Acorn international

Heather Boyd - Consultant
Heather is an experienced environmental consultant with a background in management of health, safety and environmental risk and liability. She came to Acorn International from ConocoPhillips and has over 13 years of experience. With Acorn International, Heather has led projects worldwide, including environmental and social impact assessments, environmental and social risk assessments and management system assessment and development. She works in our Boston office. See Heather's bio.

Andrew Buchman - Consultant
Andrew is a development professional with more than 10 years of international experience, primarily for major oil and gas industry projects. A former Sustainable Development Advisor for a major oil and gas project in the Caspian, he has implemented and managed stakeholder consultation, environmental and social investment, and civil society engagement projects and initiatives in Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Turkey. Andrew has recently led an onshore shale gas E&P project involving community development and stakeholder engagement. He works in our Houston office. See Andrew's bio.

Samina Jain - Consultant
Samina brings an international development perspective to the extractives industry, having previously consulted for international aid agencies, think tanks, and non-governmental organizations. She works on social risk management and social investment strategies, with an emphasis on human rights and capacity building. Samina has an MA in International Development Economics from The Fletcher School at Tufts University. Samina has field experience in India, Mongolia and the Philippines, and has also lived in Malaysia and Singapore. She is based in Houston and speaks conversational French and Hindi. See Samina's bio.

Atma Khalsa - Consultant
Atma has led environmental and social management assignments for E&P activities in the Middle East, Africa and the Caribbean, and has participated in projects in more than 20 countries. Atma holds a Master’s degree from the joint McGill University-UNEP (United Nations Environment Program) Environmental Assessment Program, and brings to our projects strong formal training in ESIA, stakeholder engagement, and community investment. Atma is based in Boston and has recently led ESIAs in Kenya, Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia and The Bahamas. See Atma's bio.

Eileen Murphy - Analyst
Eileen is an analyst in our Houston office who performs research, analysis and report preparation for environmental and social assessment and planning projects. Eileen leads many of our Health, Safety and Environmental (HSE) and non-technical risk screenings for industries and investors considering entry into developing country ventures. She has also prepared Social Impact and Opportunity Analysis as part of community development planning efforts for extractive industry exploration and production programs worldwide. She previously worked in the seismic sector of the oil and gas industry. See Eileen’s bio.

Dean Slocum - President, Consultant
Dean is the founder of Acorn International and a former Director of EHS for Arthur D. Little, and former VP, Oil and Gas Market Manager for Battelle Memorial Institute. He has led multi-national teams on more than 80 EIAs and related studies, and has worked in over 25 countries. Dean is based in Boston, and speaks fluent Spanish, intermediate Portuguese and basic French and Greek. See Dean’s bio.

Mary Beth Snodgrass - Consultant

Mary Beth focuses on social impact assessment, stakeholder engagement and Equator Principles/IFC project financing requirements. She has a diverse background in domestic and international not-for-profit and for-profit organizations, with experience working on community engagement and development projects and doing research and writing on international issues and policies. For her MA in Global Policy Studies, she focused on international development and corporate social responsibility. She is based in Houston and uses her Spanish skills for projects in Latin America and the Caribbean. See Mary Beth's bio.

Pamela Zelnick - Consultant

Pamela is an environmental consultant with experience in Environmental, Social and Health Impact Assessments (ESHIA), health and safety, environmental management and regulatory compliance for oil and gas projects worldwide. Her focus and area of interest is in environmental and public health. Pam holds a BS and BA in Environmental Science and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Rice University. She is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, and has been involved in Engineers Without Borders. Pamela speaks Conversational Spanish, and is based in our Houston office. See Pam's bio.

Lisa Aldrich, CPA - Adjunct Consultant
Lisa has over 20 years of experience as a financial consultant focused on evaluating and recommending strategic business objectives. She is a Certified Public Accountant with an Accounting Certificate from Bentley University, and is based in the Boston area.

John Black, P. G. - Adjunct Consultant
John is a senior environmental consultant with over 30 years of experience working worldwide for the petroleum and other industries. He is based in the Houston area.