Our Team

SUSTAINABLE EDUCATION

Nicolette van der Lee is the Program Manager for the Sustainable Living Institute of Maui at UH Maui College. She has served as a Program Coordinator for workforce development projects at UH Maui College focusing on program including business, sustainability, geographic information systems, and food innovation. She possesses degrees in Comparative Literature from Dartmouth College, Master of Education in Secondary Education from Chaminade University of Honolulu, and Doctor of Education from Johns Hopkins University. An avid gardener, reader, traveler, and writer, Nicolette loves exploring the ecosystems of Maui, and volunteers as the President of the Board of Directors of the Huliau Foundation, a nonprofit program for environmental education for Maui youth. Contact: nhv@hawaii.edu, 808-984-3379.

SLIM TRAINING PROGRAM INSTRUCTORS

John Bendon is a leader in Hawaii in the field of green building and energy efficiency.  Many of the classes that John has taught have never been taught in the State before. John Bendon is a LEED Accredited Professional with a specialty in LEED Homes. He is also Certified Energy Rater under RESNET, a Building Performance Institute Analyst, holds masters in Real Estate and Construction Management from the University of Denver, and a B.A. in Environmental Studies from the University of Colorado.  To learn more about John and his company Green Building LLC, please visit www.GreenBuildingHawaii.com

Lyman Morikawa has been working with solar energy since the early 1990s.  He has experience in residential, commercial, industrial, and institutional power and lighting system design for power generation and distribution, motors and controls, renewable energy and solar photovoltaic systems. As the manager of Morikawa and Associates, LLC, Mr. Morikawa is involved with preparation of electrical design plans and specifications for custom residences and development projects, single and multi-family dwellings, commercial and office buildings, warehouses, medical facilities, churches, recreational facilities, and industrial plants. Lyman is a Licensed Professional Enginneer and holds a B.S. in electrical engineering and a MBA.

Clifford Rutherford was a former building contractor and practiced plumbing and solar hot water installation with a local division of a national plumbing franchise on Maui and received solar hot trainer certification through the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL). Cliff was formerly the Program Coordinator for the Construction Academy Program. He is now the Program Coordinator for the Construction Technology program at UHMC, offering career pathways in renewable energy, and the construction trades. Cliff is also a BOC instructor for SLIM.

Austin Van Heusen is the internship coordinator for the INNOVATE Hawaii commercial energy auditing program. Austin is a student of UH Maui College focusing on energy monitoring and management.  Through SLIM, he obtained his Home Energy Survey Professional certification, worked directly with the Renewable Energy Customer Services department at Maui Electric, and  completed an internship with INNOVATE Hawaii, completing a commercial energy audit with a local business.  He also works with Green Building, LLC as an energy consultant.

Stuart Zinner is the Maui College Renewable Energy Coordinator and an instructor in the STEM department teaching classes in Electronics and Computer Engineering Technology, Information and Computer Science, and Mathematics, including classes in Photovoltaic Design and Installation, and Computer Networking. He has received training in Photovoltaic Design and Installation from Solar Energy International and is approved by NABCEP to offer PV classes.