Meet the People

ARC has attracted many bright and creative individuals. The staff is diverse with many years of combined experience in stove design, teaching, laboratory testing, combustion engineering, materials development, data analysis, field studies, international business and development, mechanical engineering, and stove implementation.

Dean Still, Executive Director, and the staff of ARC have made significant contributions to growing concerns related to indoor air pollution from household energy use.

Aprovecho's staff includes:

Dean Still, Executive Director: In 1989, after graduate school, sailing to the South Pacific and living on an isolated ranch in Mexico, Dean joined Aprovecho, a field-based educational program for sustainable living in Oregon. During his 14 years there, Dean led the effort to build the campus, and created a college-level training center. In 1997, he began focusing on the design and manufacturing of clean cookstoves, eventually establishing the stove oriented Aprovecho Research Center in 2004. During his years in the cookstove community, Dean has worked with Dr. Larry Winiarski, inventor of the rocket stove, to design numerous improved stoves. He has assisted more than one hundred international stove development and manufacturing projects throughout the world. He oversees the biomass cookstove research laboratory, emission equipment manufacturing, and manages ARC’s relationship with Shengzhou Stove Manufacturer (which sells rocket stoves worldwide through EcoZoom and StoveTec). Dean is author, or co-author, of six books and dozens of technical reports and articles on clean cookstoves.

Damon Ogle, Research Director: Damon joined Aprovecho in 2003 as a volunteer. He is co-developer of Aprovecho emissions equipment, including the Portable Emissions Measurement System and the Indoor Air Pollution Meter. Damon also designed the 60-Liter Institutional Stove and was a collaborator on the Factory-in-a-Box model. He has travelled widely – from Latin America to Africa to India and China – to teach, innovate, and speak the stove language.

Fred Colgan, Institutional Stoves Program Director: Fred is a retired carpenter and homebuilder, whose commitment to service inspired him to work with Aprovecho (he was familiar with the organization, as he and his wife own and manage the Aprovecho Research Center facility). In his four years with Aprovecho, Fred has worked with past Board member Damon Ogle to design the Institutional Stove. They have since developed the production methodology for “Stove Factory in a Box”, and produced most of the initial prototypes of these 60 Liter Stoves. Fred is currently training a crew of production workers in Cottage Grove, conducting field studies, and working with agencies and organizations around the world to set up Institutional Stove production and distribution operations.

The Institutional Stove Project personnel includes Damon Ogle as Technical Director, and three additional senior staff.

Mike Hatfield, International Projects Coordinator: Mike has worked with Aprovecho Research Center for more than ten years, and has coordinated stove technology and testing trainings throughout Central America, Africa, and Asia. He is one of the designers of the popular “Justa” griddle stove, used throughout Central America. Mike’s consulting, testing, and training skills have benefited numerous agencies and organizations, including Asia regional Cookstove Program, CARE, Development Alternatives, Enterprise Works, the Shell Foundation, Trees, Water & People, US Environmental Protection Agency, and the World Health Organization.

Ryan Thompson, Lab Technician: Ryan grew up working in his dad's machine shop in Northern California, and went on to graduate from the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB) in 2006 with a BS in Mechanical Engineering. At UCSB, Ryan focused his engineering studies on heat transfer and renewable energy. He then spent two years working in the solar energy field, designing and installing residential systems. Ryan became interested in cook stoves while living off-the-grid for a year, during which time he cooked his meals on a rocket stove he built by following Dr. Larry's design principles. Ryan joined the Aprovecho Research Center staff in July 2010.

Sam Bentson, Laboratory Manager: Sam gained a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from Boston University in 2009. Sam’s engineering education gave him experience in scientific research and technological innovation, especially in the area of fluid dynamics. He has applied these skills as a technical lead for CrisisCamp, and as a member of Engineers Without Borders. After co-founding Mountain Harvest, a food security program for rural Haiti, he continued his work in Haitian aid through various projects with Aprovecho. As Aprovecho’s lab manager, Sam is committed to conducting rigorous research which is compatible with university standards, both in our lab, and overseas on training missions for other agencies and NGOs.

Kelley Grabow, Research Assistant: Kelley has a B.S. Chemistry degree from the University of Oregon, and served as a research assistant in the Hutchinson Research Laboratory there. At Aprovecho since September of 2010, she has been assisting in quantifying IAP reductions for various stoves and kitchen setups.