Person Archives

Elinor Benami was a 2023 PERC Lone Mountain fellow and an assistant professor of Agricultural and Applied Economics at Virginia Tech. Her research focuses on the social and environmental profile of producers and production systems, asking questions such as: How do we detect change in the foundational links of global supply chains, alleviate the welfareContinue reading “Elinor Benami”

Katherine Wright was a PERC senior researcher from 2023 to 2025. She is an expert on water policy and her current work includes exploration of solutions to western water scarcity. Through this work, she aims to facilitate long-term policy solutions that meet the needs of diverse stakeholder groups. Additional work focuses on analyzing the impactContinue reading “Katherine Wright”

Jeff Kupfer is the president of ConservAmerica, a conservative conservation organization. Jeff served as Acting Deputy Secretary and Chief Operating Officer as well as Chief of Staff in the George W. Bush administration. Before arriving at DOE, Jeff worked in the White House as a Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, where heContinue reading “Jeff Kupfer”

Drew Bond is the co-founder and president of C3 Solutions, the conservative coalition for climate solutions. Bond has decades of experience in the conservative movement and private sector. He served as a Senior Advisor for President George W. Bush at the U.S. Department of Energy, Chief of Staff at The Heritage Foundation under Ed Feulner,Continue reading “Drew Bond”

Benji Backer is the president and founder of the American Conservation Coalition. For his work with the ACC, he has been awarded the Fortune 40 Under 40, Forbes 30 Under 30, GreenBiz 30 Under 30, and Grist 50. He serves as a Board member for the Wisconsin Conservative Energy Forum and Mainstream Republicans of Washington.Continue reading “Benji Backer”

Kendall Cotton is the president and CEO of the Frontier Institute. Kendall developed his passion for serving his community while growing up in Florence, Montana along the banks of the Bitterroot River. He earned a degree in Political Science from Montana State University. Kendall is a government relations professional with 10+ years of experience helpingContinue reading “Kendall Cotton”

Tim Sheehy is the founder and CEO of Bridger Aerospace, a Belgrade, Montana-based aerial firefighting company. He also founded Ascent Vision Technologies, a Bozeman-based optics company that he sold in 2020. Prior to founding Bridger Aerospace, Tim graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy. He served 10 years in the U.S. Navy as a Navy SEALContinue reading “Tim Sheehy”

Madison Yablonski served as PERC’s federal policy associate at PERC, where she played a crucial role in shaping policy strategy and managing government affairs to advance key reforms grounded in PERC’s innovative research. She graduated from the University of Oregon in 2021 with a B.A. in public relations and international affairs. Madison brought with herContinue reading “Madison Yablonski”

Dr. Morgan Varner is the director of research at Tall Timbers where he coordinates research efforts including fire science, rare species, and game bird management. His research interest includes biodiversity conservation and how management activities promote or diminish ecological function. Morgan also guides non-research programs in prescribed fire training and private lands prescribed fire implementation,Continue reading “Morgan Varner”

Tim Hawkes represents Utah’s House District 18 and works in the brine shrimp industry to help protect the Great Salt Lake. Prior to that, he spent more than a decade as Utah state director for Trout Unlimited.