The Greenway Team

Troy McBride, PHD

Thomas L. Peeples, Jr.

Thomas L. Peeples, Jr. is a graduate and adjunct faculty member of RIT in Mechanical Engineering. Thomas is a Sr. Technical Project Manager, in the Global Off-Highway Product Development Group at the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. Thomas is a 5-time NCAA All-American, member of the RIT Sports Hall of Fame, and recipient of the Walls-Olsen Memorial Scholarship for “Outstanding Contribution to Student Life”. Thomas is a retired US Navy Officer where he served in various Surface Warfare roles onboard the USS Fletcher (DD-992) and the USS Hewitt (DD-966). Thomas is actively engaged in the community, current president of the Goodyear Veterans Association, and a graduate of the 2018-2019 Goodyear Community Leadership Institute. Thomas is the recipient of the US Black Engineer and Information Technology magazine 2020 Stephanie C. Hill Black Engineer of the Year “Legacy Award”. Thomas is passionate about student engagement and leadership. Originally from Boston, MA, he is married and has three teen-aged children.

Rebecca Holcombe, Ed.D., M.B.A.

Rebecca Holcombe is a long-time educator of students, of teachers, and of administrators. She served as Director of the Dartmouth Teacher Education Program and as Secretary of Education for the State of Vermont. During her tenure as Secretary of Education, the Agency she led innovative statewide initiatives related to career pathways, proficiency-based learning, and nationally-recognized work on school quality reviews. Rebecca is passionate about equity, sustainability and our green energy transition. For her, Greenway is an opportunity to help students build the confidence, capability and networks they need to thrive in engineering, while they build a more just and sustainable future.

J. Violet Gannon

A non-profit executive, Gannon has spent her career advancing educational and healthcare initiatives, most recently as Executive Director of the Manchester Community Library in Vermont. Prior to her role in Manchester, Gannon served as patient experience manager at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital where she was responsible for patient relations across the institution, ensuring high quality patient care. Gannon previously worked closely with donors, alumni, and students at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut where she directed the Career Development Center. Prior to moving back to her native New England, and during her tenure at the University of Chicago as Assistant Dean and Director of the health professions program, Gannon re-envisioned a pre-professional program that provided students and alumni with the resources to develop a portfolio of skills and competencies required for graduate study in health and medicine. Securing funding from a Trustee donor, Gannon also founded and directed a summer fellowship program in which she taught an interdisciplinary summer seminar on healthcare. In recognition of her commitment to supporting students engaged in civic minded scholarship, Gannon was awarded the University Community Service Center’s Staff Service Award.

Dr. Rachel Koh

Dr. Rachel Koh is a founding faculty member at Greenway with a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Vermont and a Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts. Koh has previously taught at Lafayette and Smith Colleges. At Smith College’s department of engineering, Koh taught engineering courses in Fluid Mechanics, Solid Mechanics, Sustainable Materials, and Dynamics. At Greenway, Koh will develop, pilot and teach our innovative, 100% hands-on, project-based, lecture-free engineering modules and programs. They will work to develop sustainable engineering courses and programs and support the development of a collaborative and inclusive culture on campus. Koh brings research expertise in wind turbine design and plant-based composite materials. Dr. Koh shares Greenway’s ambition to redesign engineering education and believes in the mission to empower every student to thrive in engineering.

Hannah Root

Hannah Root is a founding member of the educational team at Greenway Center for Equity and Sustainability. She has a background in environmental education, with a masters in Environmental Science from Antioch University New England and 5+ years of experience teaching middle school science. Hannah joins the founding team at Greenway to coordinate, develop, and mentor students in the innovative hands-on, project-based, lecture-free engineering modules and programs. In collaboration with the Greenway team, she coordinates sustainable engineering courses and programs, mentors students towards mastery of target outcomes, and supports the development of a collaborative and inclusive culture on campus.

Kristin Cantu

Kristin Cantu is the sustainable engineering program manager for the Greenway Center for Equity and Sustainability. She has a background in communications, program development, project management, and community building. As a Montpelier resident, Kristin is excited to help develop and build upon Greenway’s mission of creating a sustainable and equitable community in her hometown, as well as create a strong connection between the local community and Greenway.

Sean Andersson, PhD

Sean B. Andersson received the B.S. degree in engineering and applied physics from Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA, in 1994, the M.S. degree in mechanical engineering from Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA, in 1995, and the Ph.D. degree in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA, in 2003. He has worked at AlliedSignal Aerospace and Aerovironment, Inc. and is currently an Associate Professor of mechanical engineering and of systems engineering with Boston University, Boston, MA, USA. He received an NSF CAREER award in 2009, is a senior member of the IEEE, and was an associate editor for the IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control (2014-2018) and for the SIAM Journal on Control and Optimization (2013-2018).

Vicki V. May

Vicki V. May, PhD, PE, is a Professor of Engineering at Dartmouth’s Thayer School of Engineering and also the Director of Dartmouth’s Department Climate and Culture Initiative. She loves to build things and incorporates project-based learning in all of her courses. Her research focuses on engineering education, design thinking, and project-based learning. She has won several teaching awards over the years including Professor of the Year for Dartmouth and the prestigious Professor of the Year for New Hampshire awarded by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

Nick Jickling

Nick Jickling has a background in sustainability, environmentalism and conservation. Nick graduated from Hamilton College in 2019, majoring in Environmental Studies with a concentration in Biology. He has worked in the fields of renewable energy, resource conservation and international development; he believes that sustainability is the key to creating a more equitable and vibrant society. Growing up in Vermont, Nick is committed to helping the state be a leader in sustainability and green technology. Nick is deeply passionate about education, and is excited to help Greenway Institute empower students with the skills, knowledge and confidence to be leaders in our sustainable future.

Ashley Brown

Ashley is a third-year student at Dartmouth College studying Mechanical Engineering. At Dartmouth, Ashley is an Assistant Project Leader in Dartmouth Humanitarian Engineering, a student-run organization that partners with local and global groups to design, build, and implement impactful engineering solutions. She is also a leader of the Women in Science Project, where she mentors first year women interested in STEM. Ashley is passionate about clean energy, sustainable technology, and human-centered design. She was drawn to Greenway because of its courageous and innovative commitment to sustainability and hands-on learning. Ashley recognizes some of her most meaningful learning experiences have come from hands-on projects and believes Greenway has the potential to transform engineering education to serve students more effectively. She sees a need for revolutionary sustainable engineering practices and is excited to see the impact Greenway will have locally and nationally.

Sarah Lou

Sarah is a third year mechanical engineering student at Dartmouth College. On campus, she works on a project team in Dartmouth Humanitarian Engineering, designing an affordable wheelchair attachment to move over curbs smoothly. She is also the training officer of Dartmouth Ski Patrol, teaching first year students the first aid course and skills needed to become a ski patroller. Sarah was delighted to find a place where she can combine her interests in sustainability, engineering, and education to support future generations of engineers. She wishes that she could learn engineering in the hands-on, project-based manner Greenway provides, and is excited to see Greenway lead the change towards making sustainability the core of all engineering.

Jhujhar Sarna

Jhujhar is currently a student at Vassar and Dartmouth College. He is pursuing a Bachelors of Arts in Political Science with a correlate in Mathematics and Physics at Vassar College. He is also pursuing a Bachelor of Engineering concentrating on Energy at the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College. Jhujhar is an active and engaged member of his community through political, engineering, and social work. He is passionate about the climate crisis and the impending need to create meaningful and disruptive change. He recognizes the need for engineers to attain mastery through hands-on learning, and the desperate need to ground themselves in sustainability in all of their engineering and design work. As a result, he was drawn to Greenway as it attempts to lead the way in sustainable learning and transform future generations of difference makers.

Lindsay Harley

Lindsay is a sophomore at Dartmouth College majoring in engineering. There, she is a member of Dartmouth Humanitarian Engineering and serves on the executive board of the National Society of Black Engineers. As an international student from Jamaica, she is passionate about helping underrepresented communities access education, and works with two non-profits, Leadership Lab Jamaica and the AIM Higher Foundation, to help low income, high achieving students get full ride scholarships to study abroad. In addition to her passion for equity in education, she is interested in energy conservation and environmental preservation, and plans to pursue a BE in environmental engineering. She is excited by Greenway’s unique approach to sustainable engineering through 100% hands-on learning, continuous improvement and equitable practices.

Rashad Brown-Mitchell

Rashad is a sophomore at Dartmouth College majoring in Engineering modified with Studio Art and minoring in Human Centered Design. In his free time, he enjoys reading, cooking, and playing squash in addition to thinking of creative personal projects to undertake. Rashad is a big supporter of equitable teaching of engineering for future generations. He is passionate about using his education to serve underprivileged communities and to learn about the issues unique to different cultures and groups. He understands that weak STEM opportunities and lack of resources in communities like his home of Boston currently prevent some students from reaching their potential. Rashad is an avid designer, ardent to serve his surrounding community, and longs to better his communication skills to allow for accessible communication lines for all those he serves and communicates with.

Chris McCarthy

Chris McCarthy has extensive experience in alternative education — most recently heading the Real School in Brunswick, ME which provides education to regional at-risk youth at a dedicated location outside of their mainstream high schools. Chris spent over a decade, including leading the educational program, at the Eckerd Family Youth Alternative program and school in Benson, VT, that provided year-round outdoor living and education to troubled Vermont youths. Chris strongly believes in fitting educational programs to the student versus forcing the student to adjust to attempting to learn in the traditional classroom.

Shaylee McBride

Shay graduated from Princeton University, where she majored in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. She is passionate about sustainable technology, design, and manufacturing.

Scott Snyder, PhD

Scott Snyder has strong experience in sustainable engineering and design, architecture, and engineering education. Scott holds an AB in Physics and Ph.D in Engineering Science from Dartmouth and a Master in Architecture degree from the Graduate School of Design at Harvard. Scott has over a decade of international experience in the design and construction industry, developing projects for both private and public-sector clients. He currently teaches engineering courses at Dartmouth and is a partner in his architecture and design company. Scott has a keen interest in energy technologies and sustainable innovation at all scales and combines his design talents with rigorous analytical skills. In addition to his teaching and architectural work, Scott has a strong research background that includes work at NASA, SustainX (renewable energy storage), and Norwich Solar Technologies.

Sydney Savarese

Sydney is a third-year computer and electrical engineering major at Dartmouth College. She has a passion for computer science, software development, and sustainability. On campus, she serves as a captain of Dartmouth’s Triathlon Team. During the winter, she also works as a ski instructor at the Dartmouth Skiway, teaching groups of children to become more advanced skiers. She was thrilled to find Greenway, the perfect place to apply her love of sustainability, education, and building/designing. She strongly resonates with Greenway’s hands-on approach to education and is delighted to be part of their growing impact.

Reshmi Anwar

Mia is a student at Dartmouth College majoring in economics and data science. On campus, she is a member of the Dartmouth Robotics Team and a calculus teacher’s assistant for the Mathematics Department. She is passionate about financial markets and sustainability initiatives in economics, as well as increasing female representation in traditionally underrepresented fields. In conjunction with her interest in these areas, she is eager to apply her experience in computer science and mathematics to sustainable engineering. She was drawn to Greenway for its equity initiatives in education, and is excited to help aspiring engineers experience hands-on learning.