Jonathan Berkey
For over three decades, Jonathan has worked internationally on renewable energy systems in the U.S., Europe and Africa. Serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the mid-1980’s in Morocco, he worked with the Ministry of Energy at the Center for Development of Renewable Energy in Marrakesh, promoting the use of solar and wind energy systems for water pumping throughout the Southern Sahara region. In 1986, Jonathan’s team of Moroccan engineers and technicians installed the first modern wind turbine in North Africa near the town of Essaouira at an agricultural cooperative on the Atlantic coast, where the 200 MW Jebel Lahdid Wind Farm project is now being installed.
As an Associate Peace Corps Director, based in East Africa from 1988 to 1992, Jonathan coordinated volunteer engineers and technicians developing water infrastructure projects, including research on mechanical wind pump and solar technologies appropriate for East Africa.
As an Adjunct Professor for 7-years at the Monterey Institute of International Studies, Jonathan has lectured on development and renewable energy system topics, while also consulting with numerous companies developing solar and wind energy projects throughout Central California. Jonathan has given talks on wind and solar energy development over the past decade to federal/state agencies, and nonprofit organizations including the Ecological Farming Association annual conference. In 2007, he was invited to speak at the International Renewables and Realities Conference hosted in Lolland, Denmark, addressing the theme: Accelerating Climate Change Solutions: Californian Renewable Energy Policy Development.’
Jonathan is a founding board member of Global Education Partnership, an international youth education NGO, established in 1994, which expanded globally from East Africa to Central America and South-East Asia assisting rural schools with educational resources. He has recently established International School-to-School Partnerships (ISSP), with a mission to link teachers and students globally on science exchanges related to climate change topics, and is currently promoting “Power Africa Schools” an initiative to spur solar electricity development projects in rural communities across Africa. He currently serves as president of the board of directors of ISSP, and is also a board member on the United Nations Association, Monterey Bay Chapter, recently moderating their second annual Youth Climate Summit in Monterey.