting and anchoring duties, Hoekstra also produced and hosted a weekly public affairs program that involved in-depth coverage of local and statewide issues.

Hoekstra graduated from the University of Michigan with a Bachelors degree in both Communications and English. She is also a graduate and Hall of Fame member of the Specs Howard School of Broadcasting, and she has done graduate work at Saginaw Valley State University.

David Knight, Media Fellow

David Knight is the founder of CineFilm Media, a full service video production company located in the Research Triangle area of North Carolina. He has produced award-winning content for non-profits and policy groups including Galen Institute, FreedomWorks, ParentalRights.org, AMD Alliance International and corporations such as Cisco, VMware and the National Marine Manufacturers Association.

Prior to CineFilm Media, Knight received a BSEE, cum laude from the University of South Florida and worked as an Electronics Engineer before entering the marketplace to create point-of-sale retail software for the video rental market and a chain of video stores that he owned and operated for 14 years. It was here that he got a chance to edit some of the finest films of the 20th century into movie trailers, learning not only the art of filmmaking but also how to condense content into a compelling narrative.

A dedicated advocate of free markets and liberty, Knight was a one-time candidate for Congress, and campaign manager for Scot McLaughlin who received the highest percentage of votes in the last century for a North Carolina third party candidate.

Amy Oliver Cooke, Media & Investigative Fellow

Amy Oliver Cooke is an energy policy expert and blogger for the Independence Institute, Colorado’s free market State Policy Network think tank since 2004, also covering spending and transparency.

Lawmakers frequently request Cooke’s testimony on energy and transparency in legislative committee hearings. She collaborated with William Yeatman of the Competitive Enterprise Institute to expose the high cost of Colorado’s “new energy economy,” a supposed model for renewable energy for the rest of the country, questionable behavior at the Public Utilities Commission, and collusion between lawmakers, bureaucrats and special interest groups. Their work resulted in five pieces of legislation introduced during the 2011 legislative session.

She is also the host of the award winning Amy Oliver Show heard on News Talk 1310 KFKA in Greeley, Colo. In 2008, the Colorado Broadcasters Association recognized her with the Award of Excellence for Best News Talk Personality in a major market.

Cooke was recognized again in 2011 with an Award of Merit for Best News Talk Personality in a major market.  Cooke has been published in the Denver Post, Pueblo Chieftain, Greeley Tribune, Denver Business Journal, Denver Daily News, Liberty Ink Journal, The Daily Caller and on Save Our States. She has written numerous opinion editorials, issue papers and issue backgrounders.

Advisors

Joe Bastardi, Senior Advisor & Fellow

Joe Bastardi, formerly chief meteorologist at AccuWeather, frequently appears on cable news channels, such as CNN and Fox News during storms. He has been a fixture in the private weather industry for over 35 years, starting with his degree in Meteorology at Penn State. He is the only meteorologist to have ever lettered Division 1 in NCAA in wrestling.

Currently, Bastardi is a key player in launching a new cutting edge weather forecasting company, WeatherBELL Analytics. The company plans to build from the ground up, the nation’s go-to private long range and extreme weather forecasting service. His forecast methodology mimics his beliefs, that the foundation of the past must be used to forge the future.

Bastardi emphasizes that while the tools we have today are better than many years ago, there is no getting away from the basics. The use of those tools are established in our constitution to help all men have a chance to better their lives. Bastardi is also an avid bodybuilder, winning his height class in a recent “Over 50 Mr. America”. He is also a volunteer strength and nutrition advisor for the Nittany Lion Wrestling Clubs wrestlers, whose members will compete in June for a spot on the USA’ s world team.

Charles Clough, MS, ThM – Advisor

Professor Charles Clough received a Bachelors degree in Mathematics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a Masters degree in Atmospheric Science from Texas Tech University, and a Theology Masters degree in Old Testament and Semitics from Dallas Theological Seminary.

He has worked as a USAF Weather Officer (Active Duty and Reserve) and retired with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Clough retired as Chief of the US Army Aberdeen Test Center’s Atmospheric Effects Team, specializing in atmospheric measurements and modeling.

He currently is President of Biblical Framework Ministries and an Adjunct Professor of Chafer Theological Seminary (his teachings include ethics of man’s relation to the environment).